Chronicles starts with several genealogies. Now I have to admit I do not find these very exciting, so we will move through these opening chapters fairly quickly. Before we do that, just a word on the "boring" bits of the Bible. I guess we all have sections of Scripture that we just don't understand, that don't appeal to us, that we find boring. How should we deal with this? Well the first thing is to admit the reality of the situation. Then we need to recognise that the problem lies with us, not with God's word. All scripture is there for a reason, it is my lack of spiritual insight that is the reason why I don't appreciate parts of it. Finally we should ensure that we do read all of the Bible, ie we don't just ignore the bits we don't like or understand. If we do this, then at some point the Holy Spirit may give us the insight that we currently lack. I remember when doing this blog and the next book I was due to do was Leviticus. Now up to that point Leviticus was not one of my favourite books and I was not looking forward to going through it. However, that time I found I had a new appreciation of its meaning and its significance in the way that it pointed forward to the atoning sacrifice of Jesus. So let us make sure we read all the Bible, one day we will be rewarded for it!
The writer is emphasising the continuity of God's plan, and God's plan is enacted through people. The destruction of the temple and the exile of many to Babylon had been traumatic and a great disruption. The writer is wanting to emphasise the continuity of God's plan. So we start right back with Adam. We should also note that genealogies in the Bible (and in general in antiquity) were usually given for a purpose other than a purely chronological record. That is why there are sometimes gaps, and why two genealogies referring to the same person may have differences. The genealogies in Matthew and Luke are an example of this.
So here we start right back with Adam and verses 1-4 cover the period up to the flood. Note that Cain and Abel are omitted. This is because it is the chosen line that the writer is concerned with, ie the line through which God was working.
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