1 Chronicles 2:1 – 55 “These were the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, and Shelah. These three were born to him by Bath-shua the Canaanite. Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD, who put him to death. Tamar, Judah’s daughter-in-law, bore to him Perez and Zerah. Judah had five sons in all. The sons of Perez: Hezron and Hamul. The sons of Zerah: Zimri, Ethan, Heman, Calcol, and Dara —five in all.
The son of Carmi: Achar, (the name means “troubler”) who brought trouble upon Israel by violating the ban on devoted things. The son of Ethan: Azariah. The sons who were born to Hezron: Jerahmeel, Ram, and Caleb.
Ram was the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab was the father of Nahshon, a leader of the descendants of Judah. Nahshon was the father of Salmon, and Salmon was the father of Boaz. Boaz was the father of Obed, and Obed was the father of Jesse. Jesse was the father of Eliab his firstborn; Abinadab was born second, Shimea third, Nethanel fourth, Raddai fifth, Ozem sixth, and David seventh. Their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail. And the three sons of Zeruiah were Abishai, Joab, and Asahel. Abigail was the mother of Amasa, whose father was Jether the Ishmaelite.
Caleb son of Hezron had children by his wife Azubah and by Jerioth. These were the sons of Azubah: Jesher, Shobab, and Ardon. When Azubah died, Caleb married Ephrath, who bore to him Hur. Hur was the father of Uri, and Uri was the father of Bezalel.
Later, Hezron slept with the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead. He had married her when he was sixty years old, and she bore to him Segub. Segub was the father of Jair, who had twenty-three cities in the land of Gilead. But Geshur and Aram captured Havvoth-jair, along with Kenath and its sixty surrounding villages. All these were descendants of Machir the father of Gilead.
After Hezron died in Caleb-ephrathah, his wife Abijah bore to him Ashhur the father of Tekoa.
The sons of Jerahmeel the firstborn of Hezron: Ram his firstborn, Bunah, Oren, Ozem, and Ahijah. Jerahmeel had another wife named Atarah, who was the mother of Onam.
The sons of Ram the firstborn of Jerahmeel: Maaz, Jamin, and Eker.
The sons of Onam: Shammai and Jada.
The sons of Shammai: Nadab and Abishur. Abishur’s wife was named Abihail, and she bore to him Ahban and Molid.
The sons of Nadab: Seled and Appaim. Seled died without children.
The son of Appaim: Ishi. The son of Ishi: Sheshan. The son of Sheshan: Ahlai.
The sons of Jada the brother of Shammai: Jether and Jonathan. Jether died without children. The sons of Jonathan:
Peleth and Zaza. These were the descendants of Jerahmeel.
Sheshan had no sons, but only daughters; but he did have an Egyptian servant named Jarha. Sheshan gave his daughter in marriage to his servant Jarha, and she bore to him Attai. Attai was the father of Nathan, Nathan was the father of Zabad, Zabad was the father of Ephlal, Ephlal was the father of Obed, Obed was the father of Jehu, Jehu was the father of Azariah, Azariah was the father of Helez, Helez was the father of Elasah, Elasah was the father of Sismai, Sismai was the father of Shallum, Shallum was the father of Jekamiah, and Jekamiah was the father of Elishama.
The sons of Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel: Mesha his firstborn, who was the father of Ziph, and Mareshah his second son, who was the father of Hebron. The sons of Hebron: Korah, Tappuah, Rekem, and Shema. Shema was the father of Raham the father of Jorkeam, and Rekem was the father of Shammai. 45 The son of Shammai was Maon, and Maon was the father of Beth-zur. Caleb’s concubine Ephah was the mother of Haran, Moza, and Gazez. Haran was the father of Gazez.
The sons of Jahdai: Regem, Jotham, Geshan, Pelet, Ephah, and Shaaph. Caleb’s concubine Maacah was the mother of Sheber and Tirhanah. She was also the mother of Shaaph father of Madmannah, and of Sheva father of Machbenah and Gibea. Caleb’s daughter was Acsah. These were the descendants of Caleb.
The sons of Hur the firstborn of Ephrathah: Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim, Salma the father of Bethlehem, and Hareph the father of Beth-gader.
These were the descendants of Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim: Haroeh, half the Manahathites, and the clans of Kiriath-jearim—the Ithrites, Puthites, Shumathites, and Mishraites. From these descended the Zorathites and Eshtaolites. The descendants of Salma: Bethlehem, the Netophathites, Atroth-beth-joab, half the Manahathites, the Zorites, and the clans of the scribes who lived at Jabez—the Tirathites, Shimeathites, and Sucathites. These are the Kenites who came from Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab.”
Again, we are confronted with a huge list of mind – numbing names and again we wonder why these lists have been preserved. But after Israel and Judah went into exile and some of the Jews returned, it was these lists that allowed those whose parents had not intermarried with Canaanites or Babylonians to prove that they were truly Jews and therefore qualified not only to remain in Israel but also to worship in the temple.
Hidden amongst these lists are all kinds of juicy stories. Take the story of Tamar, Judah’s daughter – in – law. Tamar’s husband was evil, so God killed him. Then when Judah forced his second son Onan to marry Tamar, Onan refused to impregnate her, spilling the semen on the ground because he didn’t want to raise up a son for his dead brother. This act so infuriated God that He killed Onan also. When Tamar remained without a husband, she dressed up as a prostitute and had sex with Judah. Tamar wisely collected Judah’s signet and cord and staff as pledges for when Judah learned that Tamar was pregnant, he wanted to have Tamar burned for prostituting herself. (Do note the double standard – it was fine for Judah to have sex with a prostitute but he wanted to be able to punish his daughter – in – law when he thought she had engaged in prostitution!) Tamar confronted Judah, who acknowledged that she was more righteous than he was. Perez and Zerah were the results of that intercourse.
The Rechabites, the final group, are also worthy of mention. Rechab insisted that all his descendants should maintain a Nazirite vow not to take anything made of grapes in any form whatsoever. The Rechabites herded livestock and lived in tents, only moving into the cities when they felt threatened by invaders. God used the example of the Rechabites to rebuke the nation of Judah, telling the Judeans through the prophet Jeremiah that the Rechabites obeyed their founding father while the nation of Judah refused to obey the Living God. God ordered Jeremiah to summon the leaders of the Rechabites and to then offer them wine; the Rechabites refused to drink, answering, “We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, ourselves, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, and not to build houses to dwell in. We have no vineyard or field or seed, but we have lived in tents and have obeyed and done all that Jonadab our father commanded us.” (Jeremiah 35:8 – 10)
APPLICATION: George Santayana has told us, “Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.” Edmund Burke in Revolution in France remarked “People will not look forward to posterity, who never look backward to their ancestors.” Centuries before Santayana or Burke, King Solomon mused that “There is nothing new under the sun.” When we refuse to learn from the mistakes of those around us or from those who have preceded us, we are setting ourselves up for disaster!
Those who compiled the Chronicles or who studied them could easily expand on these lists, recounting the stories of the failings or triumphs of their ancestors. While it might be tempting to insist that times have changed and that we are now facing stresses never before encountered by the human race, those assumptions are simply untrue. These days, we are assaulted by propaganda regarding climate change by those who refuse to acknowledge that climate change has always existed throughout the entire history of the earth. Just ask the dinosaurs! When we refuse to learn from the economic mistakes of other nations, we are preparing for failure in that sector. Just ask the people of Venezuela. The lists of such mistakes are endless and can lead to all kinds of senseless arguments.
God wants us to be wise, discerning times and seasons. If we ignore our own history or attempt to re – write it, we will never learn necessary lessons. May we allow God to open our eyes so that we will learn from the mistakes of others and will not repeat those mistakes. And may we treasure any heritage of godliness our forefathers have bequeathed to us.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to be wise and to learn as much as possible from our own history and from the mistakes of others. Help us to look beyond propaganda to discern Your times and seasons. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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