The Chronicler, whom I believe was Jeremiah, begins his account with Adam. He then gives us the genealogies of Genesis up to Abraham. Abraham’s line is traced to Israel’s David and the kings of Judah ending with Israel as God’s chosen people.
It’s all about the connection of his present with the past. The Israelites are God’s people. Someone once said, “How odd of God to choose the Jews!” But the Chronicler corrects that and says, “how good of God to choose the Jews.” Through the Jews came the Messiah. Once they rejected him, a new genealogy began. It’s this one that matters most. Those who accept the Jew’s Messiah, Jesus, are adopted as God’s chosen people. That’s us! The true believers in Jesus can now trace their genealogies back to Abraham according to Galatians. By faith, we are God’s chosen. How arrogant!
The Church has often been criticized for it’s stance on their position as God’s chosen people. It’s arrogant! It’s presumptuous. It’s blatant self-centeredness. In western civilization it’s currently not politically correct to identify so particularly to the God of the Bible. They say that to love our neighbor as ourselves means, respecting his or her religion as an alternative way of reaching the one God, whatever name we give Him? But if we understand the second greatest commandment that Jesus Gave us in that way how can we fulfill the first and foremost commandment of loving God with our whole heart, soul, mind and strength? As Allen asks in his commentary, “how can we love and empathize with the God in whose Word Jesus is identified as exclusively ‘the way, the truth, and the life.'”(John 14:6)? Jesus added, “No one can come to the father but through me.”
Like the book of Kings, the Chronicler, will give us the history of how Israel and Judah failed as a people and as a nation because they tried to reverse the order of Jesus’ first two commandments.
Chuck
“I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity.” 1 Timothy 2:1-2(NLT)