Ancient record keeping

While reading chapters 11 and 12 from the book of Nehemiah, I was struck by the meticulous record keeping that was had in ancient times.

Other books of the Bible have had this same level of detail, but this is where it struck for me.

In these chapters, the Israelites occupied the city of Jerusalem.  Each tribe name was listed, with records of whom in each family, the number of descendants, and their roles in the city.  And when I say the number of descendants, I don't mean to say "about 500" or "around 300".  No, there are numbers like 468 or 822 or 128.

Exact numbers.

Which goes to show that the level of record keeping, so many generations before Jesus walked on this planet, was so meticulous and accurate that it begs the question: why wouldn't you believe any of it?  Why question it?

And in looking at earthly family of Jesus, the ancestors of Joseph can be traced back to the early books of the Bible.  And if those are true, then, quite frankly, everything else has to be true as well.

Think about that the next time you question events in the Bible.  Even events in the Old Testament can be traced back by independent means not listed in the Bible, like a verified third party if you will.

Jesus's feeling toward death

"Jesus wept."

These two words comprise the shortest verse in the Bible: chapter 11 from the Gospel of John, verse 35.

Because of this, we know that Jesus can grieve.  He was grieving over the death of one of his followers, Lazarus.

I was listening to a podcast yesterday, one from RZIM (the Ravi Zacharias International Ministries), and they were talking about God's feeling toward death.  They said that every single death hurts God, causing Him to grieve.

Then it hit me.  God, Our Heavenly Father, grieved deeply when my wife Melissa passed away in January 2020.  Even though her spirit went right into His loving arms, He still grieved.

A warmth hit me when this notion came over me.  A warmth of love from our Lord.

He is with all at all times.

In life.

And grieves in our passing from this earthly world into Heaven.