| Back to Home Page | Back to Book Index |

 

1 Chronicles Chapter Five                            

 

1 Chronicles 5

Chapter Contents

Genealogies.

This chapter gives some account of the two tribes and a half seated on the east side of Jordan. They were made captives by the king of Assyria, because they had forsaken the Lord. Only two things are here recorded concerning these tribes. 1. They all shared in a victory. Happy is that people who live in harmony together, who assist each other against the common enemies of their souls, trusting in the Lord, and calling upon him. 2. They shared in captivity. They would have the best land, not considering that it lay most exposed. The desire of earthly objects draws to a distance from God's ordinances, and prepares men for destruction.

── Matthew HenryConcise Commentary on 1 Chronicles

 

1 Chronicles 5

Verse 1

[1] Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father's bed, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright.

Sons of Israel — This is added emphatically, because they were treated as if they had been the immediate sons of Jacob.

Not reckoned — This is the second reason, which sheweth both why Reuben's genealogy was not first mentioned; and if another tribe was to be ranked before it, why that was Judah, and not Joseph, because the order of their genealogy was not to be ruled by the birthright, but by an higher privilege, which was given to Judah.

Verse 2

[2] For Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler; but the birthright was Joseph's:)

Judah — Not the person, but the tribe of Judah.

Prevailed — Excelled the other tribes, especially in the following privilege.

Verse 9

[9] And eastward he inhabited unto the entering in of the wilderness from the river Euphrates: because their cattle were multiplied in the land of Gilead.

Euphrates — From Jordan and the wilderness beyond it unto Euphrates. Or, of the wilderness, which lies towards or reacheth to the river Euphrates, namely, the great wilderness of Kedemoth, Deuteronomy 2:26, which was extended far and wide towards Euphrates: for that was the eastern border of Reuben's possession, and not Euphrates, to which their habitation never reached.

Multiplied — Which forced them to enlarge their habitation as far as they could towards Euphrates.

Verse 10

[10] And in the days of Saul they made war with the Hagarites, who fell by their hand: and they dwelt in their tents throughout all the east land of Gilead.

They made war — Thus God did for his people, as he promised them. He cast out the enemy from before them by little and little, and gave them their land as they had occasion for it.

Verse 14

[14] These are the children of Abihail the son of Huri, the son of Jaroah, the son of Gilead, the son of Michael, the son of Jeshishai, the son of Jahdo, the son of Buz;

These — These seven last named.

Verse 20

[20] And they were helped against them, and the Hagarites were delivered into their hand, and all that were with them: for they cried to God in the battle, and he was intreated of them; because they put their trust in him.

Helped — By God, verse 22, who gave them extraordinary courage and success.

Verse 22

[22] For there fell down many slain, because the war was of God. And they dwelt in their steads until the captivity.

Was of God — Undertaken in his fear, and carried on in a dependence on him. Then we may expect to prosper in any enterprize, and then only, when we take God along with us.

── John WesleyExplanatory Notes on 1 Chronicles

 

05 Chapter 5

 

Verse 1


Verse 1-2

1 Chronicles 5:1-2

Now the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel.

Reuben’s rights transferred to Joseph

This incident is worth dwelling upon, only because it elucidates a special phase of the Divine government. God is not bound by arbitrary laws. Primogeniture can be changed in the court of heaven. Conduct is the only absolute guarantee of real and enduring primogeniture. “Once in grace, always in grace,” may be a glorious truth, but everything depends upon what is meant by being “in grace.” They are not all Israel that are called Israel. We can only prove that we were once in grace by continually living in grace. Any vital breach in the continuance will throw discredit upon the supposed reality of the origin. (J. Parker, D. D.)


Verse 2

1 Chronicles 5:2

And of him came the Chief Ruler.

The Chief Ruler

I read of “the rulers of the darkness of this world”; “the rulers of synagogues”; the rulers that “set themselves against the Lord and against His Anointed”; but none of them are “Chief.” Christ is the “Chief Ruler.”

I. His appointment to office (Proverbs 8:22-31; Psalms 2:6-9).

1. He rules in the Church.

2. He rules in the hearts of His people.

II. His essential qualifications for that office.

1. Infinite wisdom.

2. Invincible power.

3. Order.

III. The mercies unfolded in it.

1. By it is maintained the truth of God.

2. His empire is secured through it. He must rule until every enemy submits (Psalms 72:11; Isaiah 11:7).

3. Triumphs are secured to us and repeatedly realised by our Chief Ruler.


Verse 20

1 Chronicles 5:20

And they were helped against them.

Helped

We are like William of Orange, with a few followers and an empty purse, making war against the master of half the world with the mines of Peru for a treasury. But like William, too, when questioned concerning our resources, we can reply, “Before we took up this cause we entered into close alliance with the King of kings.” (Sword and Trowel.)


Verse 22

1 Chronicles 5:22

Because the war was of God.

God’s war

When a man fights against himself, in his lusts, passions, and unauthorised aspirations, he fights a war approved of God, and if he fights that war in the name of God he shall be none other than a victor at the close. When a man fights for the poor, the oppressed, the helpless, he is engaged in a battle over which God holds the banner, and the holding of that banner is the guarantee of triumph. (J. Parker, D. D.)

The war is of God

In speaking on temperance principles and trying to help and encourage temperance workers, this story of Bible history will well illustrate our theme. Consider:

I. The warriors.

1. They were courageous men--“valiant men,” sons of valour as the original has it.

2. They were skilful.

3. They were united.

II. The weapons which these warriors used.

1. The buckler. This was a weapon of defence, a small hand shield that was fastened to the wrist or to the hand itself, with which the warriors parried the blows of their enemies. “Watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.”

2. The sword. If temperance workers would take the Bible as their sword, they would get on better than with the wooden swords which so many are inclined to use.

3. Bows and arrows. The spiritual parallel is the “arrow of conviction.”

III. Their warfare. It was distinguished--

1. By faith.

2. By prayer. “They cried to God in the battle.”

IV. The victory. (Thomas Spurgeon.)


Verse 25

1 Chronicles 5:25

And they transgressed against the God of their fathers.

The transgressions of the people

I. If we turn to the Book of Kings we shall be surprised to find how the fatal sin of Israel was often of an intellectual kind, as distinguished from the baser iniquities which corrupt and overthrow the soul. There were three instances in which the intellectual sins of the people were conspicuous--

1. In the worship of the holy places.

2. In adoration of the heavenly bodies.

3. In the practice of magic and divination.

There we find nothing of adultery, drunkenness, theft, or licentiousness of any kind. There are sins and sins. One man is simply a sinner of the coarse type, a criminal seen and known of all men and cast out by society; another man sins intellectually--that is to say he mentally deposes God, and more or less secretly endeavours to live without Him, never breaking any of the great social commandments, and thereby forfeiting social confidence, yet all the while committing the sin against the Holy Ghost. In this way men write their own bibles, invent their own deities, banish from the mind all the old orthodoxies, and in hidden vanity walk after the council of their own hearts. (J. Parker, D. D.)

──The Biblical Illustrator