If you looked at the title and thought, “Why are there nine chapters covered in today’s Bible plan summary?” The short answer is 1 Chronicles chapters 1-9 is all genealogies and records of the names of priests, kings and other leaders of the Southern Kingdom of Judah. 1-2 Chronicles was written originally as one book. It provides much of the same material as 1-2 Kings, although some of the details and names vary. Many biblical scholars assert the “Chronicler” wanted to re-record the history of Judah to encourage those exiled in Babylon, and to remind the people to remain faithful until the time of their deliverance.
Briefly, 1 Chronicles 1 covers the generations of people from Adam through Jacob. It also records the lists of many of the indigenous kings in the Promised Land. Chapter 2 records the genealogy of Jacob (Israel) through David, but also lists a number of generations of other descendants who weren’t of the line of David. Chapter 3 records the sons and descendants of David into the time of Judah’s exile in Babylon. Chapter 4 records the descendants of Judah and Simeon. In verse 10, we read what has become famous as the prayer of Jabez: 10Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!” And God granted what he asked. After this brief prayer, the Chronicler returned to recording the genealogies as before. Chapter 5 records the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. All of Chapter 6 records the descendants of Levi, including breaking them down into the various divisions of service among the Levites. Chapter 7 records the descendants of Issachar, Benjamin, Naphtali, Manasseh (again), Ephraim, and Asher. Chapter 8 records the descendants of Saul, the first king of Israel. Chapter 9 records the genealogy of the exiles who returned to Judah from Babylon, as well as a repeat of the genealogy of Saul. While we could have taken several days to cover these chapters, and gone into greater detail, most of us would find such an exercise tedious. For those who are interested in the study of genealogies, you always have the opportunity to use your study Bibles or online resources!
Matthew 13 begins with Jesus telling the crowd the Parable of the Sower. After He tells the parable, the disciples ask Him why He teaches in parables and Jesus responds that it is for them to understand the parables, but not for everyone. He then proceeds to tell the disciples the meaning of the Parable of the Sower. Next, Jesus tells the Parable of the wheat and the tares. In this parable, Jesus makes it clear that the good and bad will grow together until the time of judgment at the end of time. At that point they will be separated, and the good will go to heaven with Jesus, while the bad will be cast out. Of course, Jesus wasn’t saying that some of us are good and others bad. He was telling us that those who respond to Him and His good news of salvation will be redeemed and considered good. Jesus followed this parable with the Parable of the Mustard Seed, and the Parable of Leaven, both of which show us how the Kingdom of Heaven starts out small in our lives, and becomes all-consuming. After explaining the Parable of the Wheat and Tares, Jesus tells the Parable of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl of Great Price. All of these parables show us the Kingdom of Heaven is worth more than anything, and we must put our pursuit of it before everything else in our lives. After telling the parables, Jesus travelled to His hometown and went to the synagogue. When He taught there, the people were amazed by His teaching, but at the same time they “took offense at Him” because they knew Him from His youth. Therefore, He didn’t do many miracles there. Mark’s gospel tells us Jesus “couldn’t” do many miracles there, because of their lack of faith, but Matthew tells us he “didn’t” do many miracles there. In any case, He did some miracles, but not as many as in the places where the people received Him in faith. In the same way, we must receive Jesus in faith if we are to experience the fullness of His Kingdom work in our lives.