God-sightings for August, 2023
I was pondering the theological relevance of the genealogies from the Chronicles recently. I was wondering how God might be manifesting Himself in a text which might seem obscure to many Christians, I suspect. Just as I thought, there was Yahweh shining through, manifesting Himself through the Chronicler and onto the page of inspired genealogy. The genealogies of I Chronicles stretch over the first nine chapters of the book and speak to the lineages of: Adam through before David (1:1-2:55); David to the Captivity (3:1-24); the twelve tribes (4:1-9:1); the Jerusalem dwellers (9:2-34). These genealogies specifically served the post-exilic Jerusalem dwellers coming back to the Promised Land in fewer numbers and after seventy years of captivity.
But here in the record of the genealogies, in the enrollment of the returnees—God is found! Electing grace, singling out a people for Himself from the beginning of time with a lineage of covenant hope and redemptive promise. The seed is preserved despite being dispersed to a far-away land; here they are and here in Jerusalem they have come by Yahweh’s strong arm!
God-sightings from these genealogies are lucid:
First – The sovereignty of God! He rules in the course of human history. History is indeed His story.
Second- The unfailing mercies of God! “You kept what You promised. . .” (II Chron. 6:15)
Third – The redemptive heart of God! He will redeem His people. (Matthew 1:21)
What rejoicing in the hearts of a post exiled people! What rejoicing in the hearts of all of Yahweh’s people! These sightings of God are inescapable throughout the genealogies and not only from the Chronicler. So much more awaits the careful reader who will wait and watch for revelations of God throughout this God-breathed Book that we call our Bible.
