The first 9 chapters of 1 Chronicles are genealogies. Thankfully, we will take them in bite-sized pieces.
The author of the Chronicles is believed to be Ezra. The content is supplementary material to the books of Samuel and Kings so we will encounter repeat accounts of events similar to how the same event might appear in more than one of the Gospels. Each version may have unique details.
Also note that the accounts of David in Chronicles focus on the best highlights of his reign and the transfer of kingship to Solomon. It basically ignores all the negative family drama and his moral failures which are recorded in 2nd Samuel.
I’m assuming that you’ve read or listened to 2 chapters of names which you mostly didn’t recognize. Let me clear up a couple things that may have been confusing. Then I’ll look at a couple of names in particular and leave you to watch the BEST Bible genealogy video you could ask for.
WHICH CALEB?
In chapter 2:18-50 we read about a Caleb, son of Hezron. This is NOT Caleb the son of Jephunneh who spied out the land of Canaan with Joshua.
WAIT, I KNOW THAT GUY…
We do run across several familiar names in this chapter. They kind of jump out of the eye-crossing lists of unknowns.
One is Bezalel son of Uri in 2:20. It’s been months since we read about him but he was the talented craftsman who designed and built the Tabernacle of Moses.
CANAANITES
“And Canaan fathered Zidon his firstborn, and Heth, and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites.:
1 Chronicles 1:13-16 LEB
Many of the names here should be familiar by now. Zidon named a city after himself. It’s called Sidon – as in “Tyre and Sidon” on the Mediterranean coast.
We’ve run into many of these tribes already. Collectively they are known as the “Canaanites” and they are the tribes Israel had to fight. Canaan, the son of Ham, must’ve been into some dark supernatural dealings. His descendants, the Amorites, were giants. Remember Sihon and Og – the last of the Amorite kings? They were giants. The only hint we have from scripture about how the giants came into being is Genesis 6; the “Sons of God” having children by “the daughters of men.” If Canaan is the ancestor of giants then he (and his wife/wives??) was somehow – we don’t know how – but somehow involved with the fallen realm. To be more specific than that is probably pressing the text too much.
I looked up the name Canaan because the tribes descended from him are such a big factor in God’s whole story of bringing His Word into the world. The Canaanites are the very picture of wickedness. They are steeped in the occult and idolatry. They are violent and perpetually creating problems for the people of God – either by attacking them or by luring them into idolatry. Joshua’s expulsion of them (after God gave them more than 400 years to change their ways) is a prophetic picture of how Christ will expel evildoers from the earth when He returns.
With all that in mind, take a look at this…
The name Canaan means “humiliated” which may have something to do with the humiliating event of Genesis 9:20-27 where Ham seems to have fathered a child (Canaan) by his own mother.
Canaan comes from the root word kana which means “to bend the knee” or subjugate; to forcibly humble another person. It may be that Noah gave him this name as part of the curse subjecting Canaan as a “servant of servants” to his brothers. Perhaps it hints at Ham humbling his own mother (and certainly by extension Noah) with this probably forced encounter.
So the name Canaan and Canaanite is deeply embedded with the ideas of forced sexual conduct, humiliation, subjugation, and finally making money through trade. Indeed, the first example of human-trafficking in the Bible is when Joseph’s brothers sell him into slavery. To whom? Ishamaelites. Notice that they appeared in the definition above. In Genesis 37:28 they are called “merchantmen” or “traders.” In Hebrew this is 2 words:
Sachar – to travel around as a pedlar, trade, traffick.
Enowsh – mortal, human, person
What do we get if we pull all these thread together?
I submit for your consideration that the Canaanites are among us still; not as a racial or tribal group, but as a group of detestable people whose merchandise is human beings. These ideas are VERY current. This isn’t ancient history. This is happening in our world right now as you read this. Human trafficking involves forced subjugation and humiliation, unauthorized sexual conduct, trade and money changing hands. Though it has moved from ancient open markets to shady internet sites, dark networks of traders – of Canaanites – are yet among us.
And they are strongly tied to the ancient occult identity of Babylon.
There will come a day when Babylon – the borderless kingdom that rules over the kings of the earth – is judged. And when the whole international economic empire of it collapses, the kings of the earth distance themselves from it for fear of going down with it and they will say,
“Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon the powerful city, because in one hour your judgment has come!” And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargo any more— cargo of gold and silver and precious stones and pearls and fine linen and purple cloth and silk and scarlet cloth and all kinds of scented wood and all kinds of ivory goods and all kinds of goods of precious wood and bronze and iron and marble and cinnamon and amomum and incense and ointment and frankincense and wine and olive oil and fine wheat flour and wheat and domesticated animals and sheep and horses and carriages and slaves and human lives.”
Revelation 18:10-13 LEB
Do you see? We are living in the mirror image of the OT. The players are all the same; Babylon, Canaanites, the people of God. I believe that the key to understanding future prophecy is to look at the past. Everything that has been done will be done again in some echoing way; only now things generally are more spiritual and hidden and symbolic than open and physical as in the OT.
As we wait for the return of Jesus, let us “come of out her (Babylon) and be separate.” Let us not isolate inside our church walls but do everything we can in Jesus’ name and authority and power to combat the forces of Evil. Prayer is the weapon of choice that will expose and defeat them.
Oh – and if you want to read about some people who decided to do something about their local “Canaanite” problem, here’s a book about a bunch of church ladies in Alaska who decided to work with local law enforcement to help get women out of trafficked situations. It’s called “Crazy Church Ladies.”
And it reminds me of a fantastic old Disney flick called “The North Avenue Irregulars” where a pastor and a bunch of church ladies take it upon themselves to drive the illegal gambling cartel out of the their town. If you’ve never seen it, it’s a blast.
Now… I give you a video that will actually make a long and complicated genealogy interesting and WAY easier to understand. Just click on the link.
VIDEO: Family Tree of the Bible by UsefulCharts on YouTube. I really enjoy this channel. The research is solid and the visuals are easy to follow. If you’d like to, you can even buy his chart as a poster!
See you tomorrow.
To The Reader 