Please turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Chronicles chapter 1, beginning in verse 1. After a rather lengthy apology, a defense for the seasonableness of a sermon series through the books of the Chronicles, we come now to the main event, the text of Chronicles itself. First Chronicles chapter 1, beginning in verse 1. Adam, Sheth, Enosh, Cainan, Mahaliel, Jared, Hinnok, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The sons of Japheth, Gomer, and Magog, and Madi, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshach, and Tiras, and the sons of Gomer, Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah, and the sons of Javan, Elisha, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. the sons of Ham, Cush and Mitzrayim, Put and Canaan, and the sons of Cush, Seba and Havala, and Sabta and Ra'ama and Sabteca, and the sons of Ra'ama, Sheba and Dedan. And Cush begat Nimrod. He began to be mighty upon the earth. And Mitzrayim begat Ludim, and Animim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim, and Pathrusim, and Kasluhim, of whom came the Philistines, and Kaphdurim, And Canaan begot Zidon his firstborn, and Heth, the Jebusites also, and the Amorite, and the Girgashite, and the Hivite, and the Archite, and the Sinite, and the Arvidite, and the Zemorite, and the Hamathite. the sons of Shem, Elam, and Ashur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram, and Uz, and Hul, and Githur, and Meshach. And Arphaxad begat Shelah, and Shelah begat Eber. and unto Eber were born two sons. The name of the one was Peleg, because in his days the earth was divided, and his brother's name was Jokdan. And Jokdan begat Olmodad, and Sheleph, and Hazirmaveth, and Jera, Haduram also, and Uzal, and Diklah, and Ebal, and Bimael, and Sheba. and Ophir and Havilah and Jobab. All these were the sons of Jokdan. Shem, Arphaxad, Shelah, Eber, Peleg, Reu, Sarag, Nahor, Terah, Abram. The same is Abraham. If you can imagine a Christian, perhaps he or she has adopted a one-year plan for the study of the scriptures. Our Christian has just been working their way through the historical books of the Old Testament, just read through the books of Kings. And now they come to the telling of the same history, but the history is prefaced with nine solid chapters of genealogy, very much along the lines of what we just read. We really only read half a chapter. This is certainly one of the great hindrances to the study of the books of Chronicles. Probably goes a long way to explain the neglect of the study of the Chronicles, especially in the Western world. Genealogy? we really just don't get it. And it's hard for us to understand. You've got this long list of unpronounceable names. And many of the things that drive genealogical interest are just not things that we share in the Western world. But as Christian people, we are immediately reminded, this is the word of God. The Holy Spirit can say anything that He is pleased to say, and yet He has been pleased to give us this record of these names. Everywhere in Scripture we are called disciples. We are students. We are learners. And so since our great teacher has been pleased to speak these things, to teach these things, to inculcate these things, at the very least, we need to ask the question, why are they here? What is the purpose or what are the purposes of these biblical genealogies? And immediately, this raises two questions. They are involved with one another, but I want to just separate them out. But they can be distinguished. So we might ask the most immediate question, which is, how do these genealogies function in the books of Chronicles? So this is a very narrow and specific focus upon particular genealogies. But we are able to back up from that question and ask the question, how do genealogies function in the Bible in general? Because the genealogical interest is not unique to the chronicler. It comes up over and over again. And so I thought I would start our study with this second question. Why are the genealogies so important? Why are they so important that the Spirit of God, I know that the Bible can seem like a large book, but all things considered, it's a limited number of words. Why would he spend words, and so many words, communicating genealogical lists? Today I wanted to just look at one particular use of the genealogies, and I think in all fairness it is probably the most important use. We'll talk about some others in subsequent sermons, but first of all, in the ocean of humanity, the biblical genealogies help us to locate the Christ. I said that this is the most important use, and I think that that idea is defensible if Christ is indeed the great object of redemptive revelation. And he is. Turn with me in your Bibles to John chapter 5. Turn with me to John chapter 5. We will begin reading in verse 39. This is early on in our Savior's conflict with the religious leaders of Israel. At this point in time, their opposition to Him has not united or galvanized. It's speeches such as these that are going to occasion the unification of their opposition and give it a more hostile character. So we pick up something mid-discussion. Pick up with verse 39. Jesus says this, search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me." So Jesus sends them to the searching of the scriptures. This probably was galling exhortation to them. They would esteem themselves to be great Bible experts and yet Jesus sends them back to their studies. Now he says and grants to them in the scriptures you think that you find eternal life and that's true but those scriptures testify of an eternal life that is to be found in me." That is a striking and a bold statement. And keep in mind, when Jesus references the Scriptures in John chapter 5, there is no New Testament Scripture at this point. Jesus is talking about what we would call the Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible. So he sends them to the Hebrew Bible as Jews to search the scriptures and he makes the bold, and if we're not prepared for it, startling claim that the scriptures were bearing testimony to him and ultimately that the eternal life that they desire was to be found in him and only in him. We see that in verse 40. and ye will not come to me that ye might have life." Again, if you're not prepared for that, that's pretty provocative, right? Jesus is teaching that the scriptures testify concerning him and that eternal life is to be found in him. And we go on, verse 41. I receive not honor from men. But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you. I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not. If another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. How can ye believe which receive honor one of another, and seek not the honor that cometh from God only? Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me. For Moses wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words? It's not easy to determine If this idea was already present in Judaism, maybe it was. It doesn't seem to be very strong or prominent in the New Testament, even as the New Testament reflects upon the religious adversaries of Jesus and the apostles. But an idea would develop ultimately that that Moses was the prophet par excellence, and his inspiration was of the very highest degree. With respect to Protestant theology, we just say inspiration is inspiration. There are not degrees of it. But in later Jewish theology, and how much of this might have been present in the time of the New Testament, as I said, is uncertain. But in terms of later Jewish theology, the idea arose that Moses, had the highest degree of inspiration. The prophets, so that would be the former and the latter prophets as the Jews categorized them, would have a secondary form of revelation and the writings would actually have a tertiary degree of revelation. So if some of this is already at work, This makes this all the more pointed, but nevertheless, all concede that Moses and the Pentateuch is something of the fountainhead of redemptive revelation as inscripturated. So Moses is peculiarly important. I wouldn't say that he's more important or like he has a higher degree of revelation than, say, Isaiah, but he is certainly prior both in times and he lays a foundation upon which Isaiah builds. They would fancy themselves to be disciples and good disciples of Moses. And so Jesus, beginning in verse 45, says to them, On the last day, don't imagine that I'm going to arise and accuse you before the Father. Moses is going to do so." No doubt this captured their attention. And then he makes the bold assertion, if you had believed Moses, you would believe me, because Moses was writing about me. Striking, right? Now this would be more than we could do or maybe even should try to do in this particular sermon. So Jesus is saying that the Old Testament Scripture is bearing testimony to Him and the salvation that He would bring. It becomes clear in other texts that this testimony of the Old Testament to Jesus, it's not just in a few prophetic passages about the coming of the Messiah, but it's comprehensive in the sense that one way or another, all of the scriptures are related to the Christ to come. One way or another, they're all bearing witness to him. And that would include the genealogies. So if you want to do some further study concerning the teaching of Christ himself, you might want to begin with Luke chapter 24, verses 44 through 47. If you want to see how Peter teaches it, you might want to look at 1 Peter chapter 1, verses 10 and 11. If you want to look at how Paul teaches it, you might look at 1 Corinthians 15, verses 3 and 4, or the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 17, verses 1 through 4. But they summarize the teaching of the Old Testament Scripture all in very much the same way, and all pertaining to the Christ. So we could use various terms. Some have talked about scriptural revelation as being Christocentric or Christ-centered. That's a very useful word. Some have used the term Christotelic. that all of the scripture is driving toward Christ as its completion, its consummation, its end, all useful perspectives on this. But at the end of the day, Jesus himself and his redemption, this is the great object of Revelation and not just the New Testament, the Old Testament as well. So now when we think about genealogy in particular, and the role that it plays in identifying the Christ, we need to understand that as humanity multiplies, without direction, it will be harder and harder to identify and find him. So let's begin at the beginning and start to work our way forward. Justifying the teaching of Messiah, no sooner is mankind fallen than Moses begins to talk about the God-man, the Christ, to come. So turn with me to Genesis chapter 3, beginning in verse 15. This is sometimes called the Proto-Ewangelium, the first preaching of the gospel. Adam and Eve have the privilege of overhearing the denunciation of judgment against the serpent. And in that judgment upon the serpent, they also hear the hope of their own redemption. Genesis 3.15, very famous words, And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. I think already you begin to see, I think you start to see how even this very first promise is going to stimulate a lot of interest in genealogy. As part of redemption, recognize that in the fall, in a certain sort of way, Adam and Eve have allied themselves to the evil one. And God promises that he himself will not allow that alliance to stand. He's going to break that alliance and establish an enmity first between the serpent and the woman, right? So Eve has allied herself with the evil one. God says that's not going to be the end of the matter. He's going to break that alliance and establish an enmity between the serpent and the woman, and not just between the two of them. Now understand that all of the biological children are going to be Eve's children, but spiritually some of her children are going to look like the evil one, thus the seed of the serpent. But some of them are going to look like their mother spiritually. There's going to be a spiritual kinship. They're going to imitate their mother's faith, as it were. So you have a seed of the serpent, and you've got the seed of the woman. But then there is one that is promised in particular that's going to bruise the head of the serpent, crush and destroy his head, his plans, and his purposes, even while he himself would receive a wounding. Now, I remember being in my undergraduate studies and being challenged by a liberal professor that there wasn't one word here about Jesus or a devil of any kind. I would encourage you, I think Christians instinctively see Christ and the devil here, probably by virtue of long training. And I'm only going to do a snapshot, but I think the more context you consider, the better this is going to be. But the Apostle John in 1 John 3 interprets this passage. He reflects upon it and he interprets it. And his reason for reflecting upon it is that this ancient enmity in John's time, more than 4000 years old, is still lively. That the seed of the woman, God's believing children, are still going to experience the hatred of the world, the seed of the serpent. And that this is not only going to be true in John's time, but it's going to be true to the end of the world. And so he tells us not to marvel. when the world hates us, right? Also other things that, you know, the language of seed and offspring appear throughout the passage, very much as in John chapter three, there's reflection on Cain and Abel and the enmity that was between them. And in the midst of this, in 1 John 3.8, he gives us a very direct exposition of Genesis 3.15. So what is done in prophetic and somewhat cryptic language in Genesis 3.15 is given to us expressly in 1 John 3.8. So John says, He that commiteth sin is of the devil. So you see the spiritual kinship? For the devil sinneth from the beginning. That tells us something of where John's mind is, right? His mind is in the beginning and the sin that was from the beginning. And then you get the exposition, for this purpose, the son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil. So the seed of the woman is here expressly identified as the Son of God. Serpent. the devil. And what it means to crush his head is to destroy his works. And then, although it's not mentioned here, the bruising of his heel is evident that it would be in the midst of suffering that he would win his great victory. So we really begin our journey in a lot of ways with Eve. And this Genesis 3.15 promise immediately makes itself evident in her children. Because as we will learn, and as John teaches us in 1 John 3, Cain is of the wicked one. But Abel, he's the seed of his mother spiritually. He shares Mama Eve's faith. But then the enmity erupts. Cain hates Abel simply because his brother's deeds are righteous and his own deeds are evil, right? But then what happens? Cain kills Abel. But then the promise is going to end up passing to yet another son, Seth. So Cain is passed over for Abel with respect to promise. So again, they're all her biological children. but messianic promise is going to begin to run through family lines. So the New Testament will frequently talk about the children of promise. You had biological children, but then you had the children of the promise. And so with respect to Seth, and you might want to flip back in your Bibles with me to Genesis. We're going to look at Genesis chapter four, beginning in verse 25. And Adam knew his wife again, and she bare a son, and called his name Seth. For God, said he, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. So Seth, in Hebrew, Sheit, his His name is derived from the Hebrew verb to put, here translated as appointed. Basically, his name means replacement, to be put in the place of. He's a replacement. So the promise, as it were, had passed into Abel's line, not into Cain's. But then Abel is cut off and a replacement is provided in Seth. And the promise goes into Seth's line. And if you doubt this, what you get immediately in Genesis is the genealogical interest. For most of Genesis chapter 4, Cain's wicked line is followed. This is something of the history of the seed of the serpent. and his wicked line is followed a little bit at the end of chapter four and through chapter five the godly line of Seth is followed and interestingly enough captured in our genealogy that we we read previously from First Chronicles so that the promise is passed into the line of Seth but remember part of what we're trying to do is we're trying to locate Messiah And a problem is immediately introduced. The seed of Seth begins to proliferate. One particular line is traced very consistently by Moses. But if you can imagine, barring accident or injury, the patriarchs tended to live a very long time. So you have children being born, but the death rates not being commensurate. When the flood comes, you could have many, many millions of people maybe a billion. It's hard to say with anything like accuracy, but the potential for many, many people is clear. And so as Seth's family spreads, as it were, Suddenly there is a narrowing through God's own judgment. Remember that the line of Seth ends up intermarrying with the line of Cain and it leads to almost the universal ruin of religion in the world. But the promise comes very clearly for us into the family of Noah. It has to be that way. His family is the last family. As we know from the biblical history, Noah has three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and it becomes tolerably clear that the promise passes into the family of Shem. it would be more time than what we can spend at the present to look at Genesis 9 and how this bears it out. But in some ways we don't need the detailed work. We can actually end up putting the pieces together based upon what happens later. Because very much as it was after Seth with the proliferation of the family, the same thing happens to the family of Shem or the Shemites. This terminology continues to the present day, that H has disappeared, and we simply call them the Semitic peoples, but these are the descendants of Shem. The family of Shem begins to multiply, the seed of Shem proliferates, and the danger of losing the Messianic line grows again. until God narrows it in Abraham and the promises come into Abraham's family. There's a lot that is said and a lot that is promised to Abraham, but just by way of summary view, it is said to Abraham that he's going to be the father of many nations, so a multiplicity of offspring are going to belong to him. But interestingly enough, although he will be the father of many nations, there's going to be one particular covenanted nation, the nation of promise. And these nations are going to have their kings, so he's going to be the father of many kings, but there's going to be one covenanted king. And the nation as a whole, particularly through that king, is going to become a blessing to the entire world. You might want to look at Genesis chapter 12, 17, and compare it to what we're getting ready to do in Genesis 49 in just a moment. But the messianic promise comes into the family of Abraham. But then we're told It's not going to be Ishmael, nor Abraham's later sons with Keturah. Isaac is the child of promise, and the messianic promise passes into his family. Isaac and Rebecca have two, you can see this in Romans chapter 9, but the promise is not going to go into the family of Esau, but into the family of Jacob or Israel. So the messianic promise is now in the family of Jacob. Jacob has 12 sons which are all going to be part of the visible church, the first that covenanted family and later that covenanted nation. But the promise passes into his family, he has 12 sons, but specifically the messianic prophecy and promise passes into the family of Judah, his fourth born. So turn with me to Genesis chapter 49. We'll begin looking at verse 9. These are aged Jacob's prophetic blessings of his sons. Most of them are blessings, not all of them, but all of them are prophetic. So prophetic blessings is a reasonably accurate description of the whole. Look with me beginning at verse 9. Judah is a lion's whelp. From the prey, my son, thou art gone up. He stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion. Who shall rouse him up? cryptic and difficult language, but that our Jesus is very much in view is not left in doubt in the book of Revelation. Jesus is, hopefully not surprisingly to us, called the Lion of the tribe of Judah. But the prophecy goes on, verse 10, The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come, and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. So here we have the promise of royalty coming into the family of Judah, scepter and lawgiver, And this reference to Shiloh, again, I would love to spend a tremendous amount of time on the Shiloh prophecy and what this title indicates. But rather than doing that, by both Jews and Christians throughout interpretive history, this has always been identified as messianic. So basically, government is going to continue in the tribe of Judah until Messiah makes his appearance, and then to him shall the gathering of the people be. Interesting. Could this be the indication that not just not just Israel, but the peoples of the earth, that he is the one that's being identified as the conduit of blessing for all nations. But at any rate, I think just taking what we have on the surface, we see the messianic prophecy coming down into the family of Judah. But now, as it was with the families of Seth and Shem, the family of Judah begins to multiply until the the Messianic promise comes into the family of David. Now this is so famous and so well known, I don't think we have to do any detailed work, but it's sometimes called the Covenant of Royalty. The promises that had pertained to Judah with respect to government in a general way are going to be manifested in the Covenant of Royalty. So you can look at 2 Samuel 7 and Psalm 89 and so on. I might just make a quick note on Chronicles. In the Old Testament, the Chronicles and their genealogies are very important because He's going to trace the royal line further than what you get in other places. So the Davidic family is going to be traced further than what you have in other places in the Old Testament. And of course, that's important for us because we need the tools to find Messiah. But this would be of great practical importance for the restoration community, that Jewish community that had come back from Babylonian exile, because they need to know who has the rightful claim to the Davidic throne and government. And so interestingly enough, Messiah will frequently be referred to when you get to the New Testament times as the son of David. So as the families, we've seen it time and time again, as the families have spread and the seed has proliferated, God has narrowed it time and time again to help us so that we can find Messiah. Now just a quick note, it's not just genealogy that helps us in this way. God will provide other markers to help us triangulate the Messiah, if you will. So we will be told, for example, where he will be born. Micah 5, that it's going to be in Bethlehem of Judah. Interestingly enough, Bethlehem of David. We're even given some notion of when. There's a general reference to it that we have already seen in Genesis chapter 49. that his appearance will be before the passing of government out of the hands of Judah or out of the hands of the Jews. And if you think about what ends up actually happening, that Jesus makes his appearance about one generation before the fall of Jerusalem and Palestine to the Romans. in 70 AD. So some semblance of government among the Jews, even under the domination of the Grecians and the Romans and so on, some semblance of government was able to be kept up until that time, until Shiloh came. and then after him it was taken away. But you can also turn to Daniel chapter 9 and the prophecy of the 70 weeks of years, the 490 years. However you begin that, it's going to take you about to the time of Jesus. And so you start to understand why there was such great messianic expectation in his time as well. So you've got a genealogical line, we've got a time frame, and we've got a place. And then we've also got further descriptions to help us find him, we're told some where about his work, we are told the what of his work, some of the things that he would do. If you remember when John's disciples came with questions about whether or not he's Messiah, he gave the Old Testament prophecies concerning the character of his work, the miracles that he would perform, and so on. So all of these things are given to help us find who is the child that had been promised to Eve. And it's none other than our Jesus, the son of David, and peculiarly, interestingly enough, the seed of the woman. apart from the man. So you might think about how it's very interesting that from Genesis 3 he was identified as the seed of the woman. an aspect of that that really doesn't get additional elaboration until Isaiah 7, when it was promised that he would be the child of a virgin. And then that is exactly what we end up finding in the gospel histories. So turn with me one final text. Let's look at Matthew chapter one, beginning in verse one. The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham begat Isaac, and Isaac begat Jacob, and so on. So, a couple of things about how Matthew does this, and he makes the proof and the demonstration very short and very tidy by pointing to some of the most principal personages in the genealogical tree. Jesus Christ is the son of David, the son of Abraham. And if you look again at the tail end of the genealogy, pick up with me at verse 16. And Jacob begat Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called the Christ. And again, look at the structuring and patterning of the genealogy. to make the proof in the demonstration very clear. So all the generations from Abraham to David are 14 generations. And from David until the carrying away into Babylon are 14 generations. So that would be the time of the kings. And from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are 14 generations. Now interestingly enough, the 14, 14, 14, those numbers don't appear to be an exhaustive listing of the generations. This is a genealogy that appears to have been purposefully patterned with some generations omitted for a more direct and memorable proof concerning the identity of Jesus Christ. And it's really interesting too, one of the great difficulties would have been, like following the genealogy from David to the Babylonian captivity, the era of the kings would be easy, but from the Davidic line from the Babylonian captivity until Christ, difficult. But he has tied all of this together in a very tidy package for us. and presents a genealogical proof that that Jesus with respect to genealogy has a legitimate claim and when you begin to add the other markers the only possible claim. So part of what genealogies do is they point to our Jesus in their way. So tie this back with everything that we've done I've tried to present a very brief case that all of the scriptures, all of the Old Testament, ultimately is about Jesus. And the genealogies have their relationship and their role with regard to him. And one of the things that they do, a necessary and important service for us, is help us to identify him in the ocean of humanity. So if I could bring just one point of very brief application. But although briefly stated, I hope that we will meditate long upon it. Behold God's Messiah and Saving Christ. He is being presented to your view. He is identified and He shows Himself rich in bringing salvific gifts. Let us believe upon Him to the saving of the soul.