I Chronicles 2:1 These are the sons of Israel; Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.
Every day when I read the Bible, I am looking for a foothold. I am looking for the things that stand out from the passage that give an indication of what it is all about. Then I know what to take for the day. I look forward to that. I have to work, as you probably do, not to have a preconceived bias of what the chapter is going to be about. It is easy for me to impose what I already think onto what I read, but I want to read the Bible with an open mind. The problem is that some days some passages don’t seem to have a foothold. It is like climbing a mountain wall without any kind of indention or rise at all. This morning I would like to turn the wall at an angle so we can make our way up it.
I Chronicles 2:1 starts, “These are the sons of Israel; Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Isaachar, and Zebulon.” The chapters that follow this are almost completely chronology. This is a commentary of what has transpired in time. How do you get a foothold? There is virtually nothing here that stands out. It is just one name after another. One man begat another, one generation bore another, and so on. How do we make anything of passages like I Chronicles 2?
You’ve got to begin by realizing that there is a big picture for everything. History is just that: His story. This passage, I Chronicles 2, as well as the passages before and after, is a theological history. There is a definite purpose here, and oftentimes when the Bible seems random and without purpose, we just need to stop a moment and figure out what the purpose of the passage is. The purpose of this passage is the purpose of the entire book, and that is Jesus. That is not some Baptist imposition. That is the truth.
Verse 3 says, “The sons of Judah.” Then, it gives them. Verse 15 says, “David the seventh.” In short, this is a chronology of the tribe of Judah, the house of David, and the throne of David. It is a theological history. The purpose of all of this is the Christ. The last genealogy in the Bible is the genealogy of Jesus Christ in the book of Luke. It is all His story. There is always a big picture.
The point is: don’t look for the verse, look for the truth. Jesus Christ is the biggest truth in the Bible. It is the aim of the entire Bible. There is no need for further chronology once you get to the book of Luke because it has found its end, its apex, its purpose, which is Jesus Christ.
When you are reading the Bible, it is always nice to get a “wall-worthy” verse, a verse you might stencil on your kitchen wall, but they are all good whether they are “wall-worthy” or not. They are worthy of your consideration because they are truth. When you know what the truth is, the truth will help you find the verse. Some verses may not be pithy, but when you realize what the purpose is, you begin to see patterns and the reason for the verses.
Conversely, the verse will help you see the truth. If you see ten verses that are essentially saying the same thing, you might get the hint that God is repeating Himself for a reason. As you read the Bible, don’t just look for the verse; Look for the truth. The Bible wasn’t written in verses; it was written in truth. We love the verses because they help us break the truth down into bite-size pieces, but look for the truth.
Three things that help me see the truth are context, commentary, and customs. To get the context just ask several questions. Why is this written? By whom did God pen this? To whom was it written? For what purpose was it written?
Suppose you get a phone call at 3 o’clock in the morning, and the voice on the other end of the line, someone you don’t know, says, “You won’t believe this! There are seven thousand people here! The noise is amazing. You ought to see the sights and sounds here.” Your first response is to ask, “Who is this? Why are you calling me? And where are you?” Don’t just look for the verse. Look for the context.
Sometimes it is helpful to read a commentary to help you know what a book is about. If you are starting a book, take some time at the beginning to get a solid, biblical commentary to tell what the book is about, what God’s intent is, what He is emphasizing, and what is there. You don’t have to get into the Greek or Hebrew straightaway, but get the big picture! Otherwise, the words mean nothing.
Finally, look into the customs. Sometimes a passage goes from ho-hum to wow-pow when you realize what the customs of that day were. We are modern and western. These people were ancient and eastern. We need to realize that God wrote this at a point in time and for a purpose. His Word is eternally settled in Heaven, but it is given to us in time and space. If we know what the customs were, it helps explain otherwise bizarre actions or reactions from people we read about in the Bible.
Chronicles is inspired and blessed. There is great help here, and that begins when you stop looking merely for the verse and start looking for the truth. The truth will help you find the verse, and the verses will help you see the truth.