Gleanealogy: Introduction (1)

Pray Psalm 126.4, 5.
Bring back our captivity, O LORD,
As the streams in the South.
Those who sow in tears
Shall reap in joy.

Sing slowly and contemplatively Psalm 126.4, 5.
(Truro: Shout, for the Blessed Jesus Reigns)
Restore our fortunes, Lord our King! Let grace like flowing streams prevail.
All they with tears of joy shall sing who sow while yet they weep and wail.

Read Luke 24.25-32.

Prepare.
1. How many parts of Scripture did Jesus use to testify about Himself?

2. How did these disciples respond to Jesus opening all the Scriptures to them?

Real aloud.
The Gleaners

A haze of chaff and dust hangs in the air
above the well-worked field. The harvest sun
is giving way to dusk. The work begun
so early in the day, and with such care
and diligence, is finished now. The yield
is gathered in the barn. All that remains
are isolated shocks and sheaves. Their grains
will feed the poor, now gathered in the field. 

The field of sacred writ – its books and themes,
its doctrines, teachings, promises, and more –
is daily scoured and reaped, so that it seems
no further truth remains to take in store.
Yet, stacked throughout that field, the pedigrees
of saints remain. The gleaners harvest these.

Meditate.
Welcome to Gleanealogy, the most surprising Bible study you will ever undertake.

As we begin, I can promise you three things. First, we will arrive at the conclusion of this study more convinced than ever that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable. Second, we’ll gain some insights into the way Scripture is constructed that will convince us more than ever that there is only one Author for this amazing book. Finally, we’ll see once again how, by searching all the Scriptures carefully, we can come to know Jesus with greater surprise, warmth, and edification for our souls.

I assume that, as Jesus taught those disciples on the Emmaus Road from “all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” He did not skip the many genealogies of the Old Testament.

Unlike, perhaps, most of us. Don’t we, as we’re reading through the Bible, typically skip or merely skim those lengthy lists of numbing names? We harvest as much as we can of the ripe fruit of God’s Word, but we leave the corners unreaped, and what we regard as unprofitable shocks and sheaves standing in their place, unread and unstudied.

Well, Susie and I aim to redress this situation, and we’re calling gleaners to join us as we pick through the grains of truth and glory awaiting us in the many genealogies that occur with regularity throughout the Bible.

So if you are poor in spirit and hungry for insights to God’s Word you’ve never had before, we invite you to come with us into the field of God’s Word as we glean the nourishment He has left for us in the genealogies of Scripture.

Reflect.
1. What has been your practice of reading when you come to the genealogies of the Bible? What have you learned from these lists of names at this point in your walk with the Lord?

2. What purpose do the genealogies of the Bible fulfill? Should we really expect these to point us to Jesus? Explain.

3. Do you have a friend who might like to go through these studies with you? Forward a copy of today’s lesson. Then, follow-up with a phone call or text. See if your friend would be willing to download the weekly studies in this series, work through each one of them, and meet with you to share and pray.

All that we read in holy Scripture for our instruction and salvation demands an attentive ear. You have just heard how the eyes of those two disciples whom the Lord joined on their way were kept from recognizing him. He found them in despair of the redemption that was in Christ, supposing him now to have suffered and died as a man, not imagining him to live forever as the Son of God. So he opened to them the Scriptures and showed them that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and for all things to be fulfilled that were written concerning him in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms—in short, the whole of the Old Testament. Everything in those Scriptures speaks of Christ, but only to him who has ears. Augustine (354-430), Homily 2.1 on 1 John

Lord, give me a gleaner’s heart, so that as I come to Your Word I will…

Pray Psalm 126.
How would you expect reaping the gleanings of God’s Word to warm your heart and revive your faith in the Lord? Weep for your sins, and repent; and ask the Lord to do specific works of renewed fruitfulness in your life today.

Sing Psalm 126.
Psalm 126 (Truro: Shout, for the Blessed Jesus Reigns)
When God restored our fortunes all, we were like those who sweetly dream.
Our mouths with joy and laughter filled, made Him our constant song and theme.

Then the astonished nations said, “The Lord has done great things for them!”
Indeed, great things our God has done, Whose Name we praise, Amen, Amen!

Restore our fortunes, Lord our King! Let grace like flowing streams prevail.
All they with tears of joy shall sing who sow while yet they weep and wail.

They who in tears of sorrow sow and cast their seed on every hand,
with joy shall reach their heav’nly home, and bring the harvest of their land.

T. M. Moore

The poems featured in the Gleanealogy series are by T. M. Moore. To order T. M.’s most recent collection of poems, Bricks and Rungs, click here. The genealogies of Scripture reveal the heart of God in His covenant relationship with His people. To learn more about God’s covenant, order our book, I Will Be Your God, by clicking here. You can learn to sing all the psalms to familiar hymn tunes by ordering a copy of The Ailbe Psalter (click here).

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006). All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (available by clicking here).