Regent University School of Udnergraduate Studies

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Gene-ahhhhh-logies...

Most people would agree that reading biblical genealogies is about as much fun as watching paint dry… So and so begot such and such, and such and such begot so and so, and on and on. With this being said, I recently accepted the invitation to write notes on 1 Chronicles for our church devotionals. The prospect of writing on this book excited me. My initial thoughts of studying 1 Chronicles could be compared to the feelings another might get from reading Lord of the Rings or Chronicles of Narnia. Here is a book about Israel; a Hobbitish nation surrounded by many other great nations who sought to destroy her. It is a book about kings and wars, battles for the throne, good verses evil. Why wouldn’t I want to dedicate the next few months of my life to the study of this book? There was only one catch to this challenge and that was the mountain of genealogies I would have to sort through in order to get to the action. The past five chapters have continued mercilessly with no end in sight. At times, I have found myself wondering what I got myself into. Yesterday, I actually found it exciting to read that Bithiah a daughter of Pharaoh was listed in the families of Israel. This was the most interesting thing I had read in days!

Today as I sat down and read through chapter 5, I was more unmotivated then ever before. I tried to convince myself that I was almost through with all this genealogy business; then I foolishly made the mistake of peaking ahead. I was shocked to find that these lists continued on until the end of chapter 10! This caused me to wonder when I last prayed for patience. Then I came across an interesting verse embedded in all of the “begots.” The author records that the sons of Reuben (who was one of the 12 sons of Israel), the Gadites and the half tribe of Manasseh made war with the Hagrites. It was then recorded that the Hagrites where delivered into the hands of these Israelites because the Israelites cried out to God in the battle and that, “He heeded their prayer, because they put their trust in Him” (verse 20). This hit the spot like a cup of hot cider on a cold day. Even in the Old Testament, deep within a long genealogy, is the only thing we really need to know and understand about God’s will for our life. My thoughts were flooded with the message of the book of Hebrews, that “by faith” we are to live and walk out our Christian life. Faith is the key to a victorious life. It is the banner of the Church. I think this verse hit the spot because I have the tendency to get lost in the depths of Christianity. There is so much mystery and romance to our belief that it is easy to get distracted from a simple faith and trust in God. It is easy to say we believe in Him and then go on to worry about all of our needs and wants in life. This verse has reminded me that the battle belongs to the Lord. That if I am going to fight, it needs to be on my knees in prayer. It is amazing how the whole Bible directs us in this way, even an oft ignored genealogy in Chronicles, and yet we fail to see it. Hopefully it’s a truth that will be seen clearly in my life too.

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