1 CHRONICLES 3-6

Heart Issues

I find myself looking very skeptically at the most quoted verse of 1 Chronicles. It was a huge thing for a little while, and then it died out pretty quickly too. The prayer of Jabez always struck me as a very selfish prayer that Americans latched onto very easily and quickly. Anytime we can ask God for more blessings and more territory and for Him to keep us from harm, of course that is the American prayer. The most important part of our prayer lives is to continue to try to be in tune with God and His will so that we may pray according to it. We are guaranteed to suffer and be persecuted if we are truly following and standing boldly for Christ. We are not guaranteed wealth, prosperity, and freedom from pain. I think the reason it died out so quickly is because many people were praying this prayer and not seeing it answered the way they wanted it to be answered. So they gave up. It is also very interesting to me to look through all of the names and to recognize many from the Old Testament stories and to look forward to reading about them again as we study together. In the end of chapter 4 we begin to see war start happening and yet it doesn’t seem wrong in context of the chapter or time period. I am still trying to understand the concept of war in those days and the way in which it fits into the story of God. I am also greatly encouraged that I am having a boy when I read through these chapters. It is was seen as very important to keep your line and name going through having a son and the firstborn son was truly a blessing from God. Lastly, these chapters help me even more rely upon the accuracy of scripture and when such great detail is recorded that has been backed up a great deal of the time already when put to scrutiny, I am left in awe.

Notes
-We see more battles in chapter 5.
-The temple musicians were handpicked by David it seems and the Levites were the priests and received the first lot – their choice of the land they wanted to inhabit.
-Aaron is still a key figure here as His sons are the only priests that are allowed to enter the Holy of Holies. It is awesome to see the grace of God even here as Aaron helped fashion a golden calf for the people to worship and God forgave Him and still let him and his descendants be the priests of Almighty God.