Another piece from the devotional I wrote back in University. Hope you find it at least, interesting.
Jeremiah 1:5a “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you”
I’ve had the pleasure of knowing on a very personal level two couples that have had children in the past couple of years. If you’ve ever known any expecting parents you can testify to the amount of preparation they make for the new addition to their family. They start buying clothes, toys, baby cots etc, they start taking lessons on how to take care of the new baby, and even how the man can best support the lady during labour. I, in making preparations of my own, start increasing the number of arm exercises I do so I can carry the baby for longer when it comes.
We make all this preparation because of love and God didn’t do much different.
God knew each and every single one of us long before we were even conceived. He also knew of the lineage of sin we’d suffer from and how we would all and each be sinners ourselves. He planned and prepared for that very situation from the very foundations of the earth.
Being as amazing as He is, He’s illustrated this in some amazing ways throughout the ages and I just want to share one small way He did here.
In Genesis 5, the bible documents the ancestry of Noah using the names of all the relevant males in his genealogy. In and of itself it is a relatively boring chapter (yeah I said it!) but the Bible is always amazing, even when it’s boring.
Skilfully hidden in the arrangement of the names, which were written chronologically, is a description of something that wasn’t going to happen till thousands of years later. An illustration of a Father making preparations for His children long before they had even been born.
Here’s what I’m talking about
| Hebrew | English |
| Adam | Man |
| Seth | Appointed |
| Enosh | Mortal |
| Kenan | Sorrow; |
| Mahalalel | The Blessed God |
| Jared | Shall come down |
| Enoch | Teaching |
| Methuselah | His death shall bring |
| Lamech | The Despairing |
| Noah | Rest or comfort. |
In a sentence this would sound a little like this:
Man (is) appointed mortal sorrow; (but) the Blessed God shall come down teaching (that) His death shall bring (the) despairing rest.
Sound familiar?
Just as parents go out making preparations for their unborn child God made preparations for our salvation though the Blessed God (Jesus Christ) long before we were even born, long before our parents were born, from Genesis 5, long before the entire bible was even completed.
Be reminded of the fact that God’s love for YOU, His desire to save you, started long before you even existed. If love grew with time God’s had an eternity plus two thousand and fourteen years to amass love for you, and just in case you didn’t notice, that is a whole lot of love.
Be blessed
The Ordinary Amazing 