1 Chronicles 5

The Explanation

Listen, this chapter starts with a long list of names. Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, Carmi. It sounds like someone reading out a class register that never ends. But hidden inside that list is a story with swords and camels and a shout in the middle of a battle.

It begins with a man named Reuben. He was the oldest son of Israel. The oldest son got something special, called the birthright: a double share and the place of honour. But Reuben did something wrong against his own father, something shameful. And so the honour was taken away and given to Joseph's sons instead. Reuben's name still stands at the top of the list, but with a sad note beside it.

Reuben's family became a whole tribe. They lived far out east, past the Jordan River, in wide grasslands with room for thousands of sheep. Next to them lived the tribe of Gad, and near them half of the tribe of Manasseh. Three tribes, living out on the edge, with tents and flocks and open sky.

One day trouble came. Their neighbours, the Hagrites and three other peoples, came against them. The men of the three tribes counted their fighters: forty-four thousand seven hundred sixty men who could carry a shield and a sword and shoot with a bow. That sounds like a lot. But the enemy had a huge army too, and out there in the open country there was nowhere to hide.

So what did they do? Right in the middle of the battle, with the dust flying and the noise all around them, they cried out to God. Not before, safe at home. Right there, when it was terrifying. The Bible says it plainly: "for they cried to God in the battle, and he answered them, because they put their trust in him."

And God answered. They won. They came home with fifty thousand camels, and sheep you could not count.

Then comes the sad part, and I am not going to hide it from you. Years later those same tribes forgot the God who had answered them. They started bowing down to the gods of the peoples around them, little statues that could not hear a single word. And so the king of Assyria came and carried them far away, out of their land, to a place called Halah, by the river of Gozan.

What Does This Mean?

Two things happen in this chapter, and they are opposites. Once, these men were in real danger, and they shouted to God, and he heard them. Later they were safe and rich, and they forgot him completely.

That is strange, isn't it? You would think forgetting God would happen when things go badly. But it happened when things went well. When the sheep were fat and the tents were full, they stopped needing him. And when you stop needing God, it is very easy to stop listening to him.

The Common Thread

Look back at verse 2. Reuben lost the honour, but the text says something else too: "from him came the prince." From Judah. From Judah's family line, many many years later, came a baby in Bethlehem. Jesus.

So even this dusty list of names is going somewhere. God was quietly keeping a family line safe, all the way to his own Son. And Jesus is the one who never forgot his Father, not for one moment, not even when everything went well and not even when everything went wrong.

For You

You do not need to be in a battle to cry out to God. You can do it in the middle of things. In the middle of a test you are scared of. In the middle of an argument with your brother. Just say it: "God, help me now."

And try this too. Tonight, when nothing bad has happened at all and the day was fine, say thank you to God anyway. That is the part these tribes forgot.

Talk About It

When is it easiest for you to pray: when you are scared, or when everything is going well?

What is one good thing from today you could thank God for right now?

Praying Together

God, thank you that you hear people who call to you, even in the middle of the noise. Help us not to forget you when things go well. Thank you for Jesus, who came from this very family. Amen.