Roots and Branches

Here’s the next part of “What Matters” – a teaching series on 1 and 2 Chronicles

  • Ch 1 Prehistory and Patriarchs
    • Adam to Noah v1-4
    • Japheth’s descendants v 5-7
    • Ham’s descendants v8-13
    • Shem’s -Abram v17-24
    • Abraham v28-33
    • Isaac v33-37
    • Edom/Esau (v38-50).

The narrative seems bare.  We cover the equivalent of most of Genesis in 1 chapter.  However, it may tell more than we first spot.

  1. Notice that the writer is only concerned with Seth’s line.  Cain’s get’s no attention because it dies out with the Flood. The writer is solely interested in the roots of peoples around in his time.
  • Similarly, notice how the branch lines are reported first, Japheth ad Ham before Shem, Ishmael before Isaac, Esau before Jacob, this gives the affect of focusing our attention in on the line that matters.
  • Ch 2 -4 Judah

Notice that significant attention is given to Judah and particularly on David’s line (ch3).

Ch4:9-10, Jabez.  His only significance seems to be a prayer of trust in God.  God answers the prayer.  Jabez may be seen as the exemplar of Judah. Why is the tribe blessed? The answer is their faith. 

Watch out too for a repeated theme in Chronicles.  God answered prayer then. God still answers prayer today. 

  • Ch 5 – Some Tribes of Israel
    • Reuben v1-10
    • Gad v11-17

The author is interested in those who stayed east of Jordan v18-26 (including Manasseh -but they will get fully genealogical treatment in ch 7. 

The significant lesson can be seen in the following

“There were (v18) ….. but (v25). 

Stength, valour and a history of success are of no use in the face of unfaithfulness.

  • Ch6 Levi
  • A whole chapter focusing in on one tribe.
  • Narrowing the focus down to Aaron’s descendants as the priestly line within Levi (v49-50).
  • Ch7 More Tribes of Israel
  • Issachar v 1-5
  • Benjamin v6-12
  • Naphtali v13
  • Manasseh v 14-19
  • Ephraim v20-28
  • Asher v 30-40

Notes.

  1. Issachr and Benjamin supply warriors – military tribes
  2.  Manasseh and Ephraim (Joseph’s sons) are listed alongside their uncles as tribal heads in their own right.
  • Ch 8 Benjamin

We return to the tribe of Benjamin in order to introduce Saul’s line.

  • Ch 9 v 1-33 Returning Exiles
  • The story is brought forward to the return to the land and shows that God brings back the significant groups mentioned including The Tribe of Judah, the Benjaminites and the Levites including priests and musicians. 

Lessons to learn

Ask the questions we suggested in part 1:

  1. What would God’s people have been learning from him at the point these events were happening?
  2. What does this have to do with the people at the time the books were written, just after the exile?
  3. What has this got to do with Jesus?
  4. What has it got to do with us?

The genealogies answer the questions “where did we come from?” and “where are we going?”  The answers to both questions take us to faithfulness and faith.

  1. God’s faithfulness to his promise and to his people
  2. The expected response of faith and prayer.

For Further discussion

  • How would you preach these 9 chapters to your church congregation?How would you break it up? How many sermons?
    • What would be the main theme/point of each sermon?
    • Application?
  • What excites you about these chapters?
  • What challenges/concerns you?
  • How will 1 Chronicles 1-9 affect your prayer life (corporately as a church and individually)?
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