1 Chronicles 9:1

1 Chronicles 9:1 says, So all Israel were reckoned by genealogies; and, behold, they were written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah, who were carried away to Babylon for their transgression.  Matthew Henry says these genealogies so far had been given looking back at the people of Judah and Israel so the people would know who to put in various positions of service after the return from captivity in Babylon.  As Christians, we have all been captive to sin, and once we accept God's gift of salvation, He will also have a position of service for us.  Verse two adds, Now the first inhabitants that dwelt in their possessions in their cities were, the Israelites, the priests, Levites, and the Nethinims.  Now, there is a look ahead at those returning from captivity in Babylon.  Verse three continues, And in Jerusalem dwelt of the children of Judah, and of the children of Benjamin, and of the children of Ephraim, and Manasseh;  The descendants of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh were living in Jerusalem.  Verse four states, Uthai the son of Ammihud, the son of Omri, the son of Imri, the son of Bani, of the children of Pharez the son of Judah.  Then we have a list of the descendants of various sons of these men.  Verse five adds, And of the Shilonites; Asaiah the firstborn, and his sons.  Verse six continues, And of the sons of Zerah; Jeuel, and their brethren, six hundred and ninety.  Verse seven says, And of the sons of Benjamin; Sallu the son of Meshullam, the son of Hodaviah, the son of Hasenuah,  Verse eight adds, And Ibneiah the son of Jeroham, and Elah the son of Uzzi, the son of Michri, and Meshullam the son of Shephathiah, the son of Reuel, the son of Ibnijah;  Verse nine continues, And their brethren, according to their generations, nine hundred and fifty and six. All these men were chief of the fathers in the house of their fathers.  The numbers of those returning were far less than those who had once made up these tribes.  If we allow those who grow up in Christian homes to be carried away by sin, the numbers that return will most likely be less than the number who left.  Verse ten states, And of the priests; Jedaiah, and Jehoiarib, and Jachin,  Then we have the priestly tribe listed.  Verse eleven adds, And Azariah the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the ruler of the house of God;  Verse twelve continues, And Adaiah the son of Jeroham, the son of Pashur, the son of Malchijah, and Maasiai the son of Adiel, the son of Jahzerah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Meshillemith, the son of Immer;  Verse thirteen concludes, And their brethren, heads of the house of their fathers, a thousand and seven hundred and threescore; very able men for the work of the service of the house of God.  There were one thousand, seven hundred and sixty of them, and they were noted as men very able to do service in the house of God.  We as followers of Christ need to be known as people very able to do service to God.

1 Chronicles 8:29

1 Chronicles 8:29 says, And at Gibeon dwelt the father of Gibeon; whose wife's name was Maachah:  These next several verses are still a continuation of the listing of the descendants of Benjamin.  Verse thirty adds, And his firstborn son Abdon, and Zur, and Kish, and Baal, and Nadab,  Verse thirty-one continues, And Gedor, and Ahio, and Zacher.  Verse thirty-two concludes, And Mikloth begat Shimeah. And these also dwelt with their brethren in Jerusalem, over against them.  These people also lived near Jerusalem.  Verse thirty-three states, And Ner begat Kish, and Kish begat Saul, and Saul begat Jonathan, and Malchishua, and Abinadab, and Eshbaal.  Out of this tribe also came Saul, the first king of Israel, and his descendants, who didn't follow him as kings.  Just because our parents were leaders in the church doesn't mean we will be or that we have any special rights.  Verse thirty-four adds, And the son of Jonathan was Meribbaal; and Meribbaal begat Micah.  Jonathan was the only one of Saul's sons to have descendants, and that was because of David's friendship with him.  Verse thirty-five continues, And the sons of Micah were, Pithon, and Melech, and Tarea, and Ahaz.  Verse thirty-six says, And Ahaz begat Jehoadah; and Jehoadah begat Alemeth, and Azmaveth, and Zimri; and Zimri begat Moza,  Verse thirty-seven adds, And Moza begat Binea: Rapha was his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son:  Verse thirty-eight continues, And Azel had six sons, whose names are these, Azrikam, Bocheru, and Ishmael, and Sheariah, and Obadiah, and Hanan. All these were the sons of Azel.  Verse thirty-nine states, And the sons of Eshek his brother were, Ulam his firstborn, Jehush the second, and Eliphelet the third.  Verse forty adds, And the sons of Ulam were mighty men of valour, archers, and had many sons, and sons' sons, an hundred and fifty. All these are of the sons of Benjamin.  It is noted that Ulam had sons who were mighty men of valor, and they had even more sons, a hundred and fifty in all.  We need our children to be people of valor for God today, and we need to hope that the children of God multiply.  This concluded the listing of Benjamin's descendants.

1 Chronicles 8:12

1 Chronicles 8:12 says, The sons of Elpaal; Eber, and Misham, and Shamed, who built Ono, and Lod, with the towns thereof:  This continues with a list of the descendants of Benjamin.  Verse thirteen adds, Beriah also, and Shema, who were heads of the fathers of the inhabitants of Aijalon, who drove away the inhabitants of Gath: Verse fourteen continues, And Ahio, Shashak, and Jeremoth,  Verse fifteen states, And Zebadiah, and Arad, and Ader,  Verse sixteen adds, And Michael, and Ispah, and Joha, the sons of Beriah;  Verse seventeen continues, And Zebadiah, and Meshullam, and Hezeki, and Heber,  Verse eighteen says, Ishmerai also, and Jezliah, and Jobab, the sons of Elpaal; Verse nineteen adds, And Jakim, and Zichri, and Zabdi,  Verse twenty continues, And Elienai, and Zilthai, and Eliel,  Verse twenty-one states, And Adaiah, and Beraiah, and Shimrath, the sons of Shimhi;  Verse twenty-two adds, And Ishpan, and Heber, and Eliel,  Verse twenty-three continues, And Abdon, and Zichri, and Hanan,  Verse twenty-four says, And Hananiah, and Elam, and Antothijah,  Verse twenty-five adds, And Iphedeiah, and Penuel, the sons of Shashak;  Verse twenty-six continues, And Shamsherai, and Shehariah, and Athaliah,  Verse twenty-seven says, And Jaresiah, and Eliah, and Zichri, the sons of Jeroham.  Verse twenty-eight concludes, These were heads of the fathers, by their generations, chief men. These dwelt in Jerusalem.  We do have it made note of that these lived in Jerusalem throughout the generations.  Jerusalem was the city of God, so those who lived there would have had the responsibility of keeping in devoted to Him.  For followers of Christ today, the Holy Spirit indwells us, so we are in effect a part of the city of God, and we must do our best to keep ourselves devoted to Him.

1 Chronicles 8:1

1 Chronicles 8:1 says, Now Benjamin begat Bela his firstborn, Ashbel the second, and Aharah the third,  Now we have the descendants of Benjamin listed.  Saul, the first king of Israel, was of this tribe.   Verse two adds, Nohah the fourth, and Rapha the fifth. Verse three continues, And the sons of Bela were, Addar, and Gera, and Abihud,  This verse begins a list of Bela's sons and continues through the next two.  Verse four continues, And Abishua, and Naaman, and Ahoah,  Verse five concludes, And Gera, and Shephuphan, and Huram.  Verse six states, And these are the sons of Ehud: these are the heads of the fathers of the inhabitants of Geba, and they removed them to Manahath:  Ehud was likely a descendant of Gera, and he had sons while living in Moab, according to Matthew Henry.  He would also deliver the people of Israel from Moab and was a descendant of Benjamin.  Verse seven adds, And Naaman, and Ahiah, and Gera, he removed them, and begat Uzza, and Ahihud.  Verse eight continues, And Shaharaim begat children in the country of Moab, after he had sent them away; Hushim and Baara were his wives.  Once more, as with others listed, it isn't made clear who Shaharaim is, but we have a list of his sons born in Moab, after he divorced two of his wives, which once again was against not one but two of God's laws.  Verse nine says, And he begat of Hodesh his wife, Jobab, and Zibia, and Mesha, and Malcham,  Verse ten adds, And Jeuz, and Shachia, and Mirma. These were his sons, heads of the fathers. We are given the names of the sons of his wife Hodesh. Verse eleven continues, And of Hushim he begat Abitub, and Elpaal. Then, two sons with another woman, who isn't said to be his wife.  We don't need to use many of the men of Israel in the Old Testament as an example of how we should view marriage.

1 Chronicles 7:30

1 Chronicles 7:30 says, The sons of Asher; Imnah, and Isuah, and Ishuai, and Beriah, and Serah their sister.  Now we move to the tribe, or family, of Asher.  Verse thirty-one adds, And the sons of Beriah; Heber, and Malchiel, who is the father of Birzavith.  We start with the sons of his youngest son's children then.  Verse thirty-two continues, And Heber begat Japhlet, and Shomer, and Hotham, and Shua their sister.  We then move back to the children of the first born of Asher's grandson, which was the usual way of following the descendants if only one was mentioned.  There is no explanation why, but we don't always need to know the reason for everything God does and how he works in the world.  We just need to live by faith in Him.  Verse thirty-three states, And the sons of Japhlet; Pasach, and Bimhal, and Ashvath. These are the children of Japhlet.  Verse thirty-four adds, And the sons of Shamer; Ahi, and Rohgah, Jehubbah, and Aram.  Verse thirty-five continues, And the sons of his brother Helem; Zophah, and Imna, and Shelesh, and Amal.  I cannot find out whose brother Helem was, but we pick up with his children here.  Verse thirty-six says, The sons of Zophah; Suah, and Harnepher, and Shual, and Beri, and Imrah, Verse thirty-seven adds, Bezer, and Hod, and Shamma, and Shilshah, and Ithran, and Beera.  I also don't find a reference to Zophah or Ulla who is mentioned in verse thirty-nine.  Verse thirty-eight continues, And the sons of Jether; Jephunneh, and Pispah, and Ara.  We are given Jether's sons names.  Verse thirty-nine states, And the sons of Ulla; Arah, and Haniel, and Rezia.  Matthew Henry didn't give much information on some of these names and whose son they might be, and Google says it is unclear whose son Uzza was, but he was in the tribe of Asher, so we will just have to accept that fact.  We may not always understand everything clearly in the Bible, but we just have to accept it as fact. Verse forty adds, All these were the children of Asher, heads of their father's house, choice and mighty men of valour, chief of the princes. And the number throughout the genealogy of them that were apt to the war and to battle was twenty and six thousand men.  We are told that there were thirty-six thousand men who were good at fighting wars and in the battles.  We want to be good at fighting the war against sin and evil in the world today if we are a part of God's family, no matter how few of us there might be.  Of course, we know that the victory has already been won

1 Chronicles 7:20

1 Chronicles 7:20 says, And the sons of Ephraim; Shuthelah, and Bered his son, and Tahath his son, and Eladah his son, and Tahath his son,  Now, we have a list of the descendants of Ephraim.  Verse twenty-one adds, And Zabad his son, and Shuthelah his son, and Ezer, and Elead, whom the men of Gath that were born in that land slew, because they came down to take away their cattle.  Some of Ephraim's descendants were killed by the men of Gath when they tried to take away their cattle.  Being a part of God's chosen people did not always protect someone from suffering defeat in this world, just as being a Christian doesn't protect us from suffering at the hands of the people of the world in this lifetime.  Still, if they were truly a part of God's people by faith, the defeat was only temporary and they are with Him forever, as we as Christians will be.  Verse twenty-two continues, And Ephraim their father mourned many days, and his brethren came to comfort him.  Ephraim mourned for his descendants for many days, and his brethren came to comfort him.  If we lose a child today, no matter how old they are, we may mourn, but if they were a follower of Christ, we should also celebrate the fact that they are at home with Jesus forever.  I believe even more than friends and relatives, the Holy Spirit will comfort us, if we allow Him to.  Matthew Henry says this adds up to seven generations of descendants, but Ephraim was still alive.  Verse twenty-three states, And when he went in to his wife, she conceived, and bare a son, and he called his name Beriah, because it went evil with his house.  Ephraim then had another son who he called Beriah, which means in trouble.  We really cannot replace one child with another and we should never attempt to.  Verse twenty-four adds, (And his daughter was Sherah, who built Bethhoron the nether, and the upper, and Uzzensherah.)  We are also told that one of Ephraim's female descendants built two cities, even though we don't usually hear much about daughters in the Bible.  Verse twenty-five continues, And Rephah was his son, also Resheph, and Telah his son, and Tahan his son.  Verse twenty-eight says, Laadan his son, Ammihud his son, Elishama his son.  Verse twenty-seven adds, Non his son, Jehoshuah his son.  Verse twenty-eight continues, And their possessions and habitations were, Bethel and the towns thereof, and eastward Naaran, and westward Gezer, with the towns thereof; Shechem also and the towns thereof, unto Gaza and the towns thereof:  We are told of the land they possessed in this verse and the next.  Verse twenty-nine concludes, And by the borders of the children of Manasseh, Bethshean and her towns, Taanach and her towns, Megiddo and her towns, Dor and her towns. In these dwelt the children of Joseph the son of Israel.

1 Chronicles 7:13

1 Chronicles 7:13 says, The sons of Naphtali; Jahziel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shallum, the sons of Bilhah. We are simply told the names of the sons of Naphtali.  We aren't given any more than his sons, Matthew Henry says because maybe his genealogy record was lost.  Of course, I believe that if it was important, God would have preserved it.  Verse fourteen adds, The sons of Manasseh; Ashriel, whom she bare: (but his concubine the Aramitess bare Machir the father of Gilead:  Next, we have the sons of Manasseh, including the son of Aramitess, his concubine, who gave birth to Machir, Gilead's father. Even though they weren't born to the wife or first wife, who should have been the only one, they were included in the descendants of the heads of the tribes of Israel were included.  We cannot help how we were born into the word, but we are all of equal importance to God.  Verse fifteen continues, And Machir took to wife the sister of Huppim and Shuppim, whose sister's name was Maachah;) and the name of the second was Zelophehad: and Zelophehad had daughters.  Machir took a wife from the tribe of Benjamin, even though his father had married a Syrian according to Matthew Henry.  I still believe that Christians should marry Christians, no matter what our parents may have done.  We are only responsible for our own relationship to God, and not for our parent's relationship to Him.  Verse sixteen states, And Maachah the wife of Machir bare a son, and she called his name Peresh; and the name of his brother was Sheresh; and his sons were Ulam and Rakem.  Verse seventeen adds, And the sons of Ulam; Bedan. These were the sons of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh.  We are then given the names of Machir's sons and grandsons by Maachah his wife.  Verse eighteen continues, And his sister Hammoleketh bare Ishod, and Abiezer, and Mahalah.  We are even given the names of some men who were born of a daughter of one of the men of Israel, though that wasn't usually the case.  Verse nineteen says, And the sons of Shemidah were, Ahian, and Shechem, and Likhi, and Aniam.  Shemidah was one of Gilead's sons, though it doesn't make that clear here.