Please turn with me and your Bibles to 1 Chronicles 6. We will begin reading in verse 16. 1 Chronicles 6, beginning in verse 16. The sons of Levi, Gershom, Kohath, and Merari, And these be the names of the sons of Gershom, Libni and Shimei. And the sons of Kohath were Amram and Izhar and Hebron and Uziel. The sons of Merari, Machli and Mushi. And these are the families of the Levites according to their fathers. Avgirsham, Libni his son, Jahath his son, Zimah his son, Joah his son, Edo his son, Zerah his son, Jeterai his son. the sons of Kohath, Amenadab his son, Korah his son, Asir his son, Elkanah his son, and Ebeoseph his son, and Asir his son, Tahath his son, Uriel his son, Uzziah his son, and Sheol his son. and the sons of Elkanah, Amassai and Ahima. As for Elkanah, the sons of Elkanah, Zophi his son, and Nathan his son, Eliab his son, Jeroham his son, Elkanah his son. And the sons of Samuel, the firstborn Vashni and Abiah, the sons of Merari, Mahli, Limni his son, Shimei his son, Uzzah his son, Shimei his son, Hagia his son, Esaiah his son. And these are they whom David set over the service of song in the house of the Lord, after that the ark had rest. And 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. And these are they that waited with their children. of the sons of the Kohathites, Haman a singer, the son of Joel, the son of Shemuel, the son of Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Eliel, the son of Toa, the son of Zuth, the son of Elkanah, the son of Mahah, the son of Amasai, the son of Elkanah, the son of Joel, the son of Azariah, the son of Zephaniah, the son of Taha, the son of Asir, the son of Abiasef, the son of Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohat, the son of Levi, the son of Israel. and his brother Asaph, who stood on his right hand. Even Asaph, the son of Barakiah, the son of Shimeah, the son of Michael, the son of Baaseah, the son of Melchiah, the son of Ethni, the son of Zerah, the son of Adiah, the son of Ethan, the son of Zima, the son of Shimei, the son of Jaha, the son of Gershom, the son of Levi. And their brethren, the sons of Merari, stood on the left hand. Ethan, the son of Kishi, the son of Abdi, the son of Maluk, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Amaziah, the son of Hilkiah, the son of Amzi, the son of Bani, the son of Shamer, the son of Mahli, the son of Mushi, the son of Merari, the son of Levi. Their brethren also the Levites were appointed unto all manner of service of the tabernacle of the house of God. But Aaron and his sons offered upon the altar of burnt offering and on the altar of incense, and were appointed for all the work of the place most holy, and to make an atonement according to all that Moses the servant of God had commanded. And these are the sons of Aaron, Eleazar his son, Phineas his son, Abishua his son, Buki his son, Uzzi his son, Zerahiah his son, Mariath his son, Amariah his son, Ahitub his son, Zadok his son, Ahimaaz his son. This is the Word of the Lord. Last time we were together, we were continuing our work on the importance of the genealogies in Scripture in a general way. And I tried to organize the material. There's a lot that could be said on that great topic, but I tried to organize our reflections along the lines of Genesis 3.15 and the genealogical interest that is introduced into the scripture at that point, and even its organization. we saw a focus upon that one seed of Eve, that great seed of Eve who would crush the head of the serpent, even while the serpent bruised his heel. And as we saw, one of the things that the genealogies do, perhaps the most important thing that the genealogies do, is help us to find the Messiah in the oceans of humanity. As we observed at that time, looking back, this is not as great a problem for us. The Messiah has been identified. But if you can imagine looking forward to the coming of the Messiah, as mankind multiplies, finding that one great seed of Eve could be quite a problem, but the funnel keeps getting narrowed. Humanity expands, but then say it narrows into the family of Noah and Shem after him. The Shemites multiply, but then it narrows into the family of Abraham. Messianic promise comes into the family of Judah. The Judahites or the Jews multiply. It narrows again into the family of David and so on. So this helps us to find Messiah in the sea of humanity. But Eve was also promised the believing seed after her, a people that shared her faith. And so this gave us an occasion to reflect upon the unity of the church through time. The church is multi-generational. We stand upon the shoulders of many generations. We are a people with a past. and that past matters, right? So we have the one seed and we have the multiple seed, as it were. And so we've tried to organize our reflections along those two interests. And that's not something we're just making up immediately. Moses in the book of Genesis shows that genealogical interest. You have the seed of the serpent, Genesis chapter 4, that's Cain's line up to the last few verses of chapter 4. And then from those last few verses through Genesis chapter 5, you have the interest in the seed of Eve, Seth's believing and godly line. And then what happens when they intermarry, the sad events that precipitate the flood and the near destruction of of humanity. So this genealogical interest is not our construction. This is an interest that the Bible shows right from the beginning, right from that very first preaching of the gospel in Genesis 3.15. But we could say more, and as we work our way through these genealogies, we no doubt will have occasions to back up and reflect on the general significance of Scripture genealogy. So for example, just to give you a personal reflection, when I was working my way through William Adersall's commentary on numbers, Oh, wow. which is a book that excels parchment. It ought to have been inscribed in marble. It's very rare today. Adersall was an old English Puritan. But when he was going through the census records, you might think of Numbers chapter two and so on, you get some names, the princes of the tribes, for example, but you get the numbers of the people. From the Western point of view, it can be pretty dry reading, but Addersoldra has such a sweet application. He says in the census records, we see that God knows the number of his people, and there are enough particular names given. Of course, not all of the names could be given because we're talking about Hundreds of thousands of people, not all the names could be given, but enough names are given to know that God not only knows the total number of his people, but he knows each, and he calls each by name. Such a rich, such a precious scripture truth coming out of records that sometimes we esteem to be dry. So at this point, we will leave behind our general considerations of biblical genealogies and we'll narrow our focus upon the functions of the genealogies in Chronicles. So, right from the very beginning, this will be our first function, the genealogies provide context for the chronicler's present generation. And it's really interesting that he provides the widest possible context, right? He begins with Adam. A couple of things to consider about that context, some facets of it, in one way we can walk through and we can look at the history of redemption. We can begin with Adam and the covenant of works, the first fall of man, the calling of the godly line out of the corrupt mass of humanity that's growing, the calling of the godly line to grace and salvation, Seth's line, as it were. So we can chart the history of redemption viewed from another perspective. We could say that it's also a history of the church. And the Chronicler is teaching a lesson that we have already seen, that the people of God have a past, and that past matters. What we will see in the genealogies is that there is a particular focus upon the people of God. That will really be the abiding focus. But it is interesting, too, that some of the surrounding people groups will be brought up. Some attention will be given to them because, of course, even though they are unbelieving people groups, they do have some relevance for the people of God. So with this in view, and we'll have a lot more to say very particularly about the genealogies and the context that is being presented for the Chronicler's own generation. We'll have a lot more to say about that, but as we go through, we're also going to be keeping an eye on the history of redemption and the history of the church. It's Matthew Henry's application. He says that these genealogies are still of use for the illustrating of the scripture story. And so we'll have an opportunity to kind of walk through the scripture story, considering redemption, considering the church, that is the application of redemption to the people of God down through the ages. So context is the first function. Looking a little bit more narrowly, we're going to see that the focus on the people of God, and that's what the genealogies do, is they're going to be sketching a genealogical succession of the people of God down through the ages. But I do want to note in particular that the northern tribes are not forgotten. So in this sense, the chronicler showing a vertical concern, the people of God through all ages, but he's also showing a lateral concern. Remember, let me give you something of the background history to help you understand. You remember going back to the 10th century BC, The one kingdom of Israel under David and Solomon was divided into two kingdoms. So you had the northern kingdom of Israel and you had the southern kingdom of Judah. In 727 BC, the northern kingdom of Israel, which was on its way toward apostasy almost from its very beginning, was carried away into captivity by Assyria. Assyrian captivity was really hard on those northern tribes because the Assyrians as an empire liked to amalgamate the conquered peoples. So they would take a conquered people and they would scatter them through their empire and then bring other people that had been conquered and settle them in that in that land. So Assyria is really a melting pot kind of idea. It's one of the reasons that the northern tribes are sometimes called the lost tribes of Israel. They're not altogether lost, but if you were a northern kingdom Israelite in captivity, it was much harder for you to maintain your distinctive national, ethnic, and religious identity. And a great many of those Northern Kingdom Jews really are just lost to history. Now later in 586, the Southern Kingdom of Judah would fall to the Babylonians. Babylonian captivity, however, had some benefits as over against the Syrian captivity. The Babylonians would deport you the way that the Assyrians would, but they would allow conquered people to settle together throughout the empire. So the Jews were able to form up throughout the empire Jewish communities, and that made it a lot easier. You are conquered people, that's That's not ideal, to say the least, but you had a better chance at maintaining your ethnic and your religious identity. In 538, after a generation of captivity, the Persians conquered the Babylonians, And the Persians give the Jews permission to go back to resettle the land, to rebuild Jerusalem, and to rebuild the temple. Now realize that that's a declaration that is largely taken up by southern kingdom Israelites in Babylonian captivity. So they go back and there's a strong emphasis upon the resettlement of the southern territories. A few northern kingdom Israelites made the journey back. But it's very interesting that the chronicler who is living during that time of restoration after Babylonian captivity has an eye. I mean, there is a very large focus upon Southern Kingdom Jews, because for the most part, that's who returns. So that's the history that's going to be primarily involved. But the chronicler doesn't lose sight of those northern tribes and the promises that had been made. As a matter of fact, that abiding focus upon the northern tribes, I think, shows you something of the chronicler's eschatological expectation. He is looking for the fulfillment of God's promises to those northern kingdom Israelites. Just to give you an example of of promises that might be in view, and this is just a specimen of what could be a great many. Jeremiah chapter 30 and verse 3, Jeremiah says this, for lo, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will bring again the captivity of my people, Israel and Judah, saith the Lord, and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it. So this is what the chronicler will have seen. He will have seen this promise fulfilled in large measure to the southern kingdom of Judah. But he would have seen comparatively little of the fulfillment of the promise to the northern kingdom of Israel. And by including them in the genealogies and including them in the history, it shows that he's still looking forward to the fulfillment of these promises. So we might say that we probably, as an author, have a southern kingdom Israelite. but he is a large-hearted one, one who has a heart for all of the people of God and is looking forward to a greater restoration than they had yet experienced. Just one very practical note about this, and you see the the practicality of these genealogies for the chronicler's own generation. Remember that genealogy was important for the inheritance of the land. As a Jew coming back from captivity, you didn't just have a right to whatever land. you had a family inheritance. That was true of Southern Kingdom Israelites. That's true of Northern Kingdom Israelites. So the tracing of your genealogy for inheritance and proper settlement had a great practical importance. So we've looked at context. We've considered the focus upon the people of God, including the Northern Kingdom. And now I wanted to focus upon Levitical genealogy and the Levitical office. Simple fact of the matter is that for priestly or Levitical office, genealogy was a necessary qualification. Turn with me to Ezra chapter 7 and allow me to demonstrate this. In the midst of the Chronicler's genealogies, we just read a bit from 1 Chronicles chapter 6, you have a lot of Levitical genealogy. To be ordained and installed as either a priest or a Levite required genealogical proof. So there were a number of qualifications for priestly or Levitical office. Some of those had to do with ritual purity, holiness, and cleanliness. Some of them had to do with moral holiness. But genealogy was also a necessary qualification. So look with me at Ezra chapter 7, verse 61. Ezra 7 is part genealogy, part census. Very interesting. But beginning in verse 61, we get this notice of those that had returned early on in the restoration. of the children of the priests, the children of Habiah, the children of Chaz, the children of Barzillai, which took a wife of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and was called after their name. These sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy, but they were not found, therefore were they as polluted put from the priesthood. And the Tershatha said unto them that they should not eat of the most holy things, till there stood up a priest with Urim and with Thumim. So it's very interesting. Here you get a record of some who believed that they had a claim upon priesthood, but because their genealogical record could not be established, they were actually not allowed to exercise the priestly office. So genealogy was a necessary qualification. The Turshatha is probably a reference to the governor, and the proclamation of the governor was that they ought not to be enrolled among the priests with priestly benefits until a priest with the Urim and Thummim arose. Jewish history, it's hard to know. This is so old, it's hard to know if this is accurate, but they record that the Urim and the Thumim actually never did end up restored, that they were lost with the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. But The Urim and the Thummim were ways that the priests could communicate directly with God. This might be another way of establishing whether or not the claims of these men upon the priesthood were legitimate, in spite of the fact that the genealogical records had been lost. So this would be another way of establishing the truth of the genealogical claim, even if you didn't have the records anymore. But hopefully my point is clear enough. Genealogy was a necessary qualification for office. So let me just back up and make an application that is, I think, important. When it comes to ecclesiastical office, and this really doesn't matter if it was Old Testament or New, what the people of God are endeavoring to do is discern the call of the Lord upon that person. It is our Lord Jesus Christ, the King in the head of the church, old and new, that calls men to ecclesiastical office. And so like I said, with respect to priestly or Levitical office, there were a number of qualifications, ritual and moral, but genealogy was one of those. And so what the community would do is they would look for those that had the marks of the Lord's call upon their life. And when the marks of that call were present, then such could be ordained and installed, right? It's not the community recognizing or inventing a call, as it were, but rather, they're not inventing the call or conjuring it or whatever, they're simply recognizing the marks of the call, abiding upon a person. Now we can back up, so we talk about ecclesiastical office, but we can talk about this even in a broader way, and it's one of the great achievements of Protestantism. Everyone has a call from God to particular work. It could be a family relationship. I'm called to be a father, called to be a son, and so on. It could be things we normally ascribe to vocation. So am I called to be a pastor, a teacher? Am I called to write, sing? Am I called to work on computers or cars or whatever? But the dynamics of the call and identifying the call are very much the same. We have an internal sense. There's the internal sense of the individual. But then there's the sense of the community. We have people constantly saying, acknowledging, and speaking to us about our gifts and our graces that suit us for particular kinds of work, and maybe even identifying weaknesses that show that we're really not suitable for other kinds of work, and so on, right? So the general dynamics concerning call and the discernment of the Lord's call upon somebody's life are very much the same for everyone. When it comes to ecclesiastical office, the Lord has shown very specific ones so that we can identify His call and make sure that the proper people, the people that bear the Lord's call, are inhabiting those offices as it were. This part of calling with respect to the church is much more well known than what we're getting ready to do next. But what we're going to find in the genealogies is that genealogy for the southern kingdom in particular was also a necessary qualification for kingship. The king was to be the son of David. And again, there's this general use that this royal genealogy, this Davidic genealogy, is going to help us locate the Messiah ultimately. And that's the reason that this particular kingship was generational in the way that it was. This is not an indication that that civil government always ought to be passed down from father to son. I think we have enough history to demonstrate that frequently this doesn't work very well. But here, the generational succession in the Davidic family had Christ as its end. So it had a special goal and target in view that wouldn't necessarily be reduplicated in other governments. But governmental offices do have their qualifications. And the role of the community is very much the same in discerning any call. Those general principles apply. But remember what we have already said. The Lord Jesus Christ is not just the king and head of his church. declaring the qualifications for those offices, but he is also the king with respect to the nations of the earth. He is king with respect to civil government, and he has declared qualifications for civil office as well. And it belongs to the community to discern the call to those civil offices as well. And it is possible for a community to try to install someone in those offices that does not have the call of the king to those offices. And so the person hazards running in that office without having been sent, as it were. Now, it's not my purpose this morning to get deeply into this, but the genealogy of the Davidic king just reminds us that civil government Civil governors have to be called by the Lord, too. They have to be called by the king, too, or they run without mandate. So just a sample of some of the general qualifications that have been given for civil office. In Exodus 18, verse 21, most of you will remember the scene. Jethro comes to Moses. Moses is undertaking to judge the people largely alone. It's exhausting to him and it's inconvenient for the people because they have to wait. Jethro proposes that other judges be added to Moses, but then their qualifications are declared. Exodus 18.21 Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men. such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness, and place such over them to be rulers of thousands and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties and rulers of tens. So since ultimately this is God's government, those civil officers are supposed to be implementing, as it were, God's government. And in order to do this, they have to be people that have a fear of God, that is, they have a sense that they're going to be living, acting, and ruling in the presence of God, that they are going to be accountable to God for what they do in those offices. And a large measure of what they're going to be doing is implementing justice. So they need to be men of truth. They have to hate covetousness, not be liable to bribes, and so on. Another text, this pertains very directly to the king. Deuteronomy 17, beginning in verse 18, the Scriptures say, And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests, the Levites. And it shall be with him, And he shall read therein all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them, that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel. So if I might, this is not substantially different than what we get about magistrates in the New Testament, Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2. Governors are supposed to implement the government of God. Another way of saying this is they're supposed to be conduits of the government of God to the people. And so as it's summarized in the New Testament, they are supposed to encourage those that are doing the right things, living ethically, morally, in a way that's pleasing and glorifying to God. And they're supposed to discourage evil doing and evil doers through punishment. Now, the person that would be best qualified to do that would be a fearer of God, who is a very close student of God's Word. So we need to have our senses exercised by the Scriptures, as James says, to discern the difference between good and evil, right and wrong, and so on. So he's going to be a person of the Word and have experience of his senses being thus exercised to know the difference between good and evil, to know what the Scriptures have to say about how to encourage well-doing. and even knowing what the scriptures say about how to punish evil doing, the right manner, mode, extent, and so on. The person will be most qualified for government who has the deepest seeded fear of God and is most heavily exercised in his word. And again, this is how a community identifies the call of God upon the life of somebody to civil government. But in America, don't we see a very different situation has shaped up? We have actually said that there will be no religious test when it comes to the holding of civil office. And don't we see the tension here? The Lord Jesus, the actual reigning king of this land, has said, nay, but there will be a civil test. He's to be a God-fearer and a close student of the Word. But then we have said there will be no civil test. If someone is not scripturally qualified, and we place them in that office, that doesn't mean that they're called by the king to that office, nor that he will recognize their inhabiting of that office as being legitimate and lawful. He won't. They're not qualified and they're not called. And when we do this over and over again, by the hundreds and by the thousands with respect to these officers, What can we expect except gross miscarriage in these offices where the offices ultimately cease to do what God has called them to do, which is to encourage those that are doing well unto his glory and to discourage those that would do evil. This is just an introduction to these issues, but isn't it an amazing thing that the sooner we're thumbing through the genealogies, the we at least have a preview to some of these great issues of life.