1st Chronicles 1 ANCESTORY IS IMPORTANT How is it possible for those who are older in years to impress upon the succeeding generations the importance as to 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 has very little interest to them because it is not measured in dollars and cents, or in fame and possessions. Occasionally there are some, who as they mature, have a little curiosity in how they came to be where they are and what they are as a family. It is to those people we try to pass on the value of their heritage and who their ancestors were.
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 really 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 history of Israel as a way of unifying those who returned from captivity. They began again to be identified as a people among the nations around, so the national and spiritual unity was important in the rebuilding process.
1st Chronicles has mainly to do with 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 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, the same as 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 on-going care and concern for His people, and how, in spite of 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 genealogy of the people demonstrated their link with the past. Also, some public speeches by kings like Abijah, Asa and Jehoshaphat are found written in the Chronicles that were not written by the earlier writers of the books of Samuel and Kings.
The fact of duplication in the scriptures is not careless redundancy, but a calculated design by the Holy Spirit. Those "holy men of old" were moved by the Spirit to write some of the same things as a way to emphasize their importance. Repetition is a way of making sure the readers get the message right. It also impresses on the minds of people, 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 of which he wrote so that moral and spiritual lessons were passed on that would positively affect the people of God. 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 list of names from Adam to Zerubbabel include people of faith and people of failure. That pattern is common to humanity. Why do some reject what they have been taught and deliberately go their own way? Really, only God knows what is behind the decisions like that which people make. It is plain that each person is known by God, good or bad, and every bent in one's personality, every practice and every event in a person's life has consequences that are felt by many generations that follow. Each of us needs to remember our heritage and the privileges associated with it. "The things written aforetime were written for our learning." The Lord Jesus said, "They are they which testify of Me."
Genealogies establish our family identity with its privileges and responsibilities. It also puts us in a national, and to a certain degree, political framework that has an impact on where we live and what our role in life is to be. Those born to royalty have certain obligations and expectations put upon them. Those in families that own property have certain rights because of the order of their birth in the family. Those born into God-fearing homes where spiritual things are of supreme importance are rightly expected to be different from those without a spiritual heritage. Christian's children need to know the value of their privilege is of greater importance than what they feel is expected of them. A Levite's child lived differently than other children. Their income was based on what other people were willing to give to the Lord. A servant's child was in a different place in society than the landowner's children. And yet, every one was important in the place where they were, for the benefit of all the people of God.
All of those listed in the first chapter of 1st Chronicles are traced back to Adam. From Adam to Noah, from Noah and his sons Japheth, Ham and Shem, from Abraham to Jacob, include half of human history as far as time. Human history is here identified by the names of the forefathers. Not all were bad nor were all good people of faith in God. But all are recognized by God as individuals who were responsible to Him. Some were antagonistic towards others. Some were resentful; some family members would have nothing to do with their kin.
However, in the list are those whose names are remembered and revered as people of faith. We would not be ashamed to name our sons Adam, Enoch, Noah or Abraham. Isaac and Jacob still have an appeal to new parents because of the historical accounts of their lives while they were here in their generations. Others too were honorable, trustworthy people whose names often characterized their personalities and the actions of their lives. All of us have a heritage and all of us have influence on others. When we realize the fact that what I am doing now may have an impact on the lives of others after I am dead, that makes me careful that I "do justly... love mercy and walk humbly with [my] God."