Read: 1 Chronicles 1:1-5; Acts 20:27
Adam, Seth, Enosh . . . (1 Chron. 1:1)
We all have favorite books and passages of the Bible, but most Christians have parts of the Bible that we avoid. This month, we are going to study two books that many of us neglect. After I retired from active ministry as a pastor, I realized I had never preached on the books of 1 and 2 Chronicles. The apostle Paul made this claim: “I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). That’s what we’ll find—the whole counsel of God—as we discover Christ in Chronicles.
Some read Chronicles as a mere repetition of the preceding books of Samuel and Kings. But in the Jewish way of ordering of the books of the Old Testament, Chronicles is the last two books of the Old Testament. Chronicles is a bit like the New Testament book of Revelation. The writer of Chronicles begins with creation and Adam, moves to Abraham, King David, King Solomon, and then concludes the Old Testament with a foreign king declaring that the temple of Israel can be rebuilt (2 Chron. 36:22-23). God’s word to his people four centuries before the birth of Christ is also God’s word to us today: There is always hope!
My wife likes an artist’s portrait of a person, while I like a realistic photo. Both forms are true, but with different details. In the same way, we need both the Old Testament books of Samuel and Kings, as well as Chronicles.
As you pray, ask to be open to the whole counsel of God, so that you discover Christ in Chronicles.
About the Author
Kent Fry is a retired pastor and visiting research fellow at the Van Raalte Institute in Holland Michigan.
