The Journey 1-30-14 Morning People! I Chronicles 7:1-9:44 (Message) “All The Way Down To Our Own Day” Take a read. . . “The sons of Issachar were Tola, Puah, Jashub, and Shimron—four sons. Verse 6, Benjamin had three sons: Bela, Beker, and Jediael. . . Verse 13 The sons of Naphtali were Jahziel, Guni, Jezer, and Shallum; they are listed under the maternal line of Bilhah, their grandfather’s concubine. The sons of Manasseh: Asriel, whom his Aramean secondary wife bore; she bore Machir, father of Gilead. . . Verse 20, The sons of Ephraim were Shuthelah, Bered his son, Tahah his son, Eleadah his son, Tahath his son, Zabad his son, Shuthelah his son, and Ezer and Elead, cattle-rustlers, killed on one of their raids by the natives of Gath. Their father Ephraim grieved a long time and his family gathered to give him comfort. Then he slept with his wife again. She conceived and produced a son. He named him Beriah (Unlucky), because of the bad luck that had come to his family. His daughter was Sheerah. She built Lower and Upper Beth Horon and Uzzen Sheerah. The sons of Asher were Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, and Beriah; Serah was their sister. 8:1 Benjamin’s firstborn son was Bela, followed by Ashbel, Aharah, Nohah, and Rapha, five in all. Verse 29 Jeil the father of Gibeon lived in Gibeon. His wife’s name was Maacah. Abdon was is firstborn son, followed by Zur, Kish, Baal, Nadab, Gedor, Ahio, Zeker, and Mikloth. Mikloth had Shimeah. They lived in the neighborhood of their extended families in Jerusalem. Ner had Kish, Kish had Saul, and Saul had Jonathan, Malki-Shua, Abinadab, and Esh-Baal. Jonathan had Merib-Baal, and Merib-Baal had Micah. . . . 9:1 This is the complete family tree for all Israel, recorded in the Royal Annals of the Kings of Israel and Judah at the time they were exiled to Babylon because of their unbelieving and disobedient lives. The first Israelites to return from exile to their homes and cities were the priests, the Levites, and the temple support staff. (In verses 4-44 further lists follow, including ones of the Levites, gatekeepers, singers, and other temple assistants, and another version of Saul’s line.) Reflections • I am not a scholar gang and for the life of me it is difficult for me to find a lesson in today’s reading. Forgive me. As a young man, reading Chronicles made me fall asleep, seriously. Historically, I know that at this time, (chapter 9 and its lists) The Assyrians had terminated the “national” life of the Northern Kingdom (Israel/Ephraim) in 722 BC, and the Babylonians had terminated the national life of the Southern Kingdom (Judah) in 587 BC. I asked, could it be that the Second Temple community wanted to see itself in continuity with those earlier communities that ideally constituted the nation of Israel? Did they need to do so for the sake of their own self-understanding? Did they also need to establish to their own satisfaction that is was “they” and NOT certain other people they could name who were the legitimate, proper continuation of that people? I am thinking (help me out) that perhaps they also wanted or needed to establish this fact for political reasons connected with their relationship to the people in the next-door province of Samaria, who also saw themselves as heirs to the “First Temple” community. (deep dislike, border line hatred between each other. Example in another culture would be present day Shuni’s and Shities possibly.) Remember the Samaritans were “mixed” breed according to hard core Jews. Assyrians had intermarried with Israel, the Northern Kingdom. We will pick up more information in Ezra and others I am sure. That is it for now, for me. Have a great day people and keep those prayers going up! Love you gals and guys, pb
Posted on: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 11:19:40 +0000
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