We delve into Chronicles which contains some of the lists in the OT. These give some clarity to the history of when the events occurred and why the bible can be relied upon as a primary source of information.
1 Chronicles 1: From Adam to Abraham
1 Adam, Seth, Enosh;
2 Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared;
3 Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech;
4 Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
5 The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.
6 The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah.
7 The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Rodanim.
8 The sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan.
9 The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabta, Raama, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.
10 Cush fathered Nimrod. He was the first on earth to be a mighty man.
23 Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab; all these were the sons of Joktan.
24 Shem, Arpachshad, Shelah;
25 Eber, Peleg, Reu;
26 Serug, Nahor, Terah;
27 Abram, that is, Abraham.
From Abraham to Jacob
28 The sons of Abraham: Isaac and Ishmael.
29 These are their genealogies: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth, and Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,
30 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema,
31 Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. These are the sons of Ishmael.
32 The sons of Keturah, Abraham's concubine: she bore Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. The sons of Jokshan: Sheba and Dedan.
33 The sons of Midian: Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the descendants of Keturah.
34 Abraham fathered Isaac. The sons of Isaac: Esau and Israel.
35 The sons of Esau: Eliphaz, Reuel, Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.
36 The sons of Eliphaz: Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, Kenaz, and of Timna, Amalek.
37 The sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah.
38 The sons of Seir: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan.
39 The sons of Lotan: Hori and Hemam; and Lotan's sister was Timna.
40 The sons of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam. The sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah.
41 The son of Anah: Dishon. The sons of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran.
42 The sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan. The sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran.
43 These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the people of Israel: Bela the son of Beor, the name of his city being Dinhabah.
44 Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his place.
45 Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his place.
46 Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the country of Moab, reigned in his place, the name of his city being Avith.
47 Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his place.
48 Samlah died, and Shaul of Rehoboth on the Euphrates reigned in his place.
49 Shaul died, and Baal-hanan, the son of Achbor, reigned in his place.
50 Baal-hanan died, and Hadad reigned in his place, the name of his city being Pai; and his wife's name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab.
51 And Hadad died. The chiefs of Edom were: chiefs Timna, Alvah, Jetheth,
52 Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon,
53 Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar,
54 Magdiel, and Iram; these are the chiefs of Edom.
1 Chronicles 2: A Genealogy of David
1 These are the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun,
2 Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.
3 The sons of Judah: Er, Onan and Shelah; these three Bath-shua the Canaanite bore to him. Now Er, Judah's firstborn, was evil in the sight of the LORD, and he put him to death.
4 His daughter-in-law Tamar also bore him Perez and Zerah. Judah had five sons in all.
5 The sons of Perez: Hezron and Hamul.
6 The sons of Zerah: Zimri, Ethan, Heman, Calcol, and Dara, five in all.
7 The son of Carmi: Achan, the troubler of Israel, who broke faith in the matter of the devoted thing;
8 and Ethan's son was Azariah.
9 The sons of Hezron that were born to him: Jerahmeel, Ram, and Chelubai.
10 Ram fathered Amminadab, and Amminadab fathered Nahshon, prince of the sons of Judah.
11 Nahshon fathered Salmon, Salmon fathered Boaz,
12 Boaz fathered Obed, Obed fathered Jesse.
13 Jesse fathered Eliab his firstborn, Abinadab the second, Shimea the third,
14 Nethanel the fourth, Raddai the fifth,
15 Ozem the sixth, David the seventh.
16 And their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail. The sons of Zeruiah: Abishai, Joab, and Asahel, three.
17 Abigail bore Amasa, and the father of Amasa was Jether the Ishmaelite.
18 Caleb the son of Hezron fathered children by his wife Azubah, and by Jerioth; and these were her sons: Jesher, Shobab, and Ardon.
19 When Azubah died, Caleb married Ephrath, who bore him Hur.
20 Hur fathered Uri, and Uri fathered Bezalel.
21 Afterward Hezron went in to the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead, whom he married when he was sixty years old, and she bore him Segub.
22 And Segub fathered Jair, who had twenty-three cities in the land of Gilead.
23 But Geshur and Aram took from them Havvoth-jair, Kenath, and its villages, sixty towns. All these were descendants of Machir, the father of Gilead.
24 After the death of Hezron, Caleb went in to Ephrathah, the wife of Hezron his father, and she bore him Ashhur, the father of Tekoa.
25 The sons of Jerahmeel, the firstborn of Hezron: Ram, his firstborn, Bunah, Oren, Ozem, and Ahijah.
26 Jerahmeel also had another wife, whose name was Atarah; she was the mother of Onam.
27 The sons of Ram, the firstborn of Jerahmeel: Maaz, Jamin, and Eker.
28 The sons of Onam: Shammai and Jada. The sons of Shammai: Nadab and Abishur.
29 The name of Abishur's wife was Abihail, and she bore him Ahban and Molid.
30 The sons of Nadab: Seled and Appaim; and Seled died childless.
31 The son of Appaim: Ishi. The son of Ishi: Sheshan. The son of Sheshan: Ahlai.
32 The sons of Jada, Shammai's brother: Jether and Jonathan; and Jether died childless.
33 The sons of Jonathan: Peleth and Zaza. These were the descendants of Jerahmeel.
34 Now Sheshan had no sons, only daughters, but Sheshan had an Egyptian slave whose name was Jarha.
35 So Sheshan gave his daughter in marriage to Jarha his slave, and she bore him Attai.
36 Attai fathered Nathan, and Nathan fathered Zabad.
37 Zabad fathered Ephlal, and Ephlal fathered Obed.
38 Obed fathered Jehu, and Jehu fathered Azariah.
39 Azariah fathered Helez, and Helez fathered Eleasah.
40 Eleasah fathered Sismai, and Sismai fathered Shallum.
41 Shallum fathered Jekamiah, and Jekamiah fathered Elishama.
42 The sons of Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel: Mareshah his firstborn, who fathered Ziph. The son of Mareshah: Hebron.
43 The sons of Hebron: Korah, Tappuah, Rekem and Shema.
44 Shema fathered Raham, the father of Jorkeam; and Rekem fathered Shammai.
45 The son of Shammai: Maon; and Maon fathered Beth-zur.
46 Ephah also, Caleb's concubine, bore Haran, Moza, and Gazez; and Haran fathered Gazez.
47 The sons of Jahdai: Regem, Jotham, Geshan, Pelet, Ephah, and Shaaph.
48 Maacah, Caleb's concubine, bore Sheber and Tirhanah.
49 She also bore Shaaph the father of Madmannah, Sheva the father of Machbenah and the father of Gibea; and the daughter of Caleb was Achsah.
50 These were the descendants of Caleb. The sons of Hur the firstborn of Ephrathah: Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim,
51 Salma, the father of Bethlehem, and Hareph the father of Beth-gader.
52 Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim had other sons: Haroeh, half of the Menuhoth.
53 And the clans of Kiriath-jearim: the Ithrites, the Puthites, the Shumathites, and the Mishraites; from these came the Zorathites and the Eshtaolites.
54 The sons of Salma: Bethlehem, the Netophathites, Atroth-beth-joab and half of the Manahathites, the Zorites.
55 The clans also of the scribes who lived at Jabez: the Tirathites, the Shimeathites and the Sucathites. These are the Kenites who came from Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab.
Things to think about…
1. When do you consider literal recorded human history to have begun on the earth? Is it with Adam as recorded here in 1 Chronicles 1:1? Or do you as some consider the history from Abraham to be more reliable. We know that Genesis 1 records that there were 5 days and nights and then on the sixth day man was created. His name was Adam, Gen 1:26. This is why the genealogies both in Genesis and Chronicles are so important. They testify to a traceable line of human history, not only from Adam to Abraham, but also from Abraham to David and of course from David to Jesus Christ. If we lose sight of these passages which the bible takes as literal and historical we lose sight of the tragedy of the fall and then the cross of Christ loses its impact because we don’t fully appreciate what we have been saved from.
2. The list of names in 1Chr 1:1-4 are the same names listed in Genesis 5. After 1Chr 1:4 we see the line follow Noah and his sons. This is of course due to the world-wide flood that the Lord sent on the earth in the days of Noah, Gen 6-9. No other line could be followed. All other records of human history are subservient to the records found in the scriptures. These are the oldest and have been meticulously copied by the Hebrew scribes to maintain their integrity.
3. Note that we see the comment in 1Chr 1:19 “To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg (for in his days the earth was divided),”. What division is this. Noah’s flood had already happened 100 years earlier so it is not the separation of the land into continents. It refers to the time when the earth’s languages were divided after the people followed Nimrod at the Tower of Babel. The Lord confused their languages and Peleg is named after this event. Bishop Ussher in his “Annals of the world” puts the date at 2247BC. The chronicler then goes back in 1Chr 1:24 to Shem the son of Noah to give a brief summary of the line leading to Abraham. It’s Abraham’s line that he focusses on from 1Chr 1:28.
4. We know in Genesis that the history of Abraham focusses on the birth and conflict between Ishmael and Isaac and the division between Abraham’s wife Sarah and Hagar her maidservant that she would give to Abraham. But here in 1 Chronicles we read “sons of Keturah, Abraham's concubine she bore Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah”, 1 Chr 1:32. We know Abraham married her after Sarah died, Gen 25:1. This verse and the reference here in 1 Chronicles are all we hear of this woman, yet we know that from her sons as with Ishmael there would be enemies to the children of Israel. We know the Moses married a Midianite woman, Ex 2:15-21. But the Midianites also enticed Israel through the words of Balaam to make them ensnared by their idols through being seduced by their women, Num 25. The writer will then focus on Isaac and his sons. Esau the twin of Jacob takes up most of the rest of 1 Chr 1. Esau is also referred to as Edom, 1Chr 1:54.
5. 1 Chronicles 2 now directs the reader to the line of Israel whom we also know as Jacob. It’s in this chapter we see tid bits of history that are further explained in the scriptures. Note that it says “Now Er, Judah's firstborn, was evil in the sight of the LORD, and he put him to death”, vs 3. We do not know what wickedness he did, but his widow Tamar then married Onan because as the next in line he was called to raise up an inheritance for his brother. He did not do this because he spilled his semen onto the ground when he had intercourse with Tamar. The Lord also struck Onan down because what he did was wicked as well, Gen 38:10. Shelah was not given to Tamar. Maybe Judah did not want to lose his last surviving son. We know Tamar took things into her own hands.
6. We also read of “Achan, the troubler of Israel, who broke faith in the matter of the devoted thing;”, vs 7. Another sad chapter in the early conquest of Canaan by Israel where Ai defeated Israel because of Achan’s coveting of things devoted to the Lord.
7. We also see the line of David from 1Chr 2:11-15 who will of course take on a major role in the records of the chronicles.
8. Caleb also gets a mention in 1Chr 2:18, 19, 42, 48-50. The reasoning no doubt is due to the fact that he was the only one who went in with Joshua of the original 12 spies that would go on to attack and finally inherit the land.
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?
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
