diff --git a/content/bible_journal/1chronicles_1:1-54.md b/content/bible_journal/1chronicles_1:1-54.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..324d18b --- /dev/null +++ b/content/bible_journal/1chronicles_1:1-54.md @@ -0,0 +1,45 @@ ++++ +title = "1 Chronicles 1:1–54" +date = "2023-08-27" ++++ + +### [Read the passage.](https://biblia.com/bible/esv/1Chronicles1.1-54) + +When I decided to study through 1 and 2 Chronicles, I didn't realize there was +an enormous genealogy in the first several chapters. But the die has been cast, +and now I give you a crash course in redemptive history. The first four verses +cover about 1,500 years of history from the beginning of Creation to the Great +Flood. The names given are from the line of promise, from which the +long-awaited Messiah would one day arise to defeat sin and death forever. + +Now might be a good time to talk about why this book exists. First and Second +Chronicles cover a lot of the same material as 1 & 2 Samuel and 1 & 2 Kings. +While it strives to be historically accurate in its account, the author is +choosy about what events are related to the reader. It was written around the +time the Jewish exiles in Babylon were allowed to return to their homeland +after 70 years, and the author, probably Ezra the scribe, wanted to remind the +people of how good God was to their forefathers in the land. He whitewashes +Israel's history a bit and leaves out or glosses over the disastrous reigns of +the wicked kings. + +From the three sons of Noah we get all of the different people groups we have +today. Japeth and his sons are listed, then Ham and his sons, and finally the +line of promise again in Shem. This is the usual pattern in this genealogy; +siblings are listed with their children, but they are only there to show how +God's elect fit into history at that time. Verse 24 lists the path from Shem to +Abram (Abraham). + +Pop quiz: how many sons did Father Abraham have? "Two" is a good guess, but +that's actually the number of times Abraham was married. After Sarah, the +mother of Isaac, died, he married again to a woman named Keturah who bore him +six sons. So the total number of sons is eight. + +The rest of the chapter traces the family tree of Esau, Israel's brother. His +descendants are called Edomites, and they had a rocky history with the +Israelites. That belligerent closeness is probably why these verses were left +in. Most of the exiles would have known how much the Edomites, so all the +details were probably for their benefite more than ours. + +* * * + +Your promises will always be fulfilled, in Your perfect timing.