Good morning, I hope you have enjoyed the week. Today, we read the next two chapters of 1 Chronicles, 7-8.
Recognition
When going through genealogies, it is easy to get lost. Name after name, many we recognize, others we don’t. What Is the point to all of this?
God is economic. He never wastes resources. Even though He is eternal, He would not waste our time if there wasn’t an important lesson to teach.
Therefore, when I race through names, I have to remind myself to slow down. Then ask myself, “what am I supposed to learn from this?”
Many of these people play no significant role in the overall picture of the Bible. None are insignificant.
Not all of us are called to have notoriety. Many of us will live our quiet lives unnoticed. For most of us, this is our preference.
We enjoy when those close to us appreciate what we do. It’s always good to hear, “thank you.”
Even that is more than we are seeking. There are times I am noticed for doing something, and I am embarrassed. What I was doing needed to be done. I was fortunate to have the opportunity.
What I see in these pages is that God knows every one of us. None of us are just names on a page to Him.
He sees everything we do. When we help someone, we are showing His kindness to them. This makes our Father happy.
Think of how you feel when you see your child display a sympathetic character. It is humbling to know that a God who has millennia of names and faces to remember does not find this a challenge.
What is missing?
Then I ask, “what am I missing?”
In these chapters, as I read through the commentaries, I find this note from Matthew Henry: “7:1-40 Genealogies. – Here is no account either of Zebulun or Dan. We can assign no reason why they only should be omitted; but it is the disgrace of the tribe of Dan, that idolatry began in that colony”(1)
He goes one to remind us, “Men become abominable when they forsake the worship of the true God, for any creature object.”
This should cause us all to hit the brakes for a moment.
Are we worshipping God, or the god we have created?
Have we forsaken the creator for the creation?
What have we allowed to become idols in our lives?
We will all stand before God, at the Judgement seat of Christ.
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” (1 Cor 5:10, NIV).
On that day, it will not be genealogies that are judged, but our actions. How we used the life God gave us.
For those who were not worshipping Jesus, there will be one initial test. Is our name written in His book?
“And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.” (Rev 20:12, NIV)
Are you listed?
My prayer is that everyone who reads my words, and is reading His Word, will place their hope in Jesus. It is only through that faith our names will be there.
Do you know your name is there now?
Maybe you think you are too sinful to have hope?
In verse 7:21, we read of the men of Gath. They were driven out of Aijalon before being driven out by Beriah and Shema (see v8:13).
Why is this important?
The men of Gath, or the Gittites, were the tribe that Goliath came from. This tribe was David and Israel’s enemy, but God still records them in His book.
We all sin and are enemies of God (see Rom 5:10). Therefore, we all have earned death (see Rom 6:23). Through the Grace of God, we can all receive life.
Repent and seek His forgiveness and have your name written in the Book of life.
Very good https://lc.cx/xjXBQT