1 Chronicles 16

“Sing to the Lord, all the earth; proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.  Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples.  For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised; He is also to be feared above all gods.  For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens.  Honor and majesty are before Him; strength and gladness are in His place.  Give to the Lord, O families of the peoples, give to the Lord glory and strength.  Give to the Lord the glory due His name; bring an offering, and come before Him.  Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!  Tremble before Him, all the earth.  The world also is firmly established, it shall not be moved.” 1 Chronicles 16:23-30 (NKJV)

Many years ago, my family moved to suburban Chicago.  Having never lived outside “Dixie,” we were so excited to learn that Chicago had “Little Italy” and “Chinatown” sections of the city, not to mention thriving Eastern European & Latino cultures.  Growing up in Arkansas, Taco Bell was the most exotic thing we ever experienced!  So, we would take these day trips to the various ethnic centers of Chicago, and the whole experience was amazing.  Still, even though we had a good time living among the hospitable Italians, Chinese, Polish, etc., for a day, there was the lingering reality that we were foreigners on their turf.  I never walked away from those areas of town with a compelling desire to learn their language, explore their literature & philosophers, or adopt their traditional dress, apart from the random T-shirt.  At the end of the day, we were sheep of a different fleece.

Whenever we read the TANAKH (Old Testament), it is easy to simply view the narrative as pure history with little to no application for today’s world.  And while there is a growing multitude of Jewish believers in Yeshua (Jesus), for the vast majority of Christians, the Old Testament recounts the history of a foreign people.  For so many folks, they might as well be reading about the history of the Ming Dynasty.  Perhaps that is why so few Christians read the Old Testament.  It may also explain why most Christians don’t read their New Testaments, either, for that matter.  After all, the entire Bible (Genesis-Revelation) is a Jewish book written by Jewish guys who primarily explain to other Jewish guys that Jesus is the Messiah.  All the while, they are trying to figure out how to cope with all those Gentiles who were coming to faith in the Jewish Messiah!

In today’s passage, the Lord reminds us that He is not just the God of Israel (the Jewish people).  Rather, He is the God of the whole earth!  After all, He created the whole earth with all its people.  All religion, apart from that written in the Bible, is man-made and, hence, false.  God’s hatred of false gods is inflexible; He says the world He created is firmly established and shall not be moved.  And He underscores Israel’s reason for existing as His “Chosen”: To glorify His Name and tell of His wondrous works, in the hope that people who are weak in their faith will be encouraged and that people who do not know Him will turn from their sin, embrace Him and His Word, and receive salvation. (Gen 22:15-18; Acts 17:22-31) This has ALWAYS been His desire for ALL people throughout history.  Biblical history is also OUR story.