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Saturday, August 24, 2013

The Believer's Big Gulp of Fresh Air



1 Chronicles 1:1, 34  1"Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah, Shem, Ham and Japheth." (34) "Abraham became the father of Isaac. The sons of Isaac were Esau and Israel."

2 Timothy 3:16 "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness"

It can be a great temptation to skip over the genealogies of scripture or books such as 1 Chronicles.  However if we believe the words of 2 Timothy 3:16 - "All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable…", then we must believe that books like 1 Chronicles are of great significance for at least four reasons. 

1. For one thing, 1 Chronicles sits in our English Bibles like a much needed gulp of fresh air that you would breath in the midst of a marathon.  Genesis through 2 Kings represents over 3,000 years of time, and so 1 Chronicles gives the reader a much needed review.  

2. Secondly, the pattern of 1 Chronicles is that you are getting a view of humanity's history from how God sees it.  Thus in the opening chapters you see the genealogy developing around Abraham and David - a literary feature that is utilized by Matthew in his opening genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1:1-17.  

3. The third observation we can make is the fact that 1 Chronicles demonstrates history and life to have a purpose.  God's purposes revealed through Abraham and David guide the genealogical listing, which again functions much the same way in Matthew's listing to show all history and life focusing upon Jesus Christ.  

4. Fourthly, it is believed 1 and 2 Chronicles were originally one book, with Ezra and Nehemiah being one book, thus making all four books the product of Ezra the scribe, whose purpose was to provide a continuous history of God's people from creation to Exile.  You and I need scripture to remind us of who we are and whose we are and where we are at in God's plan.  The whole point of all this discussion is to help you see that God does not waste words, and that all His written words point to the Living Word - Jesus Christ. (Luke 24:44)  

John 7 gives us an example of how the scriptures point to the identity of Jesus Christ. The Pharisees claimed to had read the scriptures, and yet they missed their Messiah.  Only by grace through faith can you and I take scripture's words at face value and conclude Jesus Christ to be Savior, Lord and Treasure.  May our lives, like the Bible, point to and be about the Lord Jesus Christ.