April 25 – 1 Chronicles 3-5

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from 1 Chronicles 3-5. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word. Also above in the tabs is a link to the Bible reading plan.

Our reading today was another one of those difficult ones filled with mostly names. Many of the names though have some meaning, especially to the original readers of the text. These chapters serve as an introduction to the books of Chronicles. These two books serve as a history of the Nation of Israel and later Israel and Judah. This list lays out the names of important people as well as their kings and leaders.

What I find fascinating is two things. We are given names that their indicate history. For us American’s this list would be similar to reading the names of all forty-four presidents of the United States. It is from history we learn the lessons are ancestors did. It is from history, if we pay attention, we learn not to repeat their mistakes. It is from history that we define tradition, values, and memories to cherish. For us reading these names can be hard, because outside what we read in the Bible we have emotional attachment. But for the original readers, memories, thoughts, and emotions conjure up just as when we read a list of US presidents.

The other thing this list does for the reader is provide some foreshadowing. In our chronological reading of the Bible we are only at the point where David is becoming king. We have not experienced the majority of his kingship let alone his sons, their reign or anything that follows. But here in these chapters we see that the nation is ripped in two. How does that happen? We will soon find out. So hopefully for you this is a great introduction into what is about to happen.

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