September 29, 2024

Walk Through the Bible: I Chronicles

Passage: I Chronicles 1:1-4; 2:1-2; 3:1; 4:1; 8:1, 33; 9:1-2, 10; 29:10-19

Introduction to I Chronicles.

I and II Chronicles are two of the most neglected books in the Bible. All of those dear saints who set out in January to read straight through the Bible in a year, if they make it past Leviticus they usually die in the Sahara Desert of I Chronicles. If the genealogies don’t get them then the redundancy after reading I and II Samuel and I and II Kings will.

Many find themselves asking, “I just read this, why do I need to read it again?” It is unfortunate that our English Bibles don’t follow the outline of the Hebrew Bible. In the Hebrew Bible, Kings and Chronicles do not stand side by side. In the Hebrew Bible Chronicles is at the very end. Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Chronicles.

The Chronicles cover the same history as the books of II Samuel and 1-II Kings.

I Chronicles mirrors the history of II Samuel which is about David.

II Chronicles mirrors the history of I and II Kings which is about Solomon and the kings.

But they are not the same. Over fifty percent of the material in Chronicles is unique, not found in II Samuel or 1 and II Kings.

Just as the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John each offer a different perspective on the life of Jesus, so the books of Chronicles recount Israel’s history with a different perspective and purpose in mind.

I and II Kings gives more attention to Israel, to the northern kings and their apostacy.

I and II Chronicles gives more attention to Judah, to the southern kings and their apostacy.

The books of Kings emphasize the interaction of kings and prophets.

The Chronicles emphasize the interaction of kings and priests.

The two audiences are different. Samuel and Kings were written around 550 BC, in the wake of Jerusalem being sacked by the Babylonians. Chronicles was composed over a hundred years later as many Judeans had returned to Jerusalem from captivity in Babylon to rebuild the temple and the city walls.

The Chronicler is retelling the story of Israel to an exiled generation of Israelites. He is showing them that as a small remnant, they are still God’s people, and they still have a place in God’s redemptive history.