Day #114

Sermon - Audio
1 Chronicles 1-2 - Audio
1 Chronicles 1-2 - Reading

Daily Insights - Please Comment

1 Chronicles as a chapter in the master story of the Bible.

The Bible presents the story of God’s covenant dealings with the human race. In the OT, this was mainly the account of Israel’s history. First Chronicles tells the story of God’s dealings with Israel during a crucial stage of its history, and the king during that era, David, is a symbolic figure—a foreshadowing of the ultimate Davidic king, Christ. Because the opening genealogies in the book trace the human race from Adam through David, there is a sense in which 1 Chronicles is a summary of the master story of the Bible up to the day of the author. ESV LIterary Bible

•The book of 1 Chronicles starts with 9 chapters of genealogies. These genealogies serve a number of purposes: 1. By beginning with Adam they show that the history of God’s covenant people goes back to the beginning of time (notice the difference between Matthew’s genealogy that begins with Abraham [Matthew is written to a Jewish audience] and Luke’s genealogy that begins with Adam [Luke is written to a Gentile audience]). 2. The process of narrowing by God choosing certain lines and not others shows God’s call and election of the people of Israel. 3. They portray what is important in the coming book. In the case of Chronicles there is a strong concern about both he monarchy and the priesthood, so both are highlighted in the genealogies.

• • The overall concern of 1 and 2 Chronicles is, “What makes for a good society?”. The genealogies begin to answer that question is subtle ways.
• • 1.10: One of the necessities of a good society in Chronicles is to have brave men who will defend it courageously. Here we are introduced to the first mighty man.
• • 1.17-27: Shem’s line is the line from which Israel will emerge.
• • 1.19: Peleg means “division” The time Peleg is born is the time of the tower of Babel.
• • 1.24: Abram appears in the genealogy and the story of Israel begins to come into focus. The writer of Chronicles does not deal much with Abraham because he sees Jacob/ Israel as the most important of the three patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob).
• • 1.43: The people of Edom (Esau’s descendants) form into a nation long before Israel. God’s promise must have seemed slow in coming to his chosen people.
• • 2.3ff: The writer of Chronicles is most concerned with the development of the kingdom of Judah and the Davidic kings. This shows both in the genealogies and in the fact that the only time kings of the northern kingdom are mentioned is in connection with the kings of Judah.
• • 2.3: Judah is placed in first place, showing the importance of the tribe--even though Judah was not the firstborn.
• • 2.7: Each line in a family has its struggles. In Judah’s line we find “Achar” or Achan who took things from the city of Jericho and so brought God’s wrath on the people (Joshua 7).
• • 2.10-17: By putting “Ram” first in line, even though he was not the firstborn, the Davidic line is again highlighted and shown to be most important.
• • 2.12: Boaz is the Boaz from the story of Ruth and Naomi (see the Old Testament book of Ruth)
• • 2.14: By putting David in the 7th birth spot the writer highlights David since the number seven is the number of perfection.
• • 2.20: Bezalel was one of the gifted artisans who worked on the tabernacle. The writer of Chronicles puts David’s line and the line of those connected with Israel’s worship close together because of the emphasis in the book.
• • 2.42-54: Caleb, the faithful spy (He and Joshua spied out the land the first time), also has faithful children who settle much of the land. The names of his children are often place names in Israel--showing that they were the head and at times the founders of those places. This passage, because of its wide range of places that cover both Judah and Israel point to a full restoration after exile.