We started this book last week, and we will continue. You might be wondering, is it a typo in the bulletin? Because it says chapter 2, verse 3, all the way through chapter 3. No, it's not a typo. And I am not a prophet. I'm not the son of a prophet. But you probably are thinking, are we going to read all of that? No, we're not. We're going to read verses 3, chapter 2, verses 3 through 24, and then I'm going to highlight, I'm going to direct you to a couple of different names throughout the rest of chapter 2, and then on in to chapter 3, to kind of give you a general flow of the text before us. Chapter 2, starting in verse 3. The sons of Judah, Ur, Onan, and Shelah, these three, Bathsheba the Canaanite, bore to him Now urge Judas firstborn was evil in the sight of the Lord and he put him to death. His daughter-in-law Tamar also bore him Perez and Zara. Judah had five sons in all the sons of Perez has Ron and Hamel, the sons of Zara, Zimri, Ethan, Haman, Cal, Cole, and Dora five and all the son of Carmine, Aiken, the troubler of Israel who broke faith in the matter of the devoted thing. And Ethan's son was as a Raya. The sons of Hezron that were born to him, Jeremiel, Ram, and Chalubai. Ram fathered Amminadab, and Amminadab fathered Nashon, prince of the sons of Judah. Nashon fathered Salmon. Salmon fathered Boaz. Boaz fathered Obed, Obed fathered Jesse, Jesse fathered Eliab, his firstborn, Abinadab, the second, Shimea, the third, Nethanel, the fourth, Radaiah, the fifth, Ozem, the sixth, David, the seventh. And their sisters were Zariah and Abigail, the sons of Zariah, Abishai, Joab, and Asahel. Three, Abigail bore Amasa, and the father of Amasa was Jether, the Ishmaelite. Caleb, the son of Hezron, fathered children by his wife, Azuba, and by Jeroth. And these were her sons, Jesher, Shobab, and Ardon. When Azubah died, Caleb married Ephrath, who bore him Hur. Hur fathered Uri, and Uri fathered Bezalel. Afterward, Hezron went into the daughter of Melchor, the father of Gilead, whom he married when he was 60 years old, and she bore him Segub. And Segub fathered Jair, who had 23 cities in the land of Gilead. But Jeshur and Aram took from them Havarath-Jair, Kenath and its villages, sixty towns. All these were descendants of Makir, the father of Gilead. After the death of Hezron, Caleb went into Ephrathah, the wife of Hezron, his father. And she bore him Asher, the father of Tekoa. And then you'll notice starting in verse 25, it says, the sons of Jeremiel. And then verse 27, it moves to the sons of Ram. That's a different Ram that was mentioned earlier. Verse 28, the sons of Onam. And then it says, the sons of Shemiah. Verse 30, the sons of Nadab. And then skip down to verse 34. Now Shishan had no sons, only daughters. But Shishan had an Egyptian slave whose name was Jarrah. So Shishan gave his daughter in marriage to Jarrah, his slave, and she bore him a tie. And then go to verse 42. We find the sons of Caleb, the brother of Jeremiel. Verse 43, the sons of Hebron. Verse 45, the sons of Shemaiah. Verse 47, the sons of Jedi. And then verse 50, it says, kind of in summary, these were the descendants of Caleb, the sons of her, the firstborn of Ephrathah. And then it lists some other names following. And then if you go over to chapter 3, verse 1, we are introduced there to these are the sons of David who are born to him in Hebron. And then you see the list of children born to David in Hebron. Verse 5, these were born to him in Jerusalem. a list of names, and then verse nine, all these were David's sons, besides the sons of the concubines, and Tamar was their sister. And then notice just some of the names outlined starting in verse 10. The son of Solomon was Rehoboam, verse 15. The sons of Josiah, verse 16. The descendants of Jehoiakim, verse 17. The sons of Jeconiah, 19, the sons of Padiah, Zerubbabel, and Shimea, or Shimei, and the sons of Zerubbabel. Verse 21, the sons of Hananiah. 22, the son of Shekiniah, Shemiah, and the sons of Shemiah. They are listed there. And then verse 23, you have the sons of Neriah. And then verse 24, the sons of Elioani. Hodaviah, Elishib, Peliah, Acub, Johanan, Deliah, and Anani, seven. This is God's word to us, may he bless it. Several months ago, there was an older couple that came to the church, and after the evening service, I went up to go and talk to them, and I learned two things from them. One, they were related to Pastor David, which is no shock because he's related to like half of Douglas County. But then two, they were related to me, which does mean that the two of us are kin, at least in some strange way. But their last names were Daniel. And I learned very quickly that they were real Daniels, you know, with two L's. And here's how I knew that. The wife, she came up to me and she kind of leaned forward, raised her eyebrow and she said, Do you have the maroon book? Shocked, the maroon book is the Daniel family genealogy that outlines my genealogy going all the way back to the 1400s. This person begat that person on and on and on for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of pages. Well, it's similar to what we have here in the first few chapters of Chronicles. List of descendants. But in many ways, these genealogies that we have here are very different from the Daniel Maroon book. Because these are inspired by the Holy Spirit. It's given to direct us to Christ, to edify us, to cause us to grow. And our text in particular, is given to respond to a very simple question. Is God interested in us? It's one the returned exiles wanted to know. And so do we, especially when hardships come upon us or when the fight against sin is particularly wearying. The answer to the question is presented before us as we unpack the genealogies found in these two chapters. Let's start with people. People. There are a lot of them in these two chapters. About 250. But there is some semblance of structure as we approach these two chapters. It starts with chapter 2, verse 3, the sons of Judah. And then it moves on to one of his boys, verse 5, Perez. And then one of his kids, verse 9, Hezron. And then the rest of the genealogy in chapter 2 fleshes out Hezron's lineage. Verse 10, look there, Ram. Verse 18, Caleb. Verse 25, Jeremiel. And then in verse 20, and then in verse 42, it refers back to Caleb, which subsequently is followed by chapter three, a long list of names from David's line. So that's the overall structure of what we have before us. However, let's spend a few moments thinking about some specific names that are mentioned in chapter two specifically or in particular, starting with Judah. Do you remember this person? Remember who Judah was? He was the fourth son of Jacob, and he's the one that sold his brother Joseph into slavery. On top of that, chapter 2, verse 3, he married a Canaanite woman, which even before the law of Moses was considered a no-no. You don't do that. And we learn that he had three children with this woman. The first, Ur, he was so evil that the Lord put him to death, which was also true of the second born, Onan. And then the genealogy tells us how he had children with Tamar, his daughter-in-law. Do you recall that story in Genesis chapter 38? She had married Ur, who died, and then Onan, who met the same fate, which meant that Judah was not too keen on giving her his third son, even though it was proper custom to do so in order to perpetuate the family line. And Tamar knew of his reluctance. So what did she do? She dressed herself up as a prostitute, seduced her drunk father-in-law, which gave rise to twin boys being born. And that's Judah. That's how this genealogy starts. Clearly, we are not beginning well. It's like the beginning of some sleazy soap opera. And as we move forward, the sin just keeps coming. Look at chapter two, verse seven. The son of Carmine, Aiken, the troubler of Israel who broke faith in the matter of the devoted thing. In Joshua chapter 6, the people of Israel were called to take the city of Jericho because it was under God's judgments with the Lord's instrument being the Hebrew army. And they were charged with destroying everything except for Rahab and her family and to take nothing from the city. But Achan didn't listen. Instead, he imitated Adam and Eve in the garden. He saw, he desired, and he took some of the possessions found in the city and kept it for himself. And as a result, the soldiers of Israel were routed whenever they went to try to take the city of Ai. Achan broke faith. Achan was a troubler. And Achan was in Judah's line. So was Joab. Chapter 2, verses 15 and 16. He was the son of one of King David's sisters, which makes him David's cousin. But he was a wicked man. 2 Samuel 3, he murdered Abner, a general who had joined David's side to help unify Israel and Judah after King Saul had been killed. Abner murdered him, or Joab murdered him in cold blood. And then in 2 Samuel chapter 20, Joab killed his own cousin, Amasa, because of his lust for power. At times, Joab was unsubmissive, deceitful, and violent. And he's in Judah's line. Furthermore, starting in chapter 2, verse 18, we are told about a man named Caleb. Now, this is a different Caleb than the one that's recorded in the book of Numbers, one of the two spies who was faithful. This Caleb here in our text is very different. His father, Hezron, had three sons. He was the youngest. But chapter two, verse twenty four, look there. It tells us that after his father died, what did he do? He went into his stepmother and had a child with her. Now, such actions were not even acceptable among the pagans, much less the people of God. First Corinthians, chapter five, Paul speaks about someone in the Church of Corinth doing something very similar, and he condemns it. and calls for excommunication. And as if this kind of sexual deviancy wasn't bad enough, Caleb also had multiple concubines versus 46 and 48. And this guy is in Judah's line. So what do we have? Adulterers, murderers, cheats, Idolaters, liars, thieves. We have people Paul described the Cretans as in Titus chapter 1, verse 16. Detestable, disobedient and unfit for any good work. Some of the names that are listed here in this genealogy, you do not include in your family lists of descendants. You don't want cousin Fred or Aunt Betty recorded because, you know, all of the unsorted things that they did and you want them to be forgotten. So then why were people like her and Aiken, Joab and Caleb included? Well, in part to press upon us the wickedness of man. And you might think to yourself, well, Pastor Cliff, I got that one down. I know that man is wicked. But listen, that is very different from understanding. That you are wicked. You saying to yourself, I know that's true of me. I am selfish, unkind and impatient. I am filled with lust, anger and deceit. Think about it this way. If the Lord were to write your family history. And he came to your name. What could he say about you? Do you humbly admit it? And do you see your need for Christ? That you ongoingly require him. And I don't mean simply in an intellectual fashion. But is there a genuine and even felt recognition that I am all unrighteousness, vile and full of sin? And I need Jesus. Just as much or even more today than I ever have. Is that you? Is it me? We learned something about people in this text, but next we have promise. And as we dive deeper into chapters two and three, note that the returned exiles were asking, is God interested in us despite the foulness found littered throughout our heritage and even inside of us? Is God still committed to us? These are questions we sometimes ask ourselves. Is God interested in us? We get the Lord's answer as we continue through these lists. How does God respond to such a question? He says, consider my promises. How do we see God's promises here in this text? Well, there is a lot that we could say. We don't have time to say it all. Let's just direct our attention to one simple name in this text. It's the most well-known one among the returned exiles. It's a name that is specifically mentioned one hundred and sixty six times in First Chronicles. Only first and second Samuel have it more often. You know what the name is? It's David. It's David. And we have his lineage partly outlined in chapter 2, verses 10 through 15. Look there for just a second. Ram fathered Aminadab, and Aminadab fathered Nashon, verse 11. Nashon fathered Salmon, Salmon fathered Boaz, and you know Boaz's name, right? Who is that? It's Ruth's husband, yes? And then it goes on and says, and he fathered Obed, and Obed fathered Jesse, and who was Jesse? The father of King David, right. But then in chapter 3, we see David's line carried out further from himself moving forward. And many of the names, if you kind of scan your eyes, especially over the first 10, 15 verses, you scan your eyes over, you probably recognize a lot of them. Names like Solomon, Rehoboam, Hezekiah, many others. Yet there are others that you probably don't. Starting in chapter 3, verse 18, most of these people are completely foreign to us. We don't have a clue who they are. Because they are the names of those in David's line all the way down to the days of the chronicler. But we need to ask a very important question. Why are they here? Moreover, why include any of this list of Davidic ancestors? What's the point? Well, think about the returned exiles. They were severely diminished in numbers and oppressed, and they had no Davidic king, but they were being ruled by foreign powers. And this was significant because God had made a promise to David in 2 Samuel 7. I will build you a house, and from you I will raise up a king whose kingdom will last forever. But the exiles thoughts returned exiles thoughts. Where's the sovereign? Where is he? Will he keep his word? Will God be faithful? Does he even care about us? Has he utterly forsaken us? They were doubting, maybe even despairing over whether this promise one would come. It had been well over 100 years since they had a Jewish king. And so perhaps they thought. It will never happen. To give the people hope. Chronicles was written. And David's genealogy was honed in on. As if to say to them, don't despair because God is interested in you. He made a promise to raise up an everlasting king from David, and he has continued David's line all the way up to your day and time. Thus, the Lord will surely do it. You might be thinking to yourself, okay, but how does this connect to us? I mean, we stand on the other side of the pledge. We see the fulfillments. Know that Jesus is great David's greater Son, the King all others point to, who conquers us with His love, rules and defends us by His grace, and restrains and overcomes all His and our enemies by His Word. Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords, who though overall placed Himself under curse for us, Promise sovereign? Yes. Suffering servant? Yes. That's Christ. Why is this important for us? A lot of different reasons. Let me just give you one. The next time you find yourself despairing because of sin, the next time you find yourself tired because of trials, feeling worn out by a tax, doubting the Lord's ways, wondering if He is still interested in you, do this. Think about the Lord's promise to send Jesus for you. In Romans chapter 8 verse 32, if the Father has given Him for you, will He not give you everything else you need? Does that include strength to love difficult people? Joy when circumstances stink? More grace to face tomorrow's troubles? Absolutely it does. If the Lord has fulfilled his word concerning Christ, if he has kept his pledge to redeem sinners like us through the crucified and risen King, What in the world do we have to worry about? Really? Politics. Loneliness. Job loss. Difficult relationships. The uncertainties of the days ahead. No, we don't have anything to worry about. Just focus on God's promise and rest assured of God's grace for you in the days ahead. But then notice something that we do not expect to find in this genealogy. Place. Place. If I gave you a geography quiz. How do you think you would do? What if I gave you a map that had 50 states? Could you name all of them with their capitals? Perhaps you could. How about this? How about all 159 counties in Georgia? Or every country in West Africa, unless you're from West Africa. Then you get the one on East Asia with all the tiny little islands. Most of us would probably struggle And one reason why is because place is not as important as it once was, like in our text. How do we see it? Well, one of the interesting things about our genealogies is the repeated use of names that refer to geographical areas, especially in chapter 2. For example, chapter 2, verse 3, Judah's name would eventually become what? Synonymous with a territory. While Hezron, chapter 2, verse 9, and Hebron, chapter 2, verse 43, would later be associated with cities. And chapter 2, verse 22, the land of Gilead is mentioned in this text. And there's plenty of other places said as well. But there's a concentrated focus on places in chapter 2, verses 50 through 55. Some of them you might recognize. Verse 50, Shobal, the father or leader of Kiriath-Jarim, which was a city that was allotted to Judah during the days of the conquest. And what was it known for? Well, it housed the Ark of the Covenant for a period of time. Remember back in 1 Samuel chapters 5 and 6, upon defeating Israel, what did the Philistines do? They nabbed the Ark of the Covenant. But then they quickly gave it back. Why? because tumors infected their bodies. And the Ark ended up in Kiriath-Jerim, where it would stay for the next two days, or two decades, I should say. And that makes it a very important locale in the Old Testament. But if we go back to our text, we find another place that's also important, actually very well-known. Look at chapter 2, verse 51. Salma, the father of Bethlehem. You know, Bethlehem. It's where Rachel, Jacob's beloved wife, was buried, Naomi and David's hometown, and of course, the birthplace of Christ. But why bring up all these territories and towns in a genealogy? Well, to make a connection between people and place and to draw us back to a covenant that God made with Abraham. In Genesis 12, 15, and 17, the Lord told Abraham that he would raise up a promised people through a promised seed and bring them into a promised land. And for the returned exiles, that would have been especially meaningful, particularly for the faithful. Sure, they lived in the land. They had returned. But they were sapped because of years of struggle against sin and suffering. They were tired of the oppression and and the fight for the faith that happened every day. It seems they ached for a better country, one far superior to pre and post exilic days. And they wondered, will it ever come? Do you sometimes feel that way? so spent from living in this world. That you can't even begin to list the reasons why. Are there days when you feel like you are on empty? Do you have a longing for the city that has foundations whose designer and builder is God, and do you wonder? Will it ever come? I want you to remember Jesus's words in John 14, verse two. He said, In my father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have not told you that I go to prepare a place for you? Dear Christian, Christ ascended into heaven to do what? To make a place for you. And one day he will bring you to it. Something better than Israel. It's better than the Garden of Eden. It's the new heavens and the new earth where every negative will vanish and every positive will be multiplied. There'll be no conflicts, only peace. No despair, only joy. In fact, as Jonathan Edwards put it, the delight known there will be like an ocean without a floor. Like a sea without a shore. It'll be limitless. And at the heart of it will be God himself and the enjoyment of him. Keep your eye on the celestial city, then. Don't despair because of the doldrums of life. Don't lose a heavenly outlook. Set your mind on things above. Consider what is to come. Sing of it. Pray pondering it. And live now like this coming place will be your destination. It's where Jesus will bring you. But how are you going to make it there? It's an important question to ask and to answer. Finally, consider preservation. The genealogies before us strongly communicate God's preserving grace. The fact that Judah's line flow from Judah's line flow many different generations stresses this point. At least 10 of them are outlined in chapter two, maybe even more. And this point is even clear in chapter three, starting in chapter three, verse one, we are taken from David all the way to his most recent descendants in the days of the chronicler, the sons of Elio Ani. So that each generation progressed one after the other. How? Well, God preserved them. They endured because the Lord caused them to continue. That His saving purposes in Christ would be realized. It was a testimony to God's merciful hand to keep them. But to keep them in the face of what? Well, one thing is sin. And we've already talked a good bit about it. And we could have gone into greater detail. You know, we could have focused on David. and his adultery. Amnon and his incest. Jehoiakim and his hatred of God's word. But despite all of this sin, what happens? The Lord graciously preserves the line. And he does this, he does this regardless of opposition as well. Chapter 2, verse 23 tells us how Gesher and Aram took Havarath-Jair and its 60 towns. Were Gesher and Aram? They were enemies, both north and south of Judah. And yet still God preserved the people, even though their foes were great. And finally, we see the Lord doing this in defiance of anxieties and death. Chapter 2, verse 30, look there, it says, Selah died childless. Chapter 2, verse 32, Jether died childless. And then chapter 2, verse 34, Shishan had no sons, only daughters. How will his line continue? It's an anxious moment. Are they going to make it? So what did he do? Well, he gave one of his daughters to an Egyptian slave. And the Lord preserved Judah with anxieties and death, staring them in the face all through an Egyptian slave. That's God's grace. The Lord did the same through someone like chapter three, verse 16, Jeconiah, the captive, you see that there. Judas King, who was taken into exile, God was merciful to sustain his people. Through him. So then, dear Christian. Will God not preserve you? Jude, verse 40, verse 24. Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling. Will God preserve you, O believer in Christ? Absolutely, he will. You can say and should say with the hymn writer, prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. But there's good news in these genealogies. You can't preserve yourself. That's true. Yet the Lord can. And he will. One writer said it this way. You are like a staff in the hand of a man. Take away the hand. What happens? The staff falls to the ground. Take away God's keeping mercy from your life. And you will crumble. Yet with him, you shall be held upright. How should you respond to such steadfast love from the Lord to keep you? How about be faithful yourself? Like chapter 2, verse 6, the sons of Zerah, 1 Kings 4, verse 31, they were wise men, ministering in Solomon's day, they were faithful. Or chapter 2, verse 20, Bezalel, who Exodus chapter 31 helped to build the tabernacle. Or chapter 3, verse 15, Josiah, who sought to order his life around God's word. strewn throughout our texts are faithful men and women who knew of God's preserving grace and responded with faithfulness. And we are meant to imitate them. We are meant to see the Lord holding the Davidic line with Galatians 4, 4 in the fullness of time, the promised King coming forth, all of which ensures that God will sustain us. Yes, even us. Despite all of our sin. Because he's a God of grace. See how David's family endures because of God's mercy. And know that believer in Christ, he will do the same for you. Have hope. Will hold you fast. Remember. God didn't send Christ to suffer and rise from the dead only to lose you. To things like sin. Oppression. Anxieties and death. He will keep you to the end no matter what. So then let his preserving grace compel you to faithfulness tonight. In fact, let it motivate you. To patience. Who was the last name mentioned in chapter three? Anani. Did the promised king come in his lifetime? No, it didn't. The Jews had to wait about 400 years for that. How long have you been waiting on God to give you relief? How long have you been waiting on the Lord to answer your request for something? I don't think it's been that long. Be patient, then. Follow the model of steadfastness among the faithful in these genealogies, pursue and apply wisdom, use your gifts or do your life around God's word. Let the reminder of God's faithfulness spur you to faithfulness yourself and wait upon the Lord. Why? Because clearly he is interested in you. Look at these genealogies. Look at God's promises. Look at the place he has pledged to take you. And look at his grace to save you and preserve you in Christ. May such truth humble us and stir us to hope and patience to wait upon the Lord. Let's pray. Our father in heaven, we thank you that Despite our sins, you show us grace and mercy. We pray that you would help us, though, to have a keen sense of our depravity, and that we would recognize that we need you, Lord Jesus, every hour. Every hour, we need you. We pray, O Father, that at the same time, you would strengthen us, strengthen us to remember your promises, to hold fast to them, to recall that you will keep us all of our days. You will take us home. As we wait upon you, we pray that you would help us to be faithful then. For we ask it in Jesus name and all of God's people said, amen.