ANCESTRY IS IMPORTANT. 1st Chronicles In a world of around 8 billion people, we are inclined to think each individual is not very important. Many parents are willing to abort their unborn babies if having a child is not convenient for them or will interfere with the lifestyle they want to have. Life to such people is not all that important because they do not understand that God alone gives life, not people. One of the consequences of that mindset is that euthanasia is now being practiced when pain becomes severe or people become too old to have what is considered a “good quality of life.”
These and many other moral perversions have arisen and are becoming more accepted by recent generations, who have been taught by parents and educators that there is no life after death. The result is that billions of people are going to a lost eternity deliberately blinded. What a tragedy it will be when they find they were wrong! This was never God’s intention. He wants “all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” A side effect from this attitude is that serious-minded people who know within themselves that there is a God, eternity ahead, and life has a purpose, are looking for their identity and why they are alive.
Our heritage is significant because it has been passed on to us from those who love us because we are born into their family or because a selection or portion has been reserved for us, specifically for some reason. Legal descent through families, nations, or succession gives certain rights of inheritance that are accepted in almost all human groups. Knowing one belongs to a particular group of people is a good measure of comfort.
How can older people impress upon the succeeding generations the importance of who they are and why they are alive? Most younger people live only for the moment or the few days, months, or years ahead of them personally. Their background and the history surrounding their forefathers have very little interest to them because they are not measured in dollars and cents or fame and possessions. Occasionally, there are some who, as they mature, have a little curiosity about how they came to be, where they are, and what they are as a family.
Some people enjoy searching records to trace their ancestry to find out where they came from and what those family members before us were like. This is often celebrated in “family reunions,” in which several generations from various family branches come together for feasting, fun, and family stories. We try to pass on the value of their heritage and the names of their ancestors to those people.
The two books of the Chronicles of Israel were written, likely by Ezra the priest and scribe, to establish stability in the minds of the small remnant of Jews who returned to Judea from exile. He wanted them to remember who they were in God’s eyes and where they came from. That’s why there are long lists of names. He was selective in what he wrote because instead of a summary of Jewish history like the two books of Kings, Chronicles emphasizes the spiritual heritage of the Jews. He wanted to reach their hearts and souls, not just appeal to their nationality.
Ezra, the scribe, likely the writer of the Chronicles of Israel, knew those who had been in captivity for seventy years needed to connect with their past in order to identify themselves in the present. The older people had died for the most part, and there was a need to pass on the value of their heritage to their children and grandchildren in view of the future. They had the promises of God to assure them of their continuance as a unique people.
The Chronicles, or "the events of days" (years) as it is more rightly called, are the last books of the Old Testament. It links the final events of the Old Testament to the beginning of the new covenant God has with His people - the New Testament. The two books of Chronicles summarize the spiritual history of Israel as a way of unifying those who returned from captivity. They began to be identified as a people among the nations again, so national and spiritual unity was essential in rebuilding.
When the spiritual side of events and people is emphasized rather than the historical, things will be recorded differently. The positive things will be the focus of the narrative, and the failures will either not be there or be briefly commented on. The Chronicles are written for the spiritual benefit of the readers.
Reviewing our heritage can teach us that even though there were failures in the past over which we have no control, our forebearers also had victories, and we need them now and in the future. We know we will fail in some ways, but we can rest assured that the Lord's plans and purposes are sure and steadfast. Our trust in Him is unreserved.
The writer or writers of the Kings lived before and during the exile to Babylon. He knew the people were discouraged and disappointed with themselves, their lives, and their captivity, but he wanted them to know that God had not forgotten His people and promises. Ezra wrote Chronicles for the remnant who would have wondered if God was still interested in them. The answer was that God never goes back on His word or forgets His people.
To impress this on them, he wrote 1st Chronicles, which mainly relates to the time of David's reign when Israel was a united nation and a power to be reckoned with in the Middle East. 2nd Chronicles begins with Solomon's reign until the people were carried away as captives. We learn from past successes as well as past failures. History does have a way of repeating itself when the lessons of the past are not learned. We need to know, like the returning Israelites, "Is God still interested in us even though we have failed to obey Him? Is our relationship with God still intact?" How wonderful it is to be able to read the books of the New Testament and be assured of God's ongoing care and concern for His people, and how, despite failure, we can return to live effectively for Him and walk in fellowship with Him.
The books of the Chronicles deal with the significance of the people of God being assured by the building of the temple in Jerusalem, the renewal of the work and election of the Levites and priests that was still in place, the law and the teaching of the prophets continued as the focus of God's covenant with them as an identifiable people. Obedience to the law and the prophets, the hope of the Messiah, the movements of God's people, and the people's genealogy demonstrated their link with the past. Also, some public speeches by kings like Abijah, Asa, and Jehoshaphat are found written in the Chronicles, which the earlier writers did not write in the books of Samuel and Kings.
The duplication in the scriptures is not careless redundancy but a calculated design by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit moved those "holy men of old" to write some of the same things to emphasize their importance. Repetition is a way of making sure the readers get the message right. It also impresses on people's minds, and hopefully, their hearts, that the things they may think are unimportant are important to God.
The writer of the Chronicles was selective in the events he wrote so that moral and spiritual lessons that would positively affect the people of God were passed on. The failures are mainly ignored in the Chronicles, including most of the history of the northern ten tribes as well as the failures of individuals. Victories and the importance of national and spiritual worship are emphasized. Recovery to the Lord and enthusiasm for that which pleased God was the point of recalling the past.
The writer wanted the Jews to keep their hope of the Messiah coming alive. The true Son of David, the Lord Jesus Christ, would come, and Israel would be restored. God was always interested in them, and He is in us. His grace and love to us never diminishes, nor did it with the Jews. He created the world so that we could have a family relationship with Him and ongoing fellowship when we share life with Him. He wants people who want the same as Him.