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Hey, Bible nerds. This is Dr. Manny Arango and I'm your host for the Bible department podcast powered by Arma. This podcast follows a Bible reading plan we created to help you read the entire Bible in a year. You can head to the show notes or thebibledepartment.com to download our reading plan and join the journey. La familia. Let's go. Welcome to Day 348 here on the Bible Department. We're diving into First Chronicles, aka Just Chronicles, because in the original Tanakh, there is no Second Chronicles. Anywho, First Chronicles chapters seven, eight and nine. If you haven't done the reading, then scram. Get out of here. No, I'm just joking. Stop the video. Pause the audio. Go get the reading done. You may get some inspiration for like a kid's name or something. Probably not, but anyway. 1 Chronicles chapters 7, 8 and 9 is on the docket today. And my job, like every day, is to give you context clues, some nerdy nuggets, and a timeless truth so that you can not just hear the word, not just know the word, but apply the word of God to your life. I'm excited for the timeless truth today. With no further ado, let's dive in. So for our context today, I'm actually going to give you an overall structure for the entire book of Chronicles, first and Second Chronicles. Knowing how the structure of the book works actually allows us to see a massive theme. And again, the, the more contextual information that we have, the better interpretations we can make. Again, you know, we're still in the genealogy phase of, of First Chronicles, but this genealogy is coming to a climactic point and we will talk about that in our nerdy, in our final nerdy nugget of the day. So let's look a, let's look at structure. Okay, overall, 30,000 foot structure. What is going on in Chronicles? Okay, now first Chronicles chapters one through nine, as you've already seen, is genealogies. You're walking through those genealogies right now. First Chronicles chapters 10 to 21 is going to focus on David's reign. First Chronicles chapters 22 to 29 is going to talk about. We're going to discuss preparation for Solomon to succeed David. Okay, then Second Chronicles chapters one through nine is going to focus on Solomon's reign. And then the real like, I mean, kind of the meat of the book is going to be second chronicles. What we know of as second chronicles is going to be chapters 10 to 36 is going to focus on the house of David. Now, this means the kings of Judah, the house of David. By house, we mean dynasty. Okay. David as a person has obviously died, but we're going to focus on his house, his lineage, his descendants, his, you know, like for anyone who may have watched Game of Thrones, House Lannister, House Stark. Right, okay, we're going to focus on David's house. Now, Second Chronicles, Chapter 1036 goes through the story of David's dynasty. And in it you can observe a cycle of the temple's decline and reform. So what's going to happen is, Rehoboam, the temple's going to go into decline. Then you're going to get Asa and Jehoshaphat, and the temple is going to go into reform, and then we're going to get Jehoram and Ahaziah. The temple is going to go into decline, and then you're going to see Joash. The temple is going to come into reform, and then you're going to see Uzziah and Ahaz. The temple is going to go into decline, and then you're going to get Hezekiah. The temple is going to come into reform, and then you're going to get Manasseh. The temple's going to decline. Quality of the temple, the centralization of the temple, the importance on the temple, okay? The temple is going to decline. Then Josiah, we're going to get temple reform, and then we're going to get Josiah's sons. And what's going to happen? Temple decline. So what we're going to see from chapters 10 all the way to 36 is cycles of decline and reform, decline and reform, decline and reform, decline and reform. Okay? It's important that you kind of understand yesterday we teed this up that if you look at Luke, chapter 11, verse 51, Jesus is going to say from the beginning, from the blood of Abel, which is to Zechariah, which is his way of saying from the beginning to the end, from the first to the last, okay? From Abel to Zechariah, the innocent blood of the prophets is going to be on your heads this generation. You're going to be responsible for it. Okay? Now, when Jesus is saying that we, we obviously needed to go to 2nd Chronicles, chapter 24, verses 20 to 22, to see who Zechariah even is. Well, he's the last prophet of the Tanakh. Okay? He's the last prophet of the Hebrew Bible. Now, another way that I want you to see just how Chronicles works as the last book of the Hebrew Bible, is by showing you that Chronicles in and of itself gives you a complete overview of everything that has already happened in the Bible. So if you go to 1 Chronicles, chapter 1. Okay, 1 Chronicles, chapter chapter 1, verse 1, Adam. I mean, how. How much more Genesis can we get? Adam. The reason that this genealogy starts at Adam is because Chronicles, first and second Chronicles is showing you that it's re. Almost like recapping the entire history of everything that has happened in the entire Bible up until this point. And how's it going to end? Okay, Second Chronicles, chapter 36. Starting in verse 20, it's going to say he carried into exile to Babylon, the remnant. So we're going to get all the way to exile. Okay, the remnant. And we're going to focus on that word remnant in a couple of minutes on this episode. Who escaped from the sword and they became servants to him, his successors, until the kingdom of Persia came to power. The land enjoy it enjoyed its Sabbath rest all the time of its desolation. It rested until the 70 years were completed in fulfillment of the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia. In order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus, king of Persia, to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing. So this is now the return of the exiles. So in one verse 20 and 21, we get the exile, and then in verse 22, we get the return of the exiles. And what is the verse that the entire book of Chronicles is going to end on? Verse 23. This is what Cyrus, king of Persia, says. The Lord, the God of Heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up. Key words go up. And may be. And may the Lord their God be with them. Done. The book is done. So what is Chronicles doing? It's starting with Adam and then going all the way up to the present moment. Okay, that's it. That's in. What is. And what is this verse charging everyone to do? Keep going up to the temple. Remember we talked about this in Psalms when we were looking at the Psalms of Ascent. The reason that people from all around Israel could go up to Jerusalem is because it doesn't matter where you are. In order to go to Jerusalem, you got to go up, right? Because it's nestled in the hills. So the Chronicles as, as a whole is ending with a let's go up. And what are we going up to? We're going up to the temple to do what? To wait for the Messiah to wait? Because I know we're all in the habit of just kind of saying, yeah, you know, there's 400 silent years from Malachi to Matthew, and really there's not. There's 400 silent years from Chronicles to Matthew. Because the Book of Chronicles is actually the thing that's supposed to get you to the edge of. Of the. It's the cliffhanger. Okay? So it leaves on a cliffhanger. You can feel it. That's the last verse of the entire book that we're studying right now. This is what Cyrus, king of Persia, says. The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up, and may the Lord their God be with them. Done. Like, that's it. So we start First Chronicles, chapter one with Adam. That's the beginning. Ezra is gonna recount the entire history of the Jewish people, and he's gonna recount the entire history of the Jewish people all the way to the exile. We're gonna get two verses on the exile, then we're gonna get a couple of verses on the return of the exile, and then we've got a cliffhanger. And what should we be anticipating when we get to the end of that cliffhanger? Going up to 2. Going up to Jerusalem to be in the temple. And we're believing that the Lord God will be with them. Okay. Will be with them. My name is Emmanuel, and it means the Lord be with you. Okay? God is with us. And so how does Matthew start? I'll tell you exactly how Matthew starts. It starts. How does Luke start? How does the New Testament start? It starts with this couple, Simeon and Anna, waiting. Where. Waiting exactly where Cyrus, king of Persia, set them up to the temple. They're waiting in the temple. And what do they behold? The beauty of the glory of the Lord coming into the temple. They are waiting. They're doing exactly what the Old Testament has commissioned them to do. Go up to the temple. And may the Lord your God be with you. And who is the Lord, their God? Jesus. And what is. What does Jesus do as a baby? He's walked right into the temple so that he can be with them. Matthew is going to pick up on this exact theme. And what is the name that's given to this baby by Mary and Joseph? Emmanuel, May God be with you. It's the Incarnation. So the. The Cliffhanger of Chronicles is to set you up to go wait in the temple and wait for the incarnation. And so I, I just want you to get this 30,000foot idea that the Bible is. The narrative arc of the Bible is not from Genesis to Malachi. The the way that we have read the Bible is a, is actually how it was designed to go. Not from Genesis to Malachi, not the way that your English translations are organized, but rather from Genesis to Chronicles. And this last verse of 2 Chronicles, chapter 36 is leaving on a cliffhanger. And everyone in the 400 year gap is in that cliffhanger, waiting for the Lord to be with them as they wait in the temple. And that honestly is a lot of the context that we need in order to get through this book. All right, I'm going to fly through our nerdy nuggets today, family. The wait is over. My brand new book, Crushing Chaos is out now and available everywhere. Books are, are sold. Literally. Today I walked into a Barnes and Noble and I signed a bunch of copies at a physical location. So you can grab this book at a physical Barnes and Noble or you can go to a Books a million or Amazon or anywhere books are sold and grab a copy. If you enjoy reading the Bible from an ancient perspective, if you understand that the beauty of scripture is actually knowing it in context, then you'll love this book. And if there's any chaos in your personal life, I think that reading the Bible from an ancient perspective can actually help to crush the chaos in your life. I think this book is gonna be a New York Times bestseller. I really do. I think we wrote a good one. I think you should get a copy today. All right, back to the episode. What you obviously need to know is that from 1st Chronicles 1 verse 1 to 2 Chronicles 36, 23 and 3, the these two books, aka one book, cover the entire history of the Jewish people and sets us up for the New Testament. It sets us up perfectly for the second Temple period. I'm going to fly through these nerdy Nuggets. Okay, 1 Chronicles, chapter 7, verses 1 through 5 is going to focus on the tribe of Issachar. 1st Chronicles, chapter 7, verses 6 through 12 is going to focus on Benjamin. Now the reason that Benjamin gets a massive focus to because Benjamin as a tribe has been loyal to David. It's going to be key if you're loyal to David. You get rescued, you get restored. Now here's the context in Genesis context that we have in the book of Genesis. If you remember all the Way back in the ending of Genesis, the situation was beginning with, with the actual brothers themselves. Judah swore both to Jacob and to Joseph that he would give his own life and freedom as a surety for his two imprisoned brothers, Simeon and Benjamin. He protected them as his brothers, and Judah as a tribe, still had Simeon and Benjamin under their protection. Okay, so what we're going to see, it's playing out in these genealogies, but it plays out through all the pages of Scripture is that what happened with the actual brothers, the 12 brothers that create the 12 tribes, what actually happened with those 12 brothers is then going to get played out with the 12 tribes. So Simeon and Benjamin are going to be insanely like, closely associated and related to Judah. All right? And that's what this part of the genealogy is communicating to us. 1 Chronicles 7, 13, we're going to get a focus on Naphtali, just one verse. And then 1 Chronicles 7, 14, 19. We've already looked at the eastern half of Manasseh, which didn't get into the promised land. But these nine verses, sorry, five verses, are going to focus on the western half of that tribe. And then first Chronicles 7, chapter 20, 29, we're going to get a big focus on Ephraim. Okay? Now you may not realize this, but Ephraim is a huge tribe. Okay? This is the most important tribe other than Judah. Okay? Ephraim, this is of course, a southern Judah focused genealogy and story. Okay? So Ephraim will not get the space its size and importance should get. Okay? It was the tribe that dominated the northern kingdom of Israel, and its territory was Samaria. And it remained the center of the north. So much so that in scripture, Israel, the northern kingdom of Israel, as opposed to the southern kingdom of Judah, the northern kingdom of Israel in its territory was Samaria. Sorry, it was referred to as Ephraim. Okay. The northern kingdom of Israel just referred to as Ephraim. And outside of scripture as well, remember, there's a syro. Ephraimatic war. Why is it called Ephraimatic? Well, the. The war is actually with Israel, but Ephraim is synonymous with Israel because it's the dominant tribe in the north. If the roles were reversed and this was the story of the northern tribes return from exile, then Ephraim would have the most space. It would be Judah. It is the north's version of Judah. But it was Jeroboam of the tribe of Ephraim who led the northern tribes in rebellion against the house of David and the house of Yahweh. So in many ways, the blame for the loss of the 10 tribes and how they are removed from history and this story lies at the feet of the tribe of Ephraim. Okay, so where Benjamin has been loyal to David, Ephraim has been the opposite of loyal to David. I'll say it another way. In the eternal war between the sisters Leah and Rachel, it is Leah who wins again. It was her son and her heir that survived to lead Israel, Judah, not Rachel's. Her heir was Joseph, and his heir was Ephraim. And though this tribe in the north was important, ultimately this tribe was lost. And we'll talk about why this tribe was lost as we unpack the word remnant. Okay, so then chapter seven, verses 30 to 40, we get a focus on Asher. Notice how the tribes of Dan and Zebulun are missing, but that's because there's a theological point that these genealogies are making. Every tribe doesn't need to be included. That's not the point. Chapter eight, we're going to get another focus on Benjamin because we're going to get Saul's line and the sons of Benjamin. So Benjamin is going to make another appearance. And then in chapter nine, okay, we are going to get content regarding the very first return. Okay, and here's what it says. Chapter chapter nine. So all Israel was recorded in genealogies, and these are written in the book of the kings of Israel. And Judah was taken into exile in Babylon because of their breach of faith. The entire story, which will be revisited much later in the book in one line and then straight away, here's what we get now. The first to dwell again in their possessions, in their cities were Israel, the priests, the Levites and the temple servants. Then the next few paragraphs, okay, so the people are backed, and there's a massive theological point being made that these people that have come back, these are the remnant. So the whole point of the genealogy is to essentially show you a before and after. Okay? Look at how many hundreds of thousand people there were, and now only this small little bit is coming back. If the story started at chapter nine and just showed you who came back, you'd have no appreciation for whether it's a lot of people or a small amount of people. You'd have nothing to compare it to. So the first eight chapters are not just telling you the story of the tribes and their importance, but they're also telling you how robust of a nation Israel is and now how lean of a nation Israel is. But this isn't to be like discouraging it's actually to say the Remnant is where it's at. Like, like, the Remnant is going to become a. A badge of honor. Okay. I was actually in a youth group growing up called the Remnant, and our senior pastor shut that down. He was like, the reason the youth ministry, only 30 kids. It went from like 600 kids to 30 kids. And he's like, because you named it the Remnant. Like, Remnant literally means the leftovers. And he's like, you got. You can't name the thing the Remnant, like, and think it's going to grow. Like. And we had a badge of honor. We were like, yeah, the youth group used to be 600 kids, but those kids were like, smoking weed and having sex. And we're like, we're, we're. I kid you not. Like, in terms of quality, we were strong. In terms of quantity, not so. Not, not. Not so much. So Remnant, I mean, may not be a fantastic name if you're trying to grow in quantity, because it does mean those that have gone through the fire and come back. And so that is what we are dealing with in chapter nine, okay? All the. The genealogies are all the context for the people that have returned to the land. There were 12 tribes, many clans and families, but now only these remain. Okay? This is thus the true Israel loyal to Yahweh, and they have survived the refining fires of exile. So exile is going to be seen as a refining fire, that the goal of exile was to burn off the extra. Okay? So that's why Remnant is a badge of honor, because we survived the fire, okay? But now these are the. The sorry, loyal to Yahweh that has. Have survived the refining fires of exile. The Remnant is pure. And so the lists. And more significant, because it shows them to be the true Israel returning from exile, in contrast to the people of the land. Okay, remember, we dealt with this before the people of the Land, when we were in Ezra and Nehemiah. These are the opponents. So we're going to get the true Israel coming back from exile as the Remnant, purified by fire, refined versus the people of the land. Why does Ezra have an issue with the people of the land? I'll tell you exactly why. The people of the land, they are the descendants of those who did not go through exile and married into pagan families. They cannot serve. They cannot claim the Promised Land. They are not pure. Exile has not refined them. They are not a part of the Remnant. This list ends with mention of the revival of what we will soon read the choir singing day and night that David Set up for the temple. This is chapter 9, 33, 34, it says this. Now these, the singers, the heads of fathers, houses of the Levites were in the chambers of the temple, free from other service, for they were on duty day and night. These were heads of fathers houses of the Levites, according to their generations leaders, these lived in Jerusalem. So when the Bible says in Chronicles, chapter 9, verse 33 and 34 talks about revival, it's saying, no, the remnant, this refining fire of going through the exile, has now produced Levites who are in the temple free from any other service, on duty, day and night, singing before God. This is revival. Okay? And then chapter nine, verse 35 to 44, is going to give us genealogies about Saul's line. So all these genealogies, all these lists are actually ultimately culminating or climaxing in First Chronicles, chapter nine. Okay? It's a before and after. It's funny, you know, one time I was on the road and a gentleman was, you know, hosting me. And I just thought to myself, not in like a rude or offensive way, I just thought to myself, yo, that like, he's a big dude. And then he actually told me, he was like, man, I'm down £200. You should see my before picture. And I was like, show me the before picture. And of course, I then looked at him and realized, oh, wow, yeah, you've definitely lost like £200. And it's funny how once I saw the before picture, I looked at him in reality, way different. I was thinking to myself, wow, that's a big guy. And now I was thinking to myself, that's a small guy, because I put him in context to who he used to be. So chapter nine is showing us who Israel is. Right now you'll be thinking to yourself, oh, man, they're a big country. They're a big nation. But then the genealogies, which is chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, is actually showing you the before picture, telling you, no, this is just a fraction of who Israel was. Like, this is just a fraction of who Israel has been. This is only the remnant. Okay, so that's what the first nine chapters are doing. Let's get to our timeless truth for the day. Okay, I'm gonna read Philippians chapter three, verse five to you. And you may be thinking to yourself, why are we going all the way to the New Testament? Well, it's because in this original genealogy, which is 1st Chronicles, chapter 7, verses 6 through 12, we focus on Benjamin. Okay? This is the tribe of Saul. And the tribe that Saul comes from is going to go through a lot of ups and downs throughout the Hebrew scriptures. But one person from the tribe of Saul, from the tribe of Benjamin, which is Saul's tribe, is actually going to get brought to the forefront of ministry and change the entire legacy of this entire tribe. Philippians chapter 3, verse 5. It says this. If someone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, the Hebrew of Hebrews in regards to the law of Pharisee, as for zeal persecuting the church, as for righteousness based on the law, faultless. This is Paul, or rather Saul, who we know as Paul. Okay, Paul is his Latin name. Saul is his Hebrew name. At no point does God convert his name from Saul to Paul. Pet people preach that all the time. It always makes me glitch a little bit because the Bible doesn't say that. But anyway, whereas the original Saul, the Benjaminite, was full of pride and arrogance, there's a new Saul who's going to redeem the name of his tribe, and that is the apostle, the apostle that we know as Paul. Latin name Paul, Hebrew name Saul or Saul. Uh, so if yesterday I talked about legacy, the flip side of legacy is restoring your family or your tribe's name and or honor. For some of us, we are in the positions to create great legacy. But for some of us, creating great legacy is coming on the heels of restoring a damaged family name. Much of today's reading is dominated by Benjamin. Benjamin's story in Scripture is one of redemption and of how the past, even a terrible one, does not always have to shape the future. Here's a roller coaster ride for the tribe of Benjamin. Benjamin became one of the most hated tribes in the Book of Judges. But then it rose to the top with King Saul, only to fall again when its most famous son, AKA Saul, who became king, was such a failure. If then became. It then became a psychic of Judah, a buffer zone between Ephraim and Judah. But but through Judah it survived the exile. But because of Judah, its identity was swallowed up and Benjaminite became Jews. Okay, Benjaminites became Jews. Remember, Jews just means from Judah. But the story was not yet over. King Saul would not be their most famous son. A thousand years after King Saul, another Saul would be born to the tribe of Benjamin, known more by his Roman name, Paul. Paul the Benjaminite, who was probably, who has probably done more than any other person to shape Christianity, our religion and the fulfillment of Judaism than any other human being on the planet has forever changed the world. And, man, talk about redemption. Okay, being from the tribe of Benjamin, you should not be a badge of honor. But because of Saul, in his life as an apostle of Jesus, it became an honor. And that's not just true for the folks in the Bible. That's true for me and you. It's a timeless truth. All right, tomorrow we got day three, 49. We're gonna be diving into First Chronicles chapters 10, 11, and 12. I can't wait to see you right here on tomorrow's podcast episode. I love you. I'm proud of you, especially if you're on a streak. See you tomorrow. Let's go. Thanks so much for joining us on the Bible Department podcast. You can find us online and learn more about the show@thebibledepartment.com and on Instagram at the Bible Department. If you enjoyed this episode and want to dive deeper into the Bible, you can get free access to our library of courses@thebibledepartment.com we'll see you back here tomorrow.