Romans 9:4-5 “Of Whom…3”

 Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

⁴ones who are Israelites, of whom [is] the adoption and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the law and the [temple] service and the promises. Of whom [are] the fathers, and out of whom [is] the Christ (that [is], according to the flesh), the One being God upon all, blessed into the ages. Amen.

Continuing to consider the privileges enjoyed by the Jewish people, Paul notes, “of whom are the fathers.” Once again the “scholars” debate endlessly exactly to whom Paul was referring, and I, of course, would maintain that no ancient person would have cared. The point is that the Jewish people had a heritage. They meticulously kept their genealogies, so that they could trace their ancestry literally all the way back to Adam, then including his son Seth, and men like Enoch and Methuselah and Noah, all the way to, of course, Abraham, then Isaac and Jacob, then including godly kings like David and Hezekiah and Josiah, and who knows? Maybe even including the prophets like Elijah and Isaiah and Daniel? You see the point – the Jews knew exactly where they came from and they had every reason to be proud of that heritage of great men with great faith.

In my life I have known a number of people who had been adopted as infants, or for some other reason had no idea “where they came from.” I’ve sadly had to watch those people at times struggle with no sense of “belonging.” “Who am I?” “Where did I come from?” “Why do I look the way I do?” “Who do I look like?” I’ve also seen the exuberant joy it brings one of those people when they finally do discover something of their heritage, when they actually find a photo of their father and learn the names of their grandparents and great grandparents and where they were from. The rest of us take for granted what a blessing it is to know exactly where we came from – to know I look like my grandfather, or, like Harry Potter, to hear people say, “You have your mother’s eyes.” It has even been a jewel for me most of my life to know my great-grandmother Hattie’s favorite hymn was “Haven of Rest.” That adds a special delight to the rare opportunities when I get to sing or play it!

Us Bixbys have the rare privilege that we can trace our ancestry all the way back to Joseph Bixby, who immigrated to America in about 1638 from the area of Suffolk, England. We even know of a man who lived as early as the 1400’s who is believed to be an early Bixby. Beyond that, it is thought that Bixby is actually a name of Danish origin, which implies that our ancestors were Vikings, That of course explains our hot tempers! All my life I have considered that quite a treasure (the ancestry, not the temper!), knowing very well that few families have such knowledge, but mine is literally nothing compared to what the Jewish people possess – all the way back to Adam!

Just my opinion, but my observation would be that our “heritage” actually imparts a significant impulse to our character. In other words, to know my grandfather was a very hard worker stirs something in my soul to say, “I should be like him.” I would suggest we do not attribute nearly enough value to the impact that grandparents have on grandchildren. We think of child-rearing as the responsibility of their parents, a very direct and deliberate undertaking. However, the influence of grandparents, I believe, is a quiet, nearly unnoticed impact in those children’s hearts. Somewhere in the ages of about 18 to 25 years old, young people decide in their own hearts who they are and what will be important to them, who they will be as people, and I suspect it is particularly during that time that the grandparents’ influence truly bears most significantly on their young minds.

Us grandparents (and great-grandparents) may not see all of the character or faith we would like to see in our young grandchildren, but I think we actually can have great hope that, when that time comes in their lives, when they are truly deciding who they are, if we have sincerely tried to be godly people, to love them, to pray for them, and just to leave them an example of character, there is a very strong tendency in them to follow our example. What is also wonderful is that we don’t even have to live to see it – and we may not, but then that doesn’t really matter to us, does it? Just so they are blessed!

Again, it’s sad for people who have no heritage at all, to live with no idea of where they come from. I’m thankful I know considerably more about my ancestry than probably most people. However, what can compare with the Jewish people and their heritage stretching clear back to Adam and including so many of the very best people this world has ever known! Theirs certainly are “the fathers!”