King James Bible Study – [And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. – Mark 8:34]
Date: Tuesday, April 23, 2024
Chapters: I Chronicles Chapters 1-2
Message: An Eternal Tale To Be Told
Hello My Friend,
As I was reading the chapters for today, this passage came to mind, [Psalms 90:9-12,17 For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told. 10 The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. 11 Who knoweth the power of thine anger? even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath. 12 So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. 17 And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.]
Each and every one of us has a story written about our lives and it will continue until the day we leave this earth, and one day we will all stand before Jesus one by one to give an account for the lives we lived. There will be many who will tell of the great lives that they lived and He will tell them that He never knew them and sadly they will be cast into the lake of fire for eternity. Then there will be some who will stand before Him and tell Him that they did not live such good lives and He will tell them that it is time to come home to Him for eternity.
[Matthew 25:31,34-35,40-42 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. 41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:]
The righteous are the children of God, those whom have either accepted Christ as their Saviour or believed in His coming before they took their last breath on earth. Those whom have not are called the children of men because while there may be some good in them, they never believed in Christ and therefore hell and the lake of fire is their home. Jesus, said it this way, [Matthew 7:11-12,22-23 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? 12 Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.]
The Book of I Chronicles contains twenty-nine chapters, the author is Ezra and the purpose of the book was to record the religious history of Judah. Except for the genealogies, the timeline for these events took place approximately 1056 BC to 1015 BC. What we are to learn from the book is that God blesses all who exalt Him. The Chronicle books focuses on the kings of Judah, temple worship, and the prophetic promises of the Messiah, who was to descend through the seed of David, [1 Chronicles 17:11-12 And it shall come to pass, when thy days be expired that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom. 12 He shall build me an house, and I will stablish his throne for ever.]
The beginning of 1 Chronicles gives an account to the lineage of all mankind, beginning with Adam, and then, after the flood. Each and every one of us that were conceived are descendants from one of these three men, Shem, Ham, and Japeth. As we read the names we come to understand how we became such a divided earth between what is known as the sons of man, being those of the world, and the sons of God, being true believers.
[1 Chronicles 1:1-5,8-12 Adam, Sheth, Enosh, 2 Kenan, Mahalaleel, Jered, 3 Henoch, Methuselah, Lamech, 4 Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 5 The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras. 8 The sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. 9 And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabta, and Raamah, and Sabtecha. And the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and Dedan. 10 And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be mighty upon the earth. 11 And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim, 12 And Pathrusim, and Casluhim, (of whom came the Philistines,) and Caphthorim.]
[Adam, Sheth, Enosh,] Sheth or Seth, took Abel’s place in the bloodline that would lead to Jesus descending through the flesh of Judah. It was important that the Chronicles lists all the tribes of Israel as well as their cousins because they all played a key part in their heritage. Heritage is very important, in fact, we can even trace back our own heritage just by reading the names in this chapter, [Matthew 1:1-3,6,15-16 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 2 Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren; 3 And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram; 6 And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias; 15 And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob; 16 And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.]
[The sons of Japheth;] Japheth’s, descendants are of European heritage, such as the Greeks and Italians, and would become known as the Gentiles, they would be blessed through their faith in Christ. Regardless of our heritage, God is no respecter of persons, we are all under the same rule, [Romans 2:7-11 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: 8 But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, 9 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; 10 But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: 11 For there is no respect of persons with God.]
[The sons of Ham;] It is interesting to learn that the Philistines are descendants of Nimrod, who was also of Canaan, the one who tried to have a tower built that could reach heaven. Noah, was right when he said that Canaan’s descendants would be cursed, [Genesis 9:25-27 And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. 26 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. 27 God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.]
Ham, who disgraced his father when he exposed his nakedness after an incident where he got drunk, it was foretold that Canaan’s descendants would become servants of servants, these are those of African and Egyptian descent. Still today, Africa has some of the most impoverished people on the earth, which is why so many became slaves here in America and Europe in the first place. They sought a better life, and sadly, some of them were mistreated, which is what happened to the Israelites and why God commanded that any slave or servant that is bought become as one of their own.
[Leviticus 25:44-46 Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids. 45 Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which they begat in your land: and they shall be your possession. 46 And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever: but over your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with rigour.]
Think about it, out of the gazillions of people that God created since He created the earth, there really is only a remnant that acknowledge, know, and accept Him not only as their Creator, but God. Now, we come to the descendants of Shem, Noah’s eldest son, and of whom the Jews would descend.
[1 Chronicles 1:17-19,24-27 The sons of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram, and Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Meshech. 18 And Arphaxad begat Shelah, and Shelah begat Eber. 19 And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg; because in his days the earth was divided: and his brother’s name was Joktan. 24 Shem, Arphaxad, Shelah, 25 Eber, Peleg, Reu, 26 Serug, Nahor, Terah, 27 Abram; the same is Abraham.]
[because in his days the earth was divided:] Peleg, had gotten his name because in his days the inhabitants of the earth were divided according to their languages. This was when God had divided the earth into different languages due to their building the tower, [Genesis 11:4-7 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. 5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. 6 And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. 7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.]
While Joktan, got his name because in his days the years of men began to be shortened, on account of their iniquities. These people populated Asia, and spread themselves eastward and are known as the Assyrians, Syrians, Chaldeans, Persians, and Arabians, [Genesis 6:1-3 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, 2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. 3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.]
[Abram; the same is Abraham.] Shem’s descendants would actually become what we know as the Hebrews and Islamic’s (Ishmaelites), all stemmed from Abraham. Of course, it would be the Hebrews that God would establish as His people through the covenant that God had made, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Israel). What we often neglect to realize is that Abraham had other children after Sarah died, which are also mentioned here.
[1 Chronicles 1:28-29,32-35,43 The sons of Abraham; Isaac, and Ishmael. 29 These are their generations: The firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth; then Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam, 32 Now the sons of Keturah, Abraham’s concubine: she bare Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. And the sons of Jokshan; Sheba, and Dedan. 33 And the sons of Midian; Ephah, and Epher, and Henoch, and Abida, and Eldaah. All these are the sons of Keturah. 34 And Abraham begat Isaac. The sons of Isaac; Esau and Israel. 35 The sons of Esau; Eliphaz, Reuel, and Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah. 43 Now these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the children of Israel; Bela the son of Beor: and the name of his city was Dinhabah.]
[The firstborn of Ishmael,] This is proof that it does not matter what family you are born into, it is our love for God that determines whether or not we become one of His. Ishmael, was raised by Abraham until Isaac was born, he was well aware of God, and so was his mother, but Ishmael was not the promised son, Isaac was, and God reminded Abraham of that when Sarah asked Abraham to send Ishmael away when she saw Hagar mocking her, [Genesis 21:1013 Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac. 11 And the thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight because of his son. 12 And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called. 13 And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed.]
[Now the sons of Keturah, Abraham’s concubine:] Do you see how they were not recognized as children of Abraham? A concubine is known as a common law wife, meaning they were not legally married under the proper ceremonies. This is proof that even though we can be biologically connected with someone that does not mean that they are all God’s, [John 8:36-37,42 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. 37 I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. 42 Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.]
Between Adam and Abraham there was a time span of two thousand years, Adam, being the father of our flesh, Abraham, being the father of faith. We are all, by nature, the seed of Adam, it is only by faith that we become grafted into the seed of Abraham, [Galatians 3:27-29 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.]
Now, the second chapter of Chronicles is devoted to the descendants of Judah, this is because the promised Messiah would descend from them. First, we learn of all twelve tribes that would descend from Jacob also known as Israel, which is how God’s people came to be known as the Israelite’s.
[1 Chronicles 2:1-7 These are the sons of Israel; Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun, 2 Dan, Joseph, and Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. 3 The sons of Judah; Er, and Onan, and Shelah: which three were born unto him of the daughter of Shua the Canaanitess. And Er, the firstborn of Judah, was evil in the sight of the LORD; and he slew him. 4 And Tamar his daughter in law bare him Pharez and Zerah. All the sons of Judah were five. 5 The sons of Pharez; Hezron, and Hamul. 6 And the sons of Zerah; Zimri, and Ethan, and Heman, and Calcol, and Dara: five of them in all. 7 And the sons of Carmi; Achar, the troubler of Israel, who transgressed in the thing accursed.]
[And Tamar his daughter in law bare him Pharez and Zerah.] You want to talk about a dysfunctional family, Jesus, surely did descend in the flesh from a very dysfunctional family. Because Er was the first born, Pharez, under this strange circumstance, became heir to Er under the Law that states that if the first born dies, the wife would be passed down to the next eldest son, by whom the firstborn would become heir to the heir of their father, [Deuteronomy 25:5-6 If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger: her husband’s brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of an husband’s brother unto her. 6 And it shall be, that the firstborn which she beareth shall succeed in the name of his brother which is dead, that his name be not put out of Israel.]
[the troubler of Israel, who transgressed in the thing accursed.] Wow! How would you like that title for eternity? This is regarding Achan, who had taken the accursed things, back in the days of Joshua, which led to thirty-six Israelite’s losing their lives,[Joshua 7:1 But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against the children of Israel.]
An account is also given of David, who was a descendant of Boaz, who was married to Ruth, a converted Moabite to prove that God will change any heart that believes in and worships only Him, [1 Chronicles 2:9-16 The sons also of Hezron, that were born unto him; Jerahmeel, and Ram, and Chelubai. 10 And Ram begat Amminadab; and Amminadab begat Nahshon, prince of the children of Judah; 11 And Nahshon begat Salma, and Salma begat Boaz, 12 And Boaz begat Obed, and Obed begat Jesse, 13 And Jesse begat his firstborn Eliab, and Abinadab the second, and Shimma the third, 14 Nethaneel the fourth, Raddai the fifth, 15 Ozem the sixth, David the seventh: 16 Whose sisters were Zeruiah, and Abigail. And the sons of Zeruiah; Abishai, and Joab, and Asahel, three.]
[Abishai, and Joab, and Asahel, three.] Here are three names that we learned of a couple of days ago, and interestingly, they were David’s cousins. Joab, you will see as we continue reading through 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles, caused a lot of problems for David, much of what he was not aware of until Joab was part of the conspirators to keep Solomon from being king. What this all boils down to is that while we cannot pick and choose who our biological parents are, we can choose to use our heritage to make a new name for ourselves. All saved, born again Christians will have Christ’s name written upon them, [Revelation 3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.]
Jesus Christ Revealed/Magnified: [1 Chronicles 1:1 Adam, Sheth, Enosh,]
Today’s Prayer: God, While I do not completely understand and probably mispronounce the names of the people You have mentioned in Your Word, I do understand that I am apart of these families, and most of all I am apart of Your family. I am one of Yours not because You created me, but because You knew my name before I was even born, You saw something in me, You knew I would believe in Your Son and softened my heart, and when You knew I was ready to not only receive Him, but live my life through Him, You accepted me took me in as one of Your very one children. Thank You for accepting me and making me part of Your heritage, for placing Your Son’s name upon my soul, and giving me eternal life and a new hope through my faith. I pray this in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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