In 1 Chronicles 3 we have David's illustrious family, his royal descendants, and the remnants of his line in and through the captivity of Judah. Hear now the word of Almighty God, inspired by his spirit, profitable for us. 1 Chronicles 3, starting at verse 1. Now these were the sons of David, which were born unto him in Hebron, the firstborn Amnon of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, The second, Daniel of Abigail, the Carmelites. The third, Absalom, the son of Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur. The fourth, Adonijah, the son of Haggith. The fifth, Shephetiah of Abital. The sixth, Idhraim by Eglah, his wife. These six were born unto him in Hebron, and there he reigned seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years. And these were born unto him in Jerusalem, Shimea, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon, four, of Bathshua, the daughter of Amiel. Ibhar also, and Elishamah, and Eliphelet, and Noga, and Nepheg, and Japhia, and Elishamah, and Eliadah, and Eliphelet nine. These were all the sons of David beside the sons of the concubines and Tamar their sister. And Solomon's son was Rehoboam, Abiah his son, Asa his son, Jehoshaphat his son, Joram his son, Ahaziah his son, Joash his son, Amaziah his son, Azariah his son, Jotham his son, Ahaz his son, Hezekiah his son, Manasseh his son, Ammon his son, Josiah his son. And the sons of Josiah were the first born, Johanan, The second, Jehoiakim. The third, Zedekiah. The fourth, Shalem. And the sons of Jehoiakim, Jeconiah, his son, Zedekiah, his son. And the sons of Jeconiah, Asir, Salathiel, his son, Malkiram also, and Pediaiah, and Shanazar, Jecomiah, Hoshamah, and Nedabiah. And the sons of Pedaiah were Zerubbabel, and Shimei. And the sons of Zerubbabel, Meshulam, and Hananiah, and Shelomith, their sister. And Hashubah, and Ohel, and Barakiah, and Hasadiah, Jeshob, Hesed, five. and the sons of Hananiah, Pelletiah, and Jeziah, the sons of Raphaiah, the sons of Arnon, the sons of Obadiah, the sons of Shekiniah, and the sons of Shekiniah, Shemaiah, and the sons of Shemaiah, Hatush, and Igial, and Bariah, and Neariah, and Shaphat six. and the sons of Neariah, Eleonai, and Hezekiah, and Azraikam three. And the sons of Eleonai were Hodeiah, and Eliashib, and Peleiah, and Aqub. and Johanan, and Dalai Aya, and Anani, seven. Thus far, the reading of God's holy word from the book of First Chronicles, chapter three. May the Lord bless us in the reading and hearing of his word, and now in consideration of its teachings. You will note the heavy emphasis again in First Chronicles on the tribe of Judah, and especially on the lineage of David, so far as it concerns the future of his kingdom in the Lord Jesus Christ. Ezra, after the captivity, writing these words, collecting up all the things that remain, prepares us for things yet to come. Verses 1-9 in light of this we have a full account of David's family. The sons born in Hebron in verse 1, you can read of this in 2 Samuel 3 verses 2 and following and cross reference what he's saying here. Daniel, he says in verse one, is also called Chiliab in 2 Samuel 3, 3, and this is often the case. Men have more than one name. You find this in our day, but especially in the ancient world, a man could be named by several different names and be one person. Abigail is called the Carmelitis, or in 2 Samuel 3, 3, the wife of Nabal, the Carmelite. She had been married to this man, and so she's called a Carmelitis. Verse five mentions the name Shimea. He's also called Shammuah in 2 Samuel 5 verse 14. Also mentioned there among the sons of Bathsheba is Nathan, very likely a name given in honor of the prophet by the same name, the one who came to him about Bathsheba, the one who also counseled with Bathsheba toward the end of the kingdom of David, toward the end of his life, that he should settle the kingdom on Solomon as he had promised and sworn. Also Luke traces our Lord Jesus Christ genealogy not through the line of the kings as Matthew does, but rather through the line of Nathan, this son that we're mentioning here, and down all the way through, down to Mary. Also notice verse five, Bathsheba is another name for Bathsheba. And her father is called Amiel, also called Eliam in 2 Samuel 11 verse three. The name Eliam and Amiel have virtually the same meaning. Now Eliphelet and Elishamah mentioned in verse six, also Elishamah is called Elishua in 2 Samuel 5.15. Two other sons were given the same name, Many suppose that the first two sons by those names died, and so David settled their names on two new sons that God blessed him with. Matthew Henry comments, he says, probably the two former were dead, and therefore David called two more by their names which he would not have done if there had been any ill omen in this practice as some fancy. Some think, well, if I gave this person, my child, this name and he died, that's an ill omen. I can't give anyone else that name. David didn't believe that. So he settles the name on later sons. Now notice that David's concubines, unlike Abraham, where we have the names of his concubines given, I believe, in chapter one of this book, through Keturah, all the sons are named and even their descendants further on. What happens to David's concubines? No names, no sons. Not because there were none, but simply because in disgrace for what they had done with Absalom, they are entirely passed over without comment. 2 Samuel 16, 22 tells us why. Verses 10 through 16 we have David's successors on his throne as long as his kingdom continued. Now I want you to think again, we've talked about these genealogies and the periods of time as referenced our own lives and the brevity of our lives. We have in verses 10 through 16 in seven short verses 1015 BC approximately, all the way down to 588 BC, a period of about 428 years in seven verses. You'll note that the spirit of God omits Athaliah. She's not mentioned because she was a usurper and she had no right to the throne. So she is left entirely out. She would fall between Ahaziah and Joash in verse 11. That's when her period of usurpation was. And of these 20 kings that are mentioned, Seven are good. You go back and you study, you can find that seven of them are positively good for their entire reign. You'll find that two of them started well, Joash being one, and also Solomon, they start well, how do they end? They end badly. One starts bad and ends well, that's Manasseh. So of the total of Judah's kings, and this is the best kingdom of the two, mind you, You have a very small percentage, 35%, just over one third of their kings were good. Half of them were evil. Two of them started well and ended badly, that's 10%. And one started badly and ended well, that's 5%. Do you see the trend in human nature, in human history? Even among the people of God, the tendency is toward evil. And the sons of David show us one thing very loud and very clear. These are not the promised seed. That's what it shows us. The best of them has his failings. Hezekiah, a great and godly king who sought the Lord like no one else before or after him, he is prideful and shows off his goods and brings the Babylonian captivity by his sins. So we see the need for a greater son of David. As the psalm puts it, put no confidence in princes, nor for help on man depend. He shall die and leave his purposes to nothing. Let us put our faith in the great son of David, the holy one of God. who judges and makes war in righteousness, who is worthy of our praise, of our faith, and of our obedience, though his ancestors sometimes were not so. Let us also remember that we must see the brevity of our lives. James says it's like a vapor. The first thing in the morning, you see the grass has dew on it, and by the time the sun has risen, where's the dew? It's gone, just like man. Man's life is here in a moment and gone. So God commands us in Psalm 90 to number our days, teach us to count them up, how short they really are. Why? So that we may obtain a heart of wisdom, so that we may seek the Lord and do His will. 428 years in seven verses of scripture. If you wanted to go back 428 years, it would take you to the year 1596. Queen Elizabeth was still sitting upon the throne. In fact, in 1596, she exported the Blackamores, lots of black workers they had from Northern Africa. She kicked them out because she saw these lazy white people and said, you guys need to get to work. So she kicked them all out. Rene Descartes was born in 1596. This is a long time ago. In seven verses, the Bible gives us this period of time. We soon fly away. Let us redeem the time, knowing that the days are evil. Then verses 17 through 24 we have the remnant of David's family in and after the captivity. Now here in verse 17 you will notice it mentions Jeconiah Asir. Now, some believe that this word Asir, which can be translated as prisoner or captive, really is a description of himself. Jeconiah was the prisoner. He was taken captive. It's not one of his sons. In other words, Salathiel is his son. Now, Jeconiah and Salathiel are both mentioned in Matthew 1, verse 12. In Haggai 1.1, this Salathiel is called Shealtiel. Also he's called the same in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. And then verse 19 tells us that the sons of Pedaiah were Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel is said to be the son of Shealtiel, Ezra 3.2, Ezra 5.2, Nehemiah 12.1, Matthew 1.12, and Luke 3.27. And it is supposed, therefore, that Pedaiah died while his sons were young. In other words, Pedaiah is the genetic father, his natural father, but he died young and so his grandfather or his father raised his sons. And so he is called the father. That is Shealtiel is called the father of Zerubbabel. Let us then praise the Lord. that in the midst of troubles, of trials, of captivity, of judgment, and disorder, that the Lord our God ensured one thing, that the seed of our Lord Jesus Christ would not perish, that the sons of David would not be erased from the earth, though in all human probability, from all secondary causes, and how things ordinarily fall out, how likely is it that this family would survive? Not very likely. And yet God, in His purposes, causes all things to accomplish His most holy will. Even those free and contingent acts of men, as we'll consider later, God has them governed by His almighty purpose. So that our Lord Jesus Christ would be born in the flesh, He would inherit the throne of His father, Joseph, which was the throne of His father, David. And thus far, the exposition of 1 Chronicles 3.