June 10, 2022: Day 123 – I Chronicles 1-5 and Psalm 26

On Sunday I described Chronicles as a slog.  Probably not a very respectful description for any book of the Bible.  But it is.  Name, after name, after name is listed and I know you are wondering what the reason and what the purpose of it is.  I told someone on Sunday that one of the primary reasons for the names is to ensure that the land that was promised to the people of God ended up in the right hands and in the right families.  As I read through these names I’m thinking there is also another reason.

It is important to remember our history.  It is important to see the hand of God and be able to identify the hand of God as such in our history.  These names and this listing of families provides an opportunity for the people of God to be able to trace their roots all the back even to Adam.  That was the purpose, it was to remind the people that God has been faithful to you from the beginning of time, and look, here is your family to whom God has been faithful.

There is probably one verse in these first five chapters that is fairly well known.  Look at I Chronicles 4:9-10 where you will find the prayer of Jabez.  I have said this in the past, but I really do see this as a bit of a selfish prayer.  I know that cultural Christianity has taken it on as something that we ought to pray, that God would enrich our borders and basically make us wealthy, but I’m not into that kind of a prayer.  I’m much more into: give us this day our daily bread, type prayer instead.