THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

The Books Of The Chronicles: God's Preservation Of His Davidic And Levitical Covenants

II. Overviewing Our History From God's Edifying Perspective

(1 Chronicles 1:1-9:34)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

We stand in need of an edifying overview of history that we might know how to think and act. We illustrate:

(1) In "essays" on "the legacy of slavery in America," The New York Times aims "to deepen understanding of American history (and the American present) by proposing a new point of origin for our national story" with the "sweeping contention" that "'nearly everything that has made America exceptional grew out of slavery.'" (Michael Brendan Dougherty, "The 1619 Project's Potted History;" nationalreview.com, August 27, 2019)

Conservative writer Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry has reasoned that if this claim is true, "'the only moral response is to hate America and all its institutions and replace them with ones based on diametrically opposed values.'" (Ibid.)

However, the Time's contention fails to align with statements by America's founding fathers: Thomas Jefferson "recognized that slavery was the 'rock upon which the old Union would split'" and John Adams asserted that "dealing with this monstrous contradiction" between constitutional liberty and slavery "had been deferred by their more immediate project of getting 13 clocks," the 13 colonies, "to strike together" and approve the constitution. (Ibid., Dougherty) Our nation was thus formed in spite of the blight of slavery, not because of it! Michael Baron ("Elites show their contempt" (Republican-American, September 9, 2019, p. 10A) further explains that the New York Times has a biased agenda in its essays -- "to discredit the elected president, his policies and his voters as racists."

(2) We have the same challenge with regard to world history: last Wednesday marked the 18th anniversary of the 9/11 Islamist terrorist attacks on our country, so many Americans still wonder about world issues that affect them, and people elsewhere in the world often struggle with the same concern: not only is the Middle East in constant unrest, the British are deadlocked over leaving a more socialistic European Union, Hong Kong fears a loss of liberty to mainland China's communist government and Third World refugees keep trying to flock to Western countries.

Need: So, we ask, "What is God's edifying overview of history so believers worldwide might think and act aright?"

I. The books of Chronicles were written to counter an errant and debilitating view of Israel's history:

A. We learned in our last message that when Jerusalem was under siege by Babylon, the city's people circulated the discouraging belief that God had cast off the two "clans" of David and Levi that formed the nation's monarchy and priesthood respectively, that God had thereby forsaken them as a nation, Jeremiah 33:22-24c!

B. God had countered this view, claiming through His prophet Jeremiah that He had not cast off those clans, that His eternal covenants with the lines of David in 2 Samuel 7:8-16 and of Levi in Numbers 25:12-13 were as secure as His Genesis 8:21-22 Noahic Covenant that night and day would continue, Jeremiah 33:20-26!

C. Since Ezra knew this Jeremiah 33 message, he wrote a history of the nation in the Chronicles, revealing God's faithfulness in creating and sustaining the nation to encourage returning Hebrew exiles to rebuild the nation!

II. In 1 Chronicles 1:1-9:1 then, Ezra gave an ABBREVIATED historical genealogy starting with the first man Adam and going up to Judah's Babylonian Captivity, highlighting the clans of David and Levi:

A. Ezra began his genealogy with Adam and abbreviated it, fast-forwarding it to David in 1 Chronicles 1:1-3:1.

B. He then gave the genealogy of Israel's 12 tribes, supplying a prolonged section on Levi (1 Chr. 6:1-81), emphasizing God's role to preserve that clan in line with His eternal plan to preserve the nation, 1 Chr. 3:2-9:1.

III. At 1 Chronicles 9:2-34, Ezra again fast-forwarded beyond the Babylonian Captivity to give the genealogy of the returning exiles themselves, showing their part in God's history; Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 602.

Lesson: By giving an overview of their history starting with Adam, highlighting the Davidic and Levitical clans and including his readers in that history, Ezra encouraged his fellow Hebrews to obey God's will in their own era!

Application: (1) May we trust in Christ to be saved, John 3:16. (2) May we live in alignment with God's edifying overview of history. [(3) We give that overview in our "Conclusion" section below.]

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message . . . )

(1) In Matthew 13:1-52, Jesus gave the parables of the Kingdom to instruct His disciples how to deal with opposition they would face like He had faced that day from Israel's leaders. The parables taught that Satan would try to resist the discipling efforts of God's servants by infiltrating groups of believers with unbelievers, by corrupting the groups with errant beliefs to discredit them and their faith like Israel's leaders had tried to discredit Jesus. Christ thus urged His servants to respond to such trials by expounding Scripture anyway, for it was eternally worth their doing so.

(2) Christ's Revelation 2:1-3:22 prophecy that we taught 2 years ago provides details of this conflict between Satan and God that involves God's messengers as it is applied to Church History. We now give a condensed overview of that prophecy to filter out false histories with false agendas so as to discern how we should think and act today:

(a) In each of the first three eras, the pre-Western-Civilization-eras of Ephesus, Smyrna and Pergamum, the phrase "He that hath ears to hear . . ." occurs before an added promise (2:7, 11, 17), but in each of the last four eras, the Western-Civilization-eras of Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea, this phrase occurs at the end of each era's message (2:29; 3:6, 13, 22). Since Jesus in Matthew 13:9, 10-17 implied that the "He that hath ears to hear" phrase signals fulfilled prophecy, the Ephesus, Smyrna and Pergamum era messages, though fulfilled in early Church History, are applicable to believers in today's Third World lands that face issues that believers in the first three eras of Church History faced. Conversely, believers in Western Civilization lands are impacted by the last four eras.

(b) Therefore, for believers today in Third World lands, (i) as in the Ephesus era (Acts 2 to A. D. 100), newly formed churches must retain a love for Christ versus neglecting that love in focusing to preserving future generations from apostates, that they trust God with the future, Rev. 2:1-7. (ii) Then, as in the Smyrna era (A. D. 64-311), if believers face physical persecution, they must stay true to God 'til death, Rev. 2:8-11. (iii) Third, as in the Pergamum era (A. D. 300-800), believers must not compromise with paganism, but stay true to the Scriptures, Rev. 2:12-17.

(c) For believers in Western Civilization lands, the infiltration of unbelievers and error in the 4th-9th cent. Pergamum era greatly affected later eras: (i) the figurative handling of prophecy in the Alexandrian School led to anti-Semitic and reconstructionism views where the Church allegedly replaces Israel, leading also to viewing Third World peoples as "Canaanites" to be enslaved or slain (Crusades, killing American Indians, slavery); (ii) ancient Babylonian cultism with its sacraments and mother-child worship led to Catholicism; (iii) pagan Neo-platonism and Stoicism led to Calvinism and Arminianism respectively and their resulting false spiritualities that now affect much of Christendom, explaining the many sins in Christendom that unbelievers typically [and rightly] critique.

(d) Accordingly, (i) Christ promised the overcomer in the Thyatira era (A. D. 800-1517; Rev. 2:18-29) that countered the Babylonian cult a new day of religious liberty ("the morning star") versus the oppression they faced under the State church in Europe. The discovery of America 25 years before Luther nailed up his Ninety-Five Theses embodied that fulfillment as America, though imperfectly begun, was used of God to give believers religious liberty.

(ii) Christ then promised the overcomer in the Sardis era (A. D. 17th -18th cent.; Rev. 3:1-6), the spiritually dead, Post-Reformation Church of American Jonathan Edwards and Britishers George Whitfield and the Wesleys, that He would confess the overcomers' names to His Father and for Edwards' stand against consubstantiation and receptionism, a further stand against the Babylonian cult, God made him the real father of our nation as the Great Awakening under Edwards united believers from the 13 colonies for the forming of the United States that furthered religious liberty. (Wm. W. Sweet, The Story of Religion in America, 1973, p. 172-173) The Great Awakening created evangelical world missions, so Edwards also fathered world missions, J. E. Orr, The Light of the Nations, 1965, p. 28.

(iii) The 19th and 20th cent. overcomers in the Philadelphian era (Rev. 3:7-13), the "Fundamentalists," held to five fundamental doctrines, opposing Liberal Theology in mainline Protestantism that denied Christ's deity and God's inspiration of Scripture. Christ vindicated the Fundamentalists before promoters of Liberal Theology, using world wars to punish those who undermined true theology by invasion of their lands while protecting from invasion the Fundamentalists' lands. [Darwin's (paganistic) theory of evolution was applied to the Bible, producing Liberal Theology, so God's judgment on that theory and its undermining of trust in Scripture and Scripture's God fell on lands where the false theology dominated.] Fundamentalists were also rewarded by God's granting their churches and schools worldwide outreach and influence, and He called them to "hold fast" to Bible truth to retain that influence.

(iv) In our Laodicean era, 1950 to the rapture (Rev. 3:14-22), many once sound men have not "held fast" to Bible truth as God had urged Fundamentalists, not relying on the Holy Spirit's power, leading to failure in doctrine and ministry, Rev. 3:14-16. Many are adopting the figurative interpretation of prophecy begun by the Alexandrian School and doctrinal corruption by pagan Neo-platonic (Augustine) and Stoic (Pelagius) views that foster Calvinist and Arminian errors and reconstructionism with false spiritualities, and these only lead to compromising with Liberal Theology, pagan philosophies and even Marxism, Rev. 3:17. God calls us to have Him let us face trials that make us stick to literal Bible truth in the Spirit's power. If we expound the truth, God will reward us, giving us great influence in an oppressive era akin to what He gave Luther and Edwards. (Rev. 3:18-22 with 2:28 and 3:4 in the Greek text).

May we trust in Christ to be saved. May we focus on GOD'S overview of our history as revealed in His Word to see the important role He has for US NOW, and FAITHFULLY BELIEVE and APPLY His Word.