Week 52 Genesis
Yesterday I decided to try creating a Top 25 Most Important People in Genesis list.
On my first pass-through I selected these people:
Adam Eve Cain Abel Seth Noah Shem Ham Japheth Abraham Sarah Lot Melchizedek Hagar Ishmael Isaac Rebekah Laban Jacob Esau Rachel Leah Zilpah Bilhah Reuben Simeon Levi Judah Dan Naphtali Gad Asher Issachar Zebulun Dinah Joseph. There’s 36 so…too many.
Unfortunately I’d thought all 36 were important so I wondered who to take off the list. There’s a couple of nasty guys and some bit players. Cain is a murderer. Esau’s a thug. I scratch both of them. I hesitate before subtracting Ham Japheth Lot Melchizedek Hagar Ishmael & Laban (I had to remove a couple of heavies). That leaves me with:
Adam Eve Abel Seth Noah Shem Abraham Sarah Isaac Rebekah Jacob Rachel Leah Zilpah Bilhah Reuben Simeon Levi Judah Dan Naphtali Gad Asher Issachar Zebulun Dinah Joseph. 36 – 9 = 27.
I’m in a jam now. I go through the list a couple more times and finally take out Dinah – she’s important but in Genesis not as much as her 12 brothers. I’m down to 26. Alternatively I could bounce Zilpah & Bilhah and keep Dinah. Then I’m at exactly 25 but – let’s face it – by now it’s just a flip-a-coin decision where I’m scrambling to reach the Magic Number.
In the end I decide I’ll change the exercise. My new assignment: pick the Top 27 Most Important People in Genesis.
Those 27 people are my core group.