The final tribes are chronicled as well as the line of Saul
The final tribes are chronicled as well as the first king - Saul.
1 Chronicles 7: Descendants of Issachar
1 The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puah, Jashub, and Shimron, four.
2 The sons of Tola: Uzzi, Rephaiah, Jeriel, Jahmai, Ibsam, and Shemuel, heads of their fathers' houses, namely of Tola, mighty warriors of their generations, their number in the days of David being 22,600.
3 The son of Uzzi: Izrahiah. And the sons of Izrahiah: Michael, Obadiah, Joel, and Isshiah, all five of them were chief men.
4 And along with them, by their generations, according to their fathers' houses, were units of the army for war, 36,000, for they had many wives and sons.
5 Their kinsmen belonging to all the clans of Issachar were in all 87,000 mighty warriors, enrolled by genealogy.
Descendants of Benjamin
6 The sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, and Jediael, three.
7 The sons of Bela: Ezbon, Uzzi, Uzziel, Jerimoth, and Iri, five, heads of fathers' houses, mighty warriors. And their enrollment by genealogies was 22,034.
8 The sons of Becher: Zemirah, Joash, Eliezer, Elioenai, Omri, Jeremoth, Abijah, Anathoth, and Alemeth. All these were the sons of Becher.
9 And their enrollment by genealogies, according to their generations, as heads of their fathers' houses, mighty warriors, was 20,200.
10 The son of Jediael: Bilhan. And the sons of Bilhan: Jeush, Benjamin, Ehud, Chenaanah, Zethan, Tarshish, and Ahishahar.
11 All these were the sons of Jediael according to the heads of their fathers' houses, mighty warriors, 17,200, able to go to war.
12 And Shuppim and Huppim were the sons of Ir, Hushim the son of Aher.
Descendants of Naphtali
13 The sons of Naphtali: Jahziel, Guni, Jezer and Shallum, the descendants of Bilhah.
Descendants of Manasseh
14 The sons of Manasseh: Asriel, whom his Aramean concubine bore; she bore Machir the father of Gilead.
15 And Machir took a wife for Huppim and for Shuppim. The name of his sister was Maacah. And the name of the second was Zelophehad, and Zelophehad had daughters.
16 And Maacah the wife of Machir bore a son, and she called his name Peresh; and the name of his brother was Sheresh; and his sons were Ulam and Rakem.
17 The son of Ulam: Bedan. These were the sons of Gilead the son of Machir, son of Manasseh.
18 And his sister Hammolecheth bore Ishhod, Abiezer and Mahlah.
19 The sons of Shemida were Ahian, Shechem, Likhi, and Aniam.
Descendants of Ephraim
20 The sons of Ephraim: Shuthelah, and Bered his son, Tahath his son, Eleadah his son, Tahath his son,
21 Zabad his son, Shuthelah his son, and Ezer and Elead, whom the men of Gath who were born in the land killed, because they came down to raid their livestock.
22 And Ephraim their father mourned many days, and his brothers came to comfort him.
23 And Ephraim went in to his wife, and she conceived and bore a son. And he called his name Beriah, because disaster had befallen his house.
24 His daughter was Sheerah, who built both Lower and Upper Beth-horon, and Uzzen-sheerah.
25 Rephah was his son, Resheph his son, Telah his son, Tahan his son,
26 Ladan his son, Ammihud his son, Elishama his son,
27 Nun his son, Joshua his son.
28 Their possessions and settlements were Bethel and its towns, and to the east Naaran, and to the west Gezer and its towns, Shechem and its towns, and Ayyah and its towns;
29 also in possession of the Manassites, Beth-shean and its towns, Taanach and its towns, Megiddo and its towns, Dor and its towns. In these lived the sons of Joseph the son of Israel.
Descendants of Asher
30 The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah.
31 The sons of Beriah: Heber, and Malchiel, who fathered Birzaith.
32 Heber fathered Japhlet, Shomer, Hotham, and their sister Shua.
33 The sons of Japhlet: Pasach, Bimhal, and Ashvath. These are the sons of Japhlet.
34 The sons of Shemer his brother: Rohgah, Jehubbah, and Aram.
35 The sons of Helem his brother: Zophah, Imna, Shelesh, and Amal.
36 The sons of Zophah: Suah, Harnepher, Shual, Beri, Imrah.
37 Bezer, Hod, Shamma, Shilshah, Ithran, and Beera.
38 The sons of Jether: Jephunneh, Pispa, and Ara.
39 The sons of Ulla: Arah, Hanniel, and Rizia.
40 All of these were men of Asher, heads of fathers' houses, approved, mighty warriors, chiefs of the princes. Their number enrolled by genealogies, for service in war, was 26,000 men.
1 Chronicles 8: A Genealogy of Saul
1 Benjamin fathered Bela his firstborn, Ashbel the second, Aharah the third,
2 Nohah the fourth, and Rapha the fifth.
3 And Bela had sons: Addar, Gera, Abihud,
4 Abishua, Naaman, Ahoah,
5 Gera, Shephuphan, and Huram.
6 These are the sons of Ehud (they were heads of fathers' houses of the inhabitants of Geba, and they were carried into exile to Manahath):
7 Naaman, Ahijah, and Gera, that is, Heglam, who fathered Uzza and Ahihud.
8 And Shaharaim fathered sons in the country of Moab after he had sent away Hushim and Baara his wives.
9 He fathered sons by Hodesh his wife: Jobab, Zibia, Mesha, Malcam,
10 Jeuz, Sachia, and Mirmah. These were his sons, heads of fathers' houses.
11 He also fathered sons by Hushim: Abitub and Elpaal.
12 The sons of Elpaal: Eber, Misham, and Shemed, who built Ono and Lod with its towns,
13 and Beriah and Shema (they were heads of fathers' houses of the inhabitants of Aijalon, who caused the inhabitants of Gath to flee);
14 and Ahio, Shashak, and Jeremoth.
15 Zebadiah, Arad, Eder,
16 Michael, Ishpah, and Joha were sons of Beriah.
17 Zebadiah, Meshullam, Hizki, Heber,
18 Ishmerai, Izliah, and Jobab were the sons of Elpaal.
19 Jakim, Zichri, Zabdi,
20 Elienai, Zillethai, Eliel,
21 Adaiah, Beraiah, and Shimrath were the sons of Shimei.
22 Ishpan, Eber, Eliel,
23 Abdon, Zichri, Hanan,
24 Hananiah, Elam, Anthothijah,
25 Iphdeiah, and Penuel were the sons of Shashak.
26 Shamsherai, Shehariah, Athaliah,
27 Jaareshiah, Elijah, and Zichri were the sons of Jeroham.
28 These were the heads of fathers' houses, according to their generations, chief men. These lived in Jerusalem.
29 Jeiel the father of Gibeon lived in Gibeon, and the name of his wife was Maacah.
30 His firstborn son: Abdon, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Nadab,
31 Gedor, Ahio, Zecher,
32 and Mikloth (he fathered Shimeah). Now these also lived opposite their kinsmen in Jerusalem, with their kinsmen.
33 Ner was the father of Kish, Kish of Saul, Saul of Jonathan, Malchi-shua, Abinadab and Eshbaal;
34 and the son of Jonathan was Merib-baal; and Merib-baal was the father of Micah.
35 The sons of Micah: Pithon, Melech, Tarea, and Ahaz.
36 Ahaz fathered Jehoaddah, and Jehoaddah fathered Alemeth, Azmaveth, and Zimri. Zimri fathered Moza.
37 Moza fathered Binea; Raphah was his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son.
38 Azel had six sons, and these are their names: Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan. All these were the sons of Azel.
39 The sons of Eshek his brother: Ulam his firstborn, Jeush the second, and Eliphelet the third.
40 The sons of Ulam were men who were mighty warriors, bowmen, having many sons and grandsons, 150. All these were Benjaminites.
Things to think about…
1. The final 6 tribes are listed by genealogy in 1Chronicles 7. Some have great detail and other like the tribe of Naphtali are just given one line in 1 Chr 7:13. This may be due to the fact that the two tribes of Naphtali and Dan were the sons of Bilhah to Jacob. Bilhah was the one who Reuben committed incest with, sleeping with his father’s wife, even though there of course was no biological relation. It seems that this indiscretion is marked within scripture with respect to the genealogies recorded for Bilhah’s sons.
2. The tribes of Issachar, Benjamin and Asher are described as having mighty men and their warriors are listed numerically. The other tribes don’t have these descriptors. This may be due to the fact that these tribes were more keen to take their inheritance as allotted by Moses.
3. How is it possible that Ephraim was still alive as we read that he grieved over the loss of his sons – “whom the men of Gath who were born in the land killed, because they came down to raid their livestock. And Ephraim their father mourned many days, and his brothers came to comfort him. And Ephraim went in to his wife, and she conceived and bore a son. And he called his name Beriah, because disaster had befallen his house” 1Chr 7:21-23. How would it be possible that Ephraim the son of Joseph still be alive after the conquest of Canaan. There are many lines of argument among the commentators. I think the best reasoning is that it was indeed Ephraim Joseph’s son, who is being referred to here and that the men of Gath came and raided the cattle of Ephraim’s sons in the land of Egypt. Ephraim’s sons were murdered during the raid and he was comforted by having another son Beriah, vs 23. You will see further down the line many generations later that “Nun his son, Joshua his son”, vs 27 are mentioned. We know Joshua, the son of Nun was the one who led the initial conquest into the land after Moses died. This lends weight to the Ephraim being referred to was the son of Joseph and the events happened in Egypt and not in Israel after the conquest.
4. The tribe of Asher is the last to be listed, 1 Chr 7:30-40. The notable factor again is that genealogies were kept, they were regarded as “approved, mighty warriors, chiefs of princes….26, 000 men”, vs 40. Asher inherited the western side of Canaan and so had to engage the inhabitants of Tyre and Sidon. We read that Joshua and no doubt the men of Asher gained a reputation of fighting for their inheritance in as recorded in Joshua 11 with the taking of northern Israel. We of course are called to take the spiritual ground for Christ. We have weapons that pull down mighty strongholds. Greater is He who is within us than he who is in the world, 1 John 4:4.
5. The genealogy of Saul is given in 1 Chronicles 8. Saul being the first king of Israel has a fair amount of space devoted to him, even though he was an unfaithful king and the Spirit of the Lord had departed from him.
6. Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin, and you will note that the genealogy of Benjamin has already been listed out in 1 Chronicles 7:6-12. The first son of Benjamin, Bela is the same in both passages, but the names of the sons after him differ. Why the discrepancy? Genesis 46:21 gives us some insights. Benjamin is only attributed to having 3 sons in 1 Ch7, and as having 5 in 1Chr 8 and as having 10 in the Gen 46 passage. Some names are the same and others sound the same but have slight variations. The differences come where not only the sons but also grandsons are listed as sons. This is certainly the case in the Gen 46 passage where Muppim and Huppim are listed as sons of Benjamin. But these were sons of Ira (Ir – Shuppim and Huppim were the sons of Ir 1Chr 7:12) which were in fact Benjamin’s grandsons through his firstborn son Bela. All this seems confusing but resolves itself to reasonable satisfaction when greater study is done. Pronunciations also play a part in spelling, eg Shibboleth/Sibboleth, Judges 12:5, 6.
7. Some are recorded as living opposite their kinsmen in Jerusalem, 1Chr 8:28-32. This is where Saul grew up and would have had a thorough grounding in religious life and activity. It is a sad endnote that the sons that are mentioned in vs 33 including Jonathan the one loved even as his own soul by David, were to die together with Saul fighting the Philistines, 1Sam 31. Saul’s rebellion cost him the lives of 3 of his sons. As fathers we may have the privilege of growing up and being blessed by the Lord, even living near a spiritual Jerusalem, a faithful church, yet not follow the Lord’s Spirit and lose the spiritual life of our children.
8. The fourth son of Saul, here called Eshbaal was the Ishbosheth that Abner the commander of Saul’s army installed as king after the death of Saul. He would ultimately be murdered, thus ending the line of Saul. We reap what we sow. What a blessing it is when our Lord grants us mercy and covers us with His grace.
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
