From Jerusalem to Jesus to Nazareths Everywhere

Descendants in Judah – Part 3: People and Places

(1 Chronicles 2:50b-55, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, May 28, 2017)

[50] … The sons of Hur the firstborn of Ephrathah: Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim, [51] Salma, the father of Bethlehem, and Hareph the father of Beth-gader. [52] Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim had other sons: Haroeh, half of the Menuhoth. [53] And the clans of Kiriath-jearim: the Ithrites, the Puthites, the Shumathites, and the Mishraites; from these came the Zorathites and the Eshtaolites. [54] The sons of Salma: Bethlehem, the Netophathites, Atroth-beth-joab and half of the Manahathites, the Zorites. [55] The clans also of the scribes who lived at Jabez: the Tirathites, the Shimeathites and the Sucathites. These are the Kenites who came from Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab.

Kiriath-jearim

Just as we have had brief passages in 1 Chronicles that touch upon many centuries in just a few verses, the closing words of 1 Chronicles 2 deal with a number of different clans and places in the tribe and territory of ancient Judah. In the interest of brevity, we focus on two, the first not very well known to the modern reader, and the second a place that we sing about every year.

No one writes songs about Kiriath-jearim. Meaning “city of forests,” this location was situated on the border of the territories allotted to Judah and Benjamin. In a time period where a type of neighborliness was normal and where many people who shared a common ancestry expected to stay in the same villages for many centuries, there were a great number of people from Kiriath-jearim who marked their heritage from a man named Shobal. Over the years various groups of his descendants formed the list of the clans of Kiriath-jearim.

One notable event from their history is that the holiest object of Old Testament, the ark of the covenant, was housed in this city for a number of years. During that time David had attempted to take the ark to Jerusalem when stumbling oxen led to one Uzzah touching the ark to stabilize it, thus tragically losing his life. Like all the other communities of Judah, their best and brightest were carried away into exile many centuries later, with the poorest left behind to tend the land for their captors. One citizen of Kiriath-jearim was a true prophet who spoke against Jeruselem (Jeremiah 26:20) and was put to death by one of the last kings of Judah prior to the exile. After the exile, in the days of Nehemiah, 743 men of Kiriath-jearim and two other associated cities were noted as returning from captivity. That is the story of a location that people think of NOT as a holy place, a city without any surviving songs that tell us anything in particular.

Bethlehem

Then there is the little town of Bethlehem (literally “house of bread”), associated here with a relative of Shobal, Salma. The fame of this location is two-fold. First, Bethlehem was David's home town. Second, Jesus was born there in fulfillment of an ancient prophesy (Micah 5:2) that was known among the advisers to King Herod in the first century.

Bethlehem became a holy place, at least according to the traditions of men, because of its connection with the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. Should you and I be thinking of it as a particularly sacred spot? Take another look at Hymn #201, “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” and see what it says about the town, the Emmanuel Savior born there, and the church today throughout the world.

Other clans and places

There are other clans and places listed at the end of 1 Chronicles 2, but these two are enough for our purposes this morning—one thought of as NOT holy, the other considered by some to be particularly sacred. To these we add Nazareth and Jerusalem to round out the tale. Nazareth was not a revered spot in the days of Jesus. As the future apostle Nathanael said in John 1:46, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” This is an important question for us today as Christians, not because of Nazareth, but because of all the territories of the earth. Do we have a biblical theology of place and of extended family clans as they relate to any particular location?

From Jerusalem to Jesus to everyone everywhere

Chief among the Old Testament holy spots for the Chronicler was the city of Jerusalem, and rightly so. But when Jesus was asked by a woman of Samaria in John 4 about it's holiness, he answered with a striking comment not so much about that great city as about Himself.

[19] The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. [20] Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” [21] Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. [22] You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. [23] But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. [24] God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” [25] The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” [26] Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

“O holy child of Bethlehem descend to us we pray; cast out our sin and enter in; be born in us today.” Jesus, the Bread of Life has come and has given us Himself. Wherever people gather in His Name, His church becomes a holy place and a sacred assembly with bread for the world.

With the death and resurrection of the Messiah, a massive shift is demanded in our worldview. Jesus is our holy place. His people are our people. He sends us out with the message of His kingdom to everyone everywhere. Beware of false teachers who would distract the church with unholy missions of dedication to Old Testament lands or great buildings. The true conquest for us is seen today in blessings of godliness within the worldwide resurrection temple of God.

Therefore:

1. Reject any primary dedication to any place above Jesus. False prophets have sent the church out fighting for holy lands and forgetting the calling of God to the Nazareths of the world.

2. With a healthy primary dedication to Jesus, embrace a secondary dedication to the place where you are and to the people of the resurrected Christ in that location.

Old Testament Reading—Psalm 16 – You will not abandon my soul to Sheol

Gospel Reading—Matthew 7:15-20 – [15] Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. [16] You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? [17] So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. [18] A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. [19] Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. [20] Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

The gift of image-bearers of the King in a fallen world

Descendants in Judah – Part 2: Caleb and his many wives

(1 Chronicles 2:42-50a, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, May 21, 2017)

[42] The sons of Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel: Mareshah his firstborn, who fathered Ziph. The son of Mareshah: Hebron. [43] The sons of Hebron: Korah, Tappuah, Rekem and Shema. [44] Shema fathered Raham, the father of Jorkeam; and Rekem fathered Shammai. [45] The son of Shammai: Maon; and Maon fathered Beth-zur. [46] Ephah also, Caleb's concubine, bore Haran, Moza, and Gazez; and Haran fathered Gazez. [47] The sons of Jahdai: Regem, Jotham, Geshan, Pelet, Ephah, and Shaaph. [48] Maacah, Caleb's concubine, bore Sheber and Tirhanah. [49] She also bore Shaaph the father of Madmannah, Sheva the father of Machbenah and the father of Gibea; and the daughter of Caleb was Achsah. [50] These were the descendants of Caleb.

Caleb and ?

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Perez, Hezron, and Caleb. We have already heard about this same Caleb in verses 18, 19, and 24 of 1 Chronicles 2. His descendants included Bezalel and his name is associated with Tekoa, the town from which the prophet Amos came. Caleb had many children with several women, some of whom are called wives and others who are called concubines. Verse 18 mentions Azubah, presumably Caleb's first wife. Other women who seem to be mothers of Caleb's children include Jerioth, Ephrath, Ephrathah, Ephah, Jahdai, and Maacah.

Verses 42-45 are unclear concerning who the mother is, but Caleb was the father of a line that was significant enough in Judah that the author recorded several generations.

Caleb and Ephah

Also important were the descendants of Caleb's connection with a concubine, Ephah.

Caleb and Jahdai?

Suddenly Jahdai is mentioned in verse 47, perhaps a second concubine. She bore several important sons for the future of the tribe of Judah.

Caleb and Maacah

Another concubine is listed, Maacah, with at least four noteworthy sons that were to be remembered.

Another Caleb's daughter and Othniel of Judah

The lists entered here also make mention of the daughter of what has to be a different Caleb who was a wife to one of the judges, Othniel. How he fits into this account is not clear. Even without this added wrinkle, the story of Caleb and his wives and concubines is challenging to follow.

Remembering Judah and considering Jesus

Of course a very substantial portion of the line of Judah, the most significant tribe in Israel came from the unknown liaison of Judah and his daughter-in-law who was a widow, but who Judah thought was a veiled prostitute by the roadside. All that to say that the Lord knows very well how to bring very significant people groups from situations that were not ideal. Despite the strange story of Judah and his daughter-in-law, the twins who were their offspring were a truly phenomenal blessing. One of them was in the genealogy that eventually led to Jesus.

The story of Caleb the son of Hezron was clearly very important for the tribe of Judah, Why did he have multiple wives? What is a concubine? Why did God allow Old Testament men to have children by all these women? See Rehoboam:18 wives, 60 concubines, 28 sons, 60 daughters

The word “concubine” is used five times in 1 Chronicles, twice in this passage about Caleb. A concubine was not someone else's wife or a prostitute, but a secondary, yet official, relationship within the house of a man. The story of multiple marriages would take us to Genesis 2, 3, 4, and 6 for an introduction to God's plan and provision for marriage, the marring of that through the fall, the first person in the Bible to have more than one wife, and the abuse of such relationships that was connected to the picture of a debased world just prior to the flood.

There were many sexual abominations that the Lord would never tolerate, yet God was well aware of human weakness regarding marriage and procreation and permitted such arrangements as we see with Caleb in this passage, but it was not so from the beginning. Stated positively, the Lord has an exclusive relationship with His bride, the church, and expects us to follow Him in this pattern. Yet God also recognized and saved people in all kinds of questionable situations and showed them the power of divine redemption. As we see the way that Jesus related to the woman at the well in John 4, we find the perfect example for us of salvation in a fallen world with much disorder. Furthermore, God has a plan for personal and marital perfection by His grace that will remove all manner of sin from His beloved bride. One day we will be fully sanctified.

The best place to learn what Jesus taught about marriage is from His own plain instruction in Matthew 19:3-9.

[3] And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?” [4] He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, [5] and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? [6] So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” [7] They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” [8] He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. [9] And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.” See also His words on singleness (10-12) and the value of all children (13-15) and you have an even fuller picture.

God's teaching on marriage has been clear from the beginning. Nonetheless, as with poverty, so too adultery and marital complexity “you will always have with you.” Embrace the children as gifts of God and receive your own genealogy with its own special twists and turns, known and unknown to you. Then “commit your way to the Lord, trust in Him, and He will act.” (Psalm 37:5) Set your heart on the holy faithfulness of Jesus Christ. Jesus, the descendant of Judah by Tamar, is the Son of God, and the narrow gate to a perfectly holy and eternal life.

Old Testament Reading—Psalm 15 – Who shall dwell on Your holy hill?

Gospel Reading—Matthew 7:13-14 – [13] Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. [14] For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

God moves in a mysterious way...

Descendants in Judah – Part 1: Jerahmeel and his surprising descendants

(1 Chronicles 2:25-41, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, May 14, 2017)

[25] The sons of Jerahmeel, the firstborn of Hezron: Ram, his firstborn, Bunah, Oren, Ozem, and Ahijah. [26] Jerahmeel also had another wife, whose name was Atarah; she was the mother of Onam. [27] The sons of Ram, the firstborn of Jerahmeel: Maaz, Jamin, and Eker. [28] The sons of Onam: Shammai and Jada. The sons of Shammai: Nadab and Abishur. [29] The name of Abishur's wife was Abihail, and she bore him Ahban and Molid. [30] The sons of Nadab: Seled and Appaim; and Seled died childless. [31] The son of Appaim: Ishi. The son of Ishi: Sheshan. The son of Sheshan: Ahlai. [32] The sons of Jada, Shammai's brother: Jether and Jonathan; and Jether died childless. [33] The sons of Jonathan: Peleth and Zaza. These were the descendants of Jerahmeel. [34] Now Sheshan had no sons, only daughters, but Sheshan had an Egyptian slave whose name was Jarha. [35] So Sheshan gave his daughter in marriage to Jarha his slave, and she bore him Attai. [36] Attai fathered Nathan, and Nathan fathered Zabad. [37] Zabad fathered Ephlal, and Ephlal fathered Obed. [38] Obed fathered Jehu, and Jehu fathered Azariah. [39] Azariah fathered Helez, and Helez fathered Eleasah. [40] Eleasah fathered Sismai, and Sismai fathered Shallum. [41] Shallum fathered Jekamiah, and Jekamiah fathered Elishama.

The sons of Jerahmeel

Jerahmeel, whose name means “may God have pity,” was the son of Hezron, of Perez, of Judah, of Jacob, the father of the chosen people of the Old Testament., Israel. The people described in our passage this morning are unremarkable. None are known to us individually beyond the few words contained here, though see 1 Samuel 27:10, 30:29. We have mountains of important information about David, his descendants, his writings, and his other achievements and failures, but almost nothing at all about the people listed here. They were part of a very important people group, the Jews, that has existed from ancient days to the present moment, but their particular lives are forgotten by men. This allows us to focus on the specific topics left to us by Almighty God in this passage. We can remark on the unremarkable and find it indeed very surprising.

The children of another wife

First, though Jerahmeel had several sons by his first wife, he had another wife, whose name was Atarah. It is the descendants of that wife and her son Onam that we are especially following here. God does not work according to our expectations of how everything should generally go. There are twists and turns of his providence that are well known to Him but rather shocking to us as we live in the moment we are given. Onam was just one boy, and his half-brothers of the first wife of Jerahmeel were more. During his youth he had to be quite outnumbered, but then he could not have seen what the Lord God knew, that his was the continuing line that would be kept in the records we have in 1 Chronicles 2 so many centuries later.

Seled and Jether died childless

Two men were noted here as childless. Childlessness happens for a variety of reasons, all quite surprising, and perhaps quite wrenching to us, but known to the Almighty. For several generations it did not appear that the descendants of Atarah's son Onam were going anywhere significant. Though Seled and Jether had the position of firstborn sons in their immediate families, neither of them fathered any children. This does not at all mean that their lives were insignificant. No, they were created in the image of God. There is no such thing as an insignificant person created in God's image. Our future is eternal and our worth in the eyes of the Lord is based on who our Father in heaven is and not on the number of children that we are given.

Shesan had no sons, only daughters, but Sheshan had an Egyptian slave

Jerahmeel fathered Onam, who fathered Shammai, who fathered Nadab, who fathered Appaim, who fathered Ishi, who fathered Sheshan. “Shesan had no sons, only daughters.” This despite the fact that an earlier verse said that “the son” of Sheshan was Ahlai. It is most likely that Ahlai was the name of his daughter who had the position of heir, winning for her the designation of the Hebrew word “ben” that can designate someone who is standing in for a son. The name Ahlai means “O would that.” Ahlai could have plausibly guessed the story of her name: “O would that I had a son.” Many have had to live knowing the disappointment they have brought to parents who were not able to see things God's way. In the case of Ahlai (see also 11:41) her father Shesan caused her to have a son by his Egyptian slave, so his line continued his own way.

The forgotten Elishama—“God has heard”

All of that allowed the line of Jerahmeel to keep on going for another thirteen generations at least, taking us all the way to the arrival of one Elishama. When we get to him we have this surprise; though the Chronicler may have known his importance, like all the names in this passage, we cannot even place the one who is the grand finale. Life is that way sometimes.

The surprises that we do read about in this list of unremarkables are indicative of issues that are as old as mankind and as contemporary as our lives. Scratch the surface of families everywhere and you discover that every genealogical dig yields surprises. Some may be struggling with a past where they felt outnumbered by others with preferred status. Yet they may, like Onam, be unaware of their significance. Others believe their lives are mistakes beyond remedy. Still others have faced years of disappointment from parents. Others hope to be remembered, but they will join the great majority of human beings soon ignored by posterity. In light of the real God and real life, we read Psalm 14 and Matthew 7:12, honoring God by the way we treat others.

Are you struggling with one of the issues that comes up in this genealogy? Marriage? Children? Complex family relationships? Or just the brevity of life? Does it bother you that you or your descendants might join billions in the category of the forgotten under the sun? The Lord moved in mysterious ways in order to bring about the tribe of Judah in David's day and beyond. “Behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face.... God is His own interpreter, and He will make it plain.” We don't know and can't do. O Jarahmeel, God has had pity on you! He will never treat you as something worthless. Who was the widow of Nain? Yet Jesus saw her worth. (Luke 7:11)

Remember one more thing. Jesus was outnumbered for you. Jesus' genealogy appeared to end very abruptly with no further descendants because of his willingness to go to the cross. Jesus' own mother and brothers were so shocked by their son and brother that they were thinking he might have gone mad as so many people crowded around him for just one touch of grace. Those who planned the demise of Jesus most certainly expected that he would soon be forgotten by future generations. Yet according to Isaiah 53:10, “He shall see His offspring.” Yes, He shall see you. You are His child. He has given you a true eternal worth that can never be erased.

Old Testament Reading—Psalm 14 – Many fools, but only one Lord

Gospel Reading—Matthew 7:12 – So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

Family stories worth remembering...

Is there a Balm in Gilead, in Tekoa, or Anywhere in this World?

(1 Chronicles 2:21-24, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, May 7, 2017)

[21] Afterward Hezron went in to the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead, whom he married when he was sixty years old, and she bore him Segub. [22] And Segub fathered Jair, who had twenty-three cities in the land of Gilead. [23] But Geshur and Aram took from them Havvoth-jair, Kenath, and its villages, sixty towns. All these were descendants of Machir, the father of Gilead. [24] After the death of Hezron, Caleb went in to Ephrathah, the wife of Hezron his father, and she bore him Ashhur, the father of Tekoa.

Hezron of Judah and the daughter of another tribe

Jacob, Judah, Perez, and Hezron. Hezron of Judah, when he was sixty years old, had some descendants by a woman from another tribe. That woman's heritage: Jacob, Joseph, Manasseh, and Machir. Hezron and the daughter of Machir had Segub, who was the father of Jair.

Jair and Gilead

Machir was also the father of Gilead. Gilead was the name of a person, but it was also the name of a large region to the east of the Jordan River with its own turbulent history. Jair, though descended from Judah on his father's side, was especially associated with his mother's people in the land of Gilead, modern-day Jordan. He had twenty-three cities there, but two other neighboring people groups took back many of the villages and towns in this part of Gilead.

The sons of Machir had originally captured the land of Gilead, dispossessing the earlier inhabitants. Gilead, which means “rocky region,” frequently changed hands over the centuries. It was a border area that was challenging to hold on to. About that river...The people who lived on the wrong side had a temptation to distance themselves from the other tribes of Israel. During a great crisis described in the book of Judges when all the fighting men were needed in order to repulse a powerful foe, we read that “Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan.” (Judges 5:17) When you lived in Gilead, it was easy to forget who you were—that you were part of the people of Jehovah, the chosen people. Even those who were descended from Judah through Hezron, may have wanted to just keep their distance from their fellow Israelites on the other side of the river.

But then the people of Gilead, prone to forget their God and to lose track of who they really were, with powerful adversaries for neighbors, often got into trouble. See Amos 1:13. The prophet Jeremiah wrote “Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored?” (Jeremiah 8:22)

Throughout the centuries, Gilead, with its mixture of Judah, Manasseh, and no doubt some other people groups and their religious systems and related ideas about life, became very much like the Gentile world, with the real Promised Land people of Israel and Judah on the other side of Jordan. Suffering African-American Christians answered Jeremiah 8:22. They sang a spiritual faith song about finding “home” even when you live on the wrong side of the Jordan.

There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole;

There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin sick soul.

Caleb and Ephrathah

Gilead. That's one story of a person and a place. Here is a second—though briefer.

Hezron died. His wife became the mother of another child, perhaps even by Hezron's older son, Caleb. Jacob, Judah, Perez, Hezron, Ashhur, and Tekoa.

Ashhur and Tekoa

So Ashhur became the father of Tekoa. Tekoa was a person, of whom we know nothing aside from his connection to the town or surrounding region by the same name, about which we know just a little. One famous biblical character associated with Tekoa was the prophet Amos. (Amos 1:1) Though he came from this area in Judah, he spoke of God and God's family to Jewish tribes in the north. His message was not appreciated there: “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there, but never again prophesy at Bethel....” (Amos 7:12-13) His response: “I was no prophet, nor a prophet's son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs. But the LORD took me from following the flock, and the LORD said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’” Amos had a story worth remembering. He brought a sacrificial love that brings healing ointment—a balm—to those have forgotten who they are.

Tekoa, along with many other places in Judah, would have suffered greatly at the hands of the Assyrians and the later Babylonians. Yet decades later, there would have been some among the scattered exiles of the Jews who considered places like Gilead and Tekoa “home” and they were eager to make their connections to such historic people and places that would give them the right to be considered part of the tribe of Judah through Perez and Hezron. The Chronicler knew that the stories of tribe and clan were worth remembering. Even more, every family history in Israel was part of the story of the family of God. Who really was Israel? Who started her? Why had she too often let the world define them rather than God? These were questions with answers.

Land on earth and the Christian hope

Our connection to God is different than that desired by the Old Testament worshipers of Jehovah. We do not seek to establish our line through our natural descent in order to have the privilege of worshiping the Lord God. We have been claimed by the God/Man Jesus Christ by way of a blood payment and our resulting adoption into the household of the Almighty. Our position is superior and far more secure than any rights we might have imagined to God's favor through our own natural families, however impressive those family stories might be.

What should our attitude regarding our own lands, regions, and cities in this present creation? Like ancient Gilead we live in places that present special challenges and are very near others who would want us to forget our family heritage and to be branded by identity politics or brands they sell. (Psalm 119:136) We have a creation/redemption mandate: take dominion over a “tohu vebohu” earth with the love of Jesus. Not only order, but justice like a river. (Amos 5:24) We should do so with prayer, confident expectation, and unity in God's Word. Yet our best hope is in the everlasting Promised Land and not in this fading world. We and our towns need big healing. There is a balm in Gilead through Jesus Christ in the family of the redeemed bearing His Name.

Old Testament Reading—Psalm 13 – He has dealt bountifully with me

Gospel Reading—Matthew 7:7-11 – [7] Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. [8] For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. [9] Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? [10] Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? [11] If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!