Hall of Fame
One Year Bible (July 5)
I Chronicles 1:1-2:17
Hall of Fame
One year for Christmas my husband asked our daughter what present she would like. Her response was, “Ancestors.com, please!” We rolled with laughter, but she wasn’t kidding. She seriously wanted “Her Family Tree”.
Not only, did she get her family tree but she began to amaze us with her “Stealth Detective Skills”. Our daughter has Down syndrome but she is unstoppable when it comes to using her super powers in researching her entertainment of choice!
Her new choice was searching Youtube on our big TV for our last names. Mine is Strater and my husband is Sempsrott. Before long she had us watching her “Hall of Fame” selections. Come to find out, I have a cousin who sings professionally with our last name. Our original family-owned “The Strater Hotel” in Durango, Co. My side of the family has a lineage of pastors as well as singers.
My husband’s side of the family has a professional basketball player and a pastor who also sings and plays guitar. There is also another cousin who sings, and has an amazing voice! She found a few more pastors also. Her favorite relative that she found sings country. She was in “Hall of Fame” heaven!
Let me just tell you that girl is all about “The Family Tree”. Don’t even get me started telling you about all of her favorite foods! She will quickly tell me, “Well, I am Irish, you know.. it's in my DNA” She loves her people and her food
!
So, how are you doing with those nine long chapters of genealogies?
Perhaps, I can help you out just a tad in understanding why they are so lengthy, important, and filled with hope and promise. Hard to believe, I know!
Before you just skip over the first nine chapters I want to share with you a couple of thoughts about what is hidden behind those many names… great and small.
When my daughter asked for her “Family Tree” for Christmas, I chuckled and thought what a funny girl she was, but then I stopped and thought about her unspoken reasoning behind her request.
In the last few years, our extended family has grown very small. Those happy family celebrations have gone away with the loss of my parents, and my husband's family lives far away. We used to have such great celebrations and make great memories.
I think she was looking for her family in her own special way. She loves to talk about those that are “rooted” with us even though she has never met many of them, and she loves to talk with one of her "aunties" every day if possible. They have a bond!
The Israelite nation had lost its bond! They had divided and both Israel and Judah had been taken into captivity. They really needed their “roots” as well.
The genealogies at the beginning of Chronicles give them just that. It was probably written while in captivity by someone who had access to all of the important records that would be needed by the people.
This book is written to help the people as they are transitioning from their Babylonian exile to their new life in the land of Israel. It also reminds them of the rules, guidelines, and details of their former life as God’s people. I and 2 Chronicles was written from the priestly viewpoint of Jewish history. “The Chronicler” who wrote this book is believed to be Ezra.
For the Jewish people who were returning home having an accurate genealogy record was like a gift of gold! Their property ownership was supposed to stay with their tribe or people and they needed to have proof of their relationships, tribe, clan, and family.
To have their genealogy written down meant that they had a place that was their own to inhabit.
Also, as in the book of Ruth, they could have a Kinsman Redeemer to rescue them if they could show that they were a relative. Then there were the Priests and Levites who could not do their jobs if they could not show that they were from the lineage of the tribe of Levi.
These nine chapters of detailed genealogy were their passport to belonging in their new homeland, again.
As we glance through the genealogies, it is interesting to see how many names stand out to us. The pages are filled with people like Adam, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, Solomon, and on and on.
It is quite a “Hall of Fame” of people who stood against idols, giants, and wicked rulers. They were God’s “By Faith” family…
There were others that are listed there that remind us of the dangers of living by pride instead of by obedience. They are the “Hall of Shame” group…
The Book of I and II Chronicles does not bring up the sins of adultery of David. It was written later after the fact. Instead, It is filled with hope and the promise of a new day of restoration and reminder.
It reminds the people of who they were, “God’s Chosen Nation”, and that He has once again delivered them from slavery due to their disobedience. But, even more than that, it points them to a king that will come in the Spirit of David and through the lineage of David. He will bring peace and hope. There will be a new Temple again, and he will be the one to bring them access to God.
I and II Chronicles will remind us of the “greats” that we have read about in 1 and 2 Samuel, and 1 and 2 Kings, but it will also introduce us to much new material through new hopeful eyes.
This long genealogy is the ray of hope that the people are hanging onto at this time of their return.
Through this long lineage will come the long-awaited Messiah. No longer will the people continue to sin because of their hardness of hearts. They will be given new hearts and a new spirit.
The “Hall of Shame” will be wiped away and another long list will be made...
“By faith… Abel. By faith… Noah. By faith… Abraham. By faith… Moses.
All eyes look towards the new “Son of David” and Hebrews 11 and the complete “Hall of Fame”...Now, that will be a genealogy worth reading!.
