Noble beginnings

I have a cousin who together with her husband, named their first son Jubal. It's an unusual choice and unfortunately doesn't have the nicest ring in English. But, I understand why she chose it because it has an excellent heritage. Jubal is a Bible name, from Genesis 4. Five generations after Cain, Jubal is born to Lamech and becomes the Father of all who played stringed instruments and pipes. Essentially, the Father of Music. A good name, a noble choice for a son who you hope will grow up with a passion and talent for music.

Did you know Jubal had a brother? And a half brother?

The half brother was Tubal-Cain, and he became the Father of metal working. I don't know if that means he was an artisan making goblets and candlesticks or whether her took it in another direction making armour and weapons. Either way, there is no doubt in the importance of metal working to human history. (BTW, I don't think this verse implies that iron working and bronze working are in the same era, just that both trace their noble beginnings to this man)

The other brother was Jabal. He was the Father of all those who live in tents and keep herds. Essentially the Father of Nomadic Pastoralists. His ancestor Cain was the first to build a city, and Jabal the first to free them from it.

Genesis 4:26b At that time people began to call on the name of the Lord.

After five generations of separation from God, music, nomadism and metal working, are three things that led to the people's renewed calling on God. (also potentially relevant are the new line of Seth, and the violent threats of Lamech)

This is where I am going with this. God the creator, who continued to walk with humanity as through these early developments, considered nomadic pastoralism to be equally important to our futures, and to our capacity to know God, as music is. If you have never experienced the release of a time in the wilderness, a time when the physical dependance on God was as real as the spiritual, or the life-lessons that come from the full time care of an animal, then you are missing something that could be as important to understanding the heart of God and our relationship with him, as Music is.

Music has long been part of Christianity. We have songs for the different seasons and stories of our history. Songs for the different eras of life and the different moods of spiritual experience.

Is it hard to believe that the secrets of Nomadism hold as many truths and lessons? Most of our ancestors knew this better than we do. They had more dirt, more plants and more animals in their every day lives. They also had more freedom of time, with out staggered lunch breaks and timetables. There is even the long-forgotten Christian tradition of pilgrimage.

There were two brothers, Jubal and Jabal. The father of pastoralism and the father of music. It's not pleasant to try to picture humanity without music. Or Christianity without music. How much richer would our experience be if we could regain the lost and forgotten riches of living in tents and herding animals?

There were two brothers, Jubal and Jabal. The father of pastoralism and the father of music.