1 Chronicles 1 Devotional

A Story That Starts with Adam

1 Chronicles opens without a story or a single word from God. It simply begins with a name: Adam (1:1). The list moves through Noah and his sons, the nations that spread out from them, and down the line of Shem to Abram, whom the text pauses to call Abraham (1:27). Then it narrows to Isaac and his two sons, Esau and Israel (1:34). Even the kings of Edom are named, kings who reigned before any king ruled over Israel (1:43).

Starting with Adam makes a quiet claim. Israel's story, with its kings and temple and the exile still ahead in this book, belongs inside the story of the whole human race. God did not begin his purposes with one nation and forget the rest. He worked through generation after generation, keeping track of names most readers skip. Luke traces the family line of Jesus back to Adam (Luke 3:38), so the Savior's family tree runs through this chapter too. Every name here was known to God, and so is yours.

To think about: What difference does it make to know that God has been at work through every generation before you, and is still at work in yours?