Today’s passage: 1 Chronicles 7:1-40
Helpful thoughts:
- Today’s genealogies cover the tribes of Issachar, Benjamin, Naphtali (Barely, but they weren’t to be left out), the western half of Manasseh (Who lived on the western side of the Jordan River), Ephraim and Asher.
- A unique theme in chapter 7 is the repeated reference to those who were fit for military service in each tribe. This has been attributed in commentaries as a result of the chronicler using a military census as a resource.
- Joshua, son of Nun (Verse 27), is the man who took over leadership of Israel after Moses’ death as they entered into the Promised Land.
Questions to consider:
- As we look back through chapters 4-7, how were the tribes arranged? Judah and Simeon were in the southern region. Reuben, Gad and Eastern Manasseh were east of the Jordan. The Levites were scattered all over. What part of Israel do the tribes listed in this chapter comprise?
- Given the varying treatment each tribe has received in these four chapters (With different features, different details, different efforts at specificity), are these genealogies just being written for the sake of keeping records? Is this writer just really into ancestry or is there a story being told? What features or highlights seem to be rising to the surface?
- If the chronicler is coming back from exile and only has an old military census to work with, what might that tell us of northern Israel’s involvement in what was transpiring in the history of Israel at that point? What was the condition of Israel? When will Israel again have her King and truly be blessed by God (Romans 11:25-32)?