Go
Articles on

1 Chronicles 1

More on:

+
Adam,
Enos; Enosh,
Sheth

Cross References

+

Ministry on This Verse

+
1-4:  Adam's line to Noah.
5-7:  The sons of Japheth.
8-16:  The sons of Ham.
17-23:  The sons of Shem.
24-28:  Shem's line to Abraham.
29-31:  Ishmael's sons.
32-33:  The sons of Keturah.
34-37:  The posterity of Abraham by Esau.
38-42:  The sons of Seir.
43-50:  The kings of Edom.
51-54:  The dukes of Edom.
Sheth.
Gen. 4:25‑26• 25And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son, and called his name Seth: … For God has appointed me another seed instead of Abel, because Cain has slain him.
 26And to Seth, to him also was born a son; and he called his name Enosh. Then people began to call on the name of Jehovah. (Gen. 4:25‑26)
;
Gen. 5:3,8• 3And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his likeness, after his image, and called his name Seth.
 8And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years; and he died. (Gen. 5:3,8)
;
Luke 3:38• 38of Enos, of Seth, of Adam, of God. (Luke 3:38)
Seth.
Enosh.
Gen. 5:9‑11• 9And Enosh lived ninety years, and begot Cainan.
 10And Enosh lived after he had begotten Cainan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begot sons and daughters.
 11And all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years; and he died. (Gen. 5:9‑11)
;
Luke 3:38• 38of Enos, of Seth, of Adam, of God. (Luke 3:38)
Enos.
• The most important suggestion for understanding Chronicles concerns the counsels of God. (“Introduction: 1 Chronicles” by H.L. Rossier)
• We see the grace of God at work throughout their {kings in responsibility} history to discipline and restore them, and in spite of everything, to make these fallible men capable of representing Christ's character. God accomplishes this by forming them through trials. This is the subject of the books of Samuel and Kings. But in Chronicles it is not a matter of setting forth restoring grace remedying the faults of the believer placed under responsibility, but rather, a matter of giving us a preview of the counsels of God, and this, as much as possible, without confounding them with any elements which would obscure them. (“Introduction: 1 Chronicles” by H.L. Rossier)
• Chronicles give us the history of the kings of Judah, that is, of David's family; whereas in the books of Kings, we find the history of the sovereigns of Israel. (“Introduction: 1 Chronicles” by H.L. Rossier)
• God, in relating their history in Chronicles, establishes another fact: that His counsels have Christ as the Son of David by royal descent in view. At times David's line corrupted themselves terribly, but even then God is careful to emphasize wherever possible, what grace has produced in those who were to be the Messiah's stock. He does this even at a time when the kingship in Israel had already ceased to exist for over two centuries. The ways of grace are particularly evident in this book throughout the history of Solomon's successors. In accord with Chronicles' plan and purpose, all that grace produces in the hearts of even the most wicked kings, such as Manasseh for example, is brought to light, in order to show that grace toward man is the only means of fulfilling God's counsels concerning him. (“Introduction: 1 Chronicles” by H.L. Rossier)
• We have insisted, in other Meditations, upon the prophetic origin and bearing of the books of Samuel and Kings. The Chronicles do not have the same character although, remarkably, we continually find in them the activity of the prophets. Even the Jews did not count them among the prophetic books, to which the majority of the books of history belong, but rather classified them among the "holy writings" headed by the Psalms. (“Introduction: 1 Chronicles” by H.L. Rossier)
• (Compare 2 Chron. 36:22-23 with Ezra 1:1-3). Moreover, the stamp of being composed later, after the return from the Babylonian captivity, is impressed on them throughout the text. In various portions of these books we find proof of their relatively recent date, a date after that of the book of Nehemiah. Thus we see in them that the genealogy of David's family does not end with Zerubbabel, the royal head of Judah returned from captivity, but continues past him to the fifth generation, consisting of Hodaviah and his brothers (1 Chron. 3:19-24). Just so, we also meet (1 Chron. 3:22) Shemaiah, the son of Shechaniah, of the third generation following Zerubbabel, who (if indeed this is the same person) returned from Babylon in Neh. 3:29. Lastly, our book describes the Babylonian captivity as a historical event already in the distant past (1 Chron. 6:15). (“Introduction: 1 Chronicles” by H.L. Rossier)
• From the very first chapter onward we find proof of the pronunciation of many names differing from their early pronunciation. It seems that a fair portion of these differences can be attributed to changes in dialect brought about by the captivity. (“Introduction: 1 Chronicles” by H.L. Rossier)
• The union of the civil and religious spheres is presented in Chronicles as types of its fulfillment in Christ in a future day. These two elements will be united in Him as the unshakable basis for the kingdom of God upon earth. Christ will be "a priest upon his throne" (Zech. 6:13). (“Introduction: 1 Chronicles” by H.L. Rossier)
• {Genealogies}  were necessary because, since the promise of the inheritance of Canaan had been made to Abraham and his seed, this seed had to be registered, since it alone had the right to enter the promised land. Having arrived in Canaan, the people needed their genealogies in order to divide the land among their tribes and fathers' houses. They were likewise necessary in order to prevent the surrounding nations from mixing with the chosen people. Finally, and above all, they were indispensable in view of Messiah's kingship, for His lineage must go back through the series of kings, to Judah "the lawgiver," and then from Judah to Jacob, Isaac, Abraham, Noah, Adam and God! The genealogies were also important in order to establish the succession of the Aaronic priesthood, destined to walk continually before the true King, Jehovah's Anointed. (“The Genealogies: 1 Chronicles 1-9:34” by H.L. Rossier)
• Chronicles, dealing with God's counsels and His ways of grace toward man, naturally begins with Adam. It then traces the line of man, chosen according to the counsels of grace, in contrast to the line of man according to the flesh. (“From Adam to the Twelve Tribes: 1 Chronicles 1” by H.L. Rossier)

J. N. Darby Translation

+
1
Adam, Seth, Enosh,