What is the use of the numerous long lists of hard names which we find in the Bible? The reply is not far to seek, “ All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”
The Word of God would not be complete without these family registers, for such these records are; and if we open our Bibles, and turn to some of these passages,—those to which I will now briefly refer—we shall, I trust, discover how very useful and profitable these very lists of hard names are.
Genesis 4:16-2416And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. 17And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch. 18And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech. 19And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. 20And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle. 21And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ. 22And Zillah, she also bare Tubal-cain, an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah. 23And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt. 24If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold. (Genesis 4:16‑24), gives us a list of the descendants of Cain. We read here also, how Cain the murderer went out from the presence of the Lord, and built a city. Of his children, Jabal is the first man we read of that dwelt in a tent, Jubal the first man that played a musical instrument, and Tubal-cain appears to have been the first mechanic in the world. The children of Cain tried to make themselves comfortable, although they were “afar off” from God.
Now turn to 1 Chronicles 1:11Adam, Sheth, Enosh, (1 Chronicles 1:1). Here we read simply, “Adam, Sheth, Enosh.” Not a word is said about Cain and his children here. Why? They went on in their own way, they led their brethren, the other children of Adam, into sin; and the last we read of these sinful men is, that “The flood came and took them all away.”
Genesis 5 gives us a list of the children of Seth, among whom are found the names of Enoch and Noah; men that “walked with God” in those days of sin before the flood.
In Genesis 10 we find how the earth was divided amongst the families of the sons of Noah. Verse 25 informs us when the said division took place. (The object of the division is found Deuteronomy 32:88When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. (Deuteronomy 32:8).) Nowhere else can there be found, upon this subject, a record so old, and yet so true as this is. Learned men can find no other record to equal this; all have to confess, that this Chapter is the very best, as well as the oldest explanation of the division of the earth amongst the nations.
In Genesis 36 we find a list of the children of Esau or Edom. From this passage we know that for a very long time kings had reigned over Edom, before there in as any king over Israel, but with Hadar the Bible records of the kings of Edom cease. Why? It is very evident that the children of Esau were not counted worthy to be traced any further by the pen of inspiration. This reminds us of the words: “Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.”
When David was king over Israel, “all Israel were reckoned by genealogies.” Lists were carefully made of the descendants (or sons) of each of the sons of Israel. The leading members of each great family are to be found given in that particular part of the first book of Chronicles, which treats of the tribe to which they belonged. For instance, in 1 Chronicles 4, we get the family register of the tribe of Judah. In the next chapter we have that of Reuben, etc. And these were deemed by the children of Israel to be of very great importance.
These family registers of each tribe, too, give us a few details of private history, some of which we get nowhere else recorded in the Bible. Thus 1 Chronicles 7:20- 9, informs us that some of the sons of Ephraim, were slain by the men of Gath, during Ephraim’s lifetime: “and Ephraim their father mourned many days.”
In 1 Chronicles 2:3-173The sons of Judah; Er, and Onan, and Shelah: which three were born unto him of the daughter of Shua the Canaanitess. And Er, the firstborn of Judah, was evil in the sight of the Lord; and he slew him. 4And Tamar his daughter in law bare him Pharez and Zerah. All the sons of Judah were five. 5The sons of Pharez; Hezron, and Hamul. 6And the sons of Zerah; Zimri, and Ethan, and Heman, and Calcol, and Dara: five of them in all. 7And the sons of Carmi; Achar, the troubler of Israel, who transgressed in the thing accursed. 8And the sons of Ethan; Azariah. 9The sons also of Hezron, that were born unto him; Jerahmeel, and Ram, and Chelubai. 10And Ram begat Amminadab; and Amminadab begat Nahshon, prince of the children of Judah; 11And Nahshon begat Salma, and Salma begat Boaz, 12And Boaz begat Obed, and Obed begat Jesse, 13And Jesse begat his firstborn Eliab, and Abinadab the second, and Shimma the third, 14Nethaneel the fourth, Raddai the fifth, 15Ozem the sixth, David the seventh: 16Whose sisters were Zeruiah, and Abigail. And the sons of Zeruiah; Abishai, and Joab, and Asahel, three. 17And Abigail bare Amasa: and the father of Amasa was Jether the Ishmeelite. (1 Chronicles 2:3‑17), we get a list of David’s forefathers. In 1 Chronicles 3, we get a list of David’s descendants, (including the royal line of the Kings of Judah,) unto Zerubbabel, the prince that led back the first captives from Babylon in the days of the great Cyrus.
The line of the priests of the sons of Ithamar is not recorded in the Bible. This may be because of the iniquity of the house of Eli. For the house of Eli was of the sons of Ithamar. And it is written in the word of God “For evil doers shall be cut off.” But the direct line of the priests of the house of Eleazar is to be found in 1 Chronicles 6:4-154Eleazar begat Phinehas, Phinehas begat Abishua, 5And Abishua begat Bukki, and Bukki begat Uzzi, 6And Uzzi begat Zerahiah, and Zerahiah begat Meraioth, 7Meraioth begat Amariah, and Amariah begat Ahitub, 8And Ahitub begat Zadok, and Zadok begat Ahimaaz, 9And Ahimaaz begat Azariah, and Azariah begat Johanan, 10And Johanan begat Azariah, (he it is that executed the priest's office in the temple that Solomon built in Jerusalem:) 11And Azariah begat Amariah, and Amariah begat Ahitub, 12And Ahitub begat Zadok, and Zadok begat Shallum, 13And Shallum begat Hilkiah, and Hilkiah begat Azariah, 14And Azariah begat Seraiah, and Seraiah begat Jehozadak, 15And Jehozadak went into captivity, when the Lord carried away Judah and Jerusalem by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. (1 Chronicles 6:4‑15). Many of these, whose names are here given, were during their lifetime the high priests of Israel.
As for the sons of Moses, the man of God, they were not priests, as were their brethren of the house of Aaron; but the two great divisions of Moses’ sons as Levites held very high positions. See 1 Chronicles 26:24-2824And Shebuel the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, was ruler of the treasures. 25And his brethren by Eliezer; Rehabiah his son, and Jeshaiah his son, and Joram his son, and Zichri his son, and Shelomith his son. 26Which Shelomith and his brethren were over all the treasures of the dedicated things, which David the king, and the chief fathers, the captains over thousands and hundreds, and the captains of the host, had dedicated. 27Out of the spoils won in battles did they dedicate to maintain the house of the Lord. 28And all that Samuel the seer, and Saul the son of Kish, and Abner the son of Ner, and Joab the son of Zeruiah, had dedicated; and whosoever had dedicated any thing, it was under the hand of Shelomith, and of his brethren. (1 Chronicles 26:24‑28), for it is written, “The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee.”
Many of the Psalms have this heading, “A Psalm for the sons of Korah.” These sons of Korah were the descendants of the very man who led the great rebellion in the wilderness. See Numbers 16. Korah died in the midst of his sin, but of his sons we read, “Notwithstanding the children of Korah died not” Numbers 26:1;11And it came to pass after the plague, that the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, saying, (Numbers 26:1)
1And the Lord spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of the congregation, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying, (Numbers 1:1). Now turn to 1 Chronicles 6:31-3831And these are they whom David set over the service of song in the house of the Lord, after that the ark had rest. 32And they ministered before the dwelling place of the tabernacle of the congregation with singing, until Solomon had built the house of the Lord in Jerusalem: and then they waited on their office according to their order. 33And these are they that waited with their children. Of the sons of the Kohathites: Heman a singer, the son of Joel, the son of Shemuel, 34The son of Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Eliel, the son of Toah, 35The son of Zuph, the son of Elkanah, the son of Mahath, the son of Amasai, 36The son of Elkanah, the son of Joel, the son of Azariah, the son of Zephaniah, 37The son of Tahath, the son of Assir, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah, 38The son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, the son of Israel. (1 Chronicles 6:31‑38). Here we discover that Heman was of the “sons of Korah.” Well might he take the lead as one of the chief sweet singers of Israel for Asaph, of the sons of Gershom, stood on Heman’s right hand, while Ethan (or Jeduthan) of the sons of Merari, stood on Heman’s left hand, as, together with their sons, and their brethren, they sung the “songs of the Lord.” Thus they stood, and they praised the Lord by day and by night, 1 Chronicles 9:3333And these are the singers, chief of the fathers of the Levites, who remaining in the chambers were free: for they were employed in that work day and night. (1 Chronicles 9:33) etc.
The grandfather of Heman was the great prophet Samuel, (see Chron. 6:33) or Shemuel, as his name is here spelled. So that Samuel the prophet was of “the sons of Korah!” Truly the Lord’s thoughts are not our thoughts, neither are our ways His ways.
In Matthew 1:1-171The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 2Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren; 3And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram; 4And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon; 5And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse; 6And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias; 7And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa; 8And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias; 9And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias; 10And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias; 11And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon: 12And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel; 13And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor; 14And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud; 15And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob; 16And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. 17So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations. (Matthew 1:1‑17), we get “the book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” Verse 17 divides the forefathers of Jesus into three fourteens. Among the names of the first fourteen (Abraham to David) are to be found the names of those, who while they lived, “confessed they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth,” and “God is not ashamed to be called their God.” The second fourteen (David to the captivity wore the Royal diadem, and if the remaining fourteen were not allowed this dignity, (Ezekiel 21:26, 2726Thus saith the Lord God; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. 27I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him. (Ezekiel 21:26‑27),) among them were surely to be found those who in evil days “feared the Lord,” and “spike often to one another.”
On the return of the captives from Babylon, there were some who claimed to be priests; but, because they could not prove this by genealogy, these were, as polluted, put from the priesthood, Ezra 2:61-6361And of the children of the priests: the children of Habaiah, the children of Koz, the children of Barzillai; which took a wife of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and was called after their name: 62These sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy, but they were not found: therefore were they, as polluted, put from the priesthood. 63And the Tirshatha said unto them, that they should not eat of the most holy things, till there stood up a priest with Urim and with Thummim. (Ezra 2:61‑63). This shows the very great importance of the family registers, in the eyes of the godly Jews. But when the Holy Ghost baptized all believers into one body, whether they were Jew or Gentile, whether they were bond or free, no further regard was to be paid to “endless genealogies.” See 1 Timothy 1:44Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do. (1 Timothy 1:4).
It makes no difference to any child of God by faith in Jesus Christ, as to whether he be descended from Abraham, or from Esau. All are now “one” in Christ Jesus. But there will come a time when these old Bible family registers, to which I have referred, will once more be deemed of great importance.
Who knows where the ten tribes of Israel are? Yet at the proper time it will be known, who of these belong to the tribe of Dan, and who to the tribe of Ephraim, and so on. In that day the Lord will in wisdom allow each tribe to prove their descent from their forefathers.
We may notice in closing that the Lord Jesus, in heaven, speaks of Himself as being the Root and the offspring of David, and that even there He is entitled the Lion of the tribe of Juda. He still remembers family ties, and even in glory does not forget that according to flesh He is the son of David and of Abraham.