Christian Life Church
September 13, 2026
  • Washed
  • Forever Amen
  • No One Like The Lord (We Crown You)
  • Dismiss Vanguard and Navigators

    Introduction

    Please stand for the reading of God’s Word.
    Genesis 36:1–14 NKJV
    Now this is the genealogy of Esau, who is Edom. Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite; Aholibamah the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite; and Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter, sister of Nebajoth. Now Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau, and Basemath bore Reuel. And Aholibamah bore Jeush, Jaalam, and Korah. These were the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan. Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the persons of his household, his cattle and all his animals, and all his goods which he had gained in the land of Canaan, and went to a country away from the presence of his brother Jacob. For their possessions were too great for them to dwell together, and the land where they were strangers could not support them because of their livestock. So Esau dwelt in Mount Seir. Esau is Edom. And this is the genealogy of Esau the father of the Edomites in Mount Seir. These were the names of Esau’s sons: Eliphaz the son of Adah the wife of Esau, and Reuel the son of Basemath the wife of Esau. And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz. Now Timna was the concubine of Eliphaz, Esau’s son, and she bore Amalek to Eliphaz. These were the sons of Adah, Esau’s wife. These were the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were the sons of Basemath, Esau’s wife. These were the sons of Aholibamah, Esau’s wife, the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon. And she bore to Esau: Jeush, Jaalam, and Korah.
    This is the Word of the Lord, Amen? You may be seated
    Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray Pray
    This morning we start a brand new series going over the thirty sixth chapter of the book of Genesis. This chapter has a bunch of names in it… 178 names to be exact… We only read the first third of them or so, but this series will have three parts and we will get through the whole chapter of names within the next few Sundays.
    Now, a while back we preached through chapters of names a couple of times, in Genesis 5 we had a whole chapter of names covering the genealogy of Noah all the way back to Adam.
    In that chapter I preached a sermon called “God Knows Your Name” encouraging us that God loves us, and sees us, and even if we are not the most important person in the world, we still have a part in what God is doing.
    Then in Genesis chapter 10 we preached through another chapter of names, talking about the effect that sin has on families, and the effect that righteousness has on families.
    Today we start preaching through a third chapter of names and I… I was fresh out of ideas… But the good news is, God wasn’t… and God was forming this sermon series before I knew it… but before I get there, let me remind you how I write sermons...
    We or course are preaching through Scripture, we have preached through 1 Corinthians, James, Luke, Revelation, and now we are 115 sermons into Genesis… So I don’t ever have to guess what text am I going to preach from, it is just the next text in the book… So, when it comes time to start a new series I will read the next chapter or so of Genesis, sometimes les than a chapter, sometimes more… whatever natural narative there is… I will read it, and pray as reading it… and I will study it… and pray while studying… and without fail God will highlight a phrase, or a theme, or part of the narrative to me… and that highlight will jump out of the page at me and I will begin reading the text again with that phrase or word or whatever in mind… and God will use this to create a series, and things will fall into place.
    Sometimes it is easy… the twelve traits of the people of God… I read the birth stories, noticed each name went with a story of the birth, and God whispered in my Spirit “This is the begging of my people… these are the traits of my people”… BAM! Thats an easy 12 points for a sermon series at least!
    Or I will read about Hagar dying of thirst in the wilderness and the angel says lift up your eyes, and she does and there is a well… God whispers in my spirit “The well was always there, she just needed to see it”… BOOM! God has a Well For You! Easy!
    Sometimes it is easy… but other times you have a chapter of 178 names, most of whom we know nothing about… and you have already preached through two different chapters of lists of names… what do I do in that situation...
    That same thing I do with everything else… read the chapter… pray… study the chapter… and pray…
    So I read the chapter and prayed… nothing jumps out… then I start studying… I am highlighting, I am praying…
    This chapter parallels how Abraham’s story was chronicled by Moses… a list of names of everyone except Abraham, then a bunch of chapters of Abraham… no… that’s not what I should preach about...
    This chapter shows once again that the promises of God don’t follow man’s culture, because this is the second time we see the family of the younger son blessed instead of the older. The first time being Isaac getting the blessing instead of Ishamel, the second being Jacob instead of Esau… I could preach something from that… but no...
    Or how about how it was prophesied that Esau would dwell AWAY from the fat of the land, and here we see his family dwelling away from the promised land… and how that parallels how Lot and Abraham could not dwell in the same land because there was not enough room for them...
    These are all things I have highlighted in commentaries about this chapter… but none of them jumped out at me the way the Holy Spirit so often does for me…
    And I am reading the conclusion of this one commentary that I like… the concluding comments on Genesis 36… and the author says this
    “Genesis 36 is perhaps the least likely chapter in Genesis from which [preachers] might draw spiritual lessons...” -Ken Flemming, Genesis from Creation to A Nation, on Genesis 36
    Cool… no joke that is about the only sentence in this chapter that I don’t have highlighted…
    At this point I am getting a bit discouraged… “LORD, You told me to preach through scripture, you haven’t failed me yet… what do you want me to preach?”
    And God answers… how many of y’all know that when you pray and you ask GOd a question you need ot listen for an answer? Well God answered “Read the first sentence of the next chapter of the commentary”...
    Well the next chapter has comments on Genesis 37, I don’t know how that is going to help me, but I just really felt lead, so I did… and this is what I read...
    The final 14 chapters of Genesis , apart from comprising the eleventh and final toledoth, form the climax of Genesis. -Ken Flemming, Genesis from Creation to A Nation, on Genesis 37
    Now this sentence meant NOTHING to me… we are not in Genesis 37… we are not in the Climax of Genesis yet, we are not preaching about the events of Joseph's life yet… we will get there in a few weeks but we are not there now… and I refuse to Skip Genesis 36… because ALL scripture is God breathed and profitable to the man and woman of God…
    So what am I supposed to do with this… the sentence meant nothing… except for one odd little word… Toledoth… I had no idea what that word meant… but it jumped out of the page at me… it had a fire on it… it was a word from God…
    Now I don’t know what Toledoth means… I don’t know why there are 11 of them… but I was sure as day gonna study it… and so I did… and it all came together… God had been ahead of me on this sermon Series…
    TOLEDOTH
    תּוֹלְדוֹת
    "Generations" or "account," used throughout Genesis to introduce the recorded history of a family line.
    So what I learned is that there are 11 places in the book of Genesis that have a list of names, genealogies… and they start with the phrase “Now this is the genealogies of so and so… The genealogies of Adam… the genealogies of Noah… The Genealogies of Isaac… The Geanealogies of Esau… 11 Places where it says “This is the Genealogies” or “This is the Generations of...”
    And that word for Genealogies or generations is “Toledoth” so these sections are called “Toledoths”… Here are all 11 we see in Genesis…
    Genesis 2:4 — heavens and earth
    Genesis 5:1 — Adam
    Genesis 6:9 — Noah
    Genesis 10:1 — sons of Noah
    Genesis 11:10 — Shem
    Genesis 11:27 — Terah
    Genesis 25:12 — Ishmael
    Genesis 25:19 — Isaac
    Genesis 36:1 — Esau
    Genesis 36:9 — Esau (in Seir)
    Genesis 37:2 — Jacob
    Eleven places in the book of Genesis that talk about a Toledoth… it’s almost like the whole book… well it’s not almost like… it IS a fact that the whole book is structured around the Toledoths, these genealogies… these generations… And that is what we see here in Genesis 36… we see two of the 11 Toledoths… We read them both this morning...
    Genesis 36:1 KJV 1900
    Now these are the generations of Esau, who is Edom.
    Genesis 36:9 KJV 1900
    And these are the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in mount Seir:
    Okay… now this is where the Holy Spirit starts taking over… things… A couple of weeks ago we had Pastor Regie over for dinner, and he made a joke… He misprounounced the book name of Genesis and Revelation… he said “From Generations to Revolutions” and we all had a good laugh...
    I jokingly said “I am going to have to say that from the pulpit”… well Sunday came up, and Hannah thought it was SO FUNNY (it wasn’t that funny) that she DEMANDED I say it from the pulpit… so, awkwardly, in Second Service while Reggie was there, I said “From Generations to Revolutions”… and the joke fell totally flat… it really was only said for Hannah and Pastor Reggie… But GOD was preparing me… He reminded me as I studdied for this series… Generations to Revolutions…
    Remember what Toledoth means… IT MEANS GENERATIONS.… BUT IT GETS BETTER… Because the joke was “From Genesis to Revelation… or From Generations to Revolutions as I said it”… That’s not just one book of the Bible, that covers THE WHOLE THING...
    And sure enough, the rest of the Old Testament has some really important Toledoths, like the ones in Numbers, or in Ruth, or in 1 Chronicles...
    But I said “Generations to Revolutions” to mean “Genesis to Revelation”… that is not just the Old Testament, but the NEW TESTAMENT TO… Look at the first line of the New Testament…
    Matthew 1:1 KJV 1900
    The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
    The book of the GENERATION of Jesus Christ… anyone want to guess what word was translated as Generation here?
    (If they say TOLEDOTH, say NO! That is Hebrew! The New Testament is written in Greek!)
    Anyone know the Greek word for Generation? IT’S GENESIS! The Greek word for Generations is GENESIS!
    I have studied and preached more that 115 sermons from the book of Genesis and I always thought that the name meant “Beginning” because in English we use it to mean beginning… and because the third word of the Bible is beginning… “In the Beginning” but that is not the case!
    You see at one point the Old Testament was translated into Greek, before it was ever written in English, it was translated into Greek, it was called the Septuagint… and a lot of our modern Bible Traditions come from that translation… including the names we use for the books of the Bible, they come from the Septuagint… and the Septuagint named the book Genesis not because of Genesis 1:1, the greek work Genesis is not in that verse, the Greek word used for beginning there is Archy… no, the book get’s its name from the 11 Toledoths… because the Greek word for Toldoth is GENESIS… even starting back at Chapter 2, verse 4, talking about ALL of creation...
    Genesis 2:4 KJV 1900
    These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created...
    In Hebrew “These are the Toledoth of the heavens and the earth...
    But in Greek, which is where we get our book names from, it says “These are the GENESIS of the heavens and the earth”
    Toledoth… Genesis… Generations...
    From Generations to Revolutions… God KNEW we needed to talk about Generations… That is why this sermon series is simply titled
    Toledoth (SERIES TITLE SLIDE)
    Now when this all clicked I heard God speak once again “My book is a book of Generations”… so we are going to be talking about generations… we are going to talk about it a little more today, then we will talk more in depth in the next two weeks… let’s pray over this series...
    PRAY OVER SERIES PRAY OVER SERIES PRAY OVER SERIES PRAY OVER SERIES PRAY OVER SERIES PRAY OVER SERIES PRAY OVER SERIES
    Now I only have one point this morning, because that was one long introduction… but the point is from what God spoke to me… the Bible is a Book of Generations… it is a Book of People...

    Point One – A Book Of People

    Genesis 36:1 KJV 1900
    Now these are the generations of Esau, who is Edom.
    Why… why have a chapter about names… and not just one chapter, but multiple chapters in scripture? Old and New Testament?
    Now I could give you the logical answer, it is a good answer, and it is a true answer… but it is not the answer God wants you to take away from here today...
    That answer is that the Bible is a book of History, and up until fairly modern areas, there was no universal calendar, so times and events were backed up through Genealogies… and these genealogies give us credibility that these books are meant to be taken as history, there are facts we can check, and a firm timeline from the creation of Adam and Eve all the way to the time of Jesus.
    If we did not have the Toledoths, we would not know how much time happened between these things… but because we have the genealogy of Jesus going all the way back to Adam, from a few different family lines… and we know or can deduce how long each of these people lived and how old they were when they had their children, we can get a really good grasp on when every biblical event happened in history… before there was ever a calendar, genealogies were how history was recorded...
    BUT THAT IS ONLY PART OF THE ANWER… Because the Bible is not just a book of History… there is also prophecy, and warning, and instruction, and encouragement, and rebuke…
    2 Timothy 3:16–17 NKJV
    All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
    Romans 15:4 NKJV
    For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.
    So it is not just a book of history… it is more than that… it is a book of people… a Book about people… and a book FOR people...
    For people to read… for people to understand… for people to learn.
    A book about God’s dealings with people… a book about God’s plan for people… a book about God’s relationship with people...
    It is a book FOR PEOPLE… OF PEOPLE… AND ABOUT GOD’S INTERACTIONS AND PLANS FOR PEOPLE…
    AND THIS FRIENDS IS WHAT I WANT YOUR TAKE AWAY TO BE TODAY, Because I believe there has been some misconceptions about what the Bible is and isn’t…
    I believe there is a large group of people, some Christians even… who believe the the Bible is a mystical, magical, mysterious book...
    They think it is a book of angles and demons and deep mysterious of the spiritual realm...
    HOW MANY TIMES AS A PASTOR HAVE I HEAR PEOPLE SAY “Oh I am just too afraid to read this… I am too afraid to read that… it is just to spooky… to spiritual...”
    WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU ARE AFRAID TO READ REVELATION?! IT WAS WRITTEN FOR YOU! IT IS GOD REVEALING THINGS TO YOU! That is why it is called Revelation and not Revolutions! Because it is about God’s Revelation to man...
    Listen, the Bible is not about Angles… and it is not about demons… they are talked about, yes… but only as much as they pertain to main.
    We don’t know how or when angles where created, we are not given much details about satan rebellion… we don’t know if they were offered redemption or forgivness… we only know what we need to know about them...
    But for mankind… we know a LOT… I can tell you all of Esaus’ wives names, were they are from, who their parents are… I can tell you all of Esaus sons, and grandsons, and greatgrandsons… I can tell you where they moved from, where they moved to, how they set up their governments…
    Listen, this chapter alone has 178 names in it, many of those are repeated, but there are at least 71 unique individuals named in this chapter … Just this chapter, Genesis 36, 178 names, 71 unique people...
    BUT I CAN’T EVEN TELL YOU THE NAME OF FOUR ANGLES… Because only three are given names in the Bible, and one of them is the fallen angle Satan!
    There are only two named demons, other than Satan… maybe three depending on if you count Beelzebub… but really, we are talking about 5 or maybe 6 named angels and demons in scripture...
    But there are 3,237 unique and named people in scripture, many given histories and genealogies.… 5 or 6 named spiritual beings, 3,237 named people...
    There is no Toledoth of demons, no Toledoth of angels… but the Bible is built around Toledoths of people… WHY? Because the Bible is a book of People...
    Now what does that mean for you?
    What do you take away from todays sermon? What do you go home with? Go home with this… The Bible was written for you, start acting like it… start reading it… and don’t read it like it is some crazy mystery that needs to be deciphered… read it like you have a God who loves you and wants to Reveal Himself and HIs plans to you!
    Are there things in the Bible that are Supernatural? Yes of course there is!
    Are they too great for you to behold? OF COURSE NOT… They were written for you to read and understand.
    Are there things of God that are so great you can’t understand them? Mysteries to hard to comprehend? Secret things of God to wonderful to even consider? OF COURSE THERE ARE!!! But that is not what He put in His book of People… that is not what He put in the Bible… He put the things in the Bible that YOU NEED...
    Deuteronomy 29:29 NKJV
    “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.
    God probably has a book for the Angles that He wrote… a book about their History, and prophecy, and the plans He has for them, and commands He has for them… Maybe we will get to read it in heaven one day, it is probably written in tongues, I don’t know… But the Bible was written for us, it is a book of people, a book of generations.
    It was written for us, and our children, and our grandchildren. It is a book of generations. What was useful in the Bible for your great grandfather is useful for you, and what is useful for you is useful for your great grandchildren.
    Read it, church… If you don’t own a Bible, go buy one… head down to the Christian store, buy something nice, something you want to read.
    If you can’t afford one, we will give you one… if you have bad eyes and can’t read even the largest of prints, we will get you an audio Bible...
    Read it every day, listen and learn from it… and obey what is written!
    Read from it and be encouraged about it’s promises… those are promises for people… people like me and you!
    Read from it and be corrected by it, That correction is meant for your good… it is not meant for Satan's good… it is not meant for Gabriel's good… it is meant for your good…
    And the good of your family, your children… your wife… even your in laws! After all, all the toledoths include the in-laws, don’t they? Why, because this is a book of people!
    It is why in our church everybody belongs… because the Bible doesn’t exclude people… look we have a whole chapter about the toledoths of people who didn’t have the blessing, who weren't the chosen ones… who were not the priests, or the pastors, or the prophets… just people… sometimes very fallen, broken, and even wicked people… yet they are included, they are given a chapter of toledoths… BECAUSE THIS BOOK IS FOR EVERYONE… Not just the elite few… not just the holiest most charismatic people...
    Not just the Jacob’s and the Josephs and the Isaacs and the Abrahams… but the Esau's, and the Ishmael’s, and the Seir’s...
    Yes it is a book about the kings of Isreal, but it also includes the kings of Edom… because this is a book of people...
    So no matter who you are… and we will close with this if someone can come play...
    No matter who you are, no matter what you have done… not matter what kind of family you come from… what kind of background you have… this book is for you… but listen, if you don’t know Jesus all this book can do for you is reveal the chasim that is between you and God… but when you get born again, God helps you read this book, and understand this book and apply this book...
    So if you are not understanding and applying this book, it might be because you are not reading it… but it also might be that you need to close that chasm, be forgiven, and find the Helper, the Holy Spirit, to Help you Understand it.

    Conclusion

    Turn On Children’s Class Lamps
    1 Corinthians 2:9–10 NKJV
    But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
    1 Corinthians 2:12 NKJV
    Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
    1 Corinthians 2:14 NKJV
    But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
    You must be born again, the natural man must die and a new man must be born again!
    John 14:26 NKJV
    But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.
    When you get born again the Bible promises that you will be filled with the Holy Spirit and He will help you!
    But no only that, it is Christ, the same Christ who saves us, that opens our understanding to the Scripture...
    Luke 24:45 NKJV
    And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.
    Gospel Call
    Prayer for all of us to open the book of people… via psalm 119:18
    Psalm 119:18 NKJV
    Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law.
    Aaronic Blessing
    יאר יהוה פניו אליך ויחנך ישא יהוה פניו אליך וישם לך שׁלום
    "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
    You are dismissed from this place but not from His Presence
    ye·va·re'·khe·kha' · Adonai · ve·yeesh'·me·re'·kha
    ya·eir · Adonai · pa·nav · e·ley'·kha · vee·khoon·ne'·kah
    ees·sa · Adonai · pa·nav · e·ley'·kha · ve·ya·seim · le·kha · sha·lom
    "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
    You are dismissed from this place but not from His Presence

      • Genesis 36:1–14NKJV

      • Genesis 36:1NKJV

      • Genesis 36:9NKJV

      • Matthew 1:1NKJV

      • Genesis 2:4NKJV

      • Genesis 36:1NKJV

      • 2 Timothy 3:16–17NKJV

      • Romans 15:4NKJV

      • Deuteronomy 29:29NKJV

      • 1 Corinthians 2:9–10NKJV

      • 1 Corinthians 2:12NKJV

      • 1 Corinthians 2:14NKJV

      • John 14:26NKJV

      • Luke 24:45NKJV

      • Psalm 119:18NKJV

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