Christian Life Church
September 20, 2026
Psalm 27:5NKJV
- All Hail
- Raise A Hallelujah
- Forever YHWH
- Dismiss Vanguard and NavigatorsIntroductionPlease stand for the reading of God’s Word.
Genesis 36:15–30 NKJV These were the chiefs of the sons of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz, the firstborn son of Esau, were Chief Teman, Chief Omar, Chief Zepho, Chief Kenaz, Chief Korah, Chief Gatam, and Chief Amalek. These were the chiefs of Eliphaz in the land of Edom. They were the sons of Adah. These were the sons of Reuel, Esau’s son: Chief Nahath, Chief Zerah, Chief Shammah, and Chief Mizzah. These were the chiefs of Reuel in the land of Edom. These were the sons of Basemath, Esau’s wife. And these were the sons of Aholibamah, Esau’s wife: Chief Jeush, Chief Jaalam, and Chief Korah. These were the chiefs who descended from Aholibamah, Esau’s wife, the daughter of Anah. These were the sons of Esau, who is Edom, and these were their chiefs. These were the sons of Seir the Horite who inhabited the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These were the chiefs of the Horites, the sons of Seir, in the land of Edom. And the sons of Lotan were Hori and Hemam. Lotan’s sister was Timna. These were the sons of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam. These were the sons of Zibeon: both Ajah and Anah. This was the Anah who found the water in the wilderness as he pastured the donkeys of his father Zibeon. These were the children of Anah: Dishon and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah. These were the sons of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran. These were the sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan. These were the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran. These were the chiefs of the Horites: Chief Lotan, Chief Shobal, Chief Zibeon, Chief Anah, Chief Dishon, Chief Ezer, and Chief Dishan. These were the chiefs of the Horites, according to their chiefs in the land of Seir.This is the Word of the Lord, Amen? You may be seatedPray 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 PrayWell good morning church, and welcome back to Genesis chapter 36… a chapter off 178 names.As most of you know, this is what we do, we preach through Scripture here… we have been in Genesis for 3 years now and we are rounding the corner… we are about to enter the Climax of the book of Genesis as we go into the marvelous events of Joseph’s life and legacy… but before we get to that, we need to get through chapter 36… and of course chapter 36 is the chapter that one famous commentator said this about:“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 36But we know that all scripture is God breathed, and that “All Scripture is God breathed, and that all scripture, including Genesis 36, is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness”.In fact I believe that Genesis 36 was written that the people of God may be complete and thoroughly equipped for every good work.I don’t think it was a mistake… I don’t think it was written just for the people of ancient Israel to know about the people who border them… and I don’t think it was written just for historical record… though that is certainly a large part of it, as we will talk about a bit today...No I think that Genesis 36 was written for our good, and I believe that God has a word for this church, for you, and for your family out of this chapter… and that word is:Toledoth!Toledoth is the Hebrew word for “Generations” or “Genealogy”… and Genesis 36 uses the word twice… in verse 1, which starts the chapter with “Now this is the Toledoth… this is the Genealogy of Esau, who is Edom… and then again in verse 9 which says “And these are the Generations… these are the Toledoth of Esau the Father of the Edomites in Mount Seir.So again, Toledoth is the Hebrew word for Genealogy, or Generations… and it is used 11 times in Genesis, creating the framework of all the events in Genesis…Genesis 2:4 — heavens and earthGenesis 5:1 — AdamGenesis 6:9 — NoahGenesis 10:1 — sons of NoahGenesis 11:10 — ShemGenesis 11:27 — TerahGenesis 25:12 — IshmaelGenesis 25:19 — IsaacGenesis 36:1 — EsauGenesis 36:9 — Esau (in Seir)Genesis 37:2 — JacobNow, when the Bible was first translated into Greek, one of the first Major complete translations of the Old Testament, the translators thought it would be a good idea to give each book an official name, so it is from this Greek translations, the Septuagint, that we get our book names for the Bible today… And those Greek translators saw the 11 Toledoths of Genesis… they saw how they framed and made up the whole book, so they decided to name the book after the Greek word for Toledoth… after the greek word for Generations or Genealogies… and of course that word is Genesis.We always think of the Greek word Genesis to mean begining, because that is how we use it in English, it is the first book in the Bible, and the first three words are “In the Beginning”… but “In the Beginning” was translated in the Septuagint as “En Are-Khay” (Ἐν ἀρχῇ) but the book is not called “Are-Khay” it is called Genesis… because of Genesis 2:4 and the other 10 Toledoths...Genesis 2:4 KJV 1900 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,“These are the generations” is translated as “How-tay hay beebloss Gen-eh-seh-oce” in otherwords it says “Now these are the Genesis of the heavens and the earth” not the beginning, but the generations… it is a fuller word than just a point of time… and it shows us, right from the beginning, that the Bible is a book of generations, a book of geaneologies, a book of Toledoths… The Bible is a book of people… and that is what we talked about last week…This week I want to turn our attention to the author of the Bible… the author of all of these and many more Toledoths… I want to talk about God asThe Great Record KeeperWe talked about about how important Genealogies are to recording History in ancient documents, so I am not going to focus on that, instead I want to talk about the many, many, many other records that God keeps of all the people on earth, and especially the people who belong to Him… because what the Toledoths teach us, even what Genesis 36 teaches us, is that God is very good at keeping records, and not just of the Patriarchs… but of everyone… y’all ready to get into it?Point One – His Records Reveal His CareGenesis 36:1 NKJV Now this is the genealogy of Esau...Genesis 36:15 NKJV These were the chiefs of the sons of Esau...Genesis 36:20 NKJV These were the sons of Seir the Horite...Genesis 36:29 NKJV These were the chiefs of the Horites...I want to make a claim, and you see if it rings true for you… I think people keep records of the things they care about.Bird watchers keep records of the birds they see...They keep all sorts of different lists, a list of all the birds they have seen in their life… a list of all the birds they saw in a year… a list of all the birds they saw on their own property...They record the species and the number, the date, the time, the location, the weather, the habitat, the birds behavior…WHY?! Because they care about birds… they are passionate about birds!Me personally, I don’t care about birds… I have never written down a THING about a bird… I don’t have videos of birds, I don’t know how to make bird calls… but someone who cares about birds, like Deacon Lupita… has all of those things… Because we record what we care about...I think people keep records of the things they care about, is what I am trying to say.I keep records of my children, birth certificates, and medical records, and report cards.I keep records of my self, medical records, tax records, legal records.My wife keeps records of all our finances, income, expenses, bills, subscriptions… long Spreadsheets…You will notice I said “My wife keeps records of our finances”… I don’t, but she… does that mean I don’t care about money?Well that is the funny thing about the word care… you can care ABOUT something, and you can TAKE care of something...I care about money, but my wife TAKES care of the money.I bet some of you CARE about money, but don’t TAKE care of money… and you wonder why you are broke all the time… I remember I went to Mexican food with a guy once, and he ordered like he was Mr. Beast… this thing and that thing and a side of this thing… I said “Bro, HOW MUCH IS ALL THAT GOING TO COST” he said “I don’t know, I never look at prices”… two weeks later he was asking the church for money to help cover his bills… He cared about money, but he did not take care of his money.God cares about us, and He takes care of us… and His records reveal that.So, when we have a chapter, like Genesis 36, full of the names of people… most of the people you have never heard off… people of little consequence to history… what do these records reveal? They reveal that GOD CARES ABOUT PEOPLE… and not just the important ones...Genesis 36:24 NKJV These were the sons of Zibeon: both Ajah and Anah. This was the Anah who found the water in the wilderness as he pastured the donkeys of his father Zibeon.You know what we know about this Anah guy? We know that he… found water in the wilderness as he pastured his father’s donkeys...REMARKABLE! AMAZING! LIFE CHANGING… well, maybe not… but it was important enough for God to record… you may not care about Anah, but God cares about Anah, and just as much as he cares about Anah, He cares about and cares for you...You know at one point Jesus was talking to His disciples and He says “You know there are people who are going to try to kill you for teaching about me… but don’t be afraid of them, because God cares about you and will protect you…” But I want you to see how Jesus drives home the point about just how much God cares about you...Matthew 10:29–30 NKJV Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.God has the very hairs of your head numbered.Mind you, it is not just God know how many hairs you have on your head… but He has them numbered...In other words, yes God is omniscient and knows that I have 103,482 hairs on my head right now… or whatever… He also knows that this hair right here is number 1,0043,005… It is NUMBERED… not just revealing His knowledge but revealing His care.God cares so much about you, more than even YOU care about you… every breath, every heartbeat, every thought, every passing moment...He cares so much about you His records start from before you were in the womb! Psalm 139 says that before we were ever formed our days were written in God’s book… but Jeremiah 1 puts it just so simply and cleanly…Jeremiah 1:5 NKJV “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you...”By the way, this verse right here is one of the reasons why I am so ADAMITLY against abortion… because when you murder a child in the womb you are killing someone God cares about, someone God already knows, He started their record before they were even in the womb!God records the things He cares about… AND HE CARES ABOUT YOU.So here is the take away family… you don’t need to go to God in a prayer of desperation trying to convince Him to care… OH I FEEL THE SPIRIT ON THIS FOR SOMEBODY… You don’t need to try to convince God to care… HE ALREADY CARES MORE THAN YOU KNOW… HE ALREADY CARES MORE THAN YOU DO...Maybe you have been tempted to cry out “GOD WHY DON’T YOU CARE ABOUT ME?” or “GOD DON’T YOU CARE THAT I AM PERISHING?” but that is a faithless prayer… when the disciples in the middle of a storm said that to Jesus, Jesus responded “Oh you of little faith”...Listen church… God Cares more than you know… HE CARES SO MUCH ABOUT YOU… He knows your situation and he CARES about your situation… His heart hurts because of what you are going through…When you come to Him in prayer don’t accuse Him of not caring… HE CARED ABOUT A DUDE WHO IS ONLY KNOWN FOR WATERING HIS FATHERS FLOCK… You have probably already accomplished more than that in your life… He has each of your hairs recorded… HE CARES… so don’t accuse Him of not caring… but come to Him knowing He cares more than you can ever imagine...Psalm 56:8 NKJV You number my wanderings; Put my tears into Your bottle; Are they not in Your book?He cares more than you know… more than you do… do you have a book recording all your tears? Because God does… so when you come to God, pray remembering how much He cares...”“Father, I know you know I am hurting right now… I know you know I am confused… I am struggling… I am desperate… But God I know you are not struggling, I know you are not confused… I know you are not desperate… would you meet me here… would you give me peace… would you grow my faith… I believe you will heal me… or heal my sister… or heal whoever… I know you will provide for me… I know you will protect me… Help me have faith to believe it… Help me to know and believe JUST HOW MUCH YOU CARE ABOUT ME”.Matthew 6:31–32 NKJV “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.Man I could preach about this for HOURS! But listen… have this as a takeaway this morning… every time you read a Toledoth in scripture… every time you read a genealogy in scripture… remember that God records the things He cares about… AND GOD CARES ABOUT PEOPLE.There are not chapters in scriptures defining and describing every animal to ever exist… because God cares more about you than He cares about the Sparrows.We are told details of Noah's Ark in generalities… a pair of each unclean animal, and seven pairs of clean animals and birds… that’s all we know… BUT WE GET A FULL TOLEDOTH OF ALL THE PEOPLE ON THE ARK… Names, and ancestors names, going all the way back to Adam…Because God cares more about the PEOPLE on the Ark than the Birds on the Ark… Are you not worth more than a Sparrow in God’s eyes?Now this brings me to point two this morning… God’s records are eternal… and this has the bigger spiritual impact… and I am already going to long, so I will try to keep it short and it is going to wrap into the gospel… but here it goes… God’s Records are EternalPoint Two – His Records Are EternalDaniel 7:10 NKJV A fiery stream issued And came forth from before [God]. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, And the books were opened.Daniel here is describing a vision he had of final judgment. One of our earliest depictions of what this judgment is going to look like at the end of time.Now there is some debate about the specific application of this verse… but I want you to notice that final sentance… The court was seated, and the BOOKS were opened… Often time I have talked about the Book of Life… but that is just one book… here we are told about BOOKS? What are these other books? What do we know about them? What is recorded in them?Well, God REVEALS the answer to that question in the book of Revelation…Revelation 20:12 NKJV And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.Here we see the same imagery talking about the Final Judgment… “Books were opened”, yes the Book of Life is here… but that is called “Another book”… And we know what is in the book of life. My name is in the book of Life… and hopefully your name is too… if it is not we can fix that today at the end of service… but the book of life has a list of every name of everyone who has been saved, born again, redeemed… everyone who has a home in heaven… what then are the other books, what is written in them? Well Revelation tells us, here in this verse...“The dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books...Everything you have ever done, everything you have ever spoken, everything you have ever thought… is recorded in God’s eternal books…Ecclesiastes 12:14 NKJV For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil.Man, church, what kind of story is written about you in God’s books?Is it a story of good? Or is it a story of evil?Or maybe, like most people, it is a story of public good, but secret evil… every secret thing is recorded… hmm....Romans 2:16 NKJV in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.And not just the stuff we DO is recorded… but the stuff we say… even the stuff we say under our breath… or the stuff we blurt out when driving and someone makes us mad.. I am verry accustomed to those kinds of idle words… not because I say them, but because people say them about me and my driving! Ezra and I got yelled at by a lady on Wednesday after growth track because of the way I parked when in a hurry… and to be fair I did park crazy in this EMPTY parking lot because I was in a hurry… but this lady lost it.Listen, Karen, I love you… but you need to know that those words you said were recorded and you will give an account for them… and I will give an account for how I responded… we will all give an account for the words we speak… they are eternally recorded…Matthew 12:36 NKJV But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.Every idle word… recorded by God, the Eternal Record keeper… That’s… frightening… because I don’t know about you, but I have said some stupid stuff in my life… It is good to fear the Lord y’all...Speaking of fearing the Lord, those who fear the Lord will have not just the bad idle words are recorded… but also the words of encouragement, and peace, and love that we speak to one another, those are recorded too…Malachi 3:16 NKJV Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, And the Lord listened and heard them; So a book of remembrance was written before Him For those who fear the Lord And who meditate on His name.In the book of Malachi there were a lot of people rebelling against God, but some people feared the Lord, and they were encouraging each other, saying “Hey, let’s obey the Lord… Let’s serve Him… Let’s worship Him… His commands are not too hard, they are not too heavy… we can do this, let’s honor God!”And for those who encouraged each other in the Lord… God says “Hey! Write their names down! Let’s get a book of remembrance going for these people… I want a record of these things, these things ought to be remembered!”So again, the question needs to be asked… what kind of book is being written on your behalf? Is it a book that you will be ashamed of when it is opened to be read in eternity?Or will it be a book covered by, surrounded by, infused by God’s glory, and His grace, and His mercy, and His love, and His goodness?Oh… here is another Holy Spirit Word for someone… The next time there is a chance to do good… to help someone, to love someone, to minister to someone, to visit someone… what is going to be written about you…Will it be written that you chose to play one more level on the video game… will it be written that you chose to sleep in an extra hour… watch an extra few episodes… went out to get a bite to eat… hung out with friends who could also be ministering to that situation...OR… OR SAINTS… WILL IT BE WRITTEN… “And Christian stopped playing the video game, got up and went to the Hospital to visit the person was sick”.“Even though he was dead tired, he recognized that that person needed love more than he needed rest”“Even though he had been helping for 12 hours, he sacrificed to help just one more hour”“Even though Amanda was stressed and at the end… she got up and left the kids with her husband to go help her church family move houses… because they needed help more than she needed rest...”“Even though So and So was dealing with there own issues… they took the phone call, and spent hours ministering the word of God through tears to a brother or sister who really needed to hear the love of God from a friend...”“Even though Mark is working 12 hour shifts, he still showed up to growth track”“Even though James worked all night, he still showed up to play drums on the worship team”“Even though they were just ministering in Chicago, Randal and Marshawnda still managed to leave early and drive four hours to serve at the church picnic”.“Even though Tucker and Megan lost their baby on Tuesday night, they still showed up on Wednesday night to worship God”.MAN CHURCH… We all have excuses… some way bigger than others… but what do you want recorded in your book?Do you want excuses written in your book? Or do you want encouragement, and grace, and ministry, and worship, and God’s goodness shining through your life written in your book...Now I am not saying there is not a time for rest, and there is not a time for leisure… and I am certainly not saying there is not a time for mourning...But what I am saying is that there is a book, written by the Great Record Keeper, with your name on it… what will be the theme of that book...Will it be a theme of God’s goodness, and grace, and mercy… shown through your life, your words, your prayers, your thoughts, and your deeds...Or will it be a book of secret sin, hatred, unforgiveness, and excuses? Man I don’t want that book, I don’t want anything close to that book… I want my book and my life and my words and my deeds to shine the LIGHT OF JESUS and HIS GOODNESS…Now I will close with this… if someone wants to come and play… I will close with this because all of this can sound kind of heavy, and kind of harsh...Especially for those of us who have ever sinned (That’s all of us, everyone has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God)… Let me close with this encouragement… God is the Great record keeper… but sometimes He forget things...ConclusionTurn On Children’s Class LampsIsaiah 43:25 NKJV “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins.Jeremiah 31:34 NKJV No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”Hebrews 8:12 NKJV For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”Hebrews 10:16 NKJV “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,”Yes, God can forget things… Not that He is forgetful, but that He choses to forget… In fact He is SO commited to forgetting our sin that the Bible says He BLOTS Them out from His book...What does that mean? Well, when writing with pen and ink, especially ancient pens, there was no way to erase… so, when you wanted to remove something, instead of erasing, you would take big blobs of ink and you would blot out with ink the things you wanted to erase, you would cover it in big blots of ink so it could not be read any more… God is the Great Record Keeper, but sometimes He choses to blot out records. Look again at Isaiah 43:25Isaiah 43:25 NKJV “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins.Isaiah 44:22 NKJV I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions... for I have redeemed you.”Acts 3:19 NKJV Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,Gospel Call - The One Thing God ForgetsAaronic Blessingיאר 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 Presenceye·va·re'·khe·kha' · Adonai · ve·yeesh'·me·re'·khaya·eir · Adonai · pa·nav · e·ley'·kha · vee·khoon·ne'·kahees·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 36:15–30NKJV
Genesis 36NKJV
Genesis 36NKJV
Genesis 2:4NKJV
Genesis 36:1NKJV
Genesis 36:15NKJV
Genesis 36:20NKJV
Genesis 36:29NKJV
Genesis 36:24NKJV
Matthew 10:29–30NKJV
Jeremiah 1:5NKJV
Psalm 56:8NKJV
Matthew 6:31–32NKJV
Daniel 7:10NKJV
Revelation 20:12NKJV
Ecclesiastes 12:14NKJV
Romans 2:16NKJV
Matthew 12:36NKJV
Malachi 3:16NKJV
Isaiah 43:25NKJV
Jeremiah 31:34NKJV
Hebrews 8:12NKJV
Hebrews 10:16NKJV
Isaiah 43:25NKJV
Isaiah 44:22NKJV
Acts 3:19NKJV
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