Paul spoke of “endless genealogies.” Christ was their end point. Reject Him and they’re endless.
Reading the Hebrew Bible, when you arrived at the Chronicles you would be at the end! The two books of Chronicles (originally one volume) were called Dibre Hayyamin, or “The Events of the Times.” They complete the third division of books after the Law and the Prophets, called the Ketuvim (“Writings”). You see that 1 Chronicles begins with a genealogy and, after chapter 9, includes a history mostly of Judah up to the Edict of Cyrus in 539 BC. You may have heard the cynical line that 1 Chronicles reads like a phone book—all cast and no plot. But one thing should be obvious: God is a people Person. The vast universe around us will someday be discarded: “Of old You laid the foundation of the earth…They will perish,…yes, they will all grow old like a garment; like a cloak You will change them, and they will be changed” (Ps 102:25-26). Yet everyone in Chronicles will exist forever. But why were these genealogies so important to the first readers? The people of Judah were living in difficult times. After 70 years in Babylon, a remnant had returned to a devastated land. Jerusalem lay in ruins, the temple destroyed. Their priests were scattered and their monarchy neutralized. How vital to look back to the glory days of king David, and remember the covenant the Lord had made with him. But why was the royal line through Judah rather than Benjamin? Hadn’t their first king been Saul, a Benjamite? Benjamin was a warrior tribe, on occasion even fighting the other 11 tribes—and winning! Wouldn’t they be better leaders? But no. Judah was in God’s plan. We see this because the genealogies pointed both backward and forward, to another King who would come through David’s line—their Messiah!