The book of Chronicles, the final book of the Hebrew Bible, rarely gets much attention from Jews or Christians, especially when it comes to the genealogies that make up the opening chapters. But, subjecting these chapters to careful and inventive reading, Peter Leithart detects a surprising message:
[T]he fact that Chronicles begins with [the word] adam, [literally “man”], the name of the first human being, is a hint that large issues are afoot. Whatever Chronicles is about, it’s something as fundamental as Adam.
Structure gives a clue. Commentators have noted that the genealogies are arranged by the mirror-image literary device known as “chiasm.” . . . The unique central section of a chiastic text is frequently the key to the whole, and at the center of the Chronicler’s genealogy is Levi, the priestly tribe of Israel. A history that begins with Adam hinges on clans of priests within the priestly people. God fathered Adam so that Adam could father generations of palace servants. (Along similar lines, the entire genealogy ends with a description of the duties of Levitical gatekeepers.)
We can be more specific. The genealogies of Chronicles center on a particular set of Levites, the singers and musicians. . . . So we can gloss the earlier suggestion: God created Adam so that he could produce singers. God made man so that man could make music. . . . .
That doesn’t seem right. Surely, we are made for something more than music. In Scripture, though, music encapsulates the vocation of human beings. We are made to be singers because we are made to be priests, kings, and prophets. . . .
To say God made Adam to make musicians is to say that God made Adam to produce priestly singers, royal musicians, and prophetic chanters mad with the divine spirit. God made us to make music, and to be made by the music we make.
Read more on First Things: http://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2016/06/music-man