Introduction to 1 Chronicles

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Intro

Disney remakes (The Lion King) - Chronicles is not just a remake of Samuel/Kings - The Chronicler has a specific purpose
We are going to look at the first 9 chapters of the book tonight. This is one long section of genealogies.
I have to confess…I skimmed.

16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

That means this list of names too!
I am convinced that these 9 chapters of genealogies can and should motivate us to respond to God in worship.
They teach us that...
God is faithful to bring all those he has chosen into the kingdom through Christ, therefore we should respond in worship and faithfulness to Him.
Before we dig into the genealogies though, let’s get a little background on the book itself.

Background

1 and 2 Chronicles are not two separate books - split because of length
Listed last in the Hebrew OT
In the “Writings” - English Bible puts it under history
Other Writings are concerned with covenant life and worship - this fits Chronicles well
Written post-exile (what do you mean post-exile?)
Let’s do a quick history of the world - starting at the beginning...
God entered into a covenant with Adam when he created him - the covenant of life
When Adam broke this covenant, God instituted the covenant of grace (Gen. 3:15) which looked forward to a Savior who would fix what Adam broke through his sin
From that point, God continued to related to humanity through the covenant of grace.
There are several very important covenants in the OT that reveal more depth to the covenant of grace (Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic, Davidic, and finally the New Covenant)
Each one builds on the last - they don’t replace one another, but each one provides more information about how God was going to save his people.
The two most important covenants for our discussion of Chronicles are the Mosaic and Davidic covenants
The covenant given to Moses explicitly expressed the moral will of God according to his character - it is through this covenant that the people of God learned how to live and worship God
The covenant with David promised that David would always have an heir on the throne in Jerusalem - this covenant pointed to the kingdom of God on earth that Christ would initiate
The kingdom of Israel was unified and whole during the reigns of David and his son Solomon
but was divided into the northern kingdom (Israel) and the southern kingdom (Judah) after the death of Solomon.
The northern kingdom had a succession of evil kings and were eventually conquered and taken into exile by Assyria
Judah had a mixture of good and bad kings, but were eventually taken into captivity by Babylon because of their sin
Judah spent 70 years in exile before being allowed to return by Cyrus, the Persian king who conquered Babylon
This is the context in which the Chronicler writes
Israel is returning to their land and needs to remember how to live as God’s covenant people
He focuses specifically on Judah - because they had remained faithful to God more than the northern kingdom did - yet his desire was for ALL ISRAEL to be reunited

The Genealogy

“Adam” - the first word of Chronicles, shows that all are impacted by this book
The first chapter covers the very early history - from Adam leading to the 12 tribes of Israel
The Chronicler emphasizes three of these tribes for specific purposes: Judah is the first of these

Judah - Kingdom/Davidic line (2:3-4:23)

This is a large section devoted to the line of Judah, the third son of Israel (Jacob)
Why is Judah emphasized?

Reuben’s sin (holiness matters) 5:1

Normally the first-born would receive the place of honor - Judah was not the first-born, Reuben was
5:1 Reuben’s sin caused him to lose the blessing of the firstborn

for he was the firstborn, but because he defiled his father’s couch, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel, so that he could not be enrolled as the oldest son

The order here teaches us two things
Holiness matters to God - there are consequences to our sin
God is not bound to our understanding of how things work
Culturally it was the first-born that was the heir - yet God repeatedly bypassed the first born to work primarily through another (sovereignty)
We see this work out ultimately through Christ
The first born (Adam) failed, therefore God worked through the second Adam (Christ) to redeem his people

The main reason that Judah is highlighted though is found in 5:2

“Judah became strong among his brothers and a chief came from him”
This chief is king David
David was seen as the ideal king of God’s people - the hope for the exiled Israel was that God would once again give another king like David to restore the kingdom to its former glory
God made a covenant with David in 1 Chronicles chapter 17 that is the basis for the Chronicler’s hopes
The Davidic line ultimately culminates in Christ (though the Chronicler can’t see that far)
In the Hebrew Bible, this is the last book - the first book of the New Testament begins with a genealogy as well - which takes us all the way to Christ
They looked forward to the Savior while we look back - all who are brought into the kingdom are brought in through Christ.

Application

There was not one step through all of that history that God did not direct for his own purposes!
He chose who he wanted to work through for his own good purposes in order to redeem a people for himself.
We can read through this list of names and see how God has been faithful through generations upon generations
We should rejoice in this!
I encourage you to spend some time reflecting on how God has worked through centuries to fix what Adam broke. There is nothing outside of his control.
God is his faithful to bring all he has chosen into the kingdom through Christ (Judah)

Levi - Worship (6:1-81)

The next section covers several tribes in much less detail before moving to the next highlighted tribe: Levi
Who were the Levites?
Levites were responsible for the tabernacle in the wilderness and later the temple - Israel’s place of worship
In the wilderness they were in the center of the camp (with the tabernacle)
They are similarly placed at the center of this genealogy
Remember - the reason God took Israel out of Egypt was so they could worship him
God’s people were redeemed FOR WORSHIP

Emphasis on singing praise (6:31-32)

These are the men whom David put in charge of the service of song in the house of the LORD after the ark rested there. 32 They ministered with song before the tabernacle of the tent of meeting until Solomon built the house of the LORD in Jerusalem, and they performed their service according to their order.

The Chronicler spends quite a bit of time talking about the singers that were appointed to serve in the temple (I have always enjoyed Chronicles for that reason)
This highlights the fact that praise is an important part of worship
We can express joy and celebration, or even pain and sadness through song in a way that can’t be done any other way - God designed us this way
Yet the praise needs to come from a heart that is truly grateful for what God has done
The Chronicler repeatedly uses the phrase “with a whole heart” in regards to how the people were to worship and respond to God
Jesus reinforces this when talking to the women at the well in John 4

those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Lip service is not enough - God demands our hearts!
Heartfelt singing is important to the Chronicler, but so is proper worship in the temple

Emphasis on temple worship (6:49)

49 But Aaron and his sons made offerings on the altar of burnt offering and on the altar of incense for all the work of the Most Holy Place, and to make atonement for Israel, according to all that Moses the servant of God had commanded.

The way that this was to be done had been clearly spelled out in Moses’ writings
The Chronicler wanted the returning exiles to worship God in the way that God had determined
They had spent a generation picking up the culture from the Babylonians, they needed to be sure that did not pollute their worship of the true God

Application

God cares how we worship!
WCF 21.1 says:
The Westminster Confession of Faith: Edinburgh Edition Chapter XXI. Of Religious Worship, and the Sabbath-Day

But the acceptable way of worshipping the true God is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshipped according to the imaginations and devices of men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible re presentation, or any other way not prescribed in the holy scripture.

How do you respond to the faithfulness of God? Does your heart rejoice in what he has provided for you in Christ? Do you care more about how you want to worship than how God wants to be worshiped?
God is faithful to bring all he has chosen into the kingdom through Christ, therefor we should respond in worship

Benjamin - Faithfulness (8:1-40)

Once again here, the Chronicler briefly touches on several other tribes before highlighting the tribe of Benjamin
Why Benjamin?
The faithful Benjamites stayed with Judah during the kingdom division - all other tribes rebelled with Israel (northern kingdom)
Rehoboam was the son of Solomon and the rightful heir to the throne - Benjamin chose to follow the plan of God rather than the wisdom of man

Faithfulness matters - Benjamin in a place of honor

The Chronicler places Benjamin in a place of honor because they remained faithful
We will receive rewards for faithfulness! Our own good works cannot save us - only Christ’s works can do that - yet we will be rewarded for how we faithfully serve our Lord
Colossians 3

23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.

Galatians 6:9

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

20  The LORD dealt with me according to my righteousness;

according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me.

21  For I have kept the ways of the LORD,

and have not wickedly departed from my God.

22  For all his rules were before me,

and his statutes I did not put away from me.

23  I was blameless before him,

and I kept myself from my guilt.

24  So the LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness,

according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

David knows he isn’t perfect! But he also knows that insofar as he is obedient to God’s commands he will be rewarded.
This is a good thing and should be part of what motivates us to obey our God.

Yet God is always willing to welcome home the wayward sons

Benjamin actually showed up earlier in the genealogy as well - part of the tribe of Benjamin went with Israel in the division
This is another major theme of the Chronicler - repentance
God is willing to accept those who will turn from their sin and back to him
2 Chronicles

14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Repentance means turning from sin - we can’t just say “I’m sorry” and continue in our sin
1 John

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Don’t toy with sin! Kill it! Oh how much better it is to be faithful to God and receive the rewards he has promised.
Because God is faithful to bring all he has chosen into the kingdom, we should be faithful to him

Conclusion

9 So all Israel was recorded in genealogies, and these are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel. And Judah was taken into exile in Babylon because of their breach of faith. 2 Now the first to dwell again in their possessions in their cities were Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the temple servants. 3 And some of the people of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh lived in Jerusalem

9:3 - Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, Mannaseh, and Levi all return after exile (to Jerusalem) -
God’s intent was for all Israel to be restored (Ephraim and Mannaseh were part of the Northern Kingdom)
The Chronicler though, had included all of the Northern Kingdoms in the genealogies as well - showing that the kingdom would not be complete until ALL that God intended to restore were restored
In the NT that broadens to include even Gentiles
Galatians

28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

We get to see how the hope of the Chronicler (in the line of David) is fulfilled in Christ and then expanded to the whole world
As those in Christ, we are brought into this genealogy - this is our history as well as Israel’s!
There are countless stories of people doing ancestry tests to uncover where they came from. Often these change people’s lives - maybe they found out they have an ancestor from China or Brazil or Botswana and didn’t know it! Maybe they gain a sense of pride, knowing where they’re from (my new glass). Maybe they take a trip they wouldn’t otherwise have taken. Knowing where you’re from can change your life.
God has been working out his plan of salvation from Adam until now.
God has included us in his plan…all of these names point to God’s faithfulness to bring us into the kingdom for his glory and our good. This should change our lives.
God is faithful to bring all those he has chosen into the kingdom, as those who have been brought in, let us respond in worship and faithfulness to the one who saved us.
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