1 Chronicles 5:1

1 Chronicles 5:1 says, 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.  Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, defiled his father's bed so his genealogy is counted as less important since his birthright passed to the sons of Joseph.  Since the firstborn birthright included a double portion, it was passed to two of Joseph's sons.  Matthew Henry says sin diminished Reuben, but it did not exile him forever.  As Christians, if we sin, we will always be diminished in the eyes of the world at least, but we will never be exiled from the grace of God.  Verse two adds, For Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler; but the birthright was Joseph's:)  Joseph became a part of the genealogy of Jesus Christ because the physical birthright had passed from Reuben.  It is our spiritual birthright that counts, and no one is above another in our relationship to Jesus Christ because of who our parents are.  Verse three continues, The sons, I say, of Reuben the firstborn of Israel were, Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.  Then we have a list of Reuben's sons.  This follows for several generations until the people of Israel were carried away captive to Assyria.  Verse four states, The sons of Joel; Shemaiah his son, Gog his son, Shimei his son,  We follow through by the listing of the sons, grandsons, and farther, of Joel.  Matthew Henry says there were no doubt many descendants who weren't listed.  The only thing that is important in a person's life today that makes them a part of God's family is their rebirth through their relationship to Jesus Christ, yet people still look for their genealogy, which the Bible refers to as a vain thing, or something of no value.  Verse five adds, Micah his son, Reaia his son, Baal his son,  Verse six continues, Beerah his son, whom Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria carried away captive: he was prince of the Reubenites.  As stated earlier, this follows Reuben's descendants until their captivity by the Assyrians. Verse six concludes, And his brethren by their families, when the genealogy of their generations was reckoned, were the chief, Jeiel, and Zechariah,  Then, we are told that the chief of his descendants when the genealogy of the generations was listed were Jeiel and Zechariah.  Verse eight says, And Bela the son of Azaz, the son of Shema, the son of Joel, who dwelt in Aroer, even unto Nebo and Baalmeon:  Then, we have the area controlled by Bela, the great-grandson of Joel.  Verse nine adds, 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.  Verse ten concludes, 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.  As they cast out the people already in the land, God was fulfilling His promise to them by casting out their enemies little by little.  When we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord. the power of our spiritual enemies is cast out, and can only have power in our life once more if we allow them to.