(remember, these are unedited/draft show notes, not a transcript — listening is always better — and if you listen AND follow along below, you’ll see why)
Focus Question:
Can you be neutral toward Jesus?
Intro:
Trivia question… The earliest known name for the OT book of Chronicles is…“The things left behind.”(1) And as Dr. John Sailhamer points out
This seems to mean that these books contained material not included in the other historical books. But that title was also taken more positively to mean that the books contained important summaries of other biblical books. They were a condensed version of the rest of the OT historical books.
This is important to us, of course, because today we begin Chronicles, and it’s fitting that it’s also the last book for us to read to complete this time through the OT. And you might recall that it’s also, in the arrangement of writings in the Hebrew Bible, the last book there (unlike our English translations). We’ll tackle that factoid a different day.
But to the generation that was contemporary to Chronicles, they were a reminder of hope that rested in God’s faithfulness which ultimately included the Messiah, a Savior, from the line of David.(1)
NEW TESTAMENT SEGMENT:
As we begin our NT segment today, we hear about — and from — that very Promise, the Son of God Himself as our historical narrative turns from where we’ve been — His teaching and demonstration of authority — to His call to discipleship and what that looks like. Chapter 9 is a long one, so here we go.
Passage: Luke 9
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 50
Words: ~1069
Interestingly Jesus offers a binary here. Think about this in terms of directionality — if you’re traveling to New York, you’re either moving toward or away from it. The same is true of the word repentance, which means “to turn.” Toward or away from. So our focus question, and the answer thereto, is super short…
Jesus said whoever isn’t against me is for me. He doesn’t leave any middle ground, no ambiguity. But what if we reverse that? Jesus is also saying whoever isn’t for Him is against Him. And Jesus is clear (we’ll hear Him say something like this again in ch 11), there is no neutrality.
ORIGINAL TESTAMENT SEGMENT:
For our OT segment today, I’m going say this for those who are newer among us…there is one context in which I summarize a passage…when it repeats itself over and over like Numbers 7 which is 89 verses of the same exact thing 12 times, one for each tribe. I read the “thing” once and repeat the tribes. Too, I’ll sometimes read super-fast when there’s something that’s particularly esoteric (like the measurements of the temple). The goal is always to catch the context, because, almost without exception, we read every single word.
Today’s the one exception: The first 9 chapters are a genealogy, one where I’m going to read you a two-paragraph summary by the same OT theologian we began today with. It’s not that there aren’t a few interesting nuggets therein, but they are just that — out of the blue in the middle of a bunch of names it’ll say, “Another descendant was named Zelophehad, but he had only daughters” (1 Ch 7:15, CSB). And then it’s back to more names and which tribe got which city.
So…here’s the summary of the summary of Sailhamer,(1) and we’ll pick up in ch 10.
Chapters 1-3 are about the lineage of David, and that tells us something about the Chronicler’s purpose — a big theme of Chronicles is
that the Davidic kingship is to be the instrument of God’s promised salvation and blessing. In these genealogies the writer seems especially concerned to show that this salvation and blessing are not just for God’s people, Israel, but for all humanity as well.
Chapters 4-7 are about the house of Israel —
Having placed the line of David firmly within the context of the families of humanity, the author now begins to mark off the line of promise. The line of the promise is that elect nation through whom God intended to bring blessing and salvation to a lost world. He takes great pains to tell us that the nation is Israel, the descendants of the sons of Jacob.
Chapters 8-9 are about the house of Saul, the first King of Israel. And as you might imagine, then, 1-2 Chronicles covers a lot of the same territory that the books of Samuel and Kings cover.
Chapter 10, then is when we get back to narrative relative to David being at the center of the picture because the “theme of salvation and blessing was personified in his reign over Israel.” This begins with the death of Saul.
Passage: 1 Chronicles 10
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 69
Words: ~1135
Wisdom SEGMENT:
Passage: Proverbs 12:6-9
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 4
Words: ~64
THE BOTTOM LINE:
A final thought with regard to our focus question today — Can you be neutral toward Jesus? Remember that in John 12 Jesus said that he would be lifted up, crucified, and draw all people to himself. Many have misinterpreted that to mean that all will be saved. But Paul, more than once, both in Romans and Philippians, talks about Jesus by quoting God speaking in Isaiah 45… every knee will bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. But remember, as we saw yesterday in Luke, even demons know who Jesus is…and then today we hear Jesus say, “You’re for me or against me.” In other words, not only can we not ultimately be neutral toward Jesus, but there are eternal consequences that hang in the balance. May we die to self and love others as He did so that some might be saved.
ForTheHope is a daily audio Bible + apologetics podcast and blog. We’ve got a passion for just keepin’ it real, having conversations like normal people, and living out the love of Jesus better every single day.
Roger Courville, CSP is a globally-recognized expert in digitally-extended communication and connection, an award-winning speaker, award-winning author, and a passionately bad guitarist. Follow him on Twitter -- @RogerCourville and @JoinForTheHope – or his blog: www.forthehope.org.
Sources and resources:
(1) John H. Sailhamer, The NIV Compact Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1994), Kindle location 2831.