Embark on an enlightening journey with me, Pastor Brandon, as we trace the intertwining paths of unity and heritage, vital threads in the tapestry of our faith. In the sacred narrative of 1 Chronicles 7, we encounter the resilient heartbeat of our spiritual ancestors, learning how each name etched in biblical genealogy contributed to the formidable strength of a people bound by divine purpose. This episode isn't just a history lesson; it's an invitation to embrace the collective power that shapes our identity and to find solace in the knowledge that God's steadfast presence has been with us through every epoch, guiding our steps from the past into today.
As we unpack the profound implications of community within our church family, you're drawn into a heartfelt discussion on the essential connections that sustain us, even when we're tempted to retreat behind the masks we wear. The candid exploration of creating and nurturing trust offers a stirring testament to the transformative impact of life groups and spiritual kinship. Join me in a shared prayer for healing, as we lay bare our vulnerabilities and seek solace in the assurance of God's intimate involvement in our lives. This episode stands as a beacon of hope, illuminating the path to a place where each of us is cherished and upheld by the promise of unity in our ever-present God.
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The More You Dig. The More You Find.
Embark on an enlightening journey with me, Pastor Brandon, as we trace the intertwining paths of unity and heritage, vital threads in the tapestry of our faith. In the sacred narrative of 1 Chronicles 7, we encounter the resilient heartbeat of our spiritual ancestors, learning how each name etched in biblical genealogy contributed to the formidable strength of a people bound by divine purpose. This episode isn't just a history lesson; it's an invitation to embrace the collective power that shapes our identity and to find solace in the knowledge that God's steadfast presence has been with us through every epoch, guiding our steps from the past into today.
As we unpack the profound implications of community within our church family, you're drawn into a heartfelt discussion on the essential connections that sustain us, even when we're tempted to retreat behind the masks we wear. The candid exploration of creating and nurturing trust offers a stirring testament to the transformative impact of life groups and spiritual kinship. Join me in a shared prayer for healing, as we lay bare our vulnerabilities and seek solace in the assurance of God's intimate involvement in our lives. This episode stands as a beacon of hope, illuminating the path to a place where each of us is cherished and upheld by the promise of unity in our ever-present God.
SOAP Bible Study Method- https://www.brandoncannon.com/soap/
Bible reading plan- http://www.experiencerlc.com/the-bible/
Free weekly newsletter- https://www.brandoncannon.com/
Social:
Facebook: https://facebook.com/thebrandoncannon
Instagram: https://instagram.com/brandoncannon
Twitter: https://twitter.com/brandoncannon
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theBrandonCannon
The More You Dig. The More You Find.
Well, everybody, welcome back to the Bible Breakdown podcast with your host, pastor Brandon, today. 1 Chronicles, chapter 7, and today's title is Together we Are Strong. Together we Are Strong. We're going to get into that in just a moment, but, as always, if you like what we're doing here, make sure you like, share and subscribe to the YouTube channel. Make sure you leave us a five-star review on the podcast and also where we gather together the Bible breakdown discussion, on Facebook, because, man, the more we dig, the more we find, and we would love to connect with you. Make sure that when you are reading those devotions, you are commenting and you are posting and letting us know how you're connecting. Share it on social media, but then also comment on YouTube. Let us know how you are connecting with God's word. Let us know some questions and I want to know, in the comments down below, what is the hardest word for you to say. What is one word? Then we come across it. You're like, really, somebody named their kid that To which, once again, let's be fair, this is in a very different language and a very different time. We're talking around 3,000 to 4,000 years ago, so names and things change over time. So we want to be a little easy on them, but at the same time, lord, help us right. So you have your Bible.
Speaker 1:I'm going to open up with me to 2 Chronicles 7. Remember, the reason why we're doing all these names is Ezra most likely is the one who compiled all this, and he is trying to remind the nation of Israel. You have a heritage, you have a connection to the land, you have a connection to what's going on. Come on, there's a reason why we're coming back, and he's also reminding them. God was with them, and all these people started from a bunch of slaves. They were slaves in the nation of Egypt which, I mean, it goes back before that as well but then they spent 400 years in slavery and now they've become a nation, and in that nation they went and they were conquered because of their sin, and so now they're going to go back again and say no, no, no. Let's not remember us as slaves. Let's remember when we were a nation. God is with us, and so the idea is is that when God is with you, there's always hope. Don't just remember the bad times. Remember the good times as well, and remember who God has made you to be, and that includes remembering the person on your left and the person on your right, and that's why we're going through all these genealogies, remembering their heritage and remembering that they have something worth being proud of. And so we're going to read that together today. We're going to continue to go through some of these family lineages we're going to finish off talking about together. We are strong, you ready. Here we go.
Speaker 1:1 Chronicles 7, verse 1. The four sons of Issachar were Tola, pehua, jeshub and Shemron. The sons of Tola were Uzziah, rephaheh, jerel, jemiah, ipsam and Shemuel. Each of them was a leader of an ancestral clan At the time of King David. The total number of mighty warriors listed in the records of these clans were 22,600. The sons of Uzi were Ezariah, and the sons of Ezariah were Machel, obadiah, joel and Ishihi. These five became the leaders of clans. All of them had many wives and many sons, lord help. So the total of the men available for military service among their descendants were 36,000. The total number of mighty warriors from all the clans of the tribes of Issachar was 87,000. All of them were listed in their genealogical records.
Speaker 1:Three of Benjamin's sons were Bela, beker and Jetehiel. Of Benjamin's sons were Bela, beker and Jetehiel. The five sons of Bela were Esbon, uzi, uzel and Jeremoth and Iri. Each of them was a leader of an ancestral clan. The total number of mighty warriors from these clans were 22,034, as listed in their genealogical records. The sons of Beker were Zimriah, joash, eleazar, elaniah, omri, jeromoth, abijah, anahoth and Elameth. Each of them was the leader of an ancestral clan. The total number of mighty warriors and leaders from these clans were 20,200, as listed in their genealogical records.
Speaker 1:The son of Jedail and Jehal. The sons of Belhan were Jeush, benjamin, ehud, keniah, zethan, tarshish and Hashabashur. I don't even know what that word is, I'm just giving it a shot. Each of them were the leader of an ancestral clan. From these clans, the total number of mighty warriors ready for war was 17,200.
Speaker 1:The sons of Ir was Shupim and Hupim. Come on now. Shupim and Hupim. Hushim was the son of Ir, verse 13,. The son of Naphtali was Jezail, guni, jezer and Shilim. They were the descendants of Jacob's concubine Bilhah.
Speaker 1:The descendants of Manasseh Mekker had a sister named Micah, one of the descendants of I'm not even going to try that word, it begins with a Z who had only daughters. Micah's wife Micah gave birth to a son whom she named Peresh. His brother's name was Sheresh. The son of Peresh was Ulam and Rechem. The son of Ulam was Beden. All of these were considered Gileadites, descendants of Mechur, the son of Manasseh. Mechur's sister, halamecheth, gave birth to Ishad, abazizer and Malal. The sons of Shemaiah were Alaha, shechem, elkay and Hinnom.
Speaker 1:The descendants of Ephraim were Sheshulah, bered, telhath, eliadah, taha, zeban, julahah, ezer and Iliad. These two were killed trying to steal livestock from the local farmers near Gath. Now pause. These two were killed trying to steal livestock from the local farmers near Gath. What a lasting legacy. That's embarrassing. All right, verse 22. Their father, ephraim, mourned for them a long time I bet he did and his relatives came to comfort him. That's sweet, verse 23. Afterward, ephraim slept with his wife we didn't need to know that and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. Well, praise the Lord. Ephraim named him Beriah because of the tragedy his family had suffered. By the way, beriah, it actually is a Hebrew term meaning tragedy or misfortune, so that's kind of why his name ended up like that. All right, verse 24. He had a daughter named Shira. She built the Verse 24.
Speaker 1:Of Ephraim lived in the territory that included Bethel and its surrounding towns, to the south Neron, to the east, gezer and its villages to the west, and Shechem and its surrounding villages to the north. As far as Ai and its towns Along the border of Manasseh were the towns of Beth-Sharon, techan, megiddo, Dor and the surrounding villages. The descendants of Joseph, son of Israel, lived in these towns the sons of Eshava, ishvi, beriah, and they had a sister named Sarah. Oh good, sarah. The sons of Beriah were Heber, machel, the father of Bezreth. I have no idea who that is, but we wanted to know whose father it was. The son of Heber was Jephalet, shomer, hotham, and they had a sister named Shua, praise the Lord. The sons of Jephalet was Pizahach, bithma and Shavath, praise the Lord. The sons of Zophah and Suhah were Hanaphir, shuah, berah, imrah, bezer, Hod, shammah, hashalah, ithran and Ba'ir. The sons of Jether are Juthanath, hishphah and Herah. The sons of Ula were Harah, hanel and Rizai, and each of the descendants of Asher, the head of the ancestral clans. And these were all selected men, mighty warriors and outstanding leaders, and I'm pretty sure we read every one of their names today. All right, thank you, by the way, for making it with me.
Speaker 1:Through all those names, we're almost through all the genealogies when we get to the end of this. We just want to little bit of a celebration around here, all right, but they're all very important because as we get ready to do our time together, together, we are strong. Now, one of these names by themselves is just a name. Now it's a name. That's important, but it's a name. But as we continue to read these names, all of these individual names become a clan, clan becomes various clans that eventually become a tribe and 12 tribes become the nation of Israel. One person by themself can be defeated, but when we all come together, we become strong, and that's one reason why we need our church family. We need our church family because when we're by ourself, we're weak. When we're together, we're strong.
Speaker 1:One of the things that I've learned in my life is, when I get around people for a little while, we all have our masks on, and so for a little while, everybody's doing good. You ask them how are you doing? I'm good? How are you doing I'm good? As a matter of fact, when somebody actually gets honest and says good, you ask them how are you doing I'm good? How are you doing I'm good? As a matter of fact, when somebody actually gets honest and says I'm not doing so good. We kind of look at them. Well, let's praise the Lord, let's pray for you, because you know I'm doing fine.
Speaker 1:Truth is, we've all got issues. I've got issues, you've got issues, we've all got okay. But I don't trust you yet. And that's okay. Trust should always be earned, right? Someone told me one time that trust is given, mistrust is earned, and I love that idea. But I don't know about you.
Speaker 1:But I struggle with that one because, as I've walked with people, I realized, just like me, people are hard, we're hard to deal with, we're hard to go through life with, because we all have rough edges, we all have places that are difficult, and so, if we're not careful, eventually what we do is we decide to get on an island by ourself. We decide to say you know what? It's hard to deal with people. People aren't perfect. Sometimes their bad day becomes my bad day. I'm just going to live on an island all by myself. Here's the problem with that. We were not made to live on an island.
Speaker 1:Even introverts need somebody. If you're old, you'll get this reference. Even Zorro needed Tonto, right, wasn't that his sidekick? We all need somebody. But here's the thing the Lone Ranger. It was the Lone Ranger who needed Tonto. We all need somebody, and we all need somebody close, and this is why we need our spiritual family.
Speaker 1:Now, I don't know if you don't go to a real-life church Maybe you go to a different church and at RLC we have life groups, and one of the reasons why we have life groups is because we need people, so that when life gets difficult, we have someone to turn to. But that can be difficult, and so I want to ask you this question Do you have somebody outside your immediate family that, when times get difficult, you have someone to turn to? Do you have someone in your life that you can? If you do, why don't you do me a favor? Why don't you reach out to them at some point today and just say thank you for being my friend, because so many people don't have that someone. If you're one of those some people that don't have one, can I ask you to do me another favor as well? Start praying and asking God to open your eyes to see who is around you that you could be a friend to, because not only do you need a friend, but chances are they need you Now.
Speaker 1:It's going to take time, it's going to take patience and it's going to take really just kind of living with one another for a while so trust can be earned. But when trust is earned, we are better together. I'm going to pray for you because sometimes taking that first step is really difficult. Let's pray together right now. God, thank you so much for today. Thank you, god, that you have made us to be in community with one another.
Speaker 1:However, over time and over trouble, many of us experienced wounds and pains and things that have caused us a lot of times to lean back and away from one another, times when we're not always so sure if we can trust. I pray, lord, that you will reveal that to us so that we can walk in healing and walk in freedom and dare to trust again. Not trust because we're afraid, because we know we'll never get hurt, because that's going to happen, because we're all broken in some kind of way, but trust to know that, no matter where we walk, you are with us and you will heal us of any wound, and so that we can then walk forward with confidence and be an agent of healing ourself. I'm thankful today for the conversations you're going to start and the bridges you're going to build today. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen, don't forget.
Speaker 1:God's Word says in 1 Chronicles 29,. I know, my God, that you examine our hearts and rejoice when you find integrity there. God knows you more than you realize. He's walking with you more than you'll ever be able to imagine. I love you. I'll see you.