Let me start this by saying that I enjoy genealogy but let me tell you that 1 Chronicles Chapter 6 left me reeling. There is so much genealogy that when I sat down to do my notes, I was lost. If it left me reeling can you imagine how it was for those who actually lived it.
Take a look at 1 Chronicles 6:33-38 for a moment:
These are the men who served and their sons. Of the sons of the Kohathites: Heman the singer the son of Joel, son of Samuel, 34 son of Elkanah, son of Jeroham, son of Eliel, son of Toah, 35 son of Zuph, son of Elkanah, son of Mahath, son of Amasai, 36 son of Elkanah, son of Joel, son of Azariah, son of Zephaniah, 37 son of Tahath, son of Assir, son of Ebiasaph, son of Korah, 38 son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, son of Israel;
That is just one guy. Can you imagine having to list all your relatives like that? Just so people would know who you were and where you belonged? However, without all of that no one would know that Heman (love his name) is part of the Levi lineage. It’s important to those in the Bible to know where they came from.
Today, this isn’t as important as it once was. We tend to be such a mix of people that most of us can only tell you who are grandparents and great grandparents were. Unless you do a genealogy you just don’t know. Have you ever done one of those?
I did once way back before there were websites to help you. I spend months in libraries and pouring over information. I did have some help because my family on my father’s side have a book of the older generations. It is at the Library of Congress but once it ends there is no one who has updated it. Once I remember seeing some paperwork that my grandfather had to update it and include us but we would have been the latest generation in that update. There have been two more since us, well at least two. Maybe three in some cases. The other thing is my people didn’t settle in one area. Nope! They were military and went where they were told.
My point is that I have no clue about all of my ancestors yet the Levites (and other Israelites) knew who they were and where the came from. For generations they could trace their lines all the back. That lineage defined not only them but the jobs that would hold much of the time. Levites were priests which meant when you were born they already knew, roughly, what you were going to be when you grew up.
When reading this chapter I almost always mess up their names. I’m from the South so I can mess up even the most basic of names. I was relieved when we got to Jonathan or David or Solomon because I could easily pronounce those. I was lucky enough to find a genealogy chart but then when I was writing out my notes I realized the chart left people off.
Like it had a blue line that said, some people are not listed. Were they not important enough? To be honest if I am sitting in heaven after going through everything these people went through and someone today said “We can just leave them off the chart. It’s not like they matter to the story.” Someone would be getting haunted. I’m talking everyday until my name appears on that chart.
I’m not saying that out of pride or to be mean. Those people mattered. Each and every one of them mattered. They make of the story that leads us to Jesus and to God. They show us the way to salvation through the suffering they endured. It would be like doing all the work behind the scenes only to have your co-worker’s nephew take all the credit.
In the end every single name listed in the Bible matters. They matter because they are the people who came before and birthed the people we considers heroes. Without them and their struggles many of the Bible heroes wouldn’t have been half as heroic as they were. Those ancestors and their struggles shaped them. I mean would Moses have been as impact-full if he hadn’t grown up in Pharaoh’s house and then left only to come back and lead the people out of bondage? Don’t skip the names even when you want to.
