Judah conquered - Hope in the End - 2 Kings 25
1. Text summary
Babylon conquers Jerusalem, kills King Zedekiah's sons, and blinds and deports him. The city is razed, the best stuff carted off. The city's leadership is executed. Gedaliah is appointed governor, but a member of the royal house assassinates him with months. Everybody hightails it for Egypt, for protection.
37 years later, King Jehoiachin of Judah, in captivity in Babylon, is exalted from prisoner to eating at the king's table with a healthy daily allowance.
2. Jesus
Jesus will cut down kings and kingdoms that rail against Him, as Judah did.
3. Application
a. Again, catastrophic consequences.
b. We fight against them, anyway, as they killed Gedaliah. Don't let a smaller interest (taking down Gedaliah, when you deserved the throne), disrupt more people.
c. Going to Egypt for protection was a fool's errand. Jeremiah told them so, but they didn't listen. Their spiritual blindness left them nowhere to turn.
d. 2 Kings is a dark book, but it ends with a ray of hope. The Judean line of kings is alive and well in Babylon. Perhaps God's line of promise isn't snuffed out competely, after all.
The Line of Promise - 1 Chronicles 1
1. Text summary
Written for the returning exiles, the intent was to connect Israel's past with its present. Many of the names at the end of the genealogies are obscure to us, but they were alive or known to the reader, then.
From Adam to Abraham.
Enoch was 7th. Noah 10th.
Canaan came from Ham.
Abraham came from Shem.
Ishmael and Isaac.
Midianites came from Ishmael.
Edomites and Amalekites came from Esau.
2. Jesus
Jesus is the promised one in the line of Abraham and Isaac. There are many other peoples apart and opposed to Him.
3. Application
a. There really are specially faithful or blessed people among God's people: Enoch, Noah, Abraham. God brings unique events upon them. But in a way that we can learn from their response for our own lives.
b. God in His Word does not intend to castigate and write off all Edomites, Midianites, etc. Some came out of them and to the Lord. The Matthew geneology makes that plain. Ruth, Rahab, Uriah, etc. This is you, if you lived in rebellion against God for a time, then came to the Lord in faith. All the nations will follow!
Jacob to David - 1 Chronicles 2
1. Text summary
From Jacob's 12 sons, through Tamar, to David and his family.
Caleb's descendants, and Hur's.
2. Jesus
Jesus is the father of many unknown, faithful people.
3. Application
a. There are many unknown saints of God who lived lives in obscurity to history. Most of us are in this boat: unknown to the world, but known to God, which is what really counts.
David and Solomon's Line - 1 Chronicles 3
1. Text summary
The sons of David. This follows the royal line down through the exile and the return to Israel.
2. Jesus
Jesus' line continues, as God promised David, even through the conquest.
3. Application
a. God's people should realize that even in times when they are subjugated to pagan powers, God promises they will prevail in the end. Jesus will make it so.
b. Even Christ's own people will do wicked and awful things. Amnon with Tamar. Solomon with foreign women.
Judah and Simeon - 1 Chronicles 4
1. Text summary
Clan of Judah and Simeon listed. Some places named were occupied by Samaritans or Canaanites when the exiles returned.
2. Jesus
Jesus came from Judah, and from Bethlehem (verse 4).
3. Application
a. Again, some of God's people are better known than others. Caleb, the daughter of Pharaoh (!), Shimei. But the vast majority are not known. Their listing is a reminder that God knows each of us, and that matters more than being well known by people.
Eastern Tribes - 1 Chronicles 5
1. Text summary
Tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh listed. Reuben was firstborn, but replaced in office due to moral failure. They fought Canaanites faithfully, and lived east of the Jordan. But they were unfaithful to God over the years and exiled for it, like the rest of Israel.
2. Jesus
Jesus is the firstborn of the Father, and remained faithful, fighting God's enemies.
3. Application
a. When your history has flaws, you can still fight faithfully now.
b. There is hierarchy in the family of God, and that is okay. Judah had primacy among the tribes. Jesus is Lord. He appoints a succession of elders.
No comments:
Post a Comment