1 Chronicles 5:1 - Meaning and Application

Here we have a section taken from the family records of the tribes.

First, it concerns the tribe of Reuben. We are told why this tribe is listed after the others. Reuben was Israel’s firstborn, and so he would naturally expect the first place. But he lost his birthright when he defiled his father’s concubine, and for that he was told he would not excel (Genesis 49:4). Sin brings a man down from his honor, and sexual sin especially leaves a deep stain on a person’s name and family. That shame stayed with Reuben’s descendants to the end.

Yet Reuben was not cut off or left out of God’s people. Losing honor is not the same as losing salvation. He lost the birthright, but it did not pass to Simeon, the next son in line. That birthright was a special, symbolic gift, so it did not simply follow the normal order of nature, but the choice of grace.

The birthright included rule and a double share of the inheritance. Since Reuben lost both, it was too much for both honors to be given to one other tribe. So they were divided. Joseph received the double portion, because two tribes came from him, Ephraim and Manasseh. Each received a full share as a son, since Jacob blessed them by faith (Hebrews 11:21; Genesis 48:15, 48:22). Those two tribes were as important as any of the twelve, except Judah.

Judah received the rule. The dying patriarch gave him the royal line (Genesis 49:10). From Judah came the chief ruler, first David, and in the fullness of time, the Messiah, the Prince, came from him (Micah 5:2). Judah kept that honor, even though Joseph received the larger inheritance, and so Judah had no reason to envy Joseph.

The chapter then gives the genealogy of the leading families of Reuben, though many names are likely left out. It continues down to Beerah, who was the leader of the Reubenites when the king of Assyria carried them away captive (1 Chronicles 5:4-6). He may be named as their prince at that time because he did not do his duty to stop the captivity.

We also read about the expansion of Reuben’s territory. As they grew in number and their cattle increased, they pushed out the Hagarites and extended their borders. They did not reach the Euphrates River, but they did stretch to the wilderness near it (1 Chronicles 5:9, 5:10). In this, God did for them what he had promised, driving out enemies little by little and giving them the land as they were able to use it (Exodus 23:30).

Next comes the tribe of Gad. Some important families from that tribe are named (1 Chronicles 5:12). Seven of them were children of Abihail, and their line is traced upward from son to father (1 Chronicles 5:14, 5:15), just as Reuben’s line was traced downward from father to son (1 Chronicles 5:4, 5:5). These family records were completed in the days of Jotham, king of Judah, but they had been started some years earlier, during the reign of Jeroboam II, king of Israel.

We are not told why these records were gathered at that time. It was just before the Assyrians carried them away captive, as shown in 2 Kings 15:29, 15:31. When God’s judgments were about to fall because of their corruption and turning away from him, they were boasting in their genealogies, saying they were children of the covenant, much like the Jews in Jesus’ day who said, “We have Abraham as our father.” Or perhaps there was a gracious purpose in it, a sign that although they were cast out for the present, they were not cast off forever. We keep an inventory of what we plan to call for later.