- Intro: Genealogies from Adam to Saul (1 Chronicles 1–10)
- Davids' Reign (1 Chronicles 11–29)
- Solomon's Reign (2 Chronicles 1–9)
- The Divided Kingdom to the Return from Babylonian Exile (2 Chronicles 10–36)
1 Chronicles 1–2
So the history of the Bible in names begins! If you want a little more background, this article about what is important in 1-2 Chronicles (and why it's different than Samuel or Kings) is helpful: https://learn.ligonier.org/articles/3-things-chronicles
But one of the keys to understandng the helpfulness and emphasis of the book is what is and is not included. For example the Chronicler starts with Adam (i.e. indicating that this is not just Israel's history but all the world) but excludes Cain (the focus is on the line of redemption). The expansion of Judah's line highlights the focus on the covenant promise of God being fulfilled.
Another example is the inclusion of poor Tamar. What a tragic story we read back in Genesis 38 but now she is part of the redeemed line. This hints strongly at the grace of God throughout history. We've read the expanded history of redemption (and we've still got more to go) but here's the compressed list - a bunch of names. But each name has a story/history behind it. Just like Ron Santos and Misaki Suzuki have things that come to mind about their lives and personalities when you hear their names. How does your life fit into God's story of redemption? What is He doing in you? What is He challenging you to be and do with your life to bring glory to His plan?
1 Chronicles 3–4
So a name might have jumped out at you from this morning's reading Jabez. Several years ago a book was published called "The Prayer of Jabez" based on v.10 "Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!” And God granted what he asked."
The book was a bestseller (sadly) and it was largely outlining a materialistic "prosperity gospel" strategy for prayer. It was like secular "manifesting" before "manifesting" became a thing. But Jabez's prayer is worthy of note for a couple of reasons:
- God is the source of blessing and Jabez is utterly dependent upon "God's hand" being with him. And this descriptive (not prescriptive) prayer is one of faithful dependence on Him. In this way it's worthy of our imitation.
- His prayer for "enlarged borders" is tied to the covenants with Abraham (and reiterated under Moses and Joshua). It wasn't that he wanted personal wealth, power and influence that came with land ownership, it's more a prayer that God would fulfill His covenant promises of protection and abundant provision for the people of Israel. In the same way we might pray for the Lord's Kingdom to come and for His provision and protection and salvation.
May we take God at His Word and covenant promises and pray for the things He's promised. Our physical needs - but also spiritual transformation of us and the unbelievers around us.
1 Chronicles 4–5
An interesting contrast today between the descendants of Manasseh and those of Aaron and Levi. Aaron and Levi’s descendants are all over the narratives - mostly (but not exclusively) serving the Lord and bringing the Word of God and worship to Israel.
But the opposite is true of Manasseh at the end of chapter 5. And the evidence is clear that our holy God is not indifferent to faithlessness.
“But they broke faith with the God of their fathers, and whored after the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God had destroyed before them. So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, the spirit of Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and he took them into exile, namely, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river Gozan, to this day.”
1 Chronicles 5:25-26 ESV
May the Lord deal mercifully with us and increase our faith and our desire for obedience to the only true God and that we may hate and address the idols of our heart and this world.
1 Chronicles 7
For those reading ahead to Monday (when this is scheduled) it's sometimes hard to pick out things to think about in application when it's just a list of names that aren't repeated elsewhere which as we've discussed is significant because it proves that it's real history and real people and that God is relational. But all of these names also point to the fact that the parts of the body of Christ are important (much like we see in Paul's teaching in 1 Cor. 12 about the parts of the body of Christ needing each other, hands, feet neck etc.)
An interesting one to pick out from today is Sheerah. She is described this way: His daughter was Sheerah, who built both Lower and Upper Beth-horon, and Uzzen-sheerah. 1 Chronicles 7:24.
Interesting that a woman is listed as a builder of towns in Israel. A woman who clearly does not fit stereotypes ancient or modern. All of us have ways that we contribute to the kingdom and we are significant because we are His people, the sheep of His pasture labouring for His glory. May God encourage you with that no matter what your corner of the Kingdom is today. You matter and what you do matters because you are in Him. Praise God!
1 Chronicles 8–9
We come to the end of the genealogies in these chapters. And I probably won’t be posting as frequently as we move into the rest of the book (but you never know I get excited pretty easily about these things), but I hope that you found some encouragement you might not have. From today’s reading, notice a couple things. First, the tribe of Benjamin gets quite a bit of detail, which is interesting because it is Saul’s lineage. And despite Saul’s wreckage of a kingship we see God‘s commitment and Covenant care. And I think the application to our lives is pretty clear. Even in our weakness, God is faithful.
This is extended as we see the beginning of chapter 9 which has this simple statement about the exile and the reason for it:
“So all Israel was recorded in genealogies, and these are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel. And Judah was taken into exile in Babylon because of their breach of faith.” 1 Chronicles 9:1 ESV
You can’t get more factual than that! But again notice the juxtaposition. Verse two begins with the return from exile. We have a gracious God. He is not to be mocked or ignored and sin against him will result in consequences. But his mercies are new every morning. Great is his faithfulness!
1 Chronicles 10–11
Saul's epithet just makes me sad: "13 So Saul died for his breach of faith. He broke faith with the Lord in that he did not keep the command of the Lord, and also consulted a medium, seeking guidance. 14 He did not seek guidance from the Lord. Therefore the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse."
**realizing the difference between us and Saul is important (he was the divinely appointed King of Israel and we are not
1 Chronicles 20–21
So, the more I read this book, I am tempted to preach on it. But that’s nothing new. The Bible is full of new joys and discoveries and I’m personally delighting in Chronicles like I haven’t in the past. I say that so that you all know that I am loving going through this together with you. The mercies of God are new every morning, great is His faithfulness to restore and renew.
To the text! Sooo much here in these chapters. Couple of points here:
1 Chronicles 20:1 is the only reference to David’s sin in Chronicles. It selectively focuses on his kingship as an idealization of kingship ultimately fulfilled in Christ. To the Israelites of the day they would well know the sins of David recorded in the writings of Samuel, this was designed to point them beyond to Christ.
[2025-10-07, 10:18:33] Chris Powell: • Notice that there is an arc here in these two chapters that is different and powerful. In the Samuel-Kings narrative, we have sin, judgment/confrontation, confession and forgiveness. Here David’s sin is numbering the troops, for which he seeks atonement (prompted by the angel of the Lord - often a euphemism in the OT for the second ) in worship which is signalled by the fire from heaven. This is propitiation. In the New Covenant this is what Jesus does - He is the sacrifice for sins.
Notice too here a stunning statement in 21:1 where it says that Satan stood against Israel and incited David in the census. This is a new detail not in the Samuel-Kings narrative. It speaks to the Sovereignty of God and the Responsibility of man. David is still responsible for his sin, and he is engaged (as we are in a daily battle against sin and Satan’s influences) but God also uses Satan’s sin to establish the altar on Ornan’s threshing floor
ok, and this is so neat - this is the same location that Abraham had the incident with sacrifice and Isaac (remember God provided a ram in his place - substitutionary atonement) - it was Mount Moriah (Gen. 22:2), where Abraham and Isaac got mercy that is the same place where David here receives mercy (1 Chron 21) for his census sin, AND it is the future site (2 Chronicles 3:1) of Solomon’s temple!
Ok, I’ll stop as this is starting to become a sermon but what an illustrative picture of God’s amazing grace. Though we seem out of control in our sinfulness, we are never out of God’s sovereign control to take evil and transform it for good. Take heart brothers and sisters today that God’s sovereign plan continues and that there is nothing that He cannot and will not accomplish with weak, needy people like you and me. We need His grace every day but He is not frustrated or reluctant to provide. He desires us to see His redemptive power everywhere and in all history! Praise God!
Fighter Verses I introduced some suggested verses to consider memorizing to add to our enjoyment of our Bible overview. I will add a verse or two to each book we study to help us remember the theme/edifying content long term:
For 1 Chronicles - 1 Chronicles 16:11 was one of them this week: "Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually".
I also walked us through the Fighter Verses App as a Scripture memorization tool that will take any verse and help you to memorize it by 1) Creating games (fill in the blanks, fill in the first letter) with any Bible verse or passage, 2) Creating attractive lock screens for your phone that help with memorizing the text 3) suggest other texts to learn together with your family (Foundation Verses - pictures for young kids) and the original fighter verses that John Piper designed. There are both online and offline tools available here: https://www.fighterverses.com/
1 Chronicles 25–28
But also note that David here warns Solomon at the end of the book to pursue God with a whole heart. The events described in these chapters give us insight into what that looks like. There is no separation between "sacred and secular" the military, the Temple, the organization of the vineyards and oil reserves - all of it is in God's sovereign plan. All of our lives are to be lived "whole heartedly" which is what David warns Solomon about: "know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and a willing mind" (1 Chron. 28:9).
May God help us to do likewise to "know...God... and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind."
2 Chronicles 7
One verse stood out to me in our reading today after our discussion at prayer meeting last night (it was a prayer meeting not our regular RTBT study)
Verse 7: “And Solomon consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD, for there he offered the burnt offering and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar Solomon had made could not hold the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat.”
So much of what we offer God is often the leftovers not the best part. This verse is an image of overflowing worship. A worship that pushes beyond the ritual sacrifices and bare minimum. An excess or an overflow that reflects God's own "largess" (something that Solomon meditated on in his prayer in 2 Chronicles 6:18 "But will God indeed dwell with man on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you" In simple terms God's glory is just that or too big!
Here it's signified and mirrored by an offering by Solomon on behalf of Israel that was bigger than the altar. It was so big that Solomon had to consecrate a larger "court" of the temple as the offering overflowed the physical altar.
May God help us to reorient our hearts and lives more and more to seek satisfaction and delight in His worship and His glory. In a hard, disappointing and often empty world tainted by the curse, it's good to remember that there is much fulness to be had and overflowing by seeking the presence of God through worship. John Piper's quote may be slightly overstating things - but it is a good thought to enter your day: "God is most* glorified when we are most satisfied in Him."
(I'm not sure about the "most" but God certainly is glorified in our seeking satisfaction in Him).
2 Chronicles 10–12
A few simple things to think about Reheboams reign.
- He tried to use God not serve God. “When the rule of Rehoboam was established and he was strong, he abandoned the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him.” 2 Chronicles 12:1
- Despite his wickedness, the Lord dealt with him and the people of Israel with great grace. “Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and to the princes of Judah, who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, “Thus says the Lord, ‘You abandoned me, so I have abandoned you to the hand of Shishak.’” Then the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The Lord is righteous.” When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah: “They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance, and my wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. Nevertheless, they shall be servants to him, that they may know my service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.”” 2 Chronicles 12:5-8
- abandoning the Lord accomplished the opposite of his goals. He wanted to be great, but his arrogance led to a diminishing of glory. (Consider “So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. He took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house. He took away everything. He also took away the shields of gold that Solomon had made, and King Rehoboam made in their place shields of bronze and committed them to the hands of the officers of the guard, who kept the door of the king’s house.” 2 Chronicles 12:9-10
2 Chronicles 13–15
Just a quick one today - had you noticed "Covenant of Salt" before? This is what Abijah called the Davidic Covenant when speaking with the rebellious king of the North, Jereboam. It was meant to convey the permanence of God's promises to the descendents of David. Because salt doesn't easily decay or lose it's saltiness it was a symbol of permanence and incorruptibility. When I looked it up today it was interesting to note that back in Leviticus 2:13, they included salt in the grain offerings as seasoning that conveyed the permanence of relationship between God and His covenant people.
2 Chronicles 29
It's been a busy season and there's lots that could be said about these glorious chapters of 2 Chronicles (I'm tempted to preach now through these books!). If you have questions don't forget to post them here if you would like some answers on what you're reading