1 Chronicles 1:28-54--From Abraham to Jacob

1 Chronicles 1:28-54
English Standard Version

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.

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Yesterday's passage helped remind us that there was one creation by one Creator and that all men are descended from one man (Adam) and one woman (Eve), and also that God saved one family through the Flood and that in this all nations are united together through one common blood.  Do not believe it when you hear other theories of the origins of man that are designed to support racism (one of the primary reasons people latched onto evolution was they wanted to say certain "races" were "more evolved" and "higher lifeforms" and other "races" evolved separately and were "less evolved" and "lower lifeforms."  This was the justification for much of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade for quite some time.  If men knew and believed biblical history--and biblical law as we've studied how those engaged in human trafficking were to be executed under the Mosaic Law--that evil should have never happened).

Today's passage reminds the Abrahamic peoples that they all have one Father, but that the Abrahamic Covenant was passed from Abraham to Isaac, to Jacob and then to the Twelve Tribes.  The sons of Ishmael and Esau have no claim to the Land (they both tried to occupy it while Israel was in Exile).  God still cares about these Abraham people groups because they still have experienced a part of the blessing of being children of Abraham, but they long ago abandoned the God who made that covenant with them to serve other gods.  God had given Israel enough land in the covenant for all the Abrahamic people groups to follow Him and His Law and reside outside the Land of Canaan, but still in the Promised Land of the Abrahamic Covenant (which is bounded by the Nile River, the Red Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the Euphrates River).  The Promised Land is roughly the same dimensions as the New Jerusalem that comes out of heaven which was measured in Revelation 22:16).  We'll see the Edomites come up in the book of Nehimiah.  They had celebrated as Babylon took the people of Judah away and even acted as bounty hunters to catch the Israelites who were escaping and turned them over to Babylonian captures for money.  They will be judged for their actions, but God has been gracious in not wiping them out along with the Canaanites because they were blessed by the Abrahamic covenant, but when they make war with Israel, they will be mostly destroyed.  We only hear of one Edomite later in the New Testament, and that is the one called Herod the Great.  Rome made him "King of the Jews," though he was not even a descendant of Jacob--he was a descendant of Esau.  He will be the one that tried to kill all the baby boys in Jerusalem and the surrounding area when the wise men told him they had seen the star that announced the birth of the one born King of the Jews.  King Herod knew someone born with that birthright was a threat to him, and he would kill all the male babies he could find in order to try to eliminate the Messiah.  The Edomites were no friends of the Jews, even though they go back to the same family of Abraham (the same goes for the Ishmaelites).  Hopefully being reminded of who's who in the family tree will make some of the upcoming historical narrative make more sense.