Christ's Genealogy

INTRO

The book of 1 Chronicles is a list of names. I feel like the Lord will give us a fresh perspective on this. When you see a genealogy list, please don’t shut your Bible and go to sleep. I know it can be a lot. I’ll admit that while studying 1 Chronicles, my head was swimming. We will be seeing names we’ve already studied. Don’t be discouraged! Repetition helps us to learn. There are 54 verses of names—hard names—but we can do this!

TEACHING

Background: Just like the books of 1 and 2 Kings and the two books of Samuel, 1 and 2 Chronicles was originally one book. The word “Chronicles” means “the annals of the days,” essentially the events or happenings of the days. In Jerome’s Latin Vulgate, these verses were first called Chronicles. J. Vernon McGee wrote, “Greek translators gave Chronicles the title of ‘Things Omitted’—there is more here that does not occur in the other historical books.”1 1 Fifty-five percent of Chronicles is not in the books of Kings or Samuel, yet they all overlap. It’s similar to the gospels, how John has stories not in Matthew or Luke, but they all point towards the same thing.

Chronicles partners with the book of 2 Samuel. In 2 Samuel, we reference Jesus as the Eternal Throne (2 Samuel 7:16). First Chronicles is about Jesus, the Son of David. The coming Messiah was going to come through the lineage of David. What you should see in these first nine chapters is a whole lot of names. But it is important to see where David is positioned in all of these names. How do we see this genealogy point to Christ? We see this through the lineage of Judah, in the southern part of the kingdom. We are going to see how David came through the line of Judah.

There is no direct statement regarding who authored 1 Chronicles. Jewish traditions favor Ezra the priest as the writer of Chronicles (Ezra 7:1- 6). We ended in 2 Kings talking about how the Israelites were sent to Syria, and the people from Judah were sent to Babylon. At the end of 2 Chronicles, the Israelites have been released from captivity. Here in 1 Chronicles, the Israelites are in captivity and do not get released until the end of 2 Chronicles. What we are going to see is a factual account of them saying, “How did we get here?” Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah all wrote about what the Israelites needed to do to get back to where God wanted them to be.

John MacArthur wrote, “The Jews had returned from their seventy years of captivity (538 BC) to a land that was markedly different from the one once ruled by King David and King Solomon.”²MacArthur provides seven areas that were different for the Jewish people when they returned: (1) The Persian government ruled, rather than a Hebrew king (Ezra 6:2, 6); (2) The wall of Jerusalem had been destroyed, so the city had no security wall (Nehemiah 1—7); (3) The temple had been destroyed, and Zerubbabel had to reconstruct a pitiful resemblance of Solomon’s glory (Ezra 3); (4) Jews were no longer powerful and had to live on the defensive (Ezra 4; Nehemiah 4); (5) The Jews faced hardship and difficulties on their return, instead of divine blessings; (6) The Jews returned with little, having lost their wealth when they were removed; and (7) Without the Temple, God’s divine presence was no longer in Jerusalem (Ezra 8:11).³

Despite all MacArthur points out, God was still with the Israelites. We know God had a bigger picture in store for the Israelites—the Son of David. The promise of the Son of David was not conditional; it was based on God’s covenant with His people.

Second Kings 25 ends with the dispersion of the people of Judah to Babylon. At the end of 2 Chronicles 26, the Jews began to experience release from Persia to go back to Jerusalem. Remember, 55 percent of Chronicles is unique.

Here is the outline for 1 and 2 Chronicles:

1. Genealogical history of Israel (1 Chronicles 1—9)
2. Israel’s united kingdom under:
3. Saul (1 Chronicles 10)

1 J. Vernon McGee. 1 Chronicles 2 Chronicles Notes and Outlines (Pasadena: Thru the Bible Radio Network). www.ttb.org.

David (1 Chronicles 11—29)

Solomon (2 Chronicles 1—9)

Divided kingdom (2 Chronicles 10—36:21)

Judah’s release from seventy years captivity (2 Chronicles 36:22-23)

1 Chronicles 1:1–27: By covering the descendants of Adam, we will see the tie to the coming Messiah. I think this is a really powerful picture! We are going to tie the coming Messiah back to Adam. Verses 4-27 literally walk through the sons of Noah and his descendants. Let’s look at Ham, Noah’s son, from whom Scripture said would come great nations. This impact came through Ham’s son’s whom we can see have influenced the nations of Cush (Ethiopians), Mizraim (Egypt), and Canaan (Canaanites).

The sons of Shem are listed beginning in verse 17. Shem was considered the favored one of Noah’s sons (Genesis 9:25-27). Shem’s great grandson, Eber, was an ancestor of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The name “Hebrew” is possibly a derivative of Eber’s name, and is applied to the Israelites. Eber became a central place in the genealogies of Abraham in Genesis. First Chronicles 1:24-27 suggests a connection between Hebrew and Eber. Hebrew could refer to an “Eberite” (Genesis 10:21; 11:10-26). Eber’s son Peleg (which means divided) was around when the earth was divided at the tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9).

1 Chronicles 1:28-37: Here the descendants of Abraham are listed. Isaac is blessed above Abraham's other son, Ishmael by Hagar. As the chosen one, Isaac fathers Jacob from whom come the 12 tribes of Israel.

1 Chronicles 1:38-50: These verses cover the descendants of Esau, who were the kings of Edom. The Edomites were ruled by kings before the Israelites. All throughout Chronicles you see the words “son of.” MacArthur explains that the word “son” means “to build.” “The ancient Hebrews considered their children the ‘builders’ of the future generations.”⁴4 So what we see is that every generation was building upon each other to point to the Son of David.

CLOSING

Christ built upon what David was doing on earth, from an earthly standpoint. I think that is a pretty cool picture. Paul Van Gorder gives three reasons why 1 Chronicles 1—9 is profitable:

First, they were of great benefit to the Jews who returned from captivity in Babylon. During this time of confusion, the Israelites were in danger of losing their family and tribal identities. The list helped them maintain their distinctive lineage.

Second, the genealogies impressed the Jews with the unity of God. As they returned from captivity, the Israelites saw in the genealogies that the God who had restored them was the “one true God” of their fathers.

Third, the genealogies were a demonstration of the divine purpose being worked out until Christ’s coming. They helped complete the Bible story of our Savior, who was the Son of David, the son of Judah, the son of Abraham, and the son of Adam. He took their humanity, “yet without sin.”⁵

This book demonstrates identity in the family (you’re a child of God), identity in the Father, and identity in the Son. Why Chronicles? Because it actually helps you find who you are in the Lord.