The exile of the northern tribes to Assyria and the southern tribes to Babylon, genaelogies needed to be re - recorded.
1 Chronicles 9: A Genealogy of the Returned Exiles
1 So all Israel was recorded in genealogies, and these are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel. And Judah was taken into exile in Babylon because of their breach of faith.
2 Now the first to dwell again in their possessions in their cities were Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the temple servants.
3 And some of the people of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh lived in Jerusalem:
4 Uthai the son of Ammihud, son of Omri, son of Imri, son of Bani, from the sons of Perez the son of Judah.
5 And of the Shilonites: Asaiah the firstborn, and his sons.
6 Of the sons of Zerah: Jeuel and their kinsmen, 690.
7 Of the Benjaminites: Sallu the son of Meshullam, son of Hodaviah, son of Hassenuah,
8 Ibneiah the son of Jeroham, Elah the son of Uzzi, son of Michri, and Meshullam the son of Shephatiah, son of Reuel, son of Ibnijah;
9 and their kinsmen according to their generations, 956. All these were heads of fathers' houses according to their fathers' houses.
10 Of the priests: Jedaiah, Jehoiarib, Jachin,
11 and Azariah the son of Hilkiah, son of Meshullam, son of Zadok, son of Meraioth, son of Ahitub, the chief officer of the house of God;
12 and Adaiah the son of Jeroham, son of Pashhur, son of Malchijah, and Maasai the son of Adiel, son of Jahzerah, son of Meshullam, son of Meshillemith, son of Immer;
13 besides their kinsmen, heads of their fathers' houses, 1,760, mighty men for the work of the service of the house of God.
14 Of the Levites: Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, son of Azrikam, son of Hashabiah, of the sons of Merari;
15 and Bakbakkar, Heresh, Galal and Mattaniah the son of Mica, son of Zichri, son of Asaph;
16 and Obadiah the son of Shemaiah, son of Galal, son of Jeduthun, and Berechiah the son of Asa, son of Elkanah, who lived in the villages of the Netophathites.
17 The gatekeepers were Shallum, Akkub, Talmon, Ahiman, and their kinsmen (Shallum was the chief);
18 until then they were in the king's gate on the east side as the gatekeepers of the camps of the Levites.
19 Shallum the son of Kore, son of Ebiasaph, son of Korah, and his kinsmen of his fathers' house, the Korahites, were in charge of the work of the service, keepers of the thresholds of the tent, as their fathers had been in charge of the camp of the LORD, keepers of the entrance.
20 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar was the chief officer over them in time past; the LORD was with him.
21 Zechariah the son of Meshelemiah was gatekeeper at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
22 All these, who were chosen as gatekeepers at the thresholds, were 212. They were enrolled by genealogies in their villages. David and Samuel the seer established them in their office of trust.
23 So they and their sons were in charge of the gates of the house of the LORD, that is, the house of the tent, as guards.
24 The gatekeepers were on the four sides, east, west, north, and south.
25 And their kinsmen who were in their villages were obligated to come in every seven days, in turn, to be with these,
26 for the four chief gatekeepers, who were Levites, were entrusted to be over the chambers and the treasures of the house of God.
27 And they lodged around the house of God, for on them lay the duty of watching, and they had charge of opening it every morning.
28 Some of them had charge of the utensils of service, for they were required to count them when they were brought in and taken out.
29 Others of them were appointed over the furniture and over all the holy utensils, also over the fine flour, the wine, the oil, the incense, and the spices.
30 Others, of the sons of the priests, prepared the mixing of the spices,
31 and Mattithiah, one of the Levites, the firstborn of Shallum the Korahite, was entrusted with making the flat cakes.
32 Also some of their kinsmen of the Kohathites had charge of the showbread, to prepare it every Sabbath.
33 Now these, the singers, the heads of fathers' houses of the Levites, were in the chambers of the temple free from other service, for they were on duty day and night.
34 These were heads of fathers' houses of the Levites, according to their generations, leaders. These lived in Jerusalem.
Saul's Genealogy Repeated
35 In Gibeon lived the father of Gibeon, Jeiel, and the name of his wife was Maacah,
36 and his firstborn son Abdon, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Ner, Nadab,
37 Gedor, Ahio, Zechariah, and Mikloth;
38 and Mikloth was the father of Shimeam; and these also lived opposite their kinsmen in Jerusalem, with their kinsmen.
39 Ner fathered Kish, Kish fathered Saul, Saul fathered Jonathan, Malchi-shua, Abinadab, and Eshbaal.
40 And the son of Jonathan was Merib-baal, and Merib-baal fathered Micah.
41 The sons of Micah: Pithon, Melech, Tahrea, and Ahaz.
42 And Ahaz fathered Jarah, and Jarah fathered Alemeth, Azmaveth, and Zimri. And Zimri fathered Moza.
43 Moza fathered Binea, and Rephaiah was his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son.
44 Azel had six sons and these are their names: Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan; these were the sons of Azel.
1 Chronicles 10: The Death of Saul and His Sons
1 Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa.
2 And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck down Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul.
3 The battle pressed hard against Saul, and the archers found him, and he was wounded by the archers.
4 Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, "Draw your sword and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and mistreat me." But his armor-bearer would not, for he feared greatly. Therefore Saul took his own sword and fell upon it.
5 And when his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died.
6 Thus Saul died; he and his three sons and all his house died together.
7 And when all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that the army had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled, and the Philistines came and lived in them.
8 The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.
9 And they stripped him and took his head and his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to carry the good news to their idols and to the people.
10 And they put his armor in the temple of their gods and fastened his head in the temple of Dagon.
11 But when all Jabesh-gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul,
12 all the valiant men arose and took away the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons, and brought them to Jabesh. And they buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh and fasted seven days.
13 So Saul died for his breach of faith. He broke faith with the LORD in that he did not keep the command of the LORD, and also consulted a medium, seeking guidance.
14 He did not seek guidance from the LORD. Therefore the LORD put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.
Things to think about…
1. The compiler of the genealogies of the chronicles adds the genealogies of the names of those who came back from the captivity in Babylon. He will cover this off, which is likely all the records he has up to the time of writing and then he will go back and list off the significant points of the history of Israel that will compliment the earlier 2 books of Kings as he mentions in 1Chr 9:1.
2. The writer makes it very plain that the exile in Babylon was due to Judah’s unfaithfulness to the Lord. He calls it “their breach of faith”, 1 Chr 9:2. But we see that after the decree of Cyrus the first to return to their inheritance “the priests, the Levites, and the temple servants. And some of the people of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh lived in Jerusalem”, 1Chr 9:2, 3. He then proceeds to name the ones that supported them from the returning tribes in vss 4-9. If a land is to have any hope of thriving, the religious leaders and instructors need to lead by example and then be supported by others.
3. The priests that came back are listed in 1Chr 9:10-12 and the Levites and gatekeepers in vss 13-22. Their line is traced back to Eleazar the priest, vs 20. As expected some of these names are found in the book of Nehamiah for example “Sallu the son of Meshullam”, vs 7 is found in Neh 11:7 and 1Chr 9:11 is almost word for word with Neh 11:11. As is 1 Chr 9:15 the same as the genealogy found in Neh 11:15.
4. Our Lord loves things done decently and in order, we read of those who returned that “Shallum the Korahite, was entrusted with making the flat cakes.”, vs 31. Every duty required to make a worship service happen on a Sunday is vital. We thank God for everyone who is involved with the worship, streaming, IT, sound, greetings, cameras etc. It all is necessary for a smooth running worship service. It is noted that “These lived near Jerusalem”, vs 34. Living near where we worship is definitely an advantage for our service and our witness.
5. The chronicler is about to go into the details of Saul’s death and as such does a brief recap on Saul genealogy in 1 Chr 9:35-39. It is interesting that the tribe of Benjamin whom Saul came from did not risk their lives to retrieve Saul and his sons bodies from the temple of Dagon but the mern from Jabesh-Gilead, 1Chr 10:11, 12. This is because Saul came to the defence of Jabesh when the Ammonites attacked them in 1 Samuel 11. As such they risj their lives to honour Saul.
6. David was going to fight with the Philistines against Saul but was told by Achish the Philistine king that the Philistine generals did not want him so he turned back to Ziklag. It is at this point that the writer here describes the final battle that Saul had with the Philistines that would take his life and the life of 3 of his sons, including the beloved Jonathan. The Philistines win and the bodies of Saul and the sons are fastened to the wall in the temple of Dagon. The Philistines believed their god gave them the victory, but the writer of 1 Chronicles gives the reason for Saul’s loss, “He did not seek guidance from the LORD. Therefore the LORD put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse”, 1 Chr 10:14. Jesus said that when He is lifted up all men will be drawn to Him, John 12:32. May we ever be lifting the name of Jesus to our friends and family as well as our neighbours and work associates. May Christ get the glory while we have breath.
Vision Point for cell groups
CBC’s Vision :- To be a growing biblical church community, significantly influencing our city and beyond, through intentional outreach, fulfilling our mission.
Sermon title was “Jerusalem – the glorious city” - from Psalm 87
1. What is your knowledge of Jerusalem like? From your present knowledge what can you say about the city?
2. Psalm 87 says that those from the regions of Egypt, Cush, Philistia and Babylon will be born in her, vss 4-6. How can someone be born in Jerusalem when the have been born in another country?
3. Jesus tells Nicodemus in John 3 that he must be born again and that he must be born from above. What does this mean?
4. The sons of Korah say in vs 7 “"All my springs are in you." Jesus calls Himself the Water of life and He spoke to the woman at the well in John 4 that the water he would give her would never run out, but in fact well up within her. What did Jesus mean? What does it mean for us?
Prayer Points
1. People would join us over Christmas.
2. Christmas season – joy and unity promoted in Christ.
3. Growth in our kids and youth ministries
4. Pray for testimonies that people will be giving. Please consider when you would like to give yours.
5. Pray for other building projects – café roof, the repair of the house roof.
6. Witness over the Christmas season.
7. Growth, conversions, joy in the Word and Spirit to remain and increase.
Praise Points
1. Hannah Freeman’s testimony. Very heartfelt and encouraging.
2. Our worship – Thanks Josh, Sam and Ben. Also iMan for getting the internet working. Thanks Dan for computer and Tim for sound.
3. The rain has been a blessing. Pray for safety, especially on the roads as more is on its way.
Announcements
1. Country Carols, monster trucks, fire works – Sat 11th Dec. Must book online to get tickets. Go to the Tivoli drive in website. Feel free to park at CBC if required.
2. Men’s fishing trip 11th Dec. Now full.
3. Kids@church back. Please check your rosters
4. Recharge Youth – last one – skating night this Friday night.
5. Church bank details bsb:- 704 913 and Acc number:- 4000 4388 1
