1 Chronicles 3 (New Living Translation)
Descendants of David
The book of Chronicles was written soon after the exile in order to help those returning to Israel understand how to worship God. It was written after the destruction of Jerusalem, posing the question, “Why did God choose to punish His people in such a way?” The answer is found in history, and it is beneficial to learn from others’ mistakes so that we will not repeat them.As we go through the initial chapters of 1 Chronicles, the following thoughts come to mind:
- God knows every person who has ever lived in this earth. He knows each of us by name, and we are not just a faceless number to him. He is intimately concerned with our welfare and we should never feel insignificant. As the Psalmist has exclaimed: “How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand…” (Psalms 139:17-18)
- God records all our activities in His book of remembrance. “Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD listened and heard them; so a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and who meditate on His name.” (Malachi 3:16). We have to be very careful how we act, and speak every day.
- God is working on a plan throughout history. As we see the names of people recorded for each generation in Chronicles, there is a distinct pattern that can be traced: from Adam to Abraham through Seth, and thereafter on to David through Israel. It is obvious that God is creating a family tree for His Son Jesus Christ to be born in due time.
–Shibu Cherian
1These are the sons of David who were born in Hebron:
The oldest was Amnon, whose mother was Ahinoam from Jezreel.
The second was Daniel, whose mother was Abigail from Carmel.
"The Meeting of David and Abigail" by Peter Paul Rubens, 1630 (National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.)
Abigail — a gracious and capable woman who won David’s heart. See her story in 1 Samuel 25.
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2 The third was Absalom, whose mother was Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur.
Absalom — whereas David’s sins brought him back to God, Absalom sinned and kept on sinning, rebelling against his father the king. His story is told is 2 Samuel 3:3, 13-19.
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The fourth was Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith.
3 The fifth was Shephatiah, whose mother was Abital.
The sixth was Ithream, whose mother was Eglah, David’s wife.
4 These six sons were born to David in Hebron, where he reigned seven and a half years.
Then David reigned another thirty-three years in Jerusalem. 5 The sons born to David in Jerusalem included Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon. Their mother was Bathsheba, the daughter of Ammiel.
"Deliberately" by Henri Lindegaard, 2003
Bathsheba — a close connection to Israel’s two greatest kings, as the lover/wife of David (see Psalm 51 for David’s cry of repentance) and the mother of Solomon. Her story is found in 2 Samuel 11-12 and 1 Kings 1-2.
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6 David also had nine other sons: Ibhar, Elishua, Elpelet, 7 Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, 8 Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet.
9 These were the sons of David, not including his sons born to his concubines. Their sister was named Tamar.
Tamar’s tragic story is found in 2 Samuel 13-14. Her half-brother, Amnon, raped her, her full-brother, Absalom, told her to keep it secret, and her father, David, did not defend her.
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Descendants of Solomon
Many of Solomon’s descendants were kings of Judah.
10 The descendants of Solomon were Rehoboam, Abijah, Asa, Jehoshaphat, 11 Jehoram, Ahaziah, Joash, 12 Amaziah, Uzziah, Jotham, 13 Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, 14 Amon, and Josiah.
15 The sons of Josiah were Johanan (the oldest), Jehoiakim (the second), Zedekiah (the third), and Jehoahaz (the fourth).
16The successors of Jehoiakim were his son Jehoiachin and his brother Zedekiah.
Descendants of Jehoiachin
17 The sons of Jehoiachin, who was taken prisoner by the Babylonians, were Shealtiel, 18 Malkiram, Pedaiah, Shenazzar, Jekamiah, Hoshama, and Nedabiah.
19 The sons of Pedaiah were Zerubbabel and Shimei.
Zerubbabel led the first exiles to return to Jerusalem from Babylon. He oversaw the rebuilding of the temple, since the Babylonians had burned Solomon’s temple.
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The sons of Zerubbabel were Meshullam and Hananiah. (Their sister was Shelomith.) 20 His five other sons were Hashubah, Ohel, Berekiah, Hasadiah, and Jushab-hesed.
21 The sons of Hananiah were Pelatiah and Jeshaiah. Jeshaiah’s son was Rephaiah. Rephaiah’s son was Arnan. Arnan’s son was Obadiah. Obadiah’s son was Shecaniah.
22 The descendants of Shecaniah were Shemaiah and his sons, Hattush, Igal, Bariah, Neari-ah, and Shaphat—six in all.
23 The sons of Neari-ah were Elioenai, Hizkiah, and Azrikam—three in all.
24 The sons of Elioenai were Hodaviah, Eliashib, Pelaiah, Akkub, Johanan, Delaiah, and Anani—seven in all.
1 Chronicles 4 (New Living Translation)
Other Descendants of Judah
1 The descendants of Judah were Perez, Hezron, Carmi, Hur, and Shobal.
2 Shobal’s son Reaiah was the father of Jahath. Jahath was the father of Ahumai and Lahad. These were the families of the Zorathites.
3 The descendants of Etam were Jezreel, Ishma, Idbash, their sister Hazzelelponi, 4 Penuel (the father of Gedor), and Ezer (the father of Hushah). These were the descendants of Hur (the firstborn of Ephrathah), the ancestor of Bethlehem.
5 Ashhur (the father of Tekoa) had two wives, named Helah and Naarah. 6 Naarah gave birth to Ahuzzam, Hepher, Temeni, and Haahashtari. 7 Helah gave birth to Zereth, Izhar, Ethnan, 8 and Koz, who became the ancestor of Anub, Zobebah, and all the families of Aharhel son of Harum.
"The Prayer of Jabez" by Michael Dudash
9 There was a man named Jabez who was more honorable than any of his brothers. His mother named him Jabez because his birth had been so painful. 10 He was the one who prayed to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and expand my territory! Please be with me in all that I do, and keep me from all trouble and pain!” And God granted him his request.
from The Prayer of Jabez,
by Bruce Wilkinson
“Oh, that you would bless me indeed”
To bless in the biblical sense means to ask for or to impart supernatural favor. When we ask for God’s blessing, we’re not asking for more of what we could get for ourselves. We’re crying out for the wonderful, unlimited goodness that only God has the power to know about or give to us. This kind of richness is what the writer was referring to in Proverbs: “The Lord’s blessing is our greatest wealth; all our work adds nothing to it” (Proverbs 10:22, TLB).
Notice a radical aspect of Jabez’s request for blessing: He left it entirely up to God to decide what the blessings would be and where, when, and how Jabez would receive them. This kind of radical trust in God’s good intentions toward us has nothing in common with the popular gospel that you should ask God for a Cadillac, a six-figure income, or some other material sign that you have found a way to cash in on your connection with Him. Instead, the Jabez blessing focuses like a laser on our wanting for ourselves nothing more and nothing less that what God wants for us.
“and enlarge my territory”
Whatever our gifts, education, or vocation night be, our calling is to do God’s work on earth. If you want, you can call it living out your faith for others. You can call it ministry. You can call it every Christian’s day job. But whatever you call it, God is looking for people who want to do more of it, because sadly, most believers seem to shrink from living at this level of blessing and influence.
For most of us, our reluctance comes from getting our numbers right, but our arithmetic completely wrong. For example, when we’re deciding what size territory God has in mind for us, we keep an equation in our heart that adds up something like this:
My abilities + experience + training
+ my personality and appearance
+ my past + the expectation of others
= my assigned territory.But God says, “Not by might nor by power but by My Spirit” (Zechariah 4:6). Our God specializes in working through normal people who believe in a super-normal God who will do His work through them. What He’s waiting for is the invitation. That means God’s math would look more like this:
My willingness and weakness
+ God’s will and supernatural power
= my expanding territory.When you start asking in earnest—begging—for more influence and responsibility with which to honor Him, God will bring opportunities and people into your path.
“that your hand would be with me”
It’s a frightening and utterly exhilarating truth that as God’s chosen, blessed sons and daughters, we are expected to attempt something large enough that failure is guaranteed . . . unless God steps in. Take a minute to prayerfully try to comprehend how contrary that truth is to everything you would humanly choose:
- It goes against common sense.
- It contradicts your previous life experience.
- It seems to disregard your feelings, training, and need for security.
- It sets you up to look like a fool and a loser.
With that, we are forced into dependence on God. And God’s hand upon you will be “the touch of greatness.” You do not become great; you become dependent on the strong hand of God. Your surrendered need turns into His unlimited opportunity. And He becomes great through you.
“and keep me from evil”
Without a temptation, we would not sin. Most of us face too many temptations—and therefore sin too often—because we don’t ask God to lead us away from temptation. We make a huge spiritual leap forward, therefore, when we begin to focus less on beating temptation and more on avoiding it.
In the model prayer Jesus gave his followers, nearly a quarter of its fifty words ask for deliverance: “And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” (Matthew 6:13). Nothing about spiritual insight or special powers. Not a word about confrontation.
Do you believe that a supernatural God is going to show up to keep you from evil and protect your spiritual investment? Jabez did believe, and he acted on his belief. Thereafter his life was spared from the grief and pain that evil brings.
Paul told the Colossians that God had made them “alive together with [Christ]” and that having “disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in [the cross]” (Colossians 2:13, 15).
What an amazing declaration of victory! Through Christ, we can live in triumph—not in temptation or defeat.
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Music:
I like the prayer of Jabez. But even more, I like the prayer of Jesus. “The Lord’s Prayer” is performed here by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Andrea Bocelli.
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11 Kelub (the brother of Shuhah) was the father of Mehir. Mehir was the father of Eshton. 12 Eshton was the father of Beth-rapha, Paseah, and Tehinnah. Tehinnah was the father of Ir-nahash. These were the descendants of Recah.
13 The sons of Kenaz were Othniel and Seraiah. Othniel’s sons were Hathath and Meonothai. 14 Meonothai was the father of Ophrah. Seraiah was the father of Joab, the founder of the Valley of Craftsmen, so called because they were craftsmen.
15 The sons of Caleb son of Jephunneh were Iru, Elah, and Naam. The son of Elah was Kenaz.
Caleb was one of the twelve spies sent into the Promised Land by Moses. He and Joshua returned with faith that the Lord would enable them to conquer Canaan; the other ten spies were negative. His encouraging story is found in Numbers 13-14 and Joshua 14-15.
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16 The sons of Jehallelel were Ziph, Ziphah, Tiria, and Asarel.
17 The sons of Ezrah were Jether, Mered, Epher, and Jalon. One of Mered’s wives became the mother of Miriam, Shammai, and Ishbah (the father of Eshtemoa). 18 He married a woman from Judah, who became the mother of Jered (the father of Gedor), Heber (the father of Soco), and Jekuthiel (the father of Zanoah). Mered also married Bithia, a daughter of Pharaoh, and she bore him children.
19 Hodiah’s wife was the sister of Naham. One of her sons was the father of Keilah the Garmite, and another was the father of Eshtemoa the Maacathite.
20 The sons of Shimon were Amnon, Rinnah, Ben-hanan, and Tilon.
The descendants of Ishi were Zoheth and Ben-zoheth.
Descendants of Judah’s Son Shelah
21 Shelah was one of Judah’s sons. The descendants of Shelah were Er (the father of Lecah); Laadah (the father of Mareshah); the families of linen workers at Beth-ashbea; 22 Jokim; the men of Cozeba; and Joash and Saraph, who ruled over Moab and Jashubi-lehem. These names all come from ancient records. 23They were the pottery makers who lived in Netaim and Gederah. They lived there and worked for the king.
Since the broad focus of these chapters is to point to the tribe of Judah and especially to the family of David, these receive special mention because they worked for the king and lived with the king. Charles Spurgeon preached a wonderful sermon on this verse, with four points under the title With the King for His Work!
Our King has many kinds of servants. He has soldiers, watchmen, heralds, scribes, musicians, house servants, gardeners, servants for the children. We should therefore value the different servants and understand and value our own place of service.
All who live with our King must work. “They did not live on the king’s bounty and dwell on the king’s country estates to do nothing, but they dwelt there for his work. I do not know whether all that call my Master ‘Lord’ have caught this idea. I have thought that some of our church members imagine that the cause of Christ was a coach, and that they were to ride on it, and that they would prefer the box seat.”
Those that work for the King ought to live with Him. “Now, those that live with Jesus Christ have a sort of secret alphabet between themselves and him. Oftentimes when a Christian man does the right thing . . . Do you know why he had that knack? He lived with his Master, so he knew what you knew not. He knew the meaning of his Master’s eye, and it guided him.”
We are working for the King. “And after you have received Christ then you shall go forth and serve him. Put out an empty hand and receive Christ into it by a little faith, and then go and serve him, and the Lord bless you henceforth and for ever.”
–David Guzik
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Descendants of Simeon
24 The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Jarib, Zohar, and Shaul.
25 The descendants of Shaul were Shallum, Mibsam, and Mishma.
26 The descendants of Mishma were Hammuel, Zaccur, and Shimei.
27 Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters, but none of his brothers had large families. So Simeon’s tribe never grew as large as the tribe of Judah.
28 They lived in Beersheba, Moladah, Hazar-shual, 29 Bilhah, Ezem, Tolad, 30 Bethuel, Hormah, Ziklag, 31 Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susim, Beth-biri, and Shaaraim. These towns were under their control until the time of King David. 32 Their descendants also lived in Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Token, and Ashan—five towns 33 and their surrounding villages as far away as Baalath. This was their territory, and these names are listed in their genealogical records.
34 Other descendants of Simeon included Meshobab, Jamlech, Joshah son of Amaziah, 35 Joel, Jehu son of Joshibiah, son of Seraiah, son of Asiel, 36 Elioenai, Jaakobah, Jeshohaiah, Asaiah, Adiel, Jesimiel, Benaiah, 37and Ziza son of Shiphi, son of Allon, son of Jedaiah, son of Shimri, son of Shemaiah.
38 These were the names of some of the leaders of Simeon’s wealthy clans. Their families grew, 39 and they traveled to the region of Gerar, in the east part of the valley, seeking pastureland for their flocks. 40 They found lush pastures there, and the land was quiet and peaceful.
Some of Ham’s descendants had been living in that region. 41 But during the reign of King Hezekiah of Judah, these leaders of Simeon invaded the region and completely destroyed the homes of the descendants of Ham and of the Meunites. No trace of them remains today. They killed everyone who lived there and took the land for themselves, because they wanted its good pastureland for their flocks. 42 Five hundred of these invaders from the tribe of Simeon went to Mount Seir, led by Pelatiah, Neari-ah, Rephaiah, and Uzziel—all sons of Ishi. 43 They destroyed the few Amalekites who had survived, and they have lived there ever since.
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New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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