Today’s passage: 1 Chronicles 5:1-26
Helpful thoughts:
- Today’s tribes: Reuben, Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasseh (Joseph’s son).
- These are the tribes that settled on the east side of the Jordan River.
- Reuben lost the birthright due to his sin.
- Jacob’s blessing for Reuben (Or the lack thereof) is recorded in Genesis 49:2-4.
- The blessing was split between Joseph’s sons Ephraim and Manasseh.
- Judah’s blessing is recorded in verses 8-12.
- The account of these eastern tribes’ commitment in Joshua 22:10-34 is quite different than the report we find near the end in today’s chapter.
Questions to consider:
- How does our understanding of the history of Jacob, Joseph, the tribe of Judah to the line of King David, etc. help us appreciate the history we read about this this chapter and it’s genealogy?
- What was so good about the tribe of Gad’s cry to God in verse 20? What situation in your life calls for this kind of trust? When we trust the Lord in the midst of our hardships, what must we also entrust to Him?
- What did Israel turn to when they refused to trust in the Lord (Verse 25)? What are we prone to turn to in our day? Why is God’s will and provision better than anything the world could offer?