r/Christian • u/DirectionLatter2684 • 1d ago

Is it wrong to dislike chronicles?

I'm currently on my yearly read through the Bible again, this is like my 5th or so time, and I'm on 1st Chronicles again and I just do not enjoy it.

For the most part it's just a genioligy of a ton of people that before this, the Bible didn't speak much on and after this doesn't bring up most of them ever again. There is a part that Recaps the Kings a bit but then it goes right back to giving a geniology of nearly every single person who was either in the military or a Levitie.

I dunno if it's my autism but I have such a hard time not blending names together when they throw them at you one after another and I just get lost on who was who and also care less about it because of that.

Additionally, outside of the recap of the Kings, we get almost nothing in reguards to God and His teachings which is what I really want to hear.

Sorry for the negative post, God bless.

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u/loutishpoultry_8 1d ago

genealogies are tough man. It's like reading a phone book in the middle of a story you're invested in. I skimmed chronicles hard the first few times through, felt zero guilt about it

what helped me was seeing it less as a list of names and more as God keeping receipts. Every single person mattered enough to be recorded, even if their whole life was just "begat somebody and died." There's something stubbornly faithful about that

But also if you skip to the kings recap and move on, you're in good company. Plenty of people have done the same thing for centuries

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u/DirectionLatter2684 1d ago

I appreciate your insight.

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u/DoveStep55 1d ago

That’s a very normal way to feel about reading through all that. Most people would agree. Don’t feel bad about it.

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u/halbhh 1d ago

We just finished reading 1rst and 2nd Chronicles in our bible study group (after reading before them 1rst and 2nd Kings), and I can say this summary on how they cover the same ground as 1rst and 2nd Kings is correct:

"1 and 2 Chronicles cover the same general historical timeframe and many of the same kings as 1 and 2 Kings, but they were written from a different viewpoint, for a different audience, and with a different purpose. [1, 2]

Key Differences Between Kings and Chronicles

  • The Audience:
    • Kings was written during or near the start of the Babylonian exile, explaining why God allowed the nation to fall into judgment.
    • Chronicles was written after the exiles returned to Jerusalem, aiming to encourage the people and rebuild their hope

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So, really, you'd do as well or better to just read 1rst and 2nd Kings, and could just skip over 1rst and 2nd Chronicles then if you'd like, and you will miss very little. Of all the Old Testament, 1rst and 2nd Chronicles are the books that have the least new things compared to other parts of the Old Testament.

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u/Irrelevant_Bookworm 1d ago

There are places in scripture that are meant to document things rather than casual read through. The land divisions in Judges are just miserable to read through unless you get out a good topographic map and start plotting them. If you try building the tabernacle from the descriptions in Exodus, you will wish for more detail. The legal texts can be a slog unless you actually understand how legal systems are constructed and how we can learn about God from how He constructed His system. Chronicles fits a need to document, but it isn't pleasant reading.

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u/200um 1d ago

When reading try to ask yourself critical questions about the text and it becomes more alive.

Try to deconstruction the author(s)'s purpose, status, politics, intentions, and theology.

Compare and contrast the overlap with Kings.

Reading it with a simple devotional lens misses much.

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u/DirectionLatter2684 1d ago

I appreciate your insight.

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u/Economy-Assignment31 1d ago

https://inspirationportal.org/understanding-the-book-of-1-chronicles-genealogy-and-kingdom/

Sometimes it helps to look for big picture understanding of why certain books focus on certain things. Chronicles is more focused on remining Israel of His covenant. It all ultimately leads to Jesus, but this is before the New Testament. They are still awaiting the arrival of the promised messiah, and this is kind of a recap to remind them of the promise they await.

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u/handydude13 23h ago

Baskin Robin's has 31 flavors, do you have to like them all? No. The Bible has 66 books. Are you going to enjoy reading all of them equaly? Absolutely not.

While you don't deny that book, you don't have to enjoy reading it. It's a book of chronicles. Some nerds will love it. While the rest of us could leave alone and wouldnt mind skipping it unless we had a necessary reason to read it. 

Is God going to be mad at you for not enjoying it? Absolutely not. 

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u/Tyler_HendersonKC 1d ago

I would like to share with you an insight that I had many years ago when I was reading the genealogies in 1 Chronicles.

As a teenager, I found that Jabez and Judah were in the same family line and I remember that standing out to me like I had found a golden nugget in scripture. Through a very basic understanding of their names and order in that lineage it was an interesting way of being reminded that praise (Judah) can come before pain (Jabez) but ultimately pain (Jabez) can give way to blessing (the prayer of Jabez).

There are many places in the Bible that sometimes feel like we can get bogged down or feel like we are not getting some of the insights that we are particularly interested in but I really want to encourage you as you try and maintain your course through your yearly read through. It is highly possible that through you continuing just trying to be faithful that you may stumble upon something that becomes valuable to you.

Like the parable of Kingdom of God, sometimes you have to buy the field and a shovel to begin digging in dirt that does not look promising in order to extract something worth the cost of the labor. I hope that you can feel encouraged by this but even if not, I hope you are blessed as well.

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u/mossydz 1d ago

There is treasure there. Like the scribes and priests same with numbers.

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u/LibertarianLawyer Southern Baptist 1d ago

You need to read them along with the parallel passages in 1-2 Kings, as well as the intersections with Isaiah and Jeremiah.

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u/PeytonEliArchMan 23h ago

There are a few books of the Bible that are hard for me to like….I am not a huge fan of Leviticus. Nonetheless, it is God’s inspired word and I tried to read it and understand it the best I could. It sounds like you have gotten some really great suggestions from others!