SOAP 1 Chronicles 1: My Family Tree

1 Chronicles

BACKGROUND:

First and second chronicles were originally a singular book. The author is unknown and is often referred to as “the chronicler”, but most likely Ezra. The chronicles were likely completed between 425 and 400 B.C.

The Chronicles are books of encouragement and exhortation from Judah’s spiritual heritage. It is divided into 4 sections: 1 Chronicles ch. 1-9 provides genealogies, ch. 10-29 outlines King David’s reign.  2 Chronicles ch. 1-9 details Solomon’s reign, ch. 10-36 timelines and traces the reigns of the other 20 Judah rulers.

Chronicles highlights God’s sovereignty and deliverance to all those who cry out to Him. Showcasing God’s faithfulness and true to His word.

My Family Tree

1 Chronicles 1

Have you ever gone to an ancestry.com? Or any of those websites that will trace your family line?

These websites have archived photos of yearbooks, family photos, newspaper clippings, hand written census records, baptism records from churches throughout Europe, gravestone images, and so much more. It is so cool, I can see how people can spend hours upon hours digging through information.

And though the next few chapters may not have the same intrigue and appeal as uncovering your own unique ancestry- I want you to know it is yours just the same.

We are all descendants of Adam.

Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth. Mizraim begot Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, Pathrusim, Casluhim (from whom came the Philistines and the Caphtorim). Canaan begot Sidon, his firstborn, and Heth; the Jebusite, the Amorite, and the Girgashite; the Hivite, the Arkite, and the Sinite; the Arvadite, the Zemarite, and the Hamathite.

‭‭I Chronicles‬ ‭1‬:‭10‬-‭16‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

We read so many names throughout the chapters of our Holy text and they often can become words without any context. I can hear myself thinking theses things:

“Wait, who is that again?”

“Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah”

Or:

Skim, skim, skim- and sum that up.

These are entire lineages and ancestries that led to being friends or enemies of God.

From Nimrod came the Philistine, the Canaanite, the Jebusite, the Amorite, and the Girgashite; the Hivite, the Arkite, and the Sinite; the Arvadite, the Zemarite, and the Hamathite.

On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates— the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭15‬:‭18‬-‭21‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

And it shall be, when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, which He swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall keep this service in this month.

‭‭Exodus‬ ‭13‬:‭5‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

What will your name in a list of names represent?

As for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord. I will tell my children about God’s faithfulness, provision, and steadfast love. I will pray that the legacy of His friendship will be passed down from generation to generation of our family line, until Jesus returns.

PRAYER: Oh Lord, You are so, so good to me. Thank You for choosing me to lavish Your love and friendship upon. Let my life echo the testimony of Christ. Let my life be a legacy and river that would be passed down from generation to generation, that all of our bloodline would know You, to know what it is like to speak face to face with God and live. In the name above every name, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth I pray. Amen.