First Baptist Church, Mount Pleasant, Michigan

Devotional: 1 Chronicles 1:1-54

Today’s passage: 1 Chronicles 1:1-54

Helpful thoughts:

  • Background information:
    • 1 and 2 Chronicles were initially presented as one volume or one book that was later split into “First” and “Second” in the Greek Translation, called the Septuagint.
    • The author of the book is never stated, though traditionally it is believed to have been Ezra.  It was written somewhere around and after 450 B.C.  Generally speaking, when people refer to the writer of these books, they call him, “The Chronicler.”
    • The information and events covered in 1 Chronicles pairs with the beginning of the Old Testament (With the genealogies) up to and primarily 2 Samuel and the reign of King David.  2 Chronicles will cover the same period as 1 and 2 Kings.
    • These books were written at the time of the return of the Jews from their exile to remind them who they were, who God is, and who they were to be.
  • In the first chapter, we make it from Adam to the descendants of Esau (The Edomites).  The next chapter will move to Jacob’s (Or Israel’s) line.
  • Due to the flood, there was no need to have further record than the line that led directly to Noah and his sons and their descendants.  No one in the world is descended from any other line prior to the flood.
  • The earth being divided during the days of Peleg refers to the scattering of the people groups after the Tower of Babel.

Questions to consider:

  1. We are about to read 9 chapter of genealogies (1 down, 8 to go!).  Why do you think they might have been significant for Israel to read and know upon their return?  What can we learn about them, and about God by reading them?
  2. What should the fact that every person in the world is descended from Shem, Ham and Japheth and their wives teach us about humanity and races?  Is there any human being who was not made in the image of God?  Who is your neighbor?
  3. As we read these different descendants of Abraham, we see people who would go to war (And still are going to war) against each other.  Why do people not treat one another as neighbors in love?  Whom would God bring about through Israel to conquer sin and deliver us from death’s grip?