Saturday - 1st Chronicles 9 - Loose Ends

It appears that the author of these genealogies was tying up some loose ends in the record of VIP names before he commenced the narrative of the drama of Israel's royal history (beginning in the next chapter). It also seems that the writing, editing, compiling or organizing of these genealogies was in some way connected to the time of the exile of Judah (I Chronicles 9:1). That certainly would be reasonable since the capture and removal of the nation would have brought a fear of a permanent loss of their cohesive identity as a nation… hence genealogical records would have been particularly prized at that time.

These listings were vitally important in the time when Christ was born.  The record of lineages was kept also during the time of the exile, during the return of the remnant to Jerusalem (under Ezra & Nehemiah) as well as during the silent years between the Old & New Testament. In other words, when Jesus was born and when he died, one could have gone to the temple and could have literally traced his ancestry all the way back by either Joseph or Mary through David, Judah, Jacob, Abraham, Shem, Noah, Enoch, Seth and Adam. So, you see, there was a time when this record was of the highest spiritual value imaginable.

Here also is a record of many of the officers and custodians of the temple. The priests, Levites, Nethinims (temple servants), porters (gatekeepers), rulers, workers, guards, treasurers, stewards, pharmacists, cooks, bakers & singers were all originally assigned their duties by David and Samuel in anticipation of the building of the temple by Solomon (1^st Chronicles 9:22).  The last 6 verses of this chapter prepare us for the introduction of King Saul in the succeeding chapter (1^st Chronicles 10:1).