The Troubler in the Bloodline Text: 1 Chronicles 2:5-8
Introduction: The Backbone of Reality
We live in an age that detests history and despises lineage. Our generation is spiritually allergic to the word "begat." When the modern reader comes to a passage like the one before us, a list of names, his eyes glaze over. He treats it like the terms and conditions on a software update, something to be scrolled past as quickly as possible to get to the "real story." But in doing this, he reveals his central prejudice. He believes his story is an autobiography, written by himself, for himself. He thinks he is a self-made man, a spiritual orphan by choice.
The Bible will not allow for this fiction. The Bible is a book of genealogies because history is not a random collection of disconnected biographies. History is a genealogy. It is one great family story, with a plot, a purpose, and a patriarch, who is God the Father. These lists of names are not inspired filler. They are not biblical Grape Nuts. They are the load-bearing walls of the entire biblical narrative. They are the skeletal structure upon which the flesh of redemptive history is hung. To ignore them is to desire a boneless gospel, a sentimental jellyfish of a faith that has no strength, no spine, and no claim on history.
The Chronicler is writing to a people who have returned from exile. They are discouraged, picking through the rubble of their civilization, and they are asking fundamental questions. Who are we? Do we still belong to God? Does He still have a plan for us? The Chronicler's answer is to unroll the scroll of their family tree. He is saying, "Look where you come from. Look at the line God has preserved. Your identity is not in your present circumstances but in God's past covenant promises." He is reminding them that they have not been dropped into history at random. They have been placed there by a sovereign God who keeps His covenant promises through generations.
And in these few verses, nestled in the genealogy of Judah, the royal tribe, we find not only a record of covenant faithfulness but also a stark and terrible warning. We see that a bloodline, even the bloodline of the Messiah, is not magically immune to sin. And we are taught a lesson our individualistic age has utterly forgotten: sin is never a private matter.
The Text
The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul. The sons of Zerah were Zimri, Ethan, Heman, Calcol, and Dara; five of them in all. The son of Carmi was Achar, the troubler of Israel, who violated what was devoted to destruction. The son of Ethan was Azariah.
(1 Chronicles 2:5-8 LSB)
The Royal Line and a Wise Branch (v. 5-6)
The Chronicler begins with the line of Perez, the son of Judah through whom the Messiah would come.
"The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul. The sons of Zerah were Zimri, Ethan, Heman, Calcol, and Dara; five of them in all." (1 Chronicles 2:5-6)
Perez. His is the line of kings. His is the line that leads straight to David, and ultimately, to David's greater Son. Every name here, Hezron and Hamul, is a brick laid in the foundation of the promise. God is building His house, and He does it through generations. This is a quiet, simple statement of covenantal continuity. God's promises do not evaporate. They are worked out in the messy, ordinary business of fathers and sons.
Then we have the sons of Zerah, the other son of Judah. And this is a notable list. In 1 Kings 4, we are told that Solomon's wisdom "was greater than the wisdom of all the sons of the east and than all the wisdom of Egypt." And to prove it, the author there says Solomon was "wiser than all men, than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol." These are almost certainly the same men mentioned here. So this branch of Judah's family was renowned for its extraordinary wisdom. They were the Einsteins of their day. They were men whose insight was the benchmark against which even Solomon's wisdom was measured.
This is a reminder that God distributes His gifts throughout His covenant people. Not every notable person is in the direct line of the Messiah. The household of God is a place of diverse and glorious giftings. There is room for the king and the sage, the warrior and the musician. But this glorious list of wise men serves as a stark contrast to what is coming next. It sets up a tragic juxtaposition. A family can produce legendary wisdom in one generation and legendary trouble in the next.
Achan, Renamed Achar (v. 7)
Here the Chronicler pauses his simple listing of names to drop a bombshell into the genealogy.
"The son of Carmi was Achar, the troubler of Israel, who violated what was devoted to destruction." (1 Chronicles 2:7 LSB)
Notice first that his name has been changed. In the book of Joshua, his name is Achan. But here, and only here, he is called Achar. This is a deliberate, biting pun. The name Achar sounds like the Hebrew word for "trouble" (achar). The Holy Spirit, through the Chronicler, has effectively renamed him. He is no longer just Achan; he is Mr. Trouble. His identity has been forever fused with his sin. This is what he is remembered for. This is his epitaph: "Here lies Trouble."
And what was his sin? He "violated what was devoted to destruction." The Hebrew word is cherem. It refers to those things under the ban, devoted to God for utter destruction. When Israel conquered Jericho, God commanded that all the plunder, the gold, silver, and bronze, was to be consecrated to the Lord's treasury, and everything else was to be destroyed. It was the firstfruits of the conquest, and it all belonged to God. But Achan saw a beautiful Babylonian garment, some silver, and a bar of gold. And he coveted them, took them, and hid them in the ground under his tent. He thought his sin was private. He thought it was just between him and the dirt in his tent.
But God teaches Israel a brutal lesson in covenantal solidarity. The entire nation is treated as guilty. They go out to fight the little village of Ai, and they are soundly defeated. Thirty-six men die. The hearts of the people melt like water. Why? Because there was sin in the camp. Achan's "private" sin had public, lethal consequences. His sin troubled all of Israel. It brought defeat, death, and demoralization to the entire covenant community.
This is a doctrine that our hyper-individualistic culture cannot stomach. We believe in "personal responsibility" in a way that severs all corporate connection. My sin is my business. But the Bible says otherwise. You are connected. Your sin troubles your family. It troubles your church. It troubles your nation. When a father gives himself to secret lust, he is giving covenantal permission for that same spirit to devour his children. When a church member harbors bitterness, he is poisoning the well from which the whole congregation drinks. We are not disconnected atoms bouncing around. We are a body, and when one member suffers, all suffer. When one member sins, the whole body is affected. Achan was the troubler of Israel, and every one of us who coddles secret sin is a troubler of the new Israel, the church.
The Unbroken Line (v. 8)
After this grim memorial, the list resumes with a simple, hopeful note.
"The son of Ethan was Azariah." (1 Chronicles 2:8 LSB)
The genealogy continues. After the searing indictment of Achar, the troubler, the Chronicler simply picks up where he left off with the sons of Zerah. Ethan, the wise man, had a son named Azariah. The line did not end. The trouble did not have the last word. Achar was a dead end. He and his entire family were judged and removed from the congregation. But the covenant line of Judah, and even the line of Zerah, continued.
This is a picture of the gospel. Sin brings trouble and death. It is a cancerous branch that must be cut out and burned. The judgment on Achar and his family in the valley of Achor (trouble) was a terrifying picture of God's holiness and the reality of hell. But God's covenant purpose is not thwarted by the sin of man. He is sovereign over the troublers. He cuts off the faithless branches, but He preserves His vine.
Conclusion: The Greater Troubler and the True Peace
The story of Achar is a sober warning for all of us. We are all tempted to believe that we can manage our sin, that we can hide it under the tent and no one will be the wiser. But this is a lie from the pit. Secret sin makes you a troubler. It invites the judgment of God not only upon yourself, but upon your household and your church. The only remedy is to drag it out into the light and confess it. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).
But there is a greater story here. Achar troubled Israel by his sin. But centuries later, another man came who was also called a troubler of Israel. When the prophet Elijah confronted the wicked king Ahab, Ahab snarled, "Is that you, you troubler of Israel?" (1 Kings 18:17). And Elijah threw it right back at him: "I have not troubled Israel, but you have, and your father's house, in that you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord." The true troublers are those who lead God's people into sin and idolatry.
And then, ultimately, the Lord Jesus Christ came. And to the world, He was the ultimate troubler. He troubled the Pharisees. He troubled the money-changers. He troubled Herod. He troubled the demons. He troubled the comfortable and the complacent. He came to turn the world upside down. But in reality, He came to deal with the ultimate source of all our trouble, which is our sin.
On the cross, Jesus Christ took all the cherem, all the plunder of our sin that was devoted to destruction, and He took it upon Himself. He became the troubler in our place. He bore the full weight of God's covenant curse that we deserved. He was taken outside the camp and utterly destroyed so that we, the true troublers, could be brought into the camp, cleansed and forgiven. He went into the valley of Achor for us, and has transformed it, as the prophet Hosea says, into a "door of hope" (Hosea 2:15). This genealogy, with its brief and terrible mention of Achar, reminds us of the stakes. It reminds us of the poison of sin and the necessity of a Savior. And it reminds us that our names are written in the Lamb's book of life not because of our flawless pedigree, but because the Son of David, the son of Perez, became a curse for us.