1 Chronicles 3

In the prior chapter the Chronicler recorded the extended family background that led to David and his compatriots in the golden days of a united Israel. In chapter 3 we are given the names of the immediate sons of David, followed by the line of kings that came from David and Solomon, concluding with the list of David's descendants after the deportation to Babylon.

David's time on earth was not easy. The details of his troubles were omitted here, but the reader who has already considered the prophetic tradition recorded in First and Second Samuel cannot miss the mention of Amnon, Absalom, and Tamar. We also read the names of Solomon and Adonijah and remember the struggle for succession that took place among these two sons of David.

The names of the king's sons were organized by their mothers and by the two places where David reigned, Hebron and Jerusalem. The city of Jerusalem was particularly important to the returning exiles. This is the great city destroyed by the Babylonians. The returning Jews looked to see a new day for the place where the Lord had chosen to dwell.

After this list of David's immediate family the Chronicler recorded the line of kings that God provided during the next 400 years after David. All the kings of Judah from Solomon through the sons and grandson of Josiah were listed. We will have occasion to consider their stories in greater detail in later chapters.

The final list of names in this chapter brought the story forward several decades to the time of the returning band of brothers who were coming home to the land. Among those who came back were some who had come from the line of kings. From which of these men would the true Son of David come? This was not yet revealed. The Chronicler recorded for future days what he knew from the records he had available to him at the time.

Now that the Messiah has come, we can look at the genealogical information in 1 Chronicles and compare it to the genealogies of Jesus that we have in Matthew 1 and Luke 3. Matthew follows the legal line of the kings from Solomon through to the immediate descendants of Josiah. Luke gives us a second line of descent from David's son Nathan rather than from Solomon. The existence of two lines from David need not surprise us since both Mary and Joseph were descended from David.

Both lists from Matthew and Luke also contain the name of Zerubbabel which was listed here in 1 Chronicles 3. Somehow, perhaps through adoption or through the death of a father, these two lines of descent that were separated after Solomon connected again with this one man and then separated again with two sons of Zerubbabel that were not recorded here. The Messiah would come from Zerubbabel. Zerrubbabel, like a second David, would be a new beginning for the two lines that would lead to Jesus. His name was faithfully preserved by the Chronicler for future generations as the Lord's people waited for the coming of their King.

Jesus not only had a legal lineage through Joseph as a foster father, He also had a line of physical descent through Mary, His true mother. Even more than this, Jesus' actual Father was God. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit.

Who can fathom the riches of the human and divine natures of our great Messiah King? He has revealed Himself to us through His miracles and His divine teaching, but especially through His victory over death. The eternal plan of God would be accomplished through this singular descendant of David. This God/Man reigns in the Jerusalem above. We who have called upon His Name are citizens of that great city and members of the household of God.