Transcript
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Hey, bible readers, I'm tara leigh cobble
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and I'm your host for the bible recap.
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At this point, you may be wondering if Chronicles is only genealogies. Don't worry, it's not. We've only got one more day of those coming up, and that day's reading also jumps into the narrative part of the book. So this is our last day of straight genealogies in 1 Chronicles, that is. I want to fulfill a promise I made to you a few days ago. I promised to tell you the purpose of all these genealogies. I didn't want to spoil it for those of you who haven't heard this story before. But if you were paying close attention to today's reading, you picked up on part of the story that gives it away. Verse 15 says Jehozadak went into exile when the Lord sent Judah and Jerusalem into exile by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. So the spoiler that may come as no surprise is that Israel doesn't keep the covenant and God eventually raises up an enemy to car them off into exile back out of the promised land. But don't worry, God's not casting them off forever. Remember that. He's already told us that this is how things will go, and he says it's all part of his plan to bring them to repentance and to restore all things. So they're in exile for a long time, but then they repent and get to come back to the promised land. And that's when these genealogies come in super handy, because they really need to know who is from which tribe from so they can go back to the right plot of land. And they need to know who is from the tribe of Judah and specifically the line of David, because God has appointed that as the line of kings. And they need to know who the Levites are according to the clans of the Kohathites and the Merarites and the Gershonites, because they need to set everything back up with the temple according to the specific job of each clan. You may have noticed that Gershon is called Gershom here, but don't worry, it's all the same. All of these lists are really important in verifying people's identities so they can reinstate things when they return to the land. It may seem boring to us, but it was vital to them. It wasn't just a list, it was their life. It determined their jobs and where they lived. In verse 31 we see that David has set up some new positions in the service of the temple. Back in Numbers 4, God set up roles for the three clans of the Levites. But here, David adds a fourth musician. And you may have noticed that Asaph was listed among these. We've been reading some of his psalms. This is how that all came together. After the genealogies and the job assignments, we see the Levites divided into their clans, and we see the cities of refuge announced. What was your God shot today? Mine came in asking myself what it says about God that this chapter exists at all. The fact that this is here to help re establish people in the land he gave them, that they gave up, and that he brought them back into it, shows me his heart for restoration and redemption. It shows me he's so patient and generous with them, even when they break his heart. And it reminded me of something that happened in my own family once. I'm the youngest of six, and when I was a kid, my dad's mom made a bunch of stuffed animals for us. They were frogs, actually. Frogs filled with beans, if I recall correctly. They weren't cute or cuddly, but they were a labor of love. I'm sure my grandmother spent dozens of hours carefully cutting out and stitching them all and filling them with beans. By that time in her life, she was old and frail with failing eyesight, but still, she made these frogs for us. One day, our school had a yard sale fundraiser. So of course, those unsightly frogs made their way onto one of the tables. And you know who came to the yard sale? And do you know that she opened