Well, brethren, if you would take your copy of God's Word and turn with me to First Chronicles, chapter one, and you can find it on page 334 in your pew Bible. As you make your way there, let me give you an introduction, if you will, to this book. In 1966, a strange, futuristic, cocky fellow with a flair for the dramatic uttered what are now culturally iconic words, space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. And you remember he concludes with the pinnacle of the mission, to boldly go where no man has gone before. Well, tonight we are going where not no man, but few churches have gone before. We're daring to preach and study arguably the most neglected book in the Old Testament, which probably means it's the most neglected book of all. Now, I know that in your Bibles there's 1st and 2nd Chronicles. It's really just one book. And this book has been neglected for a host of reasons. It appears, on the one hand, to repeat a lot of ground already covered in Samuel and Kings. Indeed, the Septuagint gave it the title, The Things Passed Over, which is a most unfortunate name. And it was moved from its spot at the end of the Hebrew Bible to right after Samuel and Kings, as though it's an appendix. It isn't. It's also neglected because it's loaded, mainly 1 Chronicles, with a bunch of lists. Priestly service lists, mighty men lists, military devotion lists, administrative lists, and then there's the list. The list of names. In this book, we encounter the queen of all biblical genealogies. Nine chapters long with over 900 names. I know you already turn up your noses at those short genealogies. Nine chapters? No way to endure that. This is the place where Bible reading plans come to die. And who can imagine then, sitting to hear it preached? Are we just going to be subjected to the constant reminder all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable? Well, yes, all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable. And in your lifetime, surely some sermons on the most neglected book and the most neglected part of the most neglected book will be useful to you. And yet we dare not approach this book like we're taking medicine. It tastes horrible, but somehow it's going to help. And brethren, there are real lessons to learn even in this genealogy. Indeed, there's something striking about the opening of the genealogy because it covers an enormous span of history. Now, there's a debate about when Chronicles was written, but at the end of chapter 3, it will take us to several generations after Zerubbabel. Do you remember Zerubbabel? He is the governor of Jerusalem as the exiles come back in 538 BC. He's in the line of David. And several generations after him puts us beyond the ministries of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Malachi to somewhere around 400 BC. What does that mean? What means the Book of Chronicles is the last book written in the Old Testament. In fact, in the Hebrew Bible, it is the last book. And it's a fitting conclusion as we focus on the promises given to David of a Messiah to come. Further, as we make our way into the Gospels, how does Matthew start? You ever thought about that? It starts with a genealogy. Matthew begins the New Testament, picking up in a sense where Chronicles leaves off. That genealogy sets us up to see the genealogical declaration of who Christ is. He's the son of Abraham, the son of David. He's in the line of Zerubbabel. Or as Luke will have it in Luke 3, he's the son of Adam, the son of God. You see, it chronicles the question for this beleaguered, oppressed, under the thumb of Persia people who are kingless. Where's the promise to David? Who are small? Where's the idea that the children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will be a blessing to the nations who have a tiny temple? Where's the notion of a new covenant promise with a great temple and a priest king reigning over all? The question is, where are God's promises? Who are we? The Chronicle therefore writes to root these people thousands of years beyond Adam. a thousand years after Abraham and what feels like an eternity past David and Solomon and the glory of their reign. He writes to tell them, you are the inheritors of the promises of God. You are God's people still looking to the enduring faithfulness to bring a faithful Davidic king who will reign over his people and bring in worshipers to the kingdom. Don't lose heart. Remember your identity. Well, brethren, that's a message we also need as the people of God. One of the most crucial truths for Christian living is our identity. We're sons of Adam, yet looking to the second Adam to save us, our Redeemer. We're sons of Abraham by faith. We are the inheritors of the promises made to David in a people called to be a royal priesthood. Chronicles, as it did for us first hearers, reminds us of who we are. And remember, as we move through this long genealogy, while it orients us to the ancestry of the Jews with a little glimmer of Gentile inclusion, we're getting a universal family tree. This is your history too, particularly in chapter one. Now, as I read these names and bring this really long introduction to a close, Many of the names would have been foreign to the first readers, too. But the way you read a genealogy is to catch the familiar names and to remember their stories. You remember God's faithfulness shown through the generations carrying on his purposes, even through unimportant people that we don't even know. Also remember how the fateful have embraced God's promises, and therefore we should embrace the goodness of God also, whose timing is always right in fulfilling His plan. Well, let's read this text and dive into the material. 1 Chronicles 1. Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah, Shem, Ham, Japheth, the sons of Japheth, Gomer, Magog, Madi, Javan, Tubal, Meshach, and Tyrus. the sons of Gomer, Ashkenaz, Rifath, and Togarmah, the sons of Javan, Elisha, Tarshish, Kittim, and Rodanim, the sons of Ham, Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan, the sons of Cush, Seba, Havilah, Sabta, Rahama, and Sabteca, the sons of Rahama, Sheba, and Dedan, Cush fathered Nimrod, he was the first on earth to be a mighty man. Egypt fathered Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, Pothrusim, Kasluhim, from whom the Philistines came, and Koftarim. Canaan fathered Sidon, his firstborn, and Heth. And the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, the Arvidites, the Zamorites, and the Homothites. The sons of Shem, Elam, Asher, Arpikshad, Ud, and Aram. The sons of Aram, Uz, Hol, Gether, and Meshech. Arpikshad fathered Selah, and Selah fathered Eber. To Eber were born two sons. The name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided, and his brother's name was Joktan. Joktan fathered Omoda, Shefla, Hazarmaveth, Jera, Hodarim, Uzal, Dichra, Obal, Abimael, Sheba, Ophir, Havalah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joctan. Shem, Arpichad, Shelah, Eber, Peleg, Reu, Sarug, Nahor, Terah, Abram, that is Abraham. The sons of Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael. These are their genealogies. The firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth and Kedar, Ad-Beel, Mibsam, Mishma, Duma, Masa, Hadad, Tima, Jetur, Naphish, and Kadama. These are the sons of Ishmael. The sons of Keturah, Abraham's concubine, Shebor, Zimran, Jokshan, Midan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. The sons of Jokshan, Sheba, and Dedan. The sons of Midian, Epha, Epher, Hanak, Abida, and Alda'ah. All these were the descendants of Keturah. Abraham fathered Isaac, the sons of Isaac, Esau and Israel, the sons of Esau, Eliphaz, Re'ul, Je'ush, Jelom, and Korah, the sons of Eliphaz, Timon, Omar, Zepho, Gittom, Kinaz, and of Timnah, Amalek. The sons of Ruel, Nahath, Zerah, Shemah, and Mitzah. The sons of Seir, Lotan, Shobal, Zebeon, Anah, Deshan, Ezer, and Deshan. The sons of Lotan, Hori, and Hemam. And Lotan's sister was Temna. The sons of Shobal, Olvan, Menahoth, Ebal, Shefo, and Onam. The sons of Zibion, Eaiah, and Anah. The son of Anah, Dishan. The sons of Dishan, Himdan, Ishban, Ithran, and Heran. The sons of Ezer, Bilhan, Zaavan, and Achan. The sons of Dishan, Uz, and Aran. These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the people of Israel. Belah son of Beor, the name of his city being Dehabah. Belah died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Basra reigned in his place. Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Timanites reigned in his place. Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the country of Moab, reigned in his place, the name of his city being Avith. Hadad died, and Samlah of Mazrecha reigned in his place. Samlah died, and Sha'ul of Rehoboth on the Euphrates reigned in his place. Sha'ul died, and Baal-hanan, the son of Achbor, reigned in his place. Belhanan died, and Hadad reigned in his place, the name of his city being Pei'ai, and his wife's name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab. And Hadad died. The chiefs of Edom were chiefs Temna, Olva, Jepheth, Aholibama, Elah, Penan, Kenaz, Teman, Mizbar, Magdiel, and Iram. These are the chiefs of Edom. These are the sons of Israel, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. Brethren, this is God's holy word. In the fall of 1982, on the grounds of the famous National Mall in Washington, D.C., there's a new monument dedicated, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. It's a black granite wall engraved with the names of folks who lost their lives in the Vietnam conflict, 58,318, far longer than our list. A side of that monument is a reminder of the horrors of war and the heroes of service. Well, Chronicles also starts in the throes of a spiritual war and those who have a special place in the redemptive purposes of God. Indeed, our section tonight really covers the whole book of Genesis, moving us quickly from creation fall to redemption and then outlining redemption in three particular ways. And we'll move to the text like this. First, I want you to see from Adam to Noah, from Adam to Noah, verses 1 to 4, where we have a testimony of wide grace. Now, the moment I say the name Adam, A flood of biblical history pours into our minds, as it would have with the discouraged Jews to whom the book was written. They're wrestling with their identity and purpose as a people. But God's man, the chronicler, immediately reminds them, and us, we are a people with roots. Now, in a sense, our root is rotten. For the Jews and we today share a common ancestry from a corrupt fountain. Adam, we know, was made upright. He received a covenant full of blessings, an untarnished environment with aesthetic beauty, tasty food, the gifts of work and marriage and Sabbath, and then the chief gift, communion with God. The Lord God walked with Adam and he promised life, so long as Adam didn't eat from the forbidden fruit. And yet, what did Adam do? Well, he broke God's covenant as our federal representative, and he plunged the entire human race into sin, misery, and death. In fact, it could have been the end of humanity. It would have made a short genealogy. Adam, oh yeah, we're done. No strict justice, in fact, would have demanded, wouldn't it? Swift destruction. But the just God, who will inflict death, also gave mercy. So while the image of God is tarnished, there is yet hope because of the Lord. How so? Well, the writer of Chronicles assumes you know the theme verse of the Bible. If I wake you up at two o'clock in the morning, you can tell me the theme verse of the Bible, right? Genesis 3.15, two lines, two spiritual lines coming from physical descent among Adam and Eve. One line is stuck in satanic bondage, the seed of the serpent, full of hostility. And the other line, by God's grace, is rescued from Satan's snare. Further, there's one particular seed of the woman who will crush Satan's head. So yes, while the fall through Adam beclouded all humanity with darkness and spoiled the pristine beauty of the entire world, because of God's grace, all is not lost. And while the Chronicler skips a saga, In a sense, evidencing this great spiritual war, where a son of the evil one Cain killed a child of grace, Abel, we do get the blessing of the son given in the place of Abel, Seth. Because through Seth, there's still hope of a Redeemer. Because Seth, not Cain, is the chosen one of God, the one who will carry forward the promise of God. Do you see, brethren, the electing love of God is evident from the very first verse of this book. Our God has a plan, and he's set his love on a people through Seth, and Satan can't spoil it. That has immediate application. Look at the greatness of God. It's true our adversary tried to squash God's promise before it could even get off the ground. In fact, Abel's slain body seemed to say victory for the devil. It would seem that a destroyed Jerusalem and then a rebuilt smaller Jerusalem under Persian rule might also say victory for the devil. But God's promise of grace goes forward here through Seth. Now Seth is a chosen man, he's a gift of God, but he doesn't escape the trouble brought to Adam's line. He's born in the likeness of his father, he's a sinner. In Genesis 5, from which the chronicler pulls the ten generations listed for us in verses 1 to 4, Genesis 5 spells out that trouble. It's probably the one genealogy you actually remember with the depressing refrain, and he died. And he died, and he died. But there were two interruptions of that depressing refrain. Enoch, listed here in verse 3, he walked with God and he was not, for God took him. In the line of the godly, there is hope through the intervention of God himself. There's hope of escaping death. The mere mention of Enoch's name brings this to mind, that trouble will not prevail over the people of God, those very ones who walk with God. Death, while present because of sin, will not have the last word. And then there's a second interruption, when Lamech called his son Noah. In Genesis 5, 29, we get this, out of the ground that the Lord has cursed, this one, speaking of Noah, shall bring us relief or rest from our work and from the painful toil of our hands. Noah's father Lamech looked at his son Noah as a means of deliverance, a path of comfort in a curse world. Perhaps there was a thought that maybe Noah is the coming deliverer. Maybe he would crush the serpent. Of course, he's not the coming redeemer, only a shadow of him. But Noah was a means of God's rescue from a curse. You remember Noah and his sons and all their wives are the only ones to get on a boat and to escape the flood. Makes you ask, doesn't it? Why Noah in his house? Well, the old book said the wickedness of man was so great that God's judgment would blot out mankind from the face of the earth. But Noah found literally grace in the eyes of the Lord. Now, when Noah gets off the boat in Genesis 8, we're reminded immediately when he makes a sacrifice that Noah and his sons are not any different than all the people who are under the waters dead. Noah and his sons also have hearts inclined to evil, but in the face of evil, God exercised His grace. The Lord saved a man and transformed. Well, brethren, that's the message for the chroniclers, hearers and for us. The devil is always seeking to spoil things, stirring up evil. Man is inclined to great wickedness and man constantly ignores the God of creation. Nevertheless, God keeps his promise. in spite of the folly of man. The Lord preserves a people, a chosen people, because he's pledged redemption. And in spite of all the horrors of sin and judgment, the dark clouds of difficulty will not obscure the sunshine of God's grace. Grace marches on as we read the genealogy. And that truth, that grace marches on, is a truth all the past generations could embrace. But it's a truth we can all embrace because God hasn't changed. You see, for Israel, though they're in dark days under Persian rule with, as their eyes can see, no hope of a Davidic king anytime soon. God's grace will not be thwarted. So the message is really simple. Look at the faithful God, trust Him, serve Him, and walk with Him. That's also a message that's true for you. We live in a day where the Western world has lost its mind. They are rejecting God's authority as Creator, God's design as to what we are biologically, God's Word, God's commands, and they scoff at Jesus. But we've got to remember the God who kept his word from Adam to Seth to Enoch to Noah will not fail us now. He's a God of expansive grace, grace to make man, grace to redeem sinners among fallen man, grace to preserve a line. What a God. Give him your devotion. And second, we see in this genealogy, we move now from Noah's sons to Abraham. We come to focus on some particular grace with one man. Now, brethren, as we progress through covenant history, we reach something of a humanity reboot after the flood with the three sons of Noah, Shem, Ham and Japheth. They're fruitful. They multiply. They populate the earth. And these sons and their descendants are listed here. youngest oldest, Japheth's sons 5 to 7, Ham's sons 8 to 16, and then Shem's son 17 to 27. Why the reversal of the birth order? Well, the Chronicler is following the pattern of Genesis 10 in the table of the nations they're listed. But the way the table of nations is given is kind of a save the best for last moment. The sons of Shem, the line through which first Abraham, then David, then Jesus comes, that's the line that God has specially favored. And we should again ask, why Shem? Why should he get to be the inheritors of the promises, the path of blessing? Because God chose him in love. This is Moses said to Israel in Deuteronomy 10. Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven, the heaven of heavens and the earth and all that is in it. Yet the Lord set his affection in love. He set his love on your forefathers. God has taken action in grace. And hasn't he done the same thing with those hearing the Chronicler's message? These Israelites under Persian rule are nothing in the eyes of the world. They are foolish, they are weak and they're despised. But guess who God said he was going to choose to shame those who think that they're strong and wise and honorable? The weak, the foolish, the despised. You're loved by God, blessed by God, recipients of the promise of God. And you need to remember that. Grace has been lavished on this people. Don't we need to remember that too? Indeed, as we move from Shem to Abram, we should see God's amazing grace. The information about Shem's line is actually given in Genesis twice. It's given before the Tower of Babel in the Table of Nations, that's Genesis 10. But then you might be inclined to think, after an event like the Tower of Babel, surely the Lord is just going to ditch humanity. All they want to do is make a name for themselves. They use the gift of one language for God-rejecting purposes. And yet right after the judgment, where the Lord confuses their languages, The genealogy of Shem, 10 generations from Shem to Abram, is recorded again. Interesting. Now that number 10 should be pondered. I should remind you immediately, these genealogies are not unstructured, thrown together collection of names. We have 10 generations from Adam to Noah, and then 10 generations from Shem to Abraham. So what? What's the significance of that? Well, the number 10, like the number 7, symbolizes completeness. And the sovereign God is bringing to completion His good purposes in the 10 generations prior to the flood, and then in the 10 generations after the flood. It reaches the height of His grace pre-flood with Noah, who finds grace in the eyes of the Lord, and then is the man through whom the people of God are preserved. And then we get to the 10th generation in Abram. Now, what grace can we recall with Abram? Well, you remember what the arrogant knuckleheads at Babel had as their aim? What was their stated intention in building their tower reaching to the heaven? Let us make a name for ourselves. They sound like 21st century Americans, don't they? And God thwarted their pompous plan. But then what does the Lord do with Abram? where he calls Abram from Ur of the Chaldeans. He gives him seven glorious promises. And guess what one of those promises is? I will make your name great. Isn't that amazing? man tries to lift himself up in greatness, God squashes them, and then He takes one by grace and He says, I'm going to make your name great. I'm going to take you, a nomad, a 75-year perpetual idolater, a man who hasn't even fathered a child, a geriatric for crying out loud, still tied to your father's house, it's a pretty humble depiction of Father Abraham, and I'm going to make your name great. Abram, I'm going to give you status, significance, a lasting spot as a leader in the hall of faith. God exalts Abram and humbles Babel and all those there. And what about Abram? Later, Abraham is so great. Well, two things at the very least. He will be the father of a multitude. Nations and kings will come from him. But more particularly, the promise of God of a coming redeemer flows through him. And then second, Abraham is great because Abraham serves as a father, not just to the Jews. He's the father of all those with faith. Abraham, as we know, is the prevailing biblical model for both Jews and Gentiles of taking God at his word. In hope against hope, he believed that God would give him a son. He believed God's promise about the land, though he never owned a speck of dirt in that land until he bought a field with a cave to bury his wife. He trusts God. Abraham is great by grace, and the Lord teaches him to trust the Lord over and over and over again to lift up his eyes to coming promises, and he therefore becomes the conduit of a blessing to the nations. Abraham is loved by God, and we who believe like Abraham did are also loved by God. Will we dare not forget it? No matter what troubles come against us in the present age, the Lord who was with Abraham will be with us, too. There's a couple of other things to see in this middle section with the sons of Noah. First, two names of the sons of Japheth should stir our thoughts. There's Magog, verse 5, and Tarshish, in verse 7. Magog is the famed land, likely in the region of the Black Sea, where the evil prince Gog lives with his hostility to God's people. really important story in Ezekiel 38 and 39 to the exiles. You can read all about it there of Gog of Magog. Gog of Magog represents all the evil of this world assaulting the people of God. It's a reminder to us that not all coming through Noah will trust God. Some will be tools of the devil. And yet not all the sons of Japheth are hostile because there's Tarshish, verse 7. Now Tarshish is a name that will come up five more times. in Chronicles. It is a coastal region where the people will bring tribute to David and Solomon as king. In fact, Psalm 7210 is quite striking. Solomon is prophesying of the coming Messiah and he says, May the kings of Tarshish and the coastlands render him, Messiah, tribute. What does that tell us? It says, Some Gentiles oppose God's coming king and hate the Lord and fight against him, but there are others who will hope in God, who will submit to Yahweh's king, and they will be foreigners who build up Jerusalem. So Shem is the favored line through Abraham, but God's grace won't be confined there. For Noah once prophesied, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem. But may God enlarge Japheth and let him dwell in the tents of Shem." In other words, there will be blessing to Gentile peoples through Shem. And brethren, can't we see that? We're a bunch of Gentiles paying tribute to a son of Shem, Jesus. The blessing of Abraham has come to us who believe in Jesus. But there's a second thing to notice in Ham's line. Ham was Noah's disobedient son, and his line through Canaan was cursed. Indeed, in Ham's line, we find all the typical enemies of Israel. Egypt, verse 8, Qasluhim, from whom the Philistines came, verse 12, and then all the Iths of Canaan. You remember the Iths, the Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, and so forth. However, as these enemies of God's people are mentioned, the chronicler is indicating through this genealogical record, God rules over them, too. The Lord, the giver of life, is sovereign over the destiny of nations. He's working his purpose through and even in spite of sometimes these hostile nations. He's even sovereign over specific hostile rulers, because we hear of the first great man or mighty man on the earth, verse 10, a guy named Nimrod. What a name. That's usually an insult, isn't it? You're such a Nimrod. Well, this title for Nimrod, mighty man, it can be good, David's mighty men, or it can indicate a tyrant like those oppressing God's people, kings of Babylon and Persia, Isaiah 49, 25. According to Genesis 10, The beginning of Nimrod's greatness was building a kingdom at Babel. Well, if this mighty man is founding Babel, what do you think he is? He's a mighty man in rebellion. But as Genesis shows us, even rebels like Nimrod can't thwart God's plan. Now, what a comfort that is to the Chronicler's audience. They have been assaulted as God's people, by one mighty man in their kingdoms after another, Sennacherib of Assyria, Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, Cyrus and Xerxes of Persia, and the Greeks and the Romans are on the horizon. And yet God's purpose will march on in spite of these tyrants. In fact, God will hold the mighty men of this world in His hands, and He will cause Cyrus of Persia to be the one who lets the Jews go back to Jerusalem. That's how Chronicles is going to close. So, brethren, in a world where powerful rulers are common and they lash out against God's people in various ways, our God governs the mighty. And he's going to bring an even mightier one to crush all foes and usher his people into a land of glory. We just need to trust him. Then finally, see in this genealogy, the movement from Abraham's sons to Israel. Now, just as the previous section mentioned three sons of Noah, starting at verse 28, we hear of three lines from Abraham. We have Isaac, written first, not because of birth priority, but due to God's promise through him. Then Ishmael, and then verse 32, the sons of Keturah, Abraham's concubine. The genealogical order takes Ishmael first, then the sons of Keturah, then Isaac. Again, it's a save the best for last approach, focusing on God's promise through Isaac. Let's ponder a couple of things. First, about Ishmael's line in the sons of Keturah. Now, we know that Ishmael, though he received the covenant sign of circumcision, he never loves the covenant God. To quote the angel of the Lord in Genesis 16, Ishmael is a wild donkey of a man. What a weird way to describe somebody. He hates everyone. He lashes out against you. That's the idea. And nevertheless, the Lord still promised to take this rebel son of Abraham through Hagar and multiply Abraham's offspring. Abraham would be the father of many nations through Ishmael. So as we read right here the genealogy of generations after Ishmael, the message is screaming to us. God is keeping His word. God said He would multiply Abraham through Ishmael, and He's doing it. And that multiplication is further evidenced in the sons Abraham had through Keturah. For these became nations in the east. Now, the most famous of these nations, at least to us, is Midian. You remember the Midianites, a people who were a scourge to Israel. They're the ones who buy Joseph as a slave and then sell him to Ishmaelites in Genesis 37. They're the ones who lead Israel into the worship of Baal at Peor, Numbers 25. They're the ones who attack Israel, and God raises up Gideon to rescue them. But then even among the Midianites, God can pluck a bran from the burning. Do you remember Moses went to Midian and there was a priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law, Jethro, and he will come to praise Yahweh in view of God's deliverance of his people. God can rescue even Midianites. Yet despite those little glimmers of grace among Abraham's children, those who never embraced the promise of God, generally speaking, the genealogy here puts a spotlight on Isaac and Isaac's children, Esau and Israel. It's interesting in this record, Jacob is never called Jacob here, just Israel. It happens twice, verse 34 in chapter 2, verse 1. Why is that? Well, the name Israel is like a neon sign blinking, grace, grace. Jacob, you remember, was a self-centered manipulator, who even after the Lord appeared to him in Genesis 28, he still didn't devote himself to God. And it took that crisis with Esau, the brother from whom he stole the blessing, coming with 400 men, like he might kill me, to finally show Jacob, I'm weak, I can't think myself out of this situation. And he finally humbles himself, and he seeks the Lord, he wrestles in prayer, and God changes him. He gives him a new heart, he makes him a new man with a new name, Israel. And that name comes to represent not just Jacob, but the descendants of Jacob. Israel is a nation. This is an identity statement. Who are you, your chronicler is saying, who are listening to God's word, who are looking to God's promises, who are waiting on God's Savior? You are a people to whom God has shown grace. You're the Israel of God. You're the inheritors of promises, a people with a pedigree. The Lord has blessed you in hard situations. Keep trusting. But then back to the list. Once Israel is mentioned, verse 34, we have this interlude focusing on Esau's line. The recognizable national highlights are on enemies of Israel, two jump out, Amalek, end of verse 36, and the sons of Seir, it's the capital city of Edom. And then Edom's kings and chiefs are listed. Why give us all this detail about Esau's line when he's rejected? Didn't Malachi just proclaim a few weeks back, a few years back, Jacob, I loved Esau, I hate it. Well, two comments are in order. But then this is a sobering reminder that not all the sons of Abraham are the true people of God. Or as it will be stated later, not all Israel are Israel. The history reminds us and it reminds those in the chronicles days don't presume on God's grace by mere physical descent. You have to seek the Lord. Jesus tells the Pharisees, don't say to me you're the sons of Abraham. God can raise up the sons of Abraham from these stones. You must believe. You must embrace the promises of God. You've got to add to your privileges sincere faith. Well, we need to hear that message too. Don't think because you're here on a Sunday night service listening to the book of Chronicles, for crying out loud, that you therefore automatically get to go to heaven. No, you have to embrace the God who's making promises. You might have heard these promises reverberating in your ears from the day you are born, but that does not mean I'm good spiritually. No, you have to believe in God's Messiah. Put your trust in the greater David. Repent and turn or you will be lost. Because you can have Father Abraham as your granddaddy, like Esau did, and you can go to hell. That raises something else interesting about this genealogy. Did you hear it in the list of the kings of Edom, a familiar refrain? Verse 44, Belah died. Verse 45, Jobab died. Verse 46, Husham died. And on we go with death, death, death, death. Does that sound familiar? It should sound like Genesis 5. He died, he died, he died. Only here, there is no escaping death, like with Enoch. And there's no declaration of a child in whom there might be rest. Noah, Edom's line is a list of dead kings with no hope, because there's no hope for those who, despite their privileges, never turn to the Lord in faith. Having a family with roots is not enough. There has to be trust in the God of promise. But then as we wrap up, look at the pattern coming back to the promise line. The summary of the book of Genesis concludes as we pick up with Israel and his 12 sons, the start of chapter 2. Now, the rest of this genealogy in Chronicles is going to tell the story of the sons of Jacob and their descendants. For now, the mere mention of these guys is a reminder of distinctive grace. Israel and his sons received blessings that Esau and his sons do not. And one cannot look at Jacob and his children and think, These are the upstanding people. They are awful. The fact that there are 12 of them is because it came through four women. This is a mess of a situation, and yet still God is gracious to this people. But the big question persists, and I leave you with this. Will the sons of Israel serve the Lord? The Chronicler is telling you, children of Israel, you are blessed. You're a people with identity roots. But will you cling to your identity? Will you embrace the promises and live for the Redeemer to come? Because it's the only way of hope. Set your eyes on the promises. Brethren, this genealogy is a rehearsal of the grace of God. Grace we're prone to forget. Remember the God of grace, remember his faithfulness and keep trusting him. May God help us to do so, let's pray together. Oh, Lord, our God, we marvel at your hand of mercy at work through the line of only a sinful people. And how you do pluck brands from the burning, how you set your affection on certain ones who are no better than the rest, where this is all a testimony to your grace and you are a God of glorious promises. May we see your faithfulness and praise you for it. For we ask it in Jesus's name and all of God's people said, Amen.