April 17, 2026 - 1 Chronicles 1-7

I will be honest, I more quickly perused these genealogies than I would normally read chapters.  I think we all must admit that it’s just hard to focus on all those names one after another.  But we need to be careful that we do not “miss the forest for the trees.”  These historical genealogies remind us, once again, that our story is not fictional; rather, it is historical.  The names, places, dates, and events are real.  And all these details trace out clearly God’s redemptive work in his world.  From creation to the fall to the promise of Messiah to the covenants with the Patriarchs to Moses and Israel, to the kings, through the prophets the exile and the return and, ultimately, to birth, life, and ministry of Jesus, this is real stuff.  And so, history has played out precisely as God has ordained so that, today, we can sing

Praise we the Lord this day,

This day so long foretold,

Whose promise shone with cheering ray

On waiting saints of old.

The prophet gave the sign

For faithful folk to read:

A virgin, born of David's line,

Shall bear the promised seed.   -- Anonymous (1846)