1 Chronicles 1:1-27--From Adam to Abraham

1 Chronicles 1:1-27
English Standard Version

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, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. 10 Cush fathered Nimrod. He was the first on earth to be a mighty man.

11 Egypt fathered Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, 12 Pathrusim, Casluhim (from whom the Philistines came), and Caphtorim.

13 Canaan fathered Sidon his firstborn and Heth, 14 and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, 15 the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, 16 the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites.

17 The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram. And the sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Meshech. 18 Arpachshad fathered Shelah, and Shelah fathered Eber. 19 To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg (for in his days the earth was divided), and his brother's name was Joktan. 20 Joktan fathered Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 21 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 22 Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 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.

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We start with genealogies, actually many genealogies.  At the end of 2 Kings, we left the northern 10 tribes in Exile in Assyria and the southern tribes going into Exile in Babylon.  They need answers to the questions of Origins, Meaning, Morality, Destiny, and Identity (the five questions of a worldview) as they have been indoctrinated by the worldview and culture of their captures.  The priests have done their best to preserve their culture through something called a synagogue that was a way for the people to study the Scriptures that they had access to and to pray together, but a much larger effort needs to be made now by the religious leaders (the Levites, and the priests) and the civil leaders (the governors and eventually the king) to reconcile everyone back into a single nation who worshiped the LORD at the Temple in Jerusalem and who all followed one King (the LORD) and one leader that the LORD had selected (the person in the line of David that was the successor to the throne by way of the Davidic Covenant).  It was important for everyone thought to know that God had not deserted them, and they all had a place in the kingdom.  Some of the tribes were leaders, and others were followers, but each one of them had a vital role to play.  We'll see these genealogies tackle these issues of "birthright" (and a forfeited birthright) and the right of succession as king, and the fact that the priesthood belonged to the sons of Aaron of the tribe of Levi.  All this is foundational groundwork for rebuilding the nation as we are in the period of the books of history now that it is fair to call the "Reconstruction" period (1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah).  The book of Esther is lumped in with them, but really is from an earlier time when the people were still in Exile, but it is a great book of history that tells us how the LORD saves His people from those who wish to destroy them and try to steal the inheritance that belongs to them.

The beginning of the story starts with the first created humans, and the priests condense the first 10 or 11 chapters of Genesis down into just 27 verses.  They somewhat expect the people to hear some of these names and remember the history behind them from the book of Genesis, but if they did not know, then they were able to go back and look at Genesis and find out who these people were and why they were important in the story of the beginning of the nation and people of God.  The genealogy ends with Abraham, the father of Isaac who is the father of Jacob whose name was later changed to Israel.  We'll talk more about that tomorrow, but "Father Abraham" is where the story begins, not just for the nation of Israel, but also for all who are part of "the family of faith" as we see in the book of Romans.  "Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness."   This is model for all of us that follow, and it is the answer to one of the important questions that the Israelites are asking--How do we come to God without a Temple? (Solomon's Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians).  Abraham had a relationship with God before there was a Temple, and the people could have a similar relationship with God the same way--by faith.

Next time, we'll go from Abraham to Jacob (also known as Israel) and then the bulk of the first several chapters will be genealogies of the various tribes--spending quite a bit of time on the tribes of Judah and Levi with some additional space also given to the sons of Joseph (Ephraim and Manasseh).  We'll also deal with the issue of why the kingly line does not follow the family of Saul, the first king of Israel and instead follows the family of David.  We'll then take a whirlwind tour of the life of David and Solomon as it relates to the Tabernacle and Temple and the impact, they had on the kingdom spiritually as well as a quick review of the kings of Judah (good and bad) that remind the people about how they got into the situation of Exile they are just coming out of.  We end 2 Chronicles in much the same place as the end of 2 Kings with one major exception--there is hope at the end of the book of 2 Chronicles because of the proclamation of someone named Cyrus.  That's where the book of Ezra picks up as the books were a single volume (along with Nehimiah), so they dovetail together nicely.  Hopefully you appreciate the different perspective that the priests had on the history of the people and land as opposed to the record of the kings.  The priests were more concerned with the hearts of the leaders and the people than with the military campaigns and victories or how much money or land the kings acquired.