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: Friday, April 25, 2025
Chapters: I Chronicles 3-5
Message: I Chronicles: Descendants of David
Hello My Friend,
As we return to the reading of 1 Chronicles, we learn that our heritage may not lead us to becoming earthly royals, but those who put their trust in Christ as their Saviour so have an eternal royalty and we all play a part for the cause of Christ, [1 Corinthians 12:18-20,23-24 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. 19 And if they were all one member, where were the body? 20 But now are they many members, yet but one body. 23 And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. 24 For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked:]
After reading this I find it interesting that some of the wealthiest people have some of the biggest hearts, but their hearts are just not big on God, even though they believe in heaven. While there are some, very few millionaires walk with Christ because they feel they did all the work to get where they are, [Mark 10:23-25 And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! 24 And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.]
Well, some of the poorest people also have big hearts, but their hearts are not big on God either. And while there are more poor people who do walk with Christ, very few do so because they feel as though God has given them the raw end of the deal on life, [Hebrews 4:2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.]
I was one of those who came into this world among the poor, I may not have been as poor as Jesus, but were were pretty poor as my mother had to raise three kids by herself. Like most people born into poverty I had dreams of getting out of it and while I was never rich, did pretty well on my own. I grew up Catholic so while I knew of Christ I had no idea what it meant to have a relationship with God. Thankfully God saw something in me that pointed me to the truth and if you think that a family heritage is an important thing, it is no where near as important as becoming one of God’s children.
Jesus, said it this way, [John 3:5-8 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.]
We have been learning the names of people and songs of David, today, we are learning of the descendants of David, remember, this is written by Ezra, so it is like when God had Moses write Genesis centuries after he was born, it was to give an account of what happened. While most of those in Babylon were of the tribe of Judah, the rest of the Jews were scattered all of the world, and now, we get a little insight into that.
[1 Chronicles 3:1-3,5-9 Now these were the sons of David, which were born unto him in Hebron; the firstborn Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; the second Daniel, of Abigail the Carmelitess: 2 The third, Absalom the son of Maachah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur: the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith: 3 The fifth, Shephatiah of Abital: the sixth, Ithream by Eglah his wife. 5 And these were born unto him in Jerusalem; Shimea, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon, four, of Bath-shua the daughter of Ammiel: 6 Ibhar also, and Elishama, and Eliphelet, 7 And Nogah, and Nepheg, and Japhia, 8 And Elishama, and Eliada, and Eliphelet, nine. 9 These were all the sons of David, beside the sons of the concubines, and Tamar their sister.]
God never condoned multiple marriages, as from the beginning, marriage has always been one man and one woman, and yet, God still saw David as a man of his own heart and used his lineage to bring His own Son into the world. It is interesting to note that most of David’s children were from different wives, and now we can see why Solomon had so many wives. However, Bathsheba, of whom he actually had four children with after their incident, is not listed here as the wife of the wife of Uriah the Hittite like she has in other places., [1 Kings 15:4-5 Nevertheless for David’s sake did the LORD his God give him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him, and to establish Jerusalem: 5 Because David did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.]
The very woman that he had an affair with and suffered as a result became the one that David loved. This is proof that God, never condemns us to a life of pain should we fall a time or two. Out of all the families of Israel, none were more prominent as the family of David, and yet out of the twenty known children he had nothing is written in the Scriptures that shows that any feared God except Solomon and Nathan, which is why the account is given to the lineage of David from Solomon up until Judah’s captivity were only the ones who succeeded as king.
[1 Chronicles 3:10-16 And Solomon’s son was Rehoboam, Abia his son, Asa his son, Jehoshaphat his son, 11 Joram his son, Ahaziah his son, Joash his son, 12 Amaziah his son, Azariah his son, Jotham his son, 13 Ahaz his son, Hezekiah his son, Manasseh his son, 14 Amon his son, Josiah his son. 15 And the sons of Josiah were, the firstborn Johanan, the second Jehoiakim, the third Zedekiah, the fourth Shallum. 16 And the sons of Jehoiakim: Jeconiah his son, Zedekiah his son.]
The more you discover that the people in the Bible were no different than we are today the more you understand just how much we are given by God under no merit of our own. That is sad because that shows that David did not have much of a relationship with them. So, if you tell me that God is an unjust God, I will tell you that His mercy endures. And now, an account is given to the tribe of Judah itself.
[1 Chronicles 4:1,4,9-10 The sons of Judah; Pharez, Hezron, and Carmi, and Hur, and Shobal. 2 And Reaiah the son of Shobal begat Jahath; and Jahath begat Ahumai, and Lahad. These are the families of the Zorathites. 4 And Penuel the father of Gedor, and Ezer the father of Hushah. These are the sons of Hur, the firstborn of Ephratah, the father of Beth-lehem. 9 And Jabez was more honourable than his brethren: and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bare him with sorrow. 10 And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.]
Hur, was the man who helped Moses when the Israelites fought with the Amalekites, [Exodus 17:10-12 So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12 But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.]
Jabez, means, to grieve, when his mother gave birth to him she was grieving. Perhaps it was the way he came into this world that was his drive to be more honorable than his brothers. Growing up in an oppressed environment, one learns to grow up really quick, I grew up in Detroit, and certainly grew up quick even before I knew Jesus as my Saviour. We can either let the bad things in our lives define us or we can use them to empower us to be more honorable than them, [1 Corinthians 12:12-14 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. 14 For the body is not one member, but many.]
Chapter four also gives an account of Simeon’s descendants, Judah shared land that they inherited to them with the tribe of Simeon because they were so small in number. Later on they decided to move away from them and ended up in Canaanite territory.
[1 Chronicles 4:24,27,38-41 The sons of Simeon were, Nemuel, and Jamin, Jarib, Zerah, and Shaul: 27 And Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters; but his brethren had not many children, neither did all their family multiply, like to the children of Judah. 38 These mentioned by their names were princes in their families: and the house of their fathers increased greatly. 39 And they went to the entrance of Gedor, even unto the east side of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks. 40 And they found fat pasture and good, and the land was wide, and quiet, and peaceable; for they of Ham had dwelt there of old. 41 And these written by name came in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and smote their tents, and the habitations that were found there, and destroyed them utterly unto this day, and dwelt in their rooms: because there was pasture there for their flocks.]
God was with Simeon and used them to conquer land that the Philistines had taken over, but not much else is told about them. Although they were small in number and pretty much rejected David when he became king, they were still considered one with Judah. This is more proof that whether we are a servant of God in His church or at home, those who receive Christ are all a part of the same body of Christ, [1 Corinthians 12:12-13 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.]
Now, as we come to chapter five, an account is given to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, these were the tribes that would not take an inheritance on the land of Israel, and were also the first to get captured when God started judging Israel for turning away from Him. First, there is Reuben.
[1 Chronicles 5:1-3,6,9-10 Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright. 2 For Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler; but the birthright was Joseph’s:) 3 The sons, I say, of Reuben the firstborn of Israel were, Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. 6 Beerah his son, whom Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria carried away captive: he was prince of the Reubenites. 9 And eastward he inhabited unto the entering in of the wilderness from the river Euphrates: because their cattle were multiplied in the land of Gilead. 10 And in the days of Saul they made war with the Hagarites, who fell by their hand: and they dwelt in their tents throughout all the east land of Gilead.]
Reuben had an affair with his one of father’s concubine, [Genesis 35:22 And it came to pass, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine: and Israel heard it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve:] and that caused him to lose his birthright as being the first born. Even though Judah was the forth son of Israel, Simeon and Levi, were also stripped of it because they conspired and killed a man and his entire family in Shechem when their sister got involved with a Canaanite, [Genesis 34:25-26 And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males. 26 And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and went out.]
Joseph, had two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, each of whom had inherited a portion of land. Judah, had the dominion over the other tribes, it was Jacob who prophesied that the scepter or rather the throne would fall on them, [Genesis 49:10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be]. Of him came the chief ruler, David first, and, then in the fullness of times, the Messiah, the Prince of peace will rule.
[Micah 5:1-4 Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek. 2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. 3 Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. 4 And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.]
The Hagarites are the children of Hagar, who was the concubine of Abraham under the direction of Sarah, and had Ishmael, because Ishmael was not the promised seed of Abraham, he and she were sent away so that Isaac would not be influenced by Ishmael, [Genesis 21:12-13 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.]
All this goes to show you that we really do not know a lot about our ancestors. I have some members in my family that were shameful, others were honorable, the older I get the more I understand why God divides His children from those of the world. And now, we come to the account of Gad.
[1 Chronicles 5:11,18-20 And the children of Gad dwelt over against them, in the land of Bashan unto Salchah: 18 The sons of Reuben, and the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, of valiant men, men able to bear buckler and sword, and to shoot with bow, and skilful in war, were four and forty thousand seven hundred and threescore, that went out to the war. 19 And they made war with the Hagarites, with Jetur, and Nephish, and Nodab. 20 And they were helped against them, and the Hagarites were delivered into their hand, and all that were with them: for they cried to God in the battle, and he was intreated of them; because they put their trust in him.]
They lived next to the Reubenites and helped them defeat the Hagarites, with the help of God. And just as fast as He helped them, the half tribe of Manasseh, turned on Him, and were of the first of them to be captured when the Assyrian’s took them captive.
[1 Chronicles 5:23-26 And the children of the half tribe of Manasseh dwelt in the land: they increased from Bashan unto Baal-hermon and Senir, and unto mount Hermon. 24 And these were the heads of the house of their fathers, even Epher, and Ishi, and Eliel, and Azriel, and Jeremiah, and Hodaviah, and Jahdiel, mighty men of valour, famous men, and heads of the house of their fathers. 25 And they transgressed against the God of their fathers, and went a whoring after the gods of the people of the land, whom God destroyed before them. 26 And the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria, and he carried them away, even the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, and brought them unto Halah, and Habor, and Hara, and to the river Gozan, unto this day.]
Notice that it says that they were the God of their fathers, meaning they turned on God themselves. Everything that happens, good or bad, will be used for God, it will either bring them near to Christ or draw them from Him. But regardless, in the name of Jesus all will bow to Him, [Philippians 2:9-13 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.]
Today’s Prayer: God, Throughout the years I often wondered why You put me in a certain place or brought certain people in my life, and I still do not understand some of it. What I do understand is that the second that I received Your Son, Jesus Christ as my Saviour I became one of Your children. Everything I have gone through, good and bad, has been used not for me, but for me to be a blessing to others and to glorify You. Lord, thank You for using me, continue to use me as You see fit, and give me Your power, love, mercy, grace, wisdom, and guidance to be a child of Your own heart. I ask this in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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