Grains of Sand

Ham probably didn’t notice much change in his status as a result of his disrespect of his father, Noah, as recorded in Genesis 9. The punishment for Ham’s crime was actually directed against his son and his son’s descendants (9:18, 24). But even the grandchildren and great grandchildren didn’t feel the effects of their forebear’s sin. That would come a lot later. Canaan was to be a slave to his brothers. Now Canaan was the son of Ham, but Canaan would also become the name of a nation of people who would settle in the land that God would eventually give to His people, Israel. The prophecy would come true, generations later, as Israel took control of the land God has promised them and subjugated the Canaanites. But before the time for Ham’s crime was served by his descendants, the fortunes of his family were quite impressive. Genesis 10 describes Nimrod as a mighty warrior and, “ a mighty hunter before the Lord ” (10:9). Ham’s branch of the family was to become a fierce lot. They...

Reading: Luke 3, 4 I recently got the urge to track down as many members of my family tree as I could. Somewhere buried underneath piles of papers in my brother’s apartment is an envelope containing my mother’s family tree, painstakingly put together by my mother’s cousin, Charlie. As far as I know dad’s side of the family has never been done. And, as it happens, I’m having a harder time tracking down my father’s family members than I have finding my mother’s side. One of the items left over when my brother and I sold the family home was a suitcase full of pictures. Some of these have helped me in my search, but others are a complete mystery. I have no idea who they are, how (or if) they are related, There is one that is particularly intriguing. His name is Ferdinand Bloedow and he was a minister. Apparently he moved out west, and died in the 30s in Winnipeg, Manitoba. But I don’t know how he’s connected to my mother’s family. “Bloedow” turns out to be a fairly common name. I s...