1 Chronicles 8 picks up with the genealogy of the tribe of Benjamin, but specifically with Saul the son of Kish of the tribe of Benjamin: 8:33 Ner became the father of Kish, and Kish became the father of Saul, and Saul became the father of Jonathan, Malchi-shua, Abinadab and [m]Eshbaal. 34 The son of Jonathan was Merib-baal, and Merib-baal became the father of Micah.” Merib-baal is another name for Mephibosheth, the crippled son of Jonathon that David took care of after Jonathon died.
1 Chronicles 9 begins: 9:1:So all Israel was enrolled by genealogies; and behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel. And Judah was carried away into exile to Babylon for their unfaithfulness.” It then goes on to give the genealogies of exiles, priests, Levites, and gatekeepers who returned from Baylonian exile in 536 BC. These genealogies of the returned exiles was important. Ezra 2:61 Of the sons of the priests: the sons of Habaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, the sons of Barzillai, who took a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and he was called by their name. 62 These searched among their ancestral registration, but they could not be located; therefore they were considered unclean and excluded from the priesthood. 63 The governor said to them that they should not eat from the most holy things until a priest stood up with Urim and Thummim.” This passage has significant importance, not just for the Jews, but for Jews and Gentiles. The genealogy of the Messiah was predicted in the Old Testament. Any Jew claiming to be the Messiah had to be able to prove that he was of the correct family tree as predicted. It is obvious in Matthew 1 that the genealogical proof of Jessu being of the right family tree was critical.
1 Chronicles 10 begins a review of the major events of the United Kingdom. It is better just to give those events instead of telling what each chapter is about. We have already studied these events in 1,2 Samuel and 1,2 Kings, so just a recap.
1) 10:1-8 Defeat and death of Saul and his 3 sons on Mt Gilboa. The Philistines fastened his head in the house of Dagon.
2) 10:9-14 The men of Jabesh-Gilead (the city Saul rescued from having their right eyes put out by the Ammonites) retrieve the bodies of Saul and his sons and bury them in their city. God killed Saul b/c of his disobedience and turned the kingdom over to David.
3) 11:1-3 David is made king and shepherd of all 12 tribes at Hebron after ruling over only Judah for 7 years. He would rule over all 12 tribes for 33 more years after that.
4) 11:4-9 David captures the city of Jerusalem and makes it his capital. David’s nephe Joab kills the first Jebusite from Jerusalem and is made the commander of David’s army. Jerusalem is called the “city of David”.
5) 11:10-47 David’s 30 mighty men. A couple of them killed 300 of the enemy single handed. 3 men risk their lives to go into the Philistine camp at Bethlehem to get David water but he pours it out and won’t drink it, saying he is unworthy to drink it.
6) 12:1-22 David’s army grows as men come to him at Ziklag (the city the Philistine king gave him) to fight with him against Saul. His army grew to 600 men as he fled from Saul for 10 years.
7) 12:23-40 A total of 336,100 armed fighting men gathered at Hebron to turn Saul’s kingdom over to David. They celebrated a feast for 3 days and there was great joy.
Again, a lot of recapping stories we have already studied, so just enjoy the recap.
