1 Chronicles at a glance

1 Chronicles

 

The 13^th book in the Bible. According to Jewish tradition the author was scribe and scholar Ezra. Tradition also tells us that it was written in about 430 BC and records the events that occurred from roughly 1,000 BC to 960 BC. This period contains the first half of the history of Israel in its entirety.

 

The Purpose of writing this book is 3-fold ... 1) to unify God’s people, 2) to trace the Davidic line, and 3) to teach that genuine worship ought to be the center of individual and national life. 

 

The Setting of the book: 1^st Chronicles parallels 2^nd Samuel, serving as a commentary on it. It was written after the Babylonian Exile from a priestly point of view. This book emphasizes the religious history of both Judah and Israel.

 

Stories told ...

 

1) One of the biggest and most important story lines is found in Chapter 22. Verses 5 thru 10 reveal that fact that the Lord told King David that he would NOT be the one to build the Temple meant for worshipping God. It was because he had shed men’s blood with his own hands. His son Solomon, whom the Lord called “a man of peace”, would be the one to build the Temple. David took on the task of collecting the supplies needed to make such a build.

 

Important Points found in this book:

 

1) Originally, Chronicles was one book comprised of Israel’s entire history and not as they ended up being 1^st and 2^nd Chronicles.  1^st Chronicles relays history from the creation of Adam thru the reign of King David.

 

2) This book reiterates some well-known stories told in other books of the OT. At times another perspective is given, just the same as the NT gospels, which are sometimes referred to as the “parallel gospels”. At times more detail is given, such as the fact that more giants had been killed, in addition to Goliath.

 

3) There are many lists in Chronicles, such as genealogies and laws.

 

4) 1^st Chronicles ends with Chapter 28 where David gave instructions to his son Solomon and Chapter 29 which speaks of the multitude of gifts given for the construction of Solomon’s Temple to the Lord God of Israel.

 

Key Verses: 

“And David realized that the Lord had confirmed him as king over Israel and had greatly blessed his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.” - 1^st Chronicles 14:2

 

“My son, I wanted to build a Temple to honor the name of the Lord my God,” David told him.  “But the Lord said to me, ‘You have killed many men in the battles you have fought. And since you have shed so much blood in my sight, you will not be the one to build a Temple to honor my name.’”- 1^st Chronicles 22:7-8

 

Next time we’ll take a look at the book of 2^nd Chronicles ... Until then, walk with the King and be a blessing.

In His Name & for His glory,

Rich Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

Resource: Books of the Bible at a Glance; published by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (May 18, 2018); The Life Application Study Bible.

Note: I took my information from this lengthy compilation of bible book information for all 66 books of the Holy Bible & the margin notes from the study bible.