I Chronicles Chapter 1

Please read:  I Chronicles 1 –

The books of I Chronicles and II Chronicles were written in such a way as to tie the history of Israel all together for us with an emphasis on the southern kingdom of Judah.  And so, the book will begin with a few chronologies of genealogy to establish the baseline of the kingdom.  Most of us cannot trace our family genealogy back farther than our great grandparents, but God made sure that the genealogy of mankind was recorded in the Bible from the very beginning all the way up until the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The books of I and II Chronicles were written after the people returned from their exile.  There is a particular emphasis on genealogy that leads up to King David and then the kings that followed after David was on the throne.  These records would have been very valuable to the people returning from their exile.  The author is believed to be Ezra a priest and scribe.

Ezra 7:6 This Ezra came up from Babylon; and he was a skilled scribe in the Law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given.

Let's Reflect

1.  It is of a particular note that not all the sons of the men in ancient history are listed.  The chronicler had a specific purpose in naming just some of their sons.  In fact, when you look at the name of the very first man created by God, Adam, which sons of Adam were not mentioned in this chronicle?

2.  Verse 4 includes the name of Noah and his sons.  These men were the only survivors of the great flood and the beginning of the genealogical record once again.  How many sons did Noah have?

3.  In verse 13 we see the descendants of Canaan listed not as sons, but the names of people groups.  How many people groups were the descendants of Canaan?

4.  Which son of Noah did Abram or Abraham descend from?

5.  We know that Abraham had two sons, Ismael and Isaac.  The genealogy of Ismael is recorded first since he was the oldest son.  Then the genealogy of Isaac is given.  Sandwiched between these two sons, is the genealogy of other sons of Abraham.  According to verse 32 who was the mother of this family line?

The rest of the chapter continues with the genealogy of Ishmael, and it seems that the genealogy of Isaac is left out.  But the genealogy of Isaac is recorded in the next chapter.