Why did the writer of Chronicles include all these lists of names? As we saw on Wednesday, the fact that God’s people expanded into so many tribes and continued through so many generations proved that God had kept His promise to Abraham, a promise that he would have as many descendants as there were stars in the sky (Genesis 15:5). Especially in today’s world where so many conflicting truth claims clamor for our allegiance, knowing that God always keeps His promises is a great comfort.

But today’s passage reminds us of yet another promise God made, this time to King David. Now, we already saw the list of David’s ancestors back in chapter 2 (I Chronicles 2:3-15) – David was from the tribe of Judah, and his great-grandfather Boaz (I Chronicles 2:12) is one of the leading figures in the Book of Ruth. And we learned from our reading of I Samuel that even though David was the youngest of Jesse’s sons (I Chronicles 2:15), he was the one God chose to succeed Saul as King of Israel (I Samuel 16:6-13).

But after David became King, God made another promise to him: “Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever” (II Samuel 7:16). And that’s the promise that I Chronicles 3 underlines, carrying the line of David’s descendants up to the time of the writing of this book.

But the list itself indicated an important problem: after the mention of Jeconiah’s name in verse 17, none of the rest of the people on the list ever sat on David’s throne. Oh, verse 19 mentions Zerubbabel, and he would help lead some of the exiles back from Babylon into the Promised Land in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah. But Zerubbabel was no king – in his days Israel was subject to the Persian Empire.

And as the years passed, none of the rest of the names in I Chronicles chapter 3, and none of any of their descendents would rule in Jerusalem either. Alexander’s empire conquered the Persians, and the Hasmoneans overthrew the Greeks, and the Romans took power from the Hasmoneans. But even though they installed Herod as “the King of the Jews,” none of his ancestors could be found in I Chronicles chapter 3. By the time of Jesus’ birth, it looked like God had forgotten His promise to David.

But that’s why another genealogy is so important, the one found in Matthew chapter 1. For it shows how the line of David, the line described in I Chronicles 3, continued all the way down to Jesus Himself. He is the One God predicted would reign on David’s throne forever. He is the One Whose kingdom will never end. He is the One Who kept God’s promise, who fulfilled God’s prophecy.

So, even though we Americans must pay attention to politics, exercising the sovereign power God has entrusted to us through the ballot box, it’s even more important for us to remember that we are all subjects of King Jesus. For the God Who kept His promise to Abraham and His promise to David has promised that Christ will return to rule over this world one day. Will we be found faithful to Him?

I Chronicles 3:1-16 (NASB)

Now these were the sons of David who were born to him in Hebron: the first-born was Amnon, by Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; the second was Daniel, by Abigail the Carmelitess;
2 the third was Absalom the son of Maacah, the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; the fourth was Adonijah the son of Haggith;
3 the fifth was Shephatiah, by Abital; the sixth was Ithream, by his wife Eglah.
4 Six were born to him in Hebron, and there he reigned seven years and six months. And in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years.
5 And these were born to him in Jerusalem: Shimea, Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon, four, by Bath-shua the daughter of Ammiel;
6 and Ibhar, Elishama, Eliphelet,
7 Nogah, Nepheg, and Japhia,
8 Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet, nine.
9 All these were the sons of David, besides the sons of the concubines; and Tamar was their sister.
10 Now Solomon’s son was Rehoboam, Abijah was his son, Asa his son, Jehoshaphat his son,
11 Joram his son, Ahaziah his son, Joash his son,
12 Amaziah his son, Azariah his son, Jotham his son,
13 Ahaz his son, Hezekiah his son, Manasseh his son,
14 Amon his son, Josiah his son.
15 And the sons of Josiah were Johanan the first-born, and the second was Jehoiakim, the third Zedekiah, the fourth Shallum.
16 And the sons of Jehoiakim were Jeconiah his son, Zedekiah his son.