Scripture Reading: 1 Chron. 1:1-27
There are twelve historical books in the Old Testament. The first three are Joshua, Judges, and Ruth, and the last three are Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther. In between these two groups of three books, there are three pairs of books: 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles. With this message we begin the life-study of 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther. The burden of the life-study of these books can be expressed in the following four statements:
1. In the eternal economy of God, the Father has allotted the Son, the all-inclusive Christ typified by the good land, to the believers as their eternal portion and has transferred them into Him that they may partake of Him (Col. 1:12; 9, 1 Cor. 1:30).
2. The enjoyment of Christ differs in degrees according to the believers’ pursuing of Christ and their faithfulness to Him, and the highest attainment of pursuing Christ is to reign with Christ in His divine life through His abounding grace (Phil. 3:13-14; Rom. 5:17b, 21b).
3. The captivity of the believers by the enemy is the top failure of the believers in the enjoyment of Christ by not knowing the power of Christ’s resurrection nor living by the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ (Phil. 3:10; 1:19b).
4. The omnipresent and omnipotent Triune God became the hiding God in taking care of His chosen people in the dispersion of their captivity, in the most wise secrecy of His highest sovereignty (Esth. 1—10).
The Bible actually tells us only one thing — God’s eternal economy according to the good pleasure of His heart’s desire. Our God is exceedingly great, and surely He must have a good pleasure. Based upon His good pleasure He made an eternal economy. The reality, the center, and the goal of God’s economy is the all-inclusive and excellent Christ. The entire Bible is for this one thing, not for anything else.
The Bible is arranged in two sections. The first section, the Old Testament, is the section of pictures. God is surely the best writer, and He uses pictures in the first thirty-nine books of His writing in the Bible. These books are therefore full of pictures accompanied by prophecies. The pictures are the types, figures, and shadows in the Old Testament. For instance, Adam is “a type of Him who was to come” (Rom. 5:14). Some types are also prophecies. These prophecies are not in plain words but in pictures. The greatest type in the Old Testament is the history of the people of Israel, who typify God’s people on earth today. Thus, the history of Israel in the Old Testament is a big type signifying things to come.
When we come to the twelve books of history in the Old Testament, we should not be distracted by the history presented in these books. Why, then, should we pay attention to the books of history? To answer this question we need to realize that the entire Bible is for God’s economy with Christ as the reality, the center, and the goal. In our reading of the books of history, we need to pray and seek the proper interpretation of all the types and prophecies in these books. In particular, we need to find and know the intrinsic significance of all the types. We should focus our attention on the center of these types, which is Christ as the center of God’s economy. Therefore, as we are seeking to know the intrinsic significance of what is recorded in the books of history in the Old Testament, we must endeavor to link the history books to God’s economy. This is what we are doing in this life-study.
In the Hebrew Scriptures, 1 and 2 Chronicles were one book.
The writer of 1 and 2 Chronicles was probably Ezra. Regarding this matter, we should compare 2 Chronicles 36:22-23 with Ezra 1:1-3a. The repetition in these two portions might be a proof that 1 and 2 Chronicles were written by Ezra, the writer of the book of Ezra.
The first book covers about 41 years, from 1056 to 1015 B.C., not including the forefathers’ genealogy. The second book covers about 479 years, from 1015 to 536 B.C.
These two books might have been written in Jerusalem after Ezra’s coming back from the captivity.
The books of 1 and 2 Chronicles cover the genealogy of mankind from Adam to Abraham and the genealogy of God’s elect from Abraham to the family of Saul, and the history of Israel from Saul the king to Israel’s return from their captivity. From this we see that 1 and 2 Chronicles cover three kinds of history: the history from Adam to Abraham, which concerns the whole world; the history from Abraham to Saul, which concerns the forefathers of the race of Israel, before they were formed into a nation; and the history of the kingdom of Israel, from the time of Saul to the coming back from their captivity.
The matter of the central thought of 1 and 2 Chronicles is very crucial.
The central thought is, first, to give us a full chronology of God’s move in man’s history by including the genealogy from Adam to Samuel, indicating that God’s move in man’s history to prepare the way for God to carry out His eternal economy in humanity by becoming a man that man may become God is not a matter that concerns only the history of God’s elect but a matter that concerns the history of the entire race of mankind. The central point of view in 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings is the chosen people of God, but in 1 and 2 Chronicles it is the entire race of mankind. This needs a lineage not from Samuel but from Adam to Christ, which corresponds to the genealogy of Christ as recorded in Luke 3, not as presented in Matthew 1. The view in Matthew 1 is narrow and is limited to Israel. The view in Luke 3 is broad and includes all of mankind. This is a strong evidence that the coming Christ as the embodiment of God is not only for the one race chosen by God but for the entire human race created by God.
We need to see that God’s move is in man’s history. Have you ever heard such a phrase as “God’s move in man’s history”? Do you believe that in today’s tumultuous world situation God is still moving in man’s history? We need to believe that God has been moving and is still moving in and through man’s history. In Adam’s history God moved, and in Abel’s history God also moved. This was a move on the positive side. But God moved even in Cain’s history. This was a move on the negative side.
I can testify from my observation of the world situation since 1918 and from my study of the prophecies in the Bible that God surely moves in man’s history. Let us consider, for example, the dispute over Palestine, that is, over the good land, that has been going on for hundreds of years. Who is the landlord, the rightful owner, of the good land — Israel or the Arabs? The Jews say that Palestine is the land of their forefathers, and the Arabs claim that it is the land of their forefathers. This issue has not been settled but is still on the negotiating table. The statesmen involved in these negotiations are foolish men, for they do not know God or the Word of God, the Bible, yet they are talking about God’s affairs. God is the landlord of Palestine, and only He can solve the problem concerning this land. I believe that while the statesmen are negotiating over the ownership of the good land, the Lord is in the heavens laughing (Psa. 2:4). The decision regarding the good land will not be made by statesmen; it will be made by the One who is in the heavens. Soon the Lord Jesus may come back and settle this matter. When He comes He may say to the statesmen of the world, “This is not your business — it is My business.”
We have pointed out that the chronology in 1 and 2 Chronicles indicates that God’s move in man’s history is to prepare the way for God to carry out His eternal economy in humanity by becoming a man that man may become God. If this cannot be accomplished, there is no way to solve the problems of today’s world situation. All the problems on this earth are waiting for one thing — for a good number of men to become God-men. This matter concerns not only the history of God’s elect, Israel, but also the history of the entire race of mankind.
The world situation has changed greatly during the past fifty years. In these fifty years God has blended together people from everywhere on earth. In our semi-annual trainings saints come together from fifty nations. This would have been impossible fifty years ago. This blending of the nations is something that could have been accomplished only by God.
Through such a blending thousands of God-men will be produced. In Russia, for instance, the God-men are spreading and increasing. The whole world is open to the ministry in the Lord’s recovery. This ministry has reached to all six continents, and I have received letters of appreciation from saints in many different countries saying that they are open to receive this ministry.
Recently I released the matter of the high peak of God’s revelation — the revelation that God became a man so that man may become God in life and in nature (but not in the Godhead) for the producing of the Body of Christ as His expression. Now we need to pray that the Lord will give us a new revival, a revival which has never been seen in man’s history. Such a revival will be something new, for it is related to God’s “hobby,” to His good pleasure, to the desire of His heart. God’s good pleasure is that God would become a man to make man God in life and in nature. This is the desire of God’s heart, the “hobby” in His heart, and He will accomplish it.
As we have seen, whereas the central point of view in 1 and 2 Samuel and in 1 and 2 Kings is the chosen race of God, the central point of view in 1 and 2 Chronicles is the entire race of mankind. This indicates that God thinks not only about Israel but also about the Gentiles. Most of us are not of the people of Israel, but God thought about us in eternity past. Ephesians 1:4 tells us we all were chosen by God before the foundation of the world. We praise the Lord for choosing us in Christ before the foundation of the world.
The central thought of 1 and 2 Chronicles is also to present to us some of the important details of God’s dealing with the kings of Judah that are not recorded in 1 and 2 Samuel and in 1 and 2 Kings. Many readers of the Bible feel that 1 and 2 Chronicles are somewhat repetitious, covering things which have been covered already in 1 and 2 Samuel and in 1 and 2 Kings. We need to see that at the beginning of 1 Chronicles a part of mankind’s history is recorded that is recorded neither in 1 and 2 Samuel nor in 1 and 2 Kings. Furthermore, at the end of 1 Chronicles there is a supplement to David’s history, and in 2 Chronicles there is a supplement to the history of the kings of Judah. Israel was divided into two nations: the northern kingdom, called the kingdom of Israel, and the southern kingdom, called the kingdom of Judah. The good kings were not in Israel but in Judah. Second Chronicles does not touch the kings of Israel but covers only the kings of Judah, giving us details not found elsewhere concerning God’s dealing with them and also telling us the reasons why God dealt with them in the way He did.
Finally, in 1 and 2 Chronicles we have a complete history of God’s move in man’s history from Adam to Abraham, from Abraham to Samuel, and from Samuel, who brought in the kingship, to Israel’s return from their captivity.
In this life-study we will not cover all of 1 and 2 Chronicles but only certain parts of these books. Mainly we will cover those parts of 1 and 2 Chronicles that are a supplement to the history in 1 and 2 Kings. The matters covered in the life-study of 1 and 2 Samuel and in the life-study of 1 and 2 Kings will not be repeated here.
The sections of the coverage of our present study include the genealogy from Adam to the twelve tribes of Israel (1 Chron. 1—9); the supplement to the history of David (1 Chron. 22:2— 29:30); and the supplement to the history of the kings of Judah (2 Chron. 11:5-23; 13:1-21; 14:6—15:15; 17:1-19; 19:1— 20:30; 21:12-18; 24:14b-24; 25:5-16; 26:6-21a; 28:8-15; 29:3— 32:8; 33:11-17; 34:3-7; 36:20b-23). Therefore, this study will cover three things: the genealogy of mankind, the supplement to the history of David, and the supplement to the history of the kings of Judah.
