1st Chronicles – Be Still…

1 Chronicles 5:1-26 – God’s People Aren’t Perfect

Read 1 Chronicles 5:1-26

Is it helpful to recognize the flaws in God’s people? Perhaps it makes us feel better when we fall short. This reading is more than genealogies because we see examples of how God deals with those who fall into the temptation of sin. For Reuben, he lost his birthright. The tribes who bowed down to other gods were taken away into captivity.

We were also given insight into ways God rewards those who trust him. While I am not a fan of war, it is always refreshing to see leaders trusting God in those times. What sorts of conflicts are going on in your life that God can help you with?

1 Chronicles 4:1-43 – Who is Jabez?

Read 1 Chronicles 4:1-43

In this passage, we have a little more history thrown in for good measure. It’s always interesting to see what little tidbits the Chronicler inserts in these long lists of hard to pronounce names! Because I had a hard time following all the relations, what struck me most was the mention of Jabez starting in verse 9.

I assume Jabez must be a descendant of Judah because of the placement in our text. Do you remember when the book “The Prayer of Jabez” was published by Bruce Wilkinson and received so much attention back in the early 2000’s? My search for my copy in David’s library was unsuccessful, but I do remember being impacted by the example Jabez sets for us.

1 Chronicles 3:1-24 – David’s Family

Read 1 Chronicles 3:1-24

Our last reading identified that King David descended from Judah, one of Jacob’s twelve sons. Today’s reading gives us a snapshot of David’s family. He was quite the fruitful one, bearing 19 children. But only seven of the moms are listed here, and this number doesn’t even account for sons born to concubines! And only one daughter, Tamar, is named. That was quite a household!

The Chronicler doesn’t follow every offshoot of David’s family line here. That would be exhausting. The names he did include were meaningful, displaying the Davidic line. The Chronicler spends more time on David’s family because this was the royal dynasty that will never end.