I am in the middle of a mission to read through the Bible. Doing so every couple of years is good for the soul.
If you’ve done this, you have no doubt realized that some parts of the Bible are easier to engage with than others. I enjoy relearning the unfolding of Christian history in accounts such as Genesis, Exodus, Judges and the Samuel and Kings books.
But then I reached 1 Chronicles. I have to confess: I was starting to glaze over.
Genealogy
The first 12 chapters are a tedious litany of genealogy and army counts from Adam to David. There are hundreds of odd-sounding names rolling on through 19 pages of small print.
I was fighting the temptation to skip over it. I couldn’t help wondering why it is important for me to know that Heber fathered Japhlet, Shomer and Hotham, and Japhlet fathered Pasach, Bimhal and Ashvath and so on. Besides, didn’t we cover a lot of this in 1 and 2 Samuel and Kings?
So I sought out a little background information. The research reminded me that the Chronicles were written after the exile of the Jews. As new generations were allowed to return to their homeland after many decades away, the Chronicles served to reeducate the people as to their heritage and the identity and providence of the one true God. It also laid out the lineage that would lead to the promised birth of the Savior.
Purpose and hope
For the people, it restored their purpose and hope.
Ah, the little light bulb in my small brain clicked on. Chronicles can and should still do this for us. In fact, it should be even more meaningful to us. We have the advantage of knowing the Savior has indeed come. Here is the generational documentation that laid the groundwork for it. The Israelites of the fifth century B.C. only had the promise. We have the reality. We can experience forgiveness of sins. We have purpose in life. There is a Higher Power who loves us despite our faults.
So it turns out there is a reason we should know that Elpaal fathered Eber, Misham, Shemed, Beriah and Shema, because eventually we get to Jesus. In a way, those first chapters of Chronicles are kind of an index of the Bible story. It’s just in the middle of the book instead of at the end.
I guess the Great Author knows exactly what He’s doing.
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