These were the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. The sons of Judah were Er, Onan, and Shelah.
--1 Chronicles 2:1-3a (NKJV)
From the daily Bible reading on July 3, 2013 of Psalm 119:1-8; Ephesians 5:1-21; 1 Chronicles 2.
First and Second Chronicles were originally one book, with the title in Hebrew meaning "the words of the days" (or "the affairs of the days"). The books, most widely accepted as being authored by Ezra, cover the entire history of the people from Adam through to King Cyrus allowing them to return from Babylonian captivity. For this reason the Chronicles taken together can be considered as a capsule edition of the Old Testament. But in these pages Ezra tries to offer the people hope while giving them a firm understanding of and grounding in their history as they return to the land of their fathers. They have been gone for 70 years. Most would have been born in Babylon and known nothing but captivity. Ezra wanted to encourage them by reminding them of Israel's more glorious days from the past, and thus give them hope for a brighter future.
A good bit of the first book of the Chronicles deals with the genealogies of the people, tracing from father to son all the way from Adam to David and beyond. Many mothers are listed, too, fully identifying the lineages. Family ties were critical to early man, for they often had little else they could depend on in tough times. Having a known line of ancestry was especially important to the children of Israel, something Ezra emphasized as he drew the lines from Adam to Abraham to the twelve sons of Jacob, and from Judah to David. Thanks to the Gospel writers, we can now extend that line from David to Jesus, our Savior, born of the house of David in the city of David. But what does all this genealogy mean to us today, especially to those of us not born of Jewish heritage, to Gentiles? What does it matter being able to draw a line connecting all the dots from Adam to David to Jesus for a people who may not be able to trace back three or four generations, who may not even know who all their grandparents are?
One of God's commandments as handed down to all of us through Moses is to honor our father and our mother. Now while Jesus freed us from the oppression (and futility!) of Mosaic Law, He instructed we must still obey God's commandments, the greatest of which is to love God with all that is within us (and second only to this is to love others as we love ourselves, as Christ loves us). If we truly love God, we will strive to obey His voice and keep His commandments, including honoring all those who have gone before us, our mothers and fathers further back than we can remember, those who made great sacrifices so we could get to where we are today. This can be even more meaningful as we celebrate our nation's (the USA's) independence, gained by the sacrifices of our fathers and mothers over two hundred years ago. Just like the children of Israel, we should honor all those who went before us, and in doing so honor God, our one true Father. Amen.
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Thank You Lord for all the rich blessings You have poured out over this great land and its people! Thank You for the sacrifices of our fathers and mothers throughout the ages. May we never forget to honor them all, those who have gone before us and those still living with us. Please, merciful Lord, do not loose Your wrath upon us! Please speak to the hearts of our leaders so that they might hear Your voice and honor Your commandments. The leaders of Israel led their people to sin and the people paid the price. Please spare us from their fate by touching our leaders that they might repent and return to the ways of Jesus. In the most glorious name of Jesus our Lord and Master we pray. Amen.
A good bit of the first book of the Chronicles deals with the genealogies of the people, tracing from father to son all the way from Adam to David and beyond. Many mothers are listed, too, fully identifying the lineages. Family ties were critical to early man, for they often had little else they could depend on in tough times. Having a known line of ancestry was especially important to the children of Israel, something Ezra emphasized as he drew the lines from Adam to Abraham to the twelve sons of Jacob, and from Judah to David. Thanks to the Gospel writers, we can now extend that line from David to Jesus, our Savior, born of the house of David in the city of David. But what does all this genealogy mean to us today, especially to those of us not born of Jewish heritage, to Gentiles? What does it matter being able to draw a line connecting all the dots from Adam to David to Jesus for a people who may not be able to trace back three or four generations, who may not even know who all their grandparents are?
One of God's commandments as handed down to all of us through Moses is to honor our father and our mother. Now while Jesus freed us from the oppression (and futility!) of Mosaic Law, He instructed we must still obey God's commandments, the greatest of which is to love God with all that is within us (and second only to this is to love others as we love ourselves, as Christ loves us). If we truly love God, we will strive to obey His voice and keep His commandments, including honoring all those who have gone before us, our mothers and fathers further back than we can remember, those who made great sacrifices so we could get to where we are today. This can be even more meaningful as we celebrate our nation's (the USA's) independence, gained by the sacrifices of our fathers and mothers over two hundred years ago. Just like the children of Israel, we should honor all those who went before us, and in doing so honor God, our one true Father. Amen.
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Thank You Lord for all the rich blessings You have poured out over this great land and its people! Thank You for the sacrifices of our fathers and mothers throughout the ages. May we never forget to honor them all, those who have gone before us and those still living with us. Please, merciful Lord, do not loose Your wrath upon us! Please speak to the hearts of our leaders so that they might hear Your voice and honor Your commandments. The leaders of Israel led their people to sin and the people paid the price. Please spare us from their fate by touching our leaders that they might repent and return to the ways of Jesus. In the most glorious name of Jesus our Lord and Master we pray. Amen.
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