1 Chronicles 3:1-24--Descendants of David

1 Chronicles 3
English Standard Version

Descendants of David
3 These are the sons of David who were born to him in Hebron: the firstborn, Amnon, by Ahinoam the Jezreelite; the second, Daniel, by Abigail the Carmelite, 2 the third, Absalom, whose mother was Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur; the fourth, Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith; 3 the fifth, Shephatiah, by Abital; the sixth, Ithream, by his wife Eglah; 4 six were born to him in Hebron, where he reigned for seven years and six months. And he reigned thirty-three years in Jerusalem. 5 These were born to him in Jerusalem: Shimea, Shobab, Nathan and Solomon, four by Bath-shua, the daughter of Ammiel; 6 then Ibhar, Elishama, Eliphelet, 7 Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, 8 Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet, nine. 9 All these were David's sons, besides the sons of the concubines, and Tamar was their sister.

​10 The son of Solomon was Rehoboam, Abijah his son, Asa his son, Jehoshaphat his son, 11 Joram his son, Ahaziah his son, Joash his son, 12 Amaziah his son, Azariah his son, Jotham his son, 13 Ahaz his son, Hezekiah his son, Manasseh his son, 14 Amon his son, Josiah his son. 15 The sons of Josiah: Johanan the firstborn, the second Jehoiakim, the third Zedekiah, the fourth Shallum. 16 The descendants of Jehoiakim: Jeconiah his son, Zedekiah his son; 17 and the sons of Jeconiah, the captive: Shealtiel his son, 18 Malchiram, Pedaiah, Shenazzar, Jekamiah, Hoshama and Nedabiah; 19 and the sons of Pedaiah: Zerubbabel and Shimei; and the sons of Zerubbabel: Meshullam and Hananiah, and Shelomith was their sister; 20 and Hashubah, Ohel, Berechiah, Hasadiah, and Jushab-hesed, five. 21 The sons of Hananiah: Pelatiah and Jeshaiah, his son Rephaiah, his son Arnan, his son Obadiah, his son Shecaniah. 22 The son of Shecaniah: Shemaiah. And the sons of Shemaiah: Hattush, Igal, Bariah, Neariah, and Shaphat, six. 23 The sons of Neariah: Elioenai, Hizkiah, and Azrikam, three. 24 The sons of Elioenai: Hodaviah, Eliashib, Pelaiah, Akkub, Johanan, Delaiah, and Anani, seven.

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Last time we spoke of the descendants of Judah, and particularly about the family from which David came.  Now, we will talk about David's family--the kings of Judah and rightful kings of the nation of Israel.  While there were heads of each family that served as leaders of their tribes, Genesis 49:10 tells us that, "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him;" The "him" being referred to at the end of this verse is the Messiah (Jesus), who would be of the tribe of Judah.  Judah is but a lion's cub (Genesis 49:9), but Jesus is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.  He will destroy all His enemies and judge and rule the nations with a rod of iron.  Of His kingdom and dominion there will be no end.

So then, it was important during their time of Exile to keep track of who the rightful king was, especially since they knew they would be returning.  God preserved the kingly line (normally the king and all of his family were killed by foreign kings to prevent anyone from rising up in rebellion that was a rightful heir).  We see that Zerubbabel is in this line, and he is a key figure in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah (which were also part of the same volume that 1st and 2nd Chronicles were a part of).  He is the descendant of David that will rule from Jerusalem as the people are returning from Exile.

God had been faithful to keep his covenants with Adam, Noah, Abraham, and now David, even while His people were in exile in Babylon and Assyria.  God is also faithful to keep the covenant of redemption that He made with those who in Christ even though we also live as those in exile (see 1 Peter 1 and 2 where Christians are called elect exiles and sojourners and exiles).  We too await the day that we will be set free from this kingdom of "Babylon" (the kingdom of the devil and his antichrist) that has dominion over this world, and we will be taken to the Promised Land of the New Heaven and the New Earth where Jesus will reign forever and ever.  Until that time, we must keep our identity living among a foreign and hostile people that hate the LORD and His people.  They are lovers of money, self, and pleasure, and they love the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds are evil.  The epistles tell us much about how to live as a people holy unto the Lord as we live among people that do not love the Lord or His Law, and they certainly don't love the cross because it is both offensive and foolish to them.  We give thanks to the LORD for His steadfast love like David did in Psalms (which we just studied) because His love is strong enough to keep His covenant even through times of exile and when His people seemed far away, He was right there with them all the way.  He preserved not just the line of David, but the line of the Messiah so that He could make an even greater covenant with us through the blood of His own Son.  Therefore, it is at the name of Jesus that every knee will bow--in heaven and on earth and under the earth--that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.  We look forward to that day and say, "Come, Lord Jesus, come!"