Week 27
Psalms 67-72 and 1 Chronicles 1-15
HOLD ON A MINUTE- anyone else getting a major sense of say deja-vu here?
Flipping back through my notes- we’ve already been through the majority of these family lines. Granted this does add in a few generations that we didn’t see previously. Then we get into what basically seems like the cliff notes for the past few chapters.
So that leaves me thinking- this stuff must really be important! Why else would God include all these details, not once, but multiple times within His perfect word?! The Bible is a very intentional document- it is the word of God- the perfect, flawless, word of God. This isn’t some human author that dozed off and forgot that he’s already told us this stuff. So therefore- this content must be important, right?! I actually really appreciated the summary- sometimes it’s helpful to re-read content, especially complicated content, just to help it sink in and stick right?
But what is our takeaway here? Ok, yes- we again see the family trees and how all these people are connected. We get to review the details and exploits of the last few chapters. But what does that mean for me? in my world, today??
It’s telling me that God knows US. He knew them back then, and he knows you and I now. Glance back over the details that are listed here- individual names, the parents of those individuals, the actions/ titles/ duties of those individuals, where those individuals settled, who they married, and so on! I’m sure the government, social media, advertising companies, etc all have a scary amount of data collected on me BUT I find it very unlikely that a document exists anywhere, even with today’s technology, that lists out and connects as many personal details as the first 15 chapters of 1 Chronicles does. How amazing is that- a time before computers, a time before most people could read or write, a time before you could just easily buy pens, paper, or notepads- they had these kind of records and were able to keep up with them? All of the battles- the towns that were destroyed, burned, looted, etc- and somehow these records not only existed but survived??!! No, I’m not buying it- the only plausible explanation is that these records were created and preserved by the grace and will of God. He orchestrated it- the details, the preservation- I mean come on, even the book of law got lost during the upheaval of it all. So God knew the people back then, He had a plan and a purpose for the people back then, and that same all-knowing God knows us- He knows our hearts, and despite that He has a plan, and a purpose for us- and that’s a takeaway that makes my very type A, need-a-plan heart smile.
Maybe you got something different here? What were your takeaways? New perspectives?!