"And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters. And Salah lived thirty years and begat Eber: And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters...." and so forth - Genesis 11:12-15
I read it and then I stopped and read some of it again. It had suddenly dawned on me that if these guys were getting married somewhere around age thirty and they were living for four hundred some years afterwards, that they were probably married for about 400 years. WOW! Nowadays, it's really neat for people to celebrate their 25th anniversary and it is very rare for people to make it to their 50th. Back then they were celebrating their 300th and 400th anniversaries. (Now there's a line of decorations that Party City discontinued!) :-)
The incredible thing is, it wasn't just Shem or Arphaxah (what a name) that were married that long. It was generations upon generations. What a legacy. I pray that in my family, 50th wedding anniversaries won't be surprising. What a legacy of generational faithfulness. Wouldn't it be something if people took the line, "til death do us part," seriously. Noah's descendants did and I don't even think they said that line. Marriage is a beautiful and glorious thing. I know it's hard and there are times that storms rage, but it is spectacular to see people sticking with each other through all the difficulties.
By the way, those guys getting married around age 30, would be the equivilant to getting married somewhere around age 7 ratio wise. No, you should NOT get married that young, but the younger you get married, the more years you have together - if with God's help you stick with it. (Last Sunday, we listened to a message from the NCFIC Marriage Conference on getting married young. It was so good! I would highly reccomened the mp3s or C.D.s from that conference.)
Yeah, I really like this picture. (That's why I keep posting it. :-)
5 comments:
A 400 year anniversary is pretty amazing to think about. I have been blessed to attend my grandparents' 50th anniversary on one side of the family, and my grandparents' 60th on the other! But as you said, it is rare today.
-Peter B.
Deo Vindice
That's neat!
AWESOME! That's all I have in my mind. And I never thought about it that way.
The only 50th anniversary I have ever attended was for my Great-Grandparents on my Dad's Mom's side. I only slightly remember it because I was only about 5 years old, but it was very neat since they had 10 children and I don't know how many grandchildren. I was either the first or second great-grandchild. It's a pretty incredible legacy.
I'm glad you got the letter!
Heather
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