1 Chronicles 1:1-4 - Genealogies

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.

1 Chronicles - Introduction

Like Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles form a single book in the Hebrew bible.

The books were written sometime after the exiles returned to Israel from Babylon. There is a tradition that the author was Ezra, though we cannot be certain about this as the book does not state who the author was.

It was written around the middle of the fifth century BC. The Israelites had returned and there was much rebuilding to be done, both of the temple and the city itself. The author of Chronicles was concerned that Israel would learn from the mistakes of the past. 

Chronicles covers much of the same ground as 1 and 2 Kings, but from a slightly different perspective. Material is taken from Samuel and Kings, and other books of the Old Testament, including  Judges, Ruth, Psalms and some of the prophets. In addition there is reference to non-Biblical sources such as the book of the kings of Israel and Judah, or Judah and Israel.

One concern was the lack of a king, as Israel now existed under Persian influence. Part of the purpose of Chronicles is to show that the Law, the Prophets and the Temple were far more important, especially obedience to these.

David and Solomon's lives are dealt with from a very idealistic point of view, with no reference to the "bad" episodes in their lives, eg David's adultery and murder. In doing this the writer of Chronicles is painting a picture of what the Messiah would be like. He is looking forward. So he is not writing a book to assess the overall value of David or Solomon as a king, but rather to see what they show us about the coming Messiah.

Proverbs 20 - The depths of the human heart

There are some themes that are repeated several times in proverbs. Verses 3 and 4 contains two of them: (i) the value of avoiding quarrels; and (ii) the folly of laziness (also v13).

Proverbs also recognises the depths of the human heart, verse 5 being one example of this as does 27. Proverbs also recognises the relationship between the human soul and mind and the mind of God. 

People often claim to care (v6) or declare that they have undying devotion to someone or something, but the reality is often very different. True love and commitment is a rare thing and is to be greatly valued when it is found.

Honesty (v10) is another repeated theme.

Proverbs demonstrates an astuteness about business and the human heart. Christians are not meant to be naive. 

Proverbs 19 - Wisdom

There are many fine nuggets in this chapter.

Verse 3 is so true. When things go wrong we always look for someone else to blame, and if we cannot find anyone then God will do. Atheists rage against the Lord (who doesn't exist according to them, so why bother raging against Him?), but our own folly is responsible for most of our troubles.

Worldly relationships are so shallow. A wealthy person will have many "friends" (v4) as will a ruler or someone who gives gifts (v6). Conversely a poor person will find he has few friends (v4,7). God's relationship with us is infinitely deeper, and He wants us to have a similar commitment to each other.

Wisdom and understanding bring life and prosperity (v8). Wisdom yields patience and a wise person is not always looking to get even or get his own back (v11).

Jesus said that what we do for least we do for Him. This is an echo of verse 17. It is a Biblical principle that surest financial foundation we can lay is to be generous towards others.

While wisdom will bring prosperity, the chapter is also clear that it is better to be righteous and poor than rich and wicked (1, 22).

Hard work bears fruit, but laziness will lead to ruin.

Proverbs 18 - Listen

v1 reads quite differently in the NIV and ESV, though the meaning is not that far apart. We were made to live in fellowship with God and with each other. Sin separates us from God and causes us to isolate ourselves from each other. 

Speech is a clear sign of fools and wickedness. It is characterised by causing quarrels, lies, gossip, and lots of it!

The rich think that money protects them, but the righteous trust in God, and is a far surer source of security.

The condition of our heart is crucial. A proud heart leads to our downfall, but humility brings honour. This goes right against what society teaches us, but think about it. A godless man thinks that he is the one who determines his destiny, so he seeks to exalt himself. A godly man knows that everything is in God's hands, so he humbles himself before the Lord.

Casting the lot settles disputes. Why is this? It is because the decision is given to something else other than the two sides of the dispute. Men are constantly seeking to become their own judges, but then we end up judging against each other and disputes arise. We need a higher authority. Our society is quickly abandoning all higher authorities, but this will lead only to ruin.

Proverbs 17 - How to appear wise

Back to Proverbs for a while. Interestingly enough the chapter starts off with two proverbs that kind of follow on from what we have just read Jesus say about who and who will not enter the kingdom of God. Peace and quiet are worth more than material wealth if there is strife, and it is better to be a faithful servant than a disgraceful son. Likewise mocking the poor may seem a safe thing to do, but in fact it is extremely dangerous. For all were made by God and so we show contempt for their maker. This is consistent with Jesus' words that whatever we do for the least of people we do for Him.

There are several other themes in this chapter.One is our attitude to strife and quarrels. Some people love to stir up trouble and take pride in doing so, this is a foolish attitude. Love will seek to overlook an offense. A wise person is one who learns from a rebuke. Starting a quarrel is a dangerous thing, one has no idea where it might end. In fact to love a quarrel is to love sin.

Our words are another common theme. A perverse tongue leads us into trouble. A sign of wisdom is to use words with care.

Finally verse 28 is on of my favourites, even a fool appears wise when he remains silent.

Luke 18:31-43 - The Man who came to die

Always remember that the section headings (and indeed the chapter and verse numbers) were not part of the original text. Jesus is about to tell His disciples that He will be handed over to die. This comes immediately after verses 29 and 30 where Jesus has told them that those who have left homes and families will be amply rewarded. We need to hold these two sides together. Similarly on the matter of prosperity we need to beware of becoming unbalanced. There are some who focus unduly on the prosperity verses in the Bible, ignoring the rest. This can lead to serious error. But we need to beware of ignoring what the Bible says about prosperity. The Bible talks about prosperity, it talks about the realities of life where things go wrong (and we go wrong!), and, perhaps most importantly, it talks about us sharing in Christ's sufferings. We need to hold all of this in balance. The best way to do this is to read the whole of the Bible!

Jesus knew where He was going. He knew that the plan was for Him to go to Jerusalem and be handed over, for the prophets had clearly foretold this. Jesus would be flogged, killed and then would rise again. At no point was Jesus surprised by what unfolded. However, this was not true of the disciples who at this stage did not understand a word of what Jesus was saying.

Although Jesus was on the way to the most momentous event in history He still had time to heal people. On the way to Jericho He healed a beggar of his blindness.