From Adam to Abraham - Our humanity and our salvation
Text 1 Chronicles 1:1-27 Time 17 06 20 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church (Zoom)
Perhaps the very first thing we should do is to prove that a list of names can be interesting. If I give you a random list of names
Henry, Euan, Elmer, Haroon, Jenson, Gethin, Bernard, William, Zack, Maximillian
it is only mildly interesting, if at all. But what if I give you this list?
Edward, Harold, James, Margaret, John, Tony, Gordon, David, Theresa, Boris
Much more interesting perhaps. Or what about?
Gordon, Ray, George, Nobby, Jack, Bobby, Alan, Roger, Bobby, Geoff, Martin
Anyway we'll come back to that.
At the beginning of his great book Knowing God Jim Packer says that it was a book he longed to write, like an actor longing to play Hamlet. Well, one of my ambitions in ministry has been to come to a time when I could preach through the Books of Chronicles. It is a double ambition really - firstly to preach Chronicles but also to cover all the books in the Bible, Chronicles being the most likely candidate for the last book to cover.
Well, we have reached the stage where I've now pretty much preached on almost all the books of the Bible and am ready (as I'll ever be) to preach through Chronicles. I intended to preach on it this year but then with the unusual circumstances I thought perhaps not but I've now decided to go for it, as difficult as it is.
A chronicle has been defined as "a continuous and detailed account of historical events arranged in order of time." And so the traditional title is a good one. The Jews call it diaries or The book of the events of the times. The Septuagint went for things Things omitted (ie from Samuel and Kings). Originally it was one book but when it was translated into Greek it was split in two for convenience.
Most of the material in Chronicles is parallel to what you find in 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings. Historians all have to be selective. The writers of Kings and Chronicles had similar sources but were selective and wrote in different ways. The Chronicler it is clear relied on the Books of Samuel and Kings and the various writings of prophets such as Nathan, Gad, Ahijah, Shemaiah, Iddo, Isaiah, etc.
Chronicles is an anonymous work though the name of Ezra the priest is often associated with it. Ezra-Nehemiah follows straight on and the final verses of Chronicles are the same as the opening verses of Ezra. It is certainly written from a priestly perspective, centring on the Temple in Jerusalem, the Levitical priesthood and David's lineage. It is much more interested in the story of Judah than that of the 10 tribes. It is said to give more of a divine perspective than Kings. Kings is about kings and prophets and politics, Chronicles is about priests and religion.
Chronicles is more positive than Kings. Kings is about man's failings and judgement, Chronicles is about God's faithfulness and the hope that brings. So for example you will not read about David's adultery or Absalom's rebellion in Chronicles. It is only here that we read about Manasseh's final repentance. Kings ends with the exile but Chronicles with Cyrus's decree for the people to return.
Chronicles teaches us God's faithfulness to his people, the power of his Word and the central role of worship in the lives of God's people. This is underscored with the genealogies, which point to the forthcoming Messiah and are completed by those recorded in the New Testament.
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So what I want to do this week is to make a start with the first 27 verses. As you can see, the potential problem here is that 1:1-27 is a genealogy covering the 2000 years from Adam to Abraham and so it is chiefly a list of names. This is true not just of 1:1-27 but all the way from 1:1 to the end of Chapter 8. It is only in Chapter 10 that the actual history of Israel from Saul to the exile begins.
So let's come to this list of names. His main source here is the Book of Genesis. There are over 80 names of people and tribes altogether. What do these genealogies teach us in general?
1. These genealogies were useful to Jews returning from exile so that it could be established just who was Jewish and who was not. The Jews are God's chosen people.
2. The genealogies also exhibited the unity of God. God is one.
3. At the same time they demonstrate the Lord's concern for each individual. When you see a list of names it holds little interest in and of itself but if your name is on it or that of someone you know, it makes all the difference.
4. Even a list of names evokes some response in us. We know nothing about Ashkenaz, Riphath and Togarmah perhaps but they were clearly real people who lived their lives out here on earth. They lived, they loved, they had their joys and sorrows, they died.
5. They demonstrate the divine purpose being worked out until Christ's coming. They help complete the Bible story of the Saviour, who is the son of David, the son of Judah, the son of Abraham, the son of Adam.'
6. It is noticeable, in our day at least, that no women are mentioned here. This reminds us that the Bible is patriarchal. It has a place for women but clearly under the leadership of men. Interestingly, one feature of the first page of the New Testament is a genealogy that features a number of women, underlining their increased status under the new covenant.
Of course, in many cases the meanings of names have significance. Adam is from earth or earthy. The name reminds us that he was made out of the ground. Seth means something like appointed and he got that name because he replaced Abel, who was killed by Cain. Mahalel means Praise God, which is interesting. We know that Lamech called his son Noah, which can mean rest or comfort, saying He will comfort us in the labour and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the LORD has cursed. The name Eber perhaps gives us the word Hebrew, the name we use for the language spoken by the Jews. In Genesis 10:25 we read that Two sons were born to Eber: One was named Peleg, (divided) because in his time the earth was divided; his brother was named Joktan. (Joktan just means small and he was perhaps simply a small baby). Terah appropriately means delay or wanderer. Abraham of course, means father of many nations - very significant.
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This genealogy reminds us both that we are all descended from Adam and that God chose one people to be his own.
There is a great deal of concern at the moment about what is usually called racism. The ultimate answer to racism is to assert that we are actually all descended from the same man and woman and so are essentially one human race.
At the same time it is important to see the emphasis here on Noah's son Shem and then on Eber and Peleg, on down to Abram or Abraham, who we know God chose and made all those wonderful promises to. Jesus himself reminds us that salvation is of the Jews for the Messiah was born Jewish.
1. Consider our earliest ancestors - Adam to Noah
Let me give you another modern list first -
Neil, Buzz, Pete, Alan, Alan, Edgar, David, James, John, Charles, Gene, Harrison
(men who've walked on the moon, if you weren''t sure).
Here we start with the ten names in verses 1-3
Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah.
We are all descended from Adam and from Noah. Half of these names mean nothing to us but Adam reminds us that God made us all. Seth is the beginning of the godly line, which we need to be in. Methuselah is the longest lived human being ever, which reminds us that we can live a long time but we all have to die, although his father Enoch famously didn't. Enoch points to the need to walk with God while we live and to look forward to a life in heaven beyond that. Noah, of course, is the one who became our first saviour when he entered the ark with his family by the grace of God.
This initial focus on the men from whom we are all descended prepares the way for the narrowing down to Shem and his descendants, including Abraham through whom salvation would come to all the nations.
Creation and the flood are widely denied these days yet these are essential truths. How will we understand this world without knowing about creation, the fall and the flood? If I descended from someone different to you, it opens up just a little crack that could easily widen if we are not careful.
2. Consider the earliest Gentiles - Ham and Japheth down to the Rodanites and Hamathites
Our writer then lists The sons of Noah: Shem, Ham and Japheth.
He then deals briefly with the descendants of Japheth:
The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshek (there is a later Meshek descended from Shem) and Tiras.
The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath and Togarmah.
The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittites and the Rodanites.
These are the peoples, it seems, that inhabited an area to the north of Israel - what today is Turkey and Ionia in Greece and Syria and perhaps Sicily and Cyprus and Rhodes. From them would have come the peoples of Europe and others.
Next come the sons of Ham:
4- 16 The sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put and Canaan.
The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabta, Raamah and Sabteka.
The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. Cush was the father of Nimrod, who became a mighty warrior on earth. Egypt was the father of the Ludites, Anamites, Lehabites, Naphtuhites, Pathrusites, Kasluhites (from whom the Philistines came) and Caphtorites. Canaan was the father of Sidon his firstborn, and of Canaanite tribes the Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, Arvadites, Zemarites and Hamathites.
Here we are talking about peoples to the south of Israel who occupied land in what we call the Middle East but extending down into North East Africa. Egypt and the Canaanites were to become later enemies. Nimrod's name would also have rung bells for Jewish readers as in Genesis 10 we read of him more fully that The first centres of his kingdom were Babylon, Uruk, Akkad and Kalneh, in Shinar. From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah and Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah - which is the great city. It is these Mesopotamian peoples who with others came later to dominate and to rule over Israel.
Most of us I guess descend from such peoples and it is humbling to think that the Bible is not particularly interested in these people initially. Oh yes, Nimrod sounds exciting and he is a dashing figure clearly but this is not the focus. You have to wait really until the New Testament before there is a concerted focus on Ham and Japheth and the nations of the world, although even in the Old Testament they are not forgotten entirely.
3. Consider the earliest Semites - Abraham and his ancestors from Shem to Terah
Our writer leaves Shem to last in order to focus on him, as he will in the chapters that follow:
17-27 The sons of Shem: Elam, Ashur, Arphaxad, Lud and Aram.
The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether and Meshek.
Arphaxad was the father of Shelah,
and Shelah the father of Eber. Two sons were born to Eber: One was named Peleg, because in his time the earth was divided; his brother was named Joktan.
Joktan was the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, Obal, Abimael, Sheba, Ophir, Havilah and Jobab. All these were sons of Joktan. Shem, Arphaxad, Shelah, Eber, Peleg, Reu, Serug, Nahor, Terah and Abram (that is, Abraham).
This is the more central area, neither north or south. Later enemies and others are included here but we soon narrow down to Eber, Peleg, Reu, Serug, Nahor, Terah and Abram (that is, Abraham).
The reason for this, obviously, is that Abram is the one God calls and through whom he chooses to create a nation, Israel, into which nation David and then the Messiah will eventually be born.
Above everything else Abram was a man of faith. In Genesis 12:7, 8 we read that The LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring I will give this land." So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him. From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD. In 15:6 We read that Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness. In Hebrews 11:8-10 the writer reminds us how By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. What an example he is to us.
The passage begins with Adam - fix your eyes there first. We are one world and all the world needs to bow down to the one true God. It ends, however, with Abram - the one man through whom all nations will be blessed. You may descend from Shem, Ham or Japheth - it makes no difference in the end. You still have to have faith in God like Abraham. There is no other way to be saved.
