Connections

These were the divisions of the descendants of Aaron: The sons of Aaron were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.
1 Chronicles 24:1 (NIV)

One of the most common criticisms I hear made regarding the Bible is that it doesn’t fit together. And, to a casual 21st-century reader who is expecting a simple, chronological story by a single author, I can totally understand how it’s easy to come to this conclusion. After over 40 years of reading and studying this Great Story, which does begin in the beginning and ends with the end (and a new beginning), I actually find the opposite. More and more, I’m blown away by the connections that tie the Great Story together. Like the one I found today.

Today’s chapter is a list of the descendants of Aaron who were appointed priests to offer sacrifices and offerings in the Temple according to the Law of Moses. Aaron was Moses’ brother, and the entire Hebrew worship system was instituted roughly 1400 years before Jesus. The Chronicler is writing his account roughly 400 years before Jesus. Among the lists of the “houses” or families of priests assigned regular sacrificial duties was the house of Abijah (vs. 10). If I put my finger in our 1 Chronicles chapter and flip forward to the first chapter of Luke, I find that Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, was from the house of Abijah as he received an angelic visit regarding his son’s miraculous birth.

From Aaron in the book of Exodus to the Chronicler’s list of priests in 1 Chronicles to Jesus’ story in Luke, the descendants of Aaron and their role in the Hebrew worship system connect the history and the Great Story across eighteen hundred years. That’s like me being able to connect my family tree back to 500 A.D. I find that amazing.

As I meditate on these new connections I made in what is arguably one of the most boring and seemingly irrelevant chapters in the entirety of Scripture, I am reminded why I continue this chapter-a-day journey and why I continue to study it from beginning to end. It never ceases to reveal more and deeper lessons of Life and Spirit. It also continues to meet me where I find myself on life’s road, to reveal the lessons I need for the moment I am in.