Genesis 11:10-32
‘Shem was 100 years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the Flood. And Shem lived 500 years, after he begot Arphaxad…. Arphaxad lived 403 years after he begot Salah…. Salah lived 403 years after he begot Eber…. Eber lived 430 years after he begot Peleg…. Peleg lived 209 years after he begot Reu…. Reu lived 207 years after he begot Serug…. Serug lived 200 years after he begot Nahor…. Nahor lived 119 years after he begot Terah…. And Terah begot Abram…, and the days of Terah were 205 years — and Terah died.’ Genesis 11:10-32.
Quite a diminution of longevity, from the 603-year-old Shem to the 205-year-old Terah! Calvin commented: “‘These are the generations of Shem’…. Moses…combines with the names of the men, the term of their several lives – so that we might not be ignorant of the age of the world….
“God made His covenant with Abraham…. God bring it as a charge against the Jews, that their fathers Terah and Nahor served strange gods (Joshua 24:2)…. Noah and his sons — who had been eye-witness of the Deluge — were yet living…. The father and grandfather of Abraham were apostates…. Yet, because the Church by the election of God was included in that race, and because God had some who worshipped Him in purity and who survived even to the time of Abraham, Moses deduces a continuous line of descent and thus enrols them in the catalogue of saints….
“Abram, when he saw his father willingly obeying the calling of God, became in return the more obedient…. He (Abraham’s father Terah) had left his country, a short time before his death…. Abram departed thence…. He had gone thither, already advanced in age.”
As Kuyper too said in his Twelve Old Patriarchs (pages 42-45): “When Shem…was blessed by Noah, it was of Shem and not of Japheth that it was said: ‘The Lord, that is Jehovah the God of the Covenant, is the God of Shem.’ Japheth too would indeed be able to walk in the light of Jehovah, but only by moving into the tents of Shem….
“God called Abraham, the father of all believers, from the tribe of Shem…. Thus, Shem’s whole significance for the centuries, runs forth into Abraham…. But just as Shem runs forth into Abraham…, so too everything in turn runs forth from Abraham into Christ…. The holy line runs forth from Shem into Abraham — in order, from Abraham, to seek Christ.
“Shem means ‘the Name.’ In all Scripture, the Name of the Lord reveals Him. Christ bears the Name of His Father…. This does not concern Shem according to the flesh — but the Name which he must interpret.”
Since Abraham, who died at the age of 175 years (Genesis 25:7-8), our lifespan has now reduced to 70-80 years (Psalm 90:10). Thus, ever-shrinking lifespans after the Great Flood . Yet some may flourish like the palm tree, which bears good fruit even when 100 (Psalm 92:12)..
May we too then always serve the Lord. Even if we live only till we’re 100 years old!
