1 Chronicles 9

1 Chronicles 9:1

Apparently the genealogies of each tribe of Israel were on exhibit in the temple. They were registered until the people went away into captivity. However, the genealogies were preserved and brought back to Jerusalem. When the returning remnant rebuilt the temple, the genealogies were there. At the time the Lord Jesus was born, those genealogies were intact, and you may be sure that the enemies of Jesus went in and checked His genealogy. As we have said, the Gospel of Matthew carries Joseph’s genealogy, from whom He gets the legal title to the throne, and the Gospel of Luke carries Mary’s genealogy, from which He gets the blood title to the throne of David.

As far as we know, there never was an attack made upon the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was accurate, and it was available for all to see. When the temple was destroyed by Titus the Roman in A.D. 70, apparently the genealogies were also destroyed. However, the important thing to note is that here in Chronicles the genealogies are traced to the time of the captivity. Then after the return of a remnant of Israel, the genealogies were continued until the time the Lord Jesus Christ came into the world. After His lifetime the record disappeared. Why? Well, God was interested in making it very clear to us that Jesus was “very man of very man.” God wants us to know that Jesus Christ came in the line of Adam and that He is the last Adamthere won’t be a third one. Jesus heads up the last family here on earth. There are only two families: the family of Adam and the family of God. Adam’s family is a lost family, and you and I were born into it. We were born sinners, alienated from God, with no capacity for God. This alienation is obvious as we look around the world today. The entire human family is in Adam’s familyand “in Adam all die.” It is a very dismal prospect that we have in Adam. However, we have hope in Christ, the last Adam. He heads the other family, the family of God. He is called the second man because the Lord is going to make a whole lot of other men in this new family. And that genealogy goes right back to the One who is born of the Spirit. If you today can say, “I came to Christ and trusted Him. He is my Savior, and the Spirit of God has made Him real to me,” then you belong to the last Adam’s family.

In this family there is life. The Lord Jesus said that is what He brought. In fact He said, “I am the life.” He also said, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (Joh_10:10). He makes life more than mere existence or an exciting trip on drugs or alcohol. The trip with Him will eventuate in a trip to heaveninto His very presence. The remainder of chapter 9 is an emphasis upon the tribe of Levi.

1 Chronicles 9:2

It means that the first of the Israelites was of the tribe of Levifirst the priests, those who had the service of God, then the Levites. You see, not all of the tribe of Levi served in the priesthood. The family of Aaron served as priests. The others were more or less custodians of the temple. Then the Nethinims are mentioned. The word Nethinims means “servants.” They could have been slaves. There is a question as to whether or not Israel had slaves. I think they did, but not of their own brethren. Essentially that is what the Gibeonites had become. They were used in the service of the templeprobably swept out the place, polished the brass, and things like that. Let me point out another interesting verse from this chapter.

1 Chronicles 9:33

There was a great deal of singing going on, which was directed by certain Levites. (If I were an Israelite, I would certainly know I didn’t belong to the tribe of Levi, because I can’t sing.) In Israel music was developed to a very high degree. You may recall that David was very much interested in music. In fact, he was called the sweet psalmist of Israel, and the majority of the psalms came from his pen. The chapter concludes with the genealogy of the family of Saul. It follows through Saul and his son Jonathan, which is quite remarkable. Chapter 9 concludes the genealogy of Chronicles. It is the longest genealogy in Scripture, and there is nothing like it in the literature or history of the world. It begins with Adam and goes to Jesus Christ. It beings with the first Adam and goes to the last Adam. It is the greatest genealogical table in existence. It tells us that all of us are in the same family. Of course no one can trace his genealogy back to Adam in our day, because the genealogies were destroyed when Titus the Roman burned the temple in A.D. 70. Nevertheless, we can tell the general route by which we came from Adam. Many of us go back through Japheth, some of us go back through Ham, some of us go back through Shem, but we all go back to Adam. It is interesting and important to note the glaring omissions in the genealogies recorded here in Chronicles. For example, Cain and his family are not even mentioned. Didn’t Adam have a son by the name of Cain? Yes, but he is not listed here because his line ended. It was destroyed in the Flood as recorded in Genesis 7. Also I think there are omissions in all of the genealogical tableseven in Genesis. This may throw a light on the very important question of the age of man. How old is mankind? It is my personal opinion that mankind is older than 6000 years. I think he has been on this earth a long time. However, when God created him, he was Adam, a man, not a monkey! Perhaps you have seen the satirical cartoon directed at the theory of evolution and man’s vaunted civilization and so-called progress. It pictures a scene of devastation. All the atomic bombs have been exploded, and man has at last destroyed himself. The last vestige of life has disappearedwith two exceptions. There are two monkeys sitting on a tree which is stripped of all its leaves and most of its limbs. There they sit, surveying this scene of desolation. All human life has disappeared. The caption of the cartoon reads, “Now we’re going to have to do it all over again!” Of course the Scriptures assure us that mankind will not commit suicide. But what about man’s progress? He has been on this earth a long time since the days of Adam. Psychology attempts to tabulate and classify man according to his I.Q. It is a rather mechanical device, of course, and it classifies him mechanically according to his achievements and his aptitudes. On one end of the scale is “subnormal,” on the other end is “supernormal” or “genius,” and somewhere in between is “normal.” However, God’s tests are different. All must come under His classification. Do you know what God says? God says none of them are normal"…all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Rom_3:23). There are three universal facts in relationship to man which are true without exception:

1. Adam and all his children must die. In the beginning, God said to Adam, “In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Gen_2:17). However, God did not create man to die. Scripture tells us that “…by man came death, and death passed upon all men …” (Rom_5:12, paraphrased). It also says, “…in Adam all die …” (1Co_15:22). And, “…it is appointed unto men once to die …” (Heb_9:27). This earth on which you and I live is nothing but a great big graveyard. David said on his deathbed, “I go the way of all the earth” (1Ki_2:2). All the freeways today eventually lead to the cemetery. “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death” (Psa_23:4) is the picture of man going through life. Like a monster, death stalks this earth. There are three kinds of death: physical death, spiritual death, and eternal death. Adam did not die physically until about 900 years after he ate the prohibited fruit. But he died spiritually instantly. Death means separation. Physical death is separation of the spirit from the body. Spiritual death means the separation of man from God. And eternal death means the separation of man from God. Eternal death is separation from God eternally. That is what hell will bea place where God never goes, my friend. There is no blessing, nor mercy, nor love of God there.
2. Another universal fact is that Adam and all his children are sinners. God says of us, “All have sinned.” The proof of this statement is that all die"in Adam all die." All sinned in Adam. Abraham was a good man, but Abraham sinnedIshamel is an evidence of that. Caleb was a good man and outstanding, but he had his concubine. And sin has driven contemporary man away from God. He is in open rebellion against God. He has gone out, as did Cain, from the presence of the Lord. Chapter 59 of Isaiah is a chapter everyone ought to read. Let me quote just one verse: “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear” (Isa_59:2). Adam and his children are sinners, separated from God. Sin is a scourge, a sickness, a plague, which has infected the race. My friend, a heart condition is bad, but only a few of the human family have heart trouble. Cancer is terribleI know it from personal experiencebut a small percentage has cancer.

However, all have sinned. Of course there is one grand exception to this: the Lord Jesus Christ didn’t have to die because He did not sin. He challenged His enemies, “Which of you convinceth me of sin? …” (Joh_8:46). No one did. He said, “No man taketh it [my life] from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again …” (Joh_10:18).

The Lord Jesus is the exception to the universality of sin. However, He is the only exception. The rest of us have sinned. 3. The third universal fact is that Adam and all his children have obtained mercy. Enoch was saved. How? By faith. Noah was a good man, but he wasn’t saved because of that.

It was by faith that Noah prepared an ark to the saving of his house. Abraham was a good man, but he sinned. Abraham believed God, and that was counted unto him for righteousness. Actually that is the problem in the Near East today. Is it possible that Abraham’s sin is the cause of continual fighting between Israel and the Arab countries? Absolutely.

If he, through that little Egyptian maid Hagar, had not brought Ishamel into the world, the Arabs wouldn’t be over there today. David also was a great man of God, but we all agree that David sinned. And, my, God was certainly merciful to him! God is rich in mercy. Paul said to the Ephesians, “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)” (Eph_2:4-5). And Peter said, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1Pe_1:3).

Our God has made it possible for the children of Adam to obtain mercy. Have you received mercy from the hand of God yet? It is there for you. This glorious truth is only part of the message that we find here in the genealogies of the first nine chapters of 1 Chronicles. It is the genealogy of the family of Adam, and you and I are in it. We all belong to the same race. We are all fallen in nature. We are all on an equality; we are born equal in the sense that we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And salvation today is for all mankind.