Intro to 1 Chronicles


Then all Israel gathered together to David at Hebron and said, “Behold, we are your bone and flesh. 2 In times past, even when Saul was king, it was you who led out and brought in Israel. And the Lord your God said to you, ‘You shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be prince over my people Israel.’ ” 
1 Chronicles 11:1-2

If you are up to date on your Bible in a year plan you are probably celebrating. Celebrating that you have been keeping pace for nearly 50% of the year, but also probably due to the fact that you have completed the first nine chapters of 1 Chronicles. Possibly you are questioning what the point was to record the genealogies of the Israelites to the extent that the book does. One thing to keep in mind is that the chapters you have just read is that they are telling us the history of the people of God. It is incredibly important for them to know who was and who was not from the seed of Abraham and, therefore, not an inheritor of the promises. Those who were on the outside looking in, would not be able to participate in all the aspects of the Jewish law as well. 

But more importantly, the genealogies help us to trace the ancestral line that leads to the Messiah. An ancestry that Jesus is a part of which further reinforces the fact that God is a covenant making God and a covenant keeping God! But lest we think that Chronicles is all about tracing this promised seed, we see a turning point in the 10th chapter, when we switch from historical genealogies to historical narrative. It provides us with another perspective of events which can be found in some of the other Old Testament book. In fact, the books of Genesis, Samuel, and Kings, when combined, account for about 50% of the Chronicles. So, we get further clarity on many of the events in the history of Israel.

One final point I would like to make on our survey of 1 Chronicles, is that purity and holiness is stressed throughout the book. For example, the genealogies are not found in the other Old Testament writings and they highlight the need for the Israelites to maintain religious and racial purity. They were not to intermarry, nor were they to forget their calling. This is further underlined when we start to read about the temple and how the people were to worship God. This is a unique relationship that God’s people have with Him and they were to maintain purity in approaching Him as they adhered to the Mosaic laws. Lastly, with the anointing of David to be king and all of the victories he had would have encouraged the original readers, Israelites who were returning from Babylonian captivity, to have faith in God to help them resettle the land He had given to them. I pray that as we read this book, we can rejoice with the original readers on the faithfulness of God and respond by walking in obedience to His Word just as they were called to return to holiness, faith, and worship.

Grace and Peace,
Alex Galvez

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