I had an interesting conversation with Terry the other day regarding family as one of the main themes (if not the guiding structure) of the Scriptures.  Certainly in the book of Genesis, family comes in very prominent from the get go.  There is a term in Hebrew that is translated - "the book or records of the generations of" from the Hebrew word "toledot" which most scholars believe is the guiding structure for the book of Genesis.  You can see this in the folloiwng usages of the term: 

Toledot Structure of Genesis

1.      Creation                                                    1:1—2:3

2.      Toledot of heavens & earth                      2:4—4:26

3.      Toledot of Adam                                      5:1-6:8

4.      Toledot of Noah                                       6:8-9:29

5.      Toledot of Shem, Ham, Japheth               10:1-11:9

6.      Toledot of Shem                                       11:10-11:26

7.      Toledot of Terah                                       11:27-25:11

8.      Toledot of Ishmael                                    25:12-25:18

9.      Toledot of Isaac                                        25:19—35:29

10.  Toledot of Esau                                        36:1-8; 36:9-37:1

11.  Toledot of Jacob                                       37:2-50:26

What are the implication of this? One is that each generation has its own opportunity to serve God (or forsake God) during his or her generation marking thier imprint in their family's walk with God. Some lines are ungldly (Cain), others are godly (Abel & Seth). And yet God also worked in specific families such as the generation of Abraham, the family of Isaac, and the large family of Jacob. As you read each generation, what is the biblical lessons that each generation must learn? How did God teach that generation those lessons of faith?

Each on of our families goes through their own specific trials of faith. What lessons of faith do you relate to amongst the different families in Genesis? May God teach us all to walk with Him as Enoch, Abraham, Jacob and the other patriarchs did so many years ago.