Day 224 Reading Schedule: 1 Chronicles 4-5

1 Chronicles 4: Children of Judah and Children of Simeon

[Content Overview]

While the battlefield was the genealogy of the Davidic dynasty from Adam to David, the introduction of the 12 tribes of Israel was recorded sequentially from this chapter. These 12 tribes are not only core to the history of Israel, but are also members of the nation of Israel itself. In particular, the tribe of Judah was a tribe that had a great influence on the construction of a unified kingdom. In the first half of this chapter, a fragmentary genealogy of Judah is recorded (verses 1-23), and in the second half, the genealogy of the tribe of Simeon is recorded (verses 24-43). This chapter has the characteristic of being particularly symmetrical between the first half and the second half, contrasting the prosperity of Judah's descendants with the weakness of Simeon's descendants. This shows that the future of these two tribes has come true according to the words prophesied by God.

1 Chronicles 5: Genealogy of the Two and a Half Tribes

[Content Overview]

This chapter introduces the tribes of Israel who lived on the east side of the Jordan. In other words, Reuben's descendants and their residences are introduced (verses 1-10), and the genealogy of the Reuben's descendants and their residences are mentioned (verses 11-17). And although these three tribes united to defeat their enemies, it is recorded that these three tribes will soon be punished for their spiritual betrayal, scattered to a place from which they will never return, and taken captive by Tiglath-Pileser, the king of Assyria. The reason these three tribes are mentioned together is not simply because they all lived on the east side of the Jordan. Not only did they inherit the geographically similar area, but they also joined forces to fight against their enemies and built an altar to worship God. The emphasis in this chapter is to show that the rise and fall of these three tribes was determined by whether they were close to God or far away from Him. In the end, these three tribes were judged by Assyria because they stayed away from God.​