A Backdrop to Appreciate, Sadness to Contemplate and People to Emulate
Text 1 Chronicles 2:18-55 Time 01 07 20 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church (Zoom)
Many years ago I travelled to Cyprus. One day I was wandering around and I found a cemetery. All the graves were written on in a script I did not recognise. I later realised it was Armenian so I wouldn't know what it meant if I could read it. There would be some stories there though if I could.
I want us to turn again to 1 Chronicles. This time it is 1 Chronicles 2:18-55 and again we have a long list of names. Unlike in previous chapters, most of this material is not found anywhere else in the Bible.
In 2:9 we read that Hezron, a descendant of Judah, had three sons The sons born to Hezron were: Jerahmeel, Ram and Caleb. From 2:10 we have the family tree for Ram - this is the line that takes us to King David and will eventually lead to the Messiah himself.
In 2:9-24 we start on the line of Caleb and then in 2:25-41 it is Jerahmeel and then from 2:42-55 we are back to Caleb's line. There are over 150 names here. Some are personal names and some are geographical terms.
The main thing the writer wants to get across to us is how numerous the tribe of Judah was. They seem to have preserved their genealogical history better than any tribe, which is an encouragement to us to be sure that the line to Messiah is correctly drawn.
Otherwise I think there are three things we can learn here.
1. A backdrop to appreciate. Consider God's sovereignty and the importance of the gospel going beyond a small circle
Some of the names here are either place names or personal names that were given to places. Early on there are references to places such as Havvoth Jair and Tekoa.
Note in verses 42-55
Hebron - 42 The sons of Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel: Mesha his firstborn, who was the father of Ziph, and his son Mareshah, who was the father of Hebron. There was a city in Judah called Ziph. Hebron is the city occupied in part by Caleb son of Jephunneh and by Levites. It became one of the cities of refuge, where a person who had killed someone but not murdered them could run to to be safe. It is a picture of Christ who is a refuge for all who flee to him.
43 The sons of Hebron: Korah, Tappuah, (another place name in Judah) Rekem and Shema. This Shema's line is then traced out in verses 44 and 45 Shema was the father of Raham, followed by Jorkeam (another place?) ... Rekem ... Shammai ... Maon ... ending with Beth Zur. Maon and Beth Zur are places in Judah. Maon means dwelling or habitation. Beth Zur probably means House of Rock, it being in a mountainous area.
We then go to Caleb grandson of Caleb son of Hezron (50a) The sons of Hur the firstborn of Ephrathah: Ephratah being the name we often see in connection with Bethlehem, David's hometown, mentioned in 51a (Salma the father of Bethlehem) and (50b) Shobal the father of Kiriath Jearim, a town of Judah often mentioned in the Old Testament and of interest again to this writer as this is where the ark of the covenant ended up for a long period.
51b ... and Hareph the father of Beth Gader (House of the wall) which sounds like a town but not one mentioned anywhere else.
52, 53 The descendants of Shobal the father of Kiriath Jearim were: Haroeh, half the Manahathites, and the clans of Kiriath Jearim: the Ithrites, Puthites, Shumathites and Mishraites. From these descended the Zorathites and Eshtaolites. Zorah and Eshtaol are in Judah but you know the names best in connection with the story of Samson.
54, 55 The descendants of Salma: Bethlehem, the Netophathites, Atroth Beth Joab, half the Manahathites, the other half the Zorites.
In each case - first there was an individual then a family then a community then a village or town or city. This is part of the Old Testament story.
Two things here, however, remind us of how it was on the ground in Old Testament times with regard to Gentiles.
First, in verses 34, 35 we read that Sheshan had no sons - only daughters - one at least, anyway. Her name appears to have been Ahlai (verse 31). Again, although many would like to have sons, or daughters for that matter, God may give them only one sort. However, here we are told that Sheshan had an Egyptian servant named Jarha. Sheshan gave his daughter in marriage to his servant Jarha, and she bore him Attai. Presumably this Egyptian had become a Jewish believer and so was trusted by Sheshan to keep the faith. They gave Sheshan, in Attai, the son he had not had until then. Attai's line is then given over 12 generations in verses 36-41, down to David's time, all the way down to Elishama.
Secondly. the final line of the chapter is These are the Kenites who came from Hammath, the father of the Rekabites. The Kenites are not actually descended from Judah but were descendants of Moses' father-in-law. They lived among the Jews. The Rekabites were tent dwellers who refused to drink alcohol. They are mentioned in Jeremiah. This was part of their dedication to God.
Just as Sheshan cultivated the relationship with the Egyptian and with his daughter and as the Jews allowed the Kenites to live among them so we must avoid an unbiblical exclusivity and welcome people in who are outsiders.
2. Sadness to contemplate. Consider the sad side of human family life in a fallen world
We read about Hezron in verses 21-24 Later, Hezron, when he was sixty years old, married the daughter of Makir the father of Gilead. He made love to her, and she bore him Segub. Gilead is the term used for the land East of the Jordan occupied by Reuben, Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh. We are then told that Segub was the father of Jair, who controlled twenty-three towns in Gilead. This is mentioned in Numbers. (But Geshur and Aram captured Havvoth Jair, the settlements of Jair as well as Kenath with its surrounding settlements sixty towns.) All these were descendants of Makir the father of Gilead.
Verse 24 says that After Hezron died in Caleb Ephrathah, Abijah the wife of Hezron bore him Ashhur the father of Tekoa. It seems as though Hezron was dead by the time his son Ashhur was born. That is something that happens, of course - children born when their fathers have already died. Not easy.
In verses 25-41 we re told about Jerahmeel and his descendants. His sons were Ram ... Bunah, Oren, Ozem and Ahijah. In verse 2 it says Jerahmeel had another wife, whose name was Atarah; she was the mother of Onam. As you are aware we have this phenomenon of men in the Old Testament, sometimes even good men, taking more than one wife. I know that this can sometimes be for a good motive, to offer protection to a woman but it is not the way God wanted it from the beginning. The original intention was one man, one woman. The purpose of marriage is that it should reflect the union between God and his people, Christ and his church. A man with two wives does not do that.
Worse again, if you go down to verses 46-48 you read (46) of Caleb's concubine Ephah who was the mother of Haran, Moza and Gazez. which was the name too of Haran's son. Then come (47) The sons of Jahdai: Regem, Jotham, Geshan, Pelet, (Cf Beth Pelet) Ephah and Shaaph. Perhaps Jahdai was a wife rather than a concubine but in verse 48 it says Caleb's concubine Maakah was the mother of Sheber and Tirhanah. She also gave birth to Shaaph the father of Madmannah and to Sheva the father of Makbenah and Gibea.
Concubines were lesser wives, women who bore children to their husbands but who did not have full rights as wives. This is even worse than polygamy and was never what God intended.
In verse 47 we are told that Caleb had a daughter called Aksah. She is one of several women mentioned in this section. We will say something in a moment about the daughter of Sheshan son of Ishi.
In verses 27-33 we have more details about sons of Ram. In verses 30 and 32 we read The sons of Nadab: Seled and Appaim. Seled died without children and The sons of Jada, Shammai's brother: Jether and Jonathan. Jether died without children. We tend to think of childlessness, I suppose, as a modern problem but even by this time people were sometimes getting married and yet not having children. We do not know what happened here, of course, but sometimes in a fallen world such things do happen. We ought to remember that.
3. People to emulate. Consider Bezalel son of Uri and the Scribes
You are aware probably that if you want to become an actor you are expected to join the Union Equity. One of equity's rules is that every member has a different name. It saves confusion. So if I wanted to join Equity I would need to see if there was another Gary Brady out there and if so I would have to change my name. Real life is not like that. I had a 'phone call from someone the other day trying to get in touch with my father-in-law. He had received a strange email and wanted to know what was going on. It turned out my father-in-law had got his Mike Taylors mixed up. Mike Taylor, Steve Taylor, John Hall, Andrew King. It can be confusing with some names.
The section begins with Caleb son of Hezron who, we are told, had children by his wife Azubah (and by Jerioth). These were her sons: Jesher, Shobab and Ardon. If you know your Bible, when you see the name Caleb you're tempted to think that it must be a famous Caleb we read about in Numbers and Joshua but that Caleb is not mentioned until 1 Chronicles 4:15, Caleb son of Jephunneh. This is an earlier one, son of Hezron. Just to add to the confusion both Calebs had daughters called Aksah (47).
As a general rule it reminds us to be careful with names in Scripture. Don't get people mixed up. We read that When Azubah died, Caleb married Ephrath, who bore him Hur. Hur is a name we know from Exodus. Alongside Aaron he helped to hold up the hands of Moses in prayer when Joshua was in the valley below fighting against the Amalekites. Hur was the father of Uri, and Uri the father of Bezalel. Bezalel is even more famous, and of particular interest to this writer as he is the one who God used, along with Aholiab and others, to make the furnishings of the Tabernacle that preceded the Temple.
In Exodus 31:3-5 God says I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills - to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts.
What a privilege to have such gifts and to be used in such a way. Pray that God will give you gifts and use you.
Then in verse 35 it says and the clans of scribes who lived at Jabez: the Tirathites, Shimeathites and Sucathites.
Among the tribes mentioned towards the end are the Sepharim or scribes who appear to be those who kept up learning in their family, especially learning the Scriptures and no doubt teaching others. Matthew Henry expresses the wish that there were more like that in our own day.
So - a backdrop to appreciate, sadness to contemplate and examples to emulate,
