1Adam, Seth, Enosh, 2 Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, 3 Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, 4 Noah.
I Chronicles 1:1-4
Ten names comprise the first four verses of the Old Testament book of First Chronicles.
Many disciples of Jesus will commit to reading their Bible through in one year, and they do really well, plowing through Deuteronomy and Leviticus, but then coming to Chronicles, more than a few ‘give up.’
Who cares about a book with a genealogical list from Adam to Noah?
Boring right?
According to ancient Jewish scholars, Ezra, the Chronicler, wrote the scroll of Chronicles (I and II Chronicles) between 480 BC and 440 BC (his lifetime) to encourage the Jews who had returned to Judah and rebuilt the city, the Temple, and the walls after their Babylonian Captivity (609 – 539 BC).
Chronicles proves that YHWH (God’s name) was not through with the Jew.
Ezra wrote the Chronicles to record Jewish history and to prophesy the Messiah.
- Chronicles is the LAST book of the Hebrew Bible and ends mid-sentence.
- “To the Temple he shall go up…”
- The Gospels open with the story of the MESSIAH’s going up to the Temple.
This powerful book, with its dramatic ending, has an even more profound beginning.
- The first 10 names. Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah.
- 4 verses.
- 0 verbs.
If you look up the Hebrew meaning of each name and place the meanings side by side, you will come up with a beautiful GOSPEL sentence.
The word GOSPEL means “GOOD NEWS.”
In First Chronicles 1:1-4, you’ll find one of the most dramatic Good News sentences in the entire Hebrew Scriptures, found by translating the thirteen Hebrew names into English.
Yes!
The GOOD NEWS of the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is seen even in those boring genealogical names you read at the opening of Chronicles.
