KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Monday, April 23, 2018
Chapters: I Chronicles 1-2
Message: He Knows My Name
Hello My Friend,
Names, whether good or bad, are important to God, after all He created all of us, of course, He knows us by name, in fact, He gives us our names. “Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name.” – Isaiah 49:1.
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 Chronicles focuses on the kings of Judah, temple worship, and the prophetic promises of the Messiah, who was to descend through the seed of David. “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.” – I Chronicles 17:11.
Chapter 1 just starts with names, listing the descendants from Adam to Jacob, we can learn a lot from names. While the Chronicles main focus is of the tribe of Judah, it was important that it lists all the tribes 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.
“Adam, Sheth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalaleel, Jered, Henoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabta, and Raamah, and Sabtecha. And the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and Dedan. And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be mighty upon the earth. And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim, And Pathrusim, and Casluhim, (of whom came the Philistines,) and Caphthorim.” – I Chronicles 1:1-4,8-12.
“Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.” Noah’s sons, Shem, of him came the Jews, whom are known as God’s chosen and those of Arabic descent, Ham, who disgraced his father, and therefore cursed his son Canaan to be a servant of servants, are the least to follow God and are of African and Egyptian descent, and Japheth, from him came those of European descent, known as the Gentiles and those whom would follow Christ. Jew or Gentile, all who come to know and receive Christ as their Saviour are heirs with Christ, sons and daughters of the KING. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.” – Romans 8:14-17.
Knowing who God is does not save anyone, even before Jesus came, they too had to live by faith, trust, and worship only Him. Chapter 1 also lists the descendants of Abraham, all of these knew of God, but not all worshiped Him. “The sons of Abraham; Isaac, and Ishmael. These are their generations: The firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth; then Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam, Mishma, and Dumah, Massa, Hadad, and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. These are the sons of Ishmael. 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. And the sons of Midian; Ephah, and Epher, and Henoch, and Abida, and Eldaah. All these are the sons of Keturah. And Abraham begat Isaac. The sons of Isaac; Esau and Israel.” – I Chronicles 1:28-34.
“Now the sons of Keturah,” This is the woman that Abraham was with after Sarah died. Do you see how they were not recognized as children of Abraham? A concubine is known as someone of lesser stature, she is a lawful wife, but not one of significance because they were not married under the proper ceremonies, it could have been a common law marriage or a mixed marriage (Keturah was of an unknown tribe, and Ishmael’s mother, Hagar, not even mentioned was an Egyptian). Ishmael, who was also a son of Abraham, is recognized because they played a key part in Israel’s history, whom the majority of them are Muslims. While God never rejects a soul that comes from a mixed race (for we are all of mixed races), He will reject a soul that has not received His Son as their Saviour. What about those who were here before Christ? They were saved by their faith in righteousness. “Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.” – James 2:21-24.
The second chapter 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. 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.
“The sons of Pharez; Hezron, and Hamul. And the sons of Zerah; Zimri, and Ethan, and Heman, and Calcol, and Dara: five of them in all. And the sons of Carmi; Achar, the troubler of Israel, who transgressed in the thing accursed. And the sons of Ethan; Azariah. The sons also of Hezron, that were born unto him; Jerahmeel, and Ram, and Chelubai. And Ram begat Amminadab; and Amminadab begat Nahshon, prince of the children of Judah; And Nahshon begat Salma, and Salma begat Boaz, And Boaz begat Obed, and Obed begat Jesse, And Jesse begat his firstborn Eliab, and Abinadab the second, and Shimma the third, Nethaneel the fourth, Raddai the fifth, Ozem the sixth, David the seventh: Whose sisters were Zeruiah, and Abigail. And the sons of Zeruiah; Abishai, and Joab, and Asahel, three.” – I Chronicles 2:5-16.
“Whose sisters were Zeruiah, and Abigail.” Sisters, while most were not given the same honor as their brother’s, are mentioned to show who their sons are. Joab, David’s cousin, whom you will see as we continue reading through II Samuel and I Chronicles, caused a lot of problems for David, much of what he was not aware of until he was part of the conspirators to keep Solomon from being king. While we are not our fathers or mothers, this is proof that everything we do is written down. We each have our own book, and guess who gets to read it? Jesus Himself, and we will be accountable for everything written in it. Those who never knew Jesus will have every sin read to them, including their rejecting Him. The saved will be told of all the good they did, some missed opportunities, and will receive some crowns for their service and obedience, most of all eternal life. “For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries: Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you: Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead. For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.” – I Peter 4:3-6.
Jesus Christ Magnified: “Adam, Sheth, Enosh,” – I Chronicles 1:1. Jesus is the first and last Adam. “And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.” – I Corinthians 15:45.
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 when You knew I was ready to not only receive Him, but live my life through Him. Thank You for accepting me and making me part of Your heritage and for giving me hope of a life after this one is over. In Jesus’ name. Amen
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
Are You 100% Sure You Are Going To Heaven?: http://readytofollow.com/
Receive The KJB Daily Devotions In Your Email: http://eepurl.com/2WMzT
Missed A Message: http://imfollowingjesus.com/Biblestudy/
Visit I’m Following Jesus: http://imfollowingjesus.com/index.html
Like I’m Following Jesus On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/byhisstrength
Copyright © 2018 I’m Following Jesus, All rights reserved.