Day 347: 1 Chronicles 4-6 | Read The Bible In A Year | Bible Study & Commentary by Dr. Manny Arango

Welcome to the Bible Department podcast powered by Arma. We are walking through the entire Bible in a year. You can go to the description or thebaldapartment.com to download a reading plan and join the journey. (upbeat music) - Family, welcome to day 347 and 347. Four names of the genealogy now I'm just playing. Welcome to day 347. We're in first Chronicles chapters. Four, five, and six. We've died in God of genealogy heaven. And we love it here. I hope that you enjoyed today's reading. No, for real though, I mean, we are let knee deep in a genealogy. Talk about a nine chapter genealogy, but we are gonna wade through it and we're gonna love it. We're gonna love it. We love genealogies here at the Bible Department. If you haven't done today's reading, I actually want you to stop the video, pause the audio, go read the genealogies, okay? These names will bless you. Maybe you'll get names for your children. Names like Ishma in I'd bash. I haven't seen a kid named I'd bash in a long time. You know, maybe you'll hear the Holy Ghost tell you to name your kid Hasalel Poni. Hasalel hasalel has, oh gosh, Hasalel Poni, Poni.

Hasalel Poni, any of you, her, H-U-R, her. Haven't seen that name in a long time. All right. At Hizam, have you ever just stopped in this red night, like just at Hizam, and this one's great. Temini, get old Temini. All right, for real, stop playing. Stop distracting me, I have ADHD. All right, we're gonna jump into our context clues and I'm gonna give you some dirty nuggets and I'm gonna leave you out for the timeless truth. To be honest, I'm very, very excited about the timeless truth today because we're gonna talk about a word called legacy. And for a long time, I've kind of had like, I don't know, I don't know if I like that word, that word just felt very secular. But honestly, after reading these genealogies, legacy is not a secular idea, legacy is real. And knowing that man, my ancestors, my descendants are either going to be blessed or cursed based on my actions, whoo, is really what these genealogies are communicating. So by the end of the episode, we're gonna talk about legacy. I can't wait, but before we get there, we gotta dive into our context clues. All right, let's actually, I gotta give you three piece of context today, okay? First piece of context is that Jesus would have seen the book of chronicles

as the conclusion to the Tanakh, not just a random history book thrown in the middle. So the biggest reason that we wanna put chronicles at the end of the Old Testament or the Hebrew Bible is because that's how Jesus would have engaged with the Bible. And when we hold the scriptures, we kinda wanna get the scriptures as close to the scriptures that Jesus would have engaged with for obvious reasons, okay? So I want us to read Luke chapter 11, verse 51. Luke chapter 11, verse 51, I'll go there in logos. Bible study software, Luke chapter 11, verse 51, it says this, I'll actually start in verse 50 just so that we have context. Therefore, this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world, okay? So this generation, so Jesus is saying, I'm part of the innocent blood that's gonna be shed and this generation is gonna be responsible for all of it. Verse 51, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who was killed between the altar in the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, this generation, not those previous generations, but this one, the one that kills the Messiah, the one who sheds my innocent blood, you're actually gonna be responsible for all of the innocent blood of all the prophets that's been shed from the beginning to the end. And the beginning here is Abel in the end is Zechariah, okay?

Able to Zechariah. So that means that we've gotta figure out who's Zechariah and what is he is talking about. Obviously, we know that Abel's story is found in Genesis chapter four. So that's the beginning. So what is this end? Well, the end is found in second chronicles, 24, 20. Second chronicles, 24, 20. Second chronicles, 24. And we're gonna start reading in verse 20 and we're actually gonna read all the way to verse 22. Verse 20 says this, "Then the Spirit of God came on Zechariah." So that's the same Zechariah that Jesus is talking about. Son of Jehoida, the priest. He stood before the people and said, "This is what God says. Why do you disobey the Lord's commands? and by order of the king they stoned him to death on the courtyard of the Lord's temple. Verse 22, King Joash did not remember the kindness Zechariah's father Jehoida had shown him but killed his son who said as he lay dying may the Lord see this and call you to account. So why does Jesus bookend the first shedding of innocent blood with the last shedding of innocent blood? Well it's because this story in second chronicles would have been seen as the end of the Tanakh. That's right this is the end of the Bible for Jesus. Jesus didn't have a new testament Jesus would have only had an Old Testament and that Old Testament was split up into three parts the Tanakh, T-N-K the Torah the Neviim the Ketuvim and the last book of the Ketuvim would have been the book of chronicles. So for Jesus Jesus understands the entire Old Testament as moving from Genesis to chronicles, Genesis to chronicles and if that's how Jesus understands the Hebrew scriptures that's probably how we should understand the Hebrew scriptures okay number that's our first

bit of context clues. Second chronicles is a lot like Deuteronomy okay Ezra is now talking to a new generation of Israelites a new generation of people coming back from exile a brand new generation. So in the same way that Deuteronomy is Moses giving the law a second time the word Deuteronomy means second law he's giving the law again so it feels repetitive a lot of the things that were said in books like Exodus and Leviticus are now said in Deuteronomy is because the law needs to be said to a brand new generation okay. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, numbers Deuteronomy the first generation that received the law died in the wilderness it's their children that are going to go into the promised land and those children need to hear the laws that their parents heard and they need to realize that each generation of God's people is connected to the previous generation and so there's a repetition you need to hear what your parents heard and so chronicles is not just repeating what Samuel and Kings has said it's actually reiterating the lessons from Kings and Samuels from a different perspective to a new generation and that's context that we're going to need if we're going to understand chronicles well. Third prophetic history is different than a priest history okay I need you to remember the the history books that we call history books that are not acting history books are former prophets so Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings these are former prophets these aren't history books we call them history books because we're Americans and we're westerners and we just call things stuff based on what we think they are but really in the Hebrew scriptures they're former prophets and what are the prophets doing the prophets are doing something very different than priests are doing okay the prophets are making sure that when God sends the people into exile it's for just cause so the prophets are almost giving the history of what happened to answer the question if you're confused as to why you got into exile this is why it's almost like a legal account it's like it's a record of wrongs which is what it is like the prophet is seen as a part of God's legal court of law and so the prophet is holding the people to account and answering the question why did you go into exile but that's not what a priest does think about it a prophet speaks to the people for God but a priest speaks to God for the people a priest is interceding for the on behalf of the people to God arguing their case so think about a prophet almost like a prosecuting attorney and think about a priest almost like the defendant's attorney it's an advocate okay so the priest and are not asking the question that is why for the prophets they're gonna hold David accountable to killing Uriah to raping Bathsheba like they're gonna hold people accountable it's like this is literally what you did whereas a priest doesn't have that same perspective

a priest is going to apply grace a priest understands like yeah people fall people fail but how about we present them in their best light and to be honest the bible needs both the bible only had one we would lean way too far into probably legalism and if the bible had the other we'd probably lens versus a book like Chronicles, which gives a very priest-oriented lens, is the Bible's practicing tension, which I hope to God you're practicing. If you haven't got anything else out of a year studying the Bible with me, is that the truth should be held in tension. I know that's hard for a lot of people who have binaries in their head or what I call dumb dichotomies. But for the rest of us, like seriously, you don't need to be a polarizing person because you shouldn't be thinking in terms of polls or binaries. You should be thinking in terms of a spectrum. Now, you shouldn't think about sexuality that way or gender, but in terms of the Bible, you should. Okay, because the Bible is fluid and it's creating tension for itself. Okay, that is the last piece of just context. Okay, Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah are all part of the writing section of the Tanah, so they do not have a prophetic focus. It may be covering the same time period as Samuel and Kings, but it is a very different story. It's not a prophet's telling of the story. It's a priest telling of the story. A prophet is asking, "Why did this exile happen?" The priest, aka Ezra, is asking this question. What do we need to do now? How do we rebuild? How do we return, rebuild, and repent? Not, let's talk about what happened. No, no, no. How do we rebuild our lives now that this is a reality? How do we move through this? How do we get out of this? Ezra is looking back in order to move forward, and that is a massive, massive, massive difference. What is going to be clear is that the good kings of Judah were successful because of how they treated the temple. Okay, that is the angle that Chronicles is going to come from. David's house survived because of Yahweh's house, because David's treatment of the temple is why David's house is protected. Okay, they are forever connected. David's house survived because of Yahweh's house, period. So for Ezra's audience, if life with the second temple is to be blessed, if they are to survive and be successful, they need to be like the good kings of Judah and treat the new temple and its festivals as those kings did. And again, who are the main characters connected to the temple going to be? Four characters. David who prepares the temple, Solomon who builds a temple, and then Hezekiah and Josiah who both cleanse the temple. So the four heroes of Chronicles are going to be David who prepares the temple. Solomon who builds the temple, Hezekiah who cleanses the temple, and Josiah who cleanses the temple. Indeed, one of the most significant repeated phrases

in the entire book of Chronicles is work that He undertook in the service of the house of Yahweh, work that He undertook in the service of the house of Yahweh. This is a big focus of the book. All right, I'm going to fly through our nerdy nuggets today. What if I told you that what you're learning in this video was just the tip of the iceberg? The Bible department is actually powered by Arma. What is Arma? I'm so glad you asked. Arma is an online subscription based platform that we designed to help people. Every day people learn the Bible for themselves. We started Arma so that anybody anywhere could have access to trustworthy and entertaining Bible and theology content. In addition to this podcast, we have over 60 courses on individual books of the Bible, on theology topics, and on some hot topics like homosexuality, tithing, and women in ministry. But really, Arma is a community, a community of people that I've gotten to know, a community where thousands of people are currently finding family, asking questions, and nerding out on the Bible together. If you want a community to read the Bible with you this year, or if you want to dive into some deeper theological content, or if you want more exclusive access to me and the entire Arma team, how about you go to the Bible department.com. I'll be sure to post the link in the description of this video. Let's make this your year to become a Bible nerd. We're going to get one, two, three, four, five, six tribes that we're going to get genealogies for. The lion's share is going to go to Judah. That's chapter four versus one of 23. We're going to study Judah. Now, Judah's the gold standard. Judah is where David is from the tribe of Judah and the Messiah is going to come from the tribe of Judah. So gold. of Jacob, aka Israel. So what happened? And the next tribes that we're going to get are going to tell you who got passed over and why. So Simeon, okay, Simeon is going to be Chronicles chapter four, starting in verse 24. And he's next in this list after Judah, probably because of what happened to Simeon as a tribe. Like Levi, Simeon was cursed that his descendants would have no portion in the land. But unlike Levi, whose loyalty to Yahweh was rewarded by him becoming their portion, the child of Simeon showed disloyalty to Yahweh during the incident of the Beall of Pior, okay, but all of Pior. So for them, the curse became true. And Simeon was given territory completely within Judah. This meant that over time, they basically dissolved into Judah, becoming one with them. You could say that Simeonites became Jews. The word Jews comes from Judah, okay, you're a Jew because you're from the tribe of Judah, okay? So when someone in the biblical context says

Jew, they don't mean any of the 12 tribes. That was referring specifically to people of the tribe of Judah, okay? So Simeonites essentially become Judah heights, which becomes Jews. So that is probably why they are listed here next to Judah, because they have become a part of Judah, which means it was likely that many of the original audience had Simeonite blood, okay? Next is the tribe of Reuben. Reuben, this is chapter 5 verses 1 through 10. The next tribe is that of Reuben, the first born of Israel. Now this Reuben is Israel, aka Jacob's firstborn son, but this is a classic example of how your actions can have consequences for your children and for their children and so on and so on and so on. Reuben lived, of course, centuries before Ezra, but how does the recording of Reuben's genealogy begin? Right here, chapter 5, I'll pull it up. Chronicles chapter 5 verse 1, the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, parentheses, he was the firstborn, but when he defiled his father's marriage bed, his rights as firstborn were given to the sons of Joseph, son of Israel, so he could not be listed in the genealogical record in accordance with his birthright. And though Judah was the strongest of his brothers and a ruler came from him, the rights of the firstborn belonged to Joseph. Woo, that's a mouthful. The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, and then it gives a descendants. But it doesn't give the descendants without telling us Reuben took one of his father's wives as his own. He defiled his father's marriage bed. And because of one act, his descendants, hundreds of years removed, are going to have to live with that legacy. Key word, legacy. What's next? Chapter 5, verse 11 through 22, tell us about the tribe of Gad, a shorter list for a less important tribe. Though his list is ended with the story of how Gad and the Reubenites and the eastern half of Manasseh settled east of the Jordan, so they're not in the Promised Land. They decided to settle outside of the Promised Land. Okay, you probably remember this back when we got to the Book of Joshua. Okay, they didn't want to go into the Promised Land. They wanted to settle for something that was less than what God had for them. And because they rejected what God had for them, they are the first to go into captivity. Okay, they're the first to go into exile. So Gad, the tribe of eastern Manasseh and the Reubenites are all going to be taken off in an exile first. Okay, because they're not in the Promised Land. The half child of Manasseh on the east side of the Jordan completes this section of gene genealogies of those who settled outside the Promised Land. This half tribe eventually became a tribe in their own right, but their fate is mentioned here, how they abandoned Yahweh and went after other gods. And so Paul, Tiglath Pailisa of Assyria,

took them into exile along with the tribes of Reuben and Gad at the climax of the Syro-Ephraimatic War. These three tribes then were the first to be exiled. Okay, so Judah is going to be talked about as the gold standard. That's chapter four versus one to twenty three. Then chapter four verse twenty four, we get Simeon, which is essentially swallowed up by Judah. And then we get Reuben, Gad and Manasseh, who are all the first to be exiled that gets us through And guess why we get so much focus on the tribe of Levi? You guessed it because Ezra is from the tribe of Levi and Ezra's writing the book. When you get to write history, you get to write yourself as the star, baby. We now come to a tribe given almost as much space and significance as Judah, the tribe of Levi. Cursed, like Simeon, but chosen by Yahweh to be his tribe of priests because of the extraordinary loyalty to him. The list of families and clans are given, but also lists of the Levites that David had appointed to lead the choirs in temple worship. So it's been 600 years since David's been alive, but the systems that David set in place for singing and from music and for instrumentation. And for the choirs are still in place and Ezra wants the choirs who are in place in his moment to feel connected to the legacy that David established 600 some odd years ago. Okay, that David had appointed to leave the choirs in the temple worship and then also the Levites who would live amongst their brothers in the little vidical cities with their pasture lands. Levi is, of course, important as Ezra is of the tribe of Levi and the list we have already seen in Ezra and Nehemiah focus on the Levites and the priests without them, the temple will not function. You cannot have a temple without Levites. They are needed for the rest to work for the nation to be restored, not just for sacrifice and for ritual. Remember, this is the legacy of David, but also to lead them in worship. Okay, for singing, for song, for music, the second temple will be a place of song of instruments. Remember that at this exact time, while Ezra is writing chronicles, he is probably also creating the book of Psalms. He's also compiling David's Psalms so that Israel could have a hymn book for the Levitic acquires the same. So if there's anyone who's literally trying to create a Davidic Israel, it is Ezra. Ezra is like David was on to something, these choirs and these priests in this temple, David was on to something. Ezra is a hundred percent a Davidic style leader. Okay, he is putting together a hymn book for those Levitic acquires with the Psalms that David wrote. Okay, he is writing chronicles, he's probably the compiler of the Tanakh as a whole. It was hugely important then for the Levites and the people to see the connections back to Israel and to David. These new singers and priests were part of a true line from Aaron and Levi. They were legitimate just like the choirs of Levites and priests from the first temple. So these genealogies are proving legitimacy but they're also proving redemption.

Because Levi likes Simeon, I don't know if you remember this, Jacob has 12 sons, 10 plus 2, 12. And two of those sons are going to, when their sister is sexually assaulted, is going to trick a man to the man who sexually assaulted their sister to get circumcised. And then they are going to go through and just murder these men while they're healing from the circumcision. Okay, so Reuben is going to take his dad's, he's going to defile his father's bed. Simeon and Levi are going to be violent towards people while they've been, while they just took the covenant, the sign of the covenant, okay, on their sexual reproductive organ. And for that, they all lose access to the birthright. But Levi is a story of redemption. Although Levi is rejected, Levi gets the favor of God back. It's a massive story of redemption. And so these genealogies prove not only does his redemption possible. Simeon's lineage and Levi's lineage are right here next to each other in this section of chronicles. But Simeon and Levi, who both committed the same sin together, their tribes don't experience the same result because one group repented and one group did not. And that's not just a story of legitimacy, but it's a story of redemption, which leads us right into our timeless truth. It strikes me that these lists are all about legacy. These are the legacies of these men whose actions echoed down in history. Here we have examples and the question is what kind of legacy do you do we want to leave our children and our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren? Do we want to be like these Levites whose worship was remembered for centuries after their deaths? Or do we want to be like J. Bess who's simple prayer in the first chapter of sign today in Chronicles chapter 4. We want to be like J. Bess whose simple prayer is still inspiring and changing lives a millennia after he first spoke it or what would be like Reuben who sinned marked his descendants or like the eastern child of Manasseh who first rejected what God had for them and then were rejected by God himself and whose legacy was exile and destruction. You get to choose your legacy by choosing your actions and maybe you would live life differently if you knew that there were going to be history books with your name in it. Maybe you would live life differently if you knew that your children, your grandchildren, your grandchildren, your great-grandchildren and descendants of yours that you'll never going to meet are going to know your name and they're going to know the truth about you someday. Like maybe you're going to get off, you know,

scot free, do and dirt and nobody's going to know about it till you die. But guess what? After you die, you're going to leave a legacy. What are people going to say about you and what people say about you when you're no longer alive is just as important as what people say about you while you're alive. That's the whole point of these genealogies. We may not live in a culture that has genealogies but we do live in a culture that still has legacy and legacy is not just paying for a building to be named after you. Legacy is your lineage, your descendants knowing and my great-great-great-great-grandfather was a man of God, a man of faith, a man of integrity. So I would challenge you to not just live for the moment but to live for legacy. That's not just true for the annals of history. That's true for you. That's true for me. It's true for all of us. It's a timeless truth. Tomorrow we got more genealogies. We're going to look at 1st Chronicles chapter 7, 8, 9. Tomorrow is day 348 but trust me if you stick with me one more day we'll be out of the genealogies. I'm trying to help make these genealogies interesting. Well they are but they're just foreign for our culture. Anyway I love you. I'm proud of you. I'll see you right here tomorrow same time same place. Peace! Thanks so much for joining us on the Bible Department podcast. If this episode was helpful how about you leave a comment share with a friend and subscribe so that you never miss an episode to learn more about the show head to thebobledepartment.com. We'll see you right back here tomorrow.