March 17, 2021: Day 11 – I Chronicles 7

This chapter in Chronicles focuses on the increase in the number of warriors for the nation of Israel.  We read time and again here the number of “mighty warriors”.  The emphasis in this chapter is on growth, large numbers, and military prowess.  All of these things are important to nation that is surrounded by hostile nations, each looking to get a foothold in the region.  

We find in this chapter also the birth of one of the heroes of Scripture, Joshua.  You’ll find him mentioned in vs.27.  So how are you holding up with all of these names and all of these people that we have already seen either in Genesis or other passages that we worked through in Kings and really all of the Old Testament.  What makes this book of the Bible difficult is that there are very few stories and events in the lives of these people that are elucidated.  Just names and then more names on top of that may not tell much of a story until you do some research and find out more about those names.  We have tried to do that fairly consistently, and hopefully in the next chapters we can do more.  

The emphasis on military prowess is not unusual for Israel.  It does fly a bit against what we see Jesus bringing in the New Covenant.