Year 9, Day 304: 2 Chronicles 4

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2 Chronicles 4 is an abundant chapter.  No, it isn’t the longest chapter.  It isn’t about abundance in words.  It is about abundance in spirit.

The Chronicler’s point in this message is that the temple is a place of abundance.  After all, the altar – as attested in scripture – is 30 square feet and 15 feet tall!  Volume formulas approximate the amount of water held by the sea to be roughly 10,000 gallons.  There were so many tools made that they didn’t even count the amount of bronze.  God’s temple is abundantly large.  It is up to the task of burning sacrifices for the whole nation.

This grants us a great theological perspective.  In general, God is abundant in His provision.  His forgiveness is up to the task of dealing with our sinfulness.  His omniscience is all around.  The greatness of God and what God is capable of is immeasurable.

There is at least a third layer to be found.  Notice the various references to the worship in the tabernacle.  We hear about the oxen, which symbolize movement.  We hear about the grouping of the oxen, which reminds us of the grouping of the tribes in the wilderness around the tabernacle.  What does this show us?  God’s greatness is consistent.  His methods may change, but His character and purpose stay the same.  Our worship of Him may look different generation to generation, but He remains the same.

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Year 9, Day 303: 2 Chronicles 2-3

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I find it interesting that we typically hear about the temple in Jerusalem.  We are told of the city of God as Jerusalem.  We are told of the great Jerusalem, the place that David conquered to build his capitol city.  It is here that Solomon builds his temple.

The interesting thing about this chapter is that we don’t hear the Chronicler speak about Jerusalem.  The Chronicler specifically references Mount Moriah.  Mount Moriah is mentioned as the place where Abraham is told by God to sacrifice his son, Isaac.  The location of the temple is the same place where God shows Abraham His great place for redemption.

In the story of Abraham and Isaac, remember that Abraham takes his son and a bundle of wood.  In fact, Isaac is told to carry the wood for his own sacrifice!  Yet, Abraham continues to answer Isaac’s questions with the simple assertion that God will provide.  Mount Moriah is the place where God provides.  He provides answers.  He provides redemption.  He provides forgiveness.  As Abraham asserts, God provides.

Now, the temple is being built.  God provides.  All of the relationships and materials that Solomon needs to build the temple have been provided.  God has provided a kingdom for His people.  God has provided wisdom for the leader.  God provides.

In the future, this is where God will continue to provide.  The conflict between God’s own Son and the religious elite will come to a head in the temple.  God’s own Son will provide atonement as the curtain of the temple is torn in half. 

God continues to provide.  That is what this chapter has to say.  This is why the Chronicler speaks of this place as Mount Moriah.  The Chronicler wants us to remember that when God plans, He provides.

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Year 9, Day 302: 2 Chronicles 1

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Solomon takes over the kingdom. God offers him anything that he wants.  Solomon responds and asks for wisdom.  He could have had anything; he asks for wisdom.

This is a great move on Solomon’s behalf.  First, it demonstrates humbleness in his leadership.  He asks for something that will benefit the world around him.  The wiser he is, the more the nation can prosper and be successful.  The better decisions he makes, the better the economy will prosper.  The better treaties he makes, the more likely he’ll be able to avoid war.  The country will be better with a wise leader.

This decision also speaks to God.  Solomon asks for something that will benefit God’s work.  God has been building this nation out of exiled slaves; Solomon will now be able to help govern them.  In asking for wisdom, Solomon is truly asking God to help him see where God is at work and join Him at work.

The decision also speaks to Solomon.  Wisdom allows for an easier life.  When we make wise decisions, we are less likely to fall into the traps of others.  When we make wise decisions, we gain the respect of others around us.  When we make wise decisions, we find ourselves questioned less.  With wisdom comes a life of less strife.

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Year 9, Day 301: 1 Chronicles 29

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In the final chapter of 1 Chronicles, David appoints Solomon as king and dies.  His reign ends.  The reign of the greatest king of Israel, the king who will be the comparison for all other kings, is finished.

David goes out on the right moment.  Yes, he continues to charge the assembly and make sure they understand how to go forward.  He sets the choice before them.  But he does more than speak.  David does what all good leaders do.  David sets up an example.

As David is transferring the kingdom from him to Solomon, David leads with sacrifice.  He leads with giving.  He opens up his own treasury and makes donations to the reign of Solomon for the purpose of building the temple.

The effect of the example is profound.  All of the other leaders do the same.  The leaders of Israel – whether through inspiration or expectation – follow suit.  Generosity begets more generosity.

This is one of the things that David consistently gets right.  When David does make the right choice, he emboldens people through his example.  When he doesn’t make the right choice, he is public about his repentance and in that his example still continues.  We don’t have to be perfect to have an impact on the world around us.  We simply need to be transparent.

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Year 9, Day 300: 1 Chronicles 28

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In this second to last chapter of 1 Chronicles, David prepares for the change in kingdom.  While he may not have gotten everything right, David does get this right.  David pulls in all of the leaders and makes it very clear that when he is no longer king that Solomon is to be in charge.  He also lays out the expectations for the wealth that he’s accumulated.  David lays out a plan so that when he is gone life can continue and everything that God has done through him can go forward.

David does show great wisdom in his words.  When he speaks to the people, he knows that they are all human.  They are prone to occasional failure.  They are prone to falling into sinfulness and self-centeredness.  He doesn’t tell them that they are going to be great, he tells them the conditions of their greatness.

When David stands before the people and Solomon, He tells them that God will continue with the kingdom so long as they stay strong and follow His commands.  In other words, the key principle to living in God’s blessing is our own obedience.  God can handle life much better than we can.  We simply need to follow His lead.

So often we think that in order for us to be successful that we need to be great, or athletic, or attractive, or smart, or creative.  We think that our own greatness depends on our intrinsic characteristics.  David knows this about human beings when he speaks to the crowd.  This is why David reminds them that God will be with them as long as they are faithful.  God can make us into what He desires, and what He desires is always better than what we can make for ourselves.  We simply need to follow Him and allow Him to open up doors for us.  When we do that, we will remain in His will.

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Year 9, Day 299: 1 Chronicles 27

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1 Chronicles 27 continues David’s plan for transitioning to Solomon.  The military is divided up so that the leadership is shared among the mighty men.  This makes sense, because you want your leaders training the next generation.  You also want your leadership to have time that they are in charge as well as time that they are able to rest and recuperate.  In order for leadership to remain strong and creative, it has to have time to rest and grow in addition to being in charge and leading.

In the second half of the chapter, the leaders over David’s wealth are listed.  God has been blessing David.  His herds are so great that he needs multiple managers.  The fruit of the field is so great that different people manage different crops.  God promised David that He would prosper the kingdom so long as David worshipped the Lord.  God fulfilled that promise completely.

This also shows that great wealth requires great management and wisdom.  One single person cannot manage such wealth themselves.  The wealth would either prove to be too much work or it would be too tempting.  By distributing the management of the wealth among various leaders, each leader can shoulder the proper amount of burden while avoiding the power trip that comes with such wealth. 

This is especially true because Solomon is inexperienced in the beginning.  He will need advisors to make sure that his decisions in leadership are good.  He will also need advisors to make sure that his decisions with his wealth are good too.

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Year 9, Day 298: 1 Chronicles 26

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Today we hear about the gatekeepers and the treasurers.  One of those tasks sounds relatively underwhelming.  The other task is probably interesting for all the wrong reasons.  There is danger all around this passage.

Since the gatekeepers come first, look there at the beginning.  I can’t believe that very many people would like to sign up for the gate keepers.  It’s like the greeters in the morning at church.  One might also think of them as a bouncer standing outside a bar. 

The gatekeepers had two very important duties.  They were to watch over the people and make sure that people understood there were expectations for purity.  This means they were really like bouncers.  At the same time, they were the first people that visitors saw at the temple.  They were the first impression for worship.  While they kept the gate, they needed to do so in a manner that made people want what was within the gate.

The other group within this chapter are the money keepers.  Who wouldn’t want to be in charge of the money?  Unfortunately, this is a job that many people covet without thinking about the pitfalls.  With great power comes great responsibility.  In fact, as we get into the rest of the story of the Hebrew people, we’ll see that at one of the lowest points of rebellion the issue is that the money collected for the temple is being diverted to personal gain!

I find chapters like this one to be very intriguing.  It brings out interesting dynamics within people.  It shows us that the overlooked aspects of life are often important.  It also shows us that there is great danger within things to which our heart is naturally attracted.  The reaction to simple chapters like this can reveal as much about the reader as the subject of the chapter.

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Year 9, Day 297: 1 Chronicles 25

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Today’s passage feels much like the last two chapters.  There is a reorganization going on.  Today, David is organizing the musicians.  David continues to help out his son’s future empire.

What is interesting is that as David is sorting the musicians he groups them with the chiefs of service.  Another way of translating chiefs of service is commanders in warfare.  These are just singers and dancers and musicians.  These are people who march out to war with the soldiers.  These are the musicians that help guide the battlefield, indicate troop movement, inspire courage in the Hebrew soldiers, and create fear in the enemy.

What feels like a chapter of relatively unimportant words suddenly takes on new context. These are people who are marching to the battlefield as well as helping out in worship.  These are the people who help soldiers be successful in combat and who help the general population worship God freely.

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Year 9, Day 296: 1 Chronicles 24

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This is a relatively simple chapter.  David is organizing the priests into a schedule of service.  Naturally, the lesson from yesterday remains.  Solomon is about the become king.  David wants the transition to go well.  David is taking his son’s reign seriously.

What is there to learn from the chapter about life?  Organization is good.  The worship at the temple was no simple affair.  Hebrew people from across the nation would be coming to the temple to sacrifice.  It was a daunting task that needed organization to be successful.  For the worship of God to thrive, there needed to be a plan.

Second, the workload is shared.  No priest serves all year.  Every priest serves during their time and then gets a break to go back home and be with their family when the next priest comes to serve.  There is a time to work and a time to rest.  When we rest, we enable ourselves to prepare for work.

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Year 9, Day 295: 1 Chronicles 23

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In this chapter, David organizes the Levites.  There isn’t anything major going on here.  As the ark moves to Jerusalem and as David prepares to hand off the burden of leadership to Solomon, it is important that structure be implemented.  The young king will need help making the transition and making sure that things run smoothly.

What is neat about this is the realization that the temple construction implies that the tabernacle is unnecessary.  With the temple, the moving tabernacle becomes useless.  With the tabernacle becoming useless, all of those Levites who were tasked with moving the tabernacle no longer have a purpose.  A whole tribe of Israel is put out of work by the building of the tabernacle.

This is why David reorganizes them.  David knows that the land was divided the way that it was because the Levites were to be occupied with the tabernacle and its functioning.  He gives them jobs to do.  They are to assist with the worship.  They are to assist with the prayers.  They are to assist with the sacrificing.  They are to help safeguard the purity of the people.

Essentially, what this means is that the religious nature of the people is evolving.  As the context changes, the practices of the people likewise change.  The religious work of the people changes to stay relevant.  I think this is my favorite part of this chapter.  Religion must always stay relevant.  That implies that the shape of religion is flexible and changing.

The theological foundation of religion should not change.  The teachings that make religion powerful should not change.  The practices of the people that put these teachings into real life must absolutely change to remain relevant to the people.

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Year 9, Day 294: 1 Chronicles 22

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1 Chronicles 22 fills in more of the story about David and the temple.  David tells us that the reason God gave him for not being able to build the temple was because David had shed too much blood.  David’s reign had its fair share of war; God wanted the temple builder to have a more peaceful reputation.

The neat part about this chapter is that David continues to prepare.  He could have been angry at the Lord for not letting him do what he had the means to do.  Instead, he accepts the Lord’s ruling and spends his own resources to prepare for Solomon.  He makes sure that if Solomon was the one that God chose, then Solomon would have the means to accomplish the task.

I also love that David sits Solomon down and explains things.  David knows that Solomon is young.  He knows that he will lack wisdom at first.  He also knows that he is giving Solomon a tremendous treasure.  David wants to make sure that Solomon understands how important this project is.

David also surrounds Solomon with advisors who understand.  He knows that Solomon is going to need accountability.  David makes sure that if Solomon is tempted to go against David’s desires that there will be people who know better.  There will be older and wiser adults who can help Solomon make the right choice.

David’s maturity is impressive here.  He makes all the right choices in this instance.  He has his moments, but here he once more shows why he is a man after God’s own heart.

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Year 9, Day 293: 1 Chronicles 21

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1 Chronicles 21 is all about the census.  God had told the leaders of the Hebrew people to not do a census.  As a math guy, this inherently offends me!  What’s so wrong with numbers?  What is so wrong with counting?  In order to solve problems, we usually need some kind of measurement.

The difference here is that David’s numbers aren’t going to be used to solve problems, David’s numbers are going to start problems.  This chapter is about the heart, not the head.  In this chapter, God cares about what the numbers are going to do to David’s heart, not his head.

When we count things, we become less content.  I can be completely happy if I have money in my bank account.  If I count it, however, and start comparing how much I have versus my monthly bills, I may worry, doubt, and have fear.  I can be completely happy knowing that I am getting to the end of a year in teaching.  When I count the days, however, the days pass more slowly because the amount seems too large!

God knows that when David knows the size of his nation that he’s going to start comparing it to the nations around him.  He’s going to start comparing armies.  He’s going to start making decision based on human power and human prowess and not based on his faith in God.  David’s heart is going to start to lean towards what he can do, and that’s when people get into trouble.

So long as our heart is pointed towards God, we live out our faith.  Yet, when our heart focuses on worldly means, we turn away from God’s ways.  We abandon living out our faith and living in opposition to our fear.  This is why God is angry with David.  He is disobedient, but his disobedience will lead him down a dark path.

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Year 9, Day 292: 1 Chronicles 20

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Ever notice the typical height of a Hebrew person?  They are not known for their great stature, and especially in David’s day they weren’t very tall among the other inhabitants of the Promised Land.  Certainly, they are not midgets.  However, they aren’t exactly tall or bulky, either.

Why is this important?  This chapter gives us two stories of conquest.  In the first story, the Ammonites are truly defeated.  The crown that their king wore was 75 pounds!  Imagine the weight of such an object upon one’s head!

In the second story, the Philistines are subdued.  The Philistines were giant men.  Elsewhere in the Bible we hear about David’s conquest over Goliath.  Here we get David’s nephew’s conquest over a Philistine and the death of Lahmi, the brother of Goliath.  Although the Philistines were giant men, they were defeated in battle.

What is the point in this story?  It isn’t the physical stature of the Hebrew people that allowed them victory.  Yet, they still carried around crowns that weighted 75 pounds and defeated giant twelve-fingered men!  They are able to be so successful because God is with them.

When God fights for us, what does our stature matter?  Can any opponent we face be as big as God?  Can God not compensate for any of our deficiencies?

That’s part of why the story of the Hebrew people is so powerful.  They were normal people, normal stature, normal intelligence, normal in just about every way.  Yet it was God who made them great.  When we focus on His ability and not our own, is there anything we cannot do if He is with us?

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Year 9, Day 291: 1 Chronicles 19

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1 Chronicles 19 is a great lesson in the counsel of the wise.  David sends a peace envoy to the Ammonites when their king dies.  Up until this point, the Hebrew people under the leadership of David and the Ammonites had a good relationship.  There was no warfare between them.

Hanun, the son of the king with whom David had a good relationship, gets bad counsel.  His advisors think that David is sending the peace envoy as a ploy to spy on the Ammonites.  To be fair, we know that this happened in the ancient world frequently.  Envoys of peace on the outside were also subtle spies on the inside.  You can’t fault the advisors for thinking that there might be more to the act than good will.

We still use this tactic.  When we want to find something out, we go in peace to test the water and learn what we can.  We collect information under the guise of peace and then go back and strategize about what we learned.  When in doubt, we get more out of being pleasant than we do by antagonizing someone.

Had Hanun been skeptical and merely watched David’s party, things would have been okay.  I’m willing to bet David would have not only understood but expected a little skepticism.  It would have been natural.  Hanun doesn’t do this, though.  Hanun goes beyond the skeptical and humiliates the envoys.  In a single moment of poor thought, Hanun spoils a moment that could have solidified the Hebrew people with the Ammonites.

Instead, David marshals the army.  He cannot allow his men to be humiliated.  The army goes out to war and defeats the Ammonites.  Not only does his army defeat the Ammonites, he defeats the Syrians that had been hired to help in the battle!  In the end, the Ammonites end up defeated, embarrassed, and became subjects of David.

They could have been friends.  They could have lived in peace.  Instead, Hunan listens to bad advice, loses his position, and turns his nation into a vassal state of the Hebrew people.  It’s scary what a single moment of bad advice can bring.

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Year 9, Day 290: 1 Chronicles 18

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1 Chronicles 18 is a chapter of conquest.  David settles into being king.  The Hebrew people are united as they transition from Saul to David.  They begin to assert themselves against the other nations in the region.  They even begin to plunder the nations around them and bring back the spoils of war.  Other nations start sending gifts to David to appease him and keep him from attacking them.

At the heart of this chapter is the promise of God.  In the last chapter, God tells David that He will make a home for David.  Here we see that beginning to happen.  God is bringing David into power and demonstrating His greatness and ability to make the Hebrew people strong.

David was far from perfect.  His heart, though, was pointed in the right direction.  That is what God cares about.

God doesn’t expect us to be perfect, but He is willing to support us when we are repentant.  He is capable of upholding His promises.  He has the power to make good on His word.  We are not like God; we are different and tainted by sin.  He can lift us out of our sin and bring us into a greater existence.  That is what He promises and delivers to David.

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Year 9, Day 289: 1 Chronicles 17

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Today, David learns that he will not be the one to build a temple for the Lord.  God does not want him to build the temple.  What’s interesting in this chapter is that we are not told why David isn’t to build the temple.  We are given clues in a couple of chapters, but we are not told here.  If you are curious, the later testimony indicates that David’s past is too violent for God to want him to build the temple for Him.

Of course, this is true.  God’s Word is not wrong.  For a closer look at what is going on, read through what God says.  There is more to this passage than meets the eye.

First, notice that God corrects David’s desire by saying that He has never asked for a house.  He has never lived in a house built by human hands because the universe is His dwelling!  What need does God have for a dwelling?  The whole creation is His!  David’s desire for God to have a home is just that: David’s desire.  David wants God to have a home in Jerusalem so that people will know where God dwells.  God Himself doesn’t need a home.  Neither does He need people to build Him an adequate home.

In fact, God tells David that He will build David a house instead.  God is the one who makes people great.  God is the one who gives us dwelling.  He is the one who meets our needs, not the other way around.  David’s desire isn’t wrong per se, but it does show that his thoughts are misguided.

Furthermore, David tells Him that David’s son will build a temple.  God also tells David that He will be a father to David’s son and David’s son will be a son to Him.  While this could be a slight to David’s parenting technique and his many wives, I think this is honestly just a confirmation that God will be with his offspring.  God is David’s God, He will be the God of his offspring, too.

In summary, this chapter is all about who I provider and who is the recipient.  God is the provider.  He doesn’t need us to provide for Him.  He is happy to accept our gifts, our praise, and our offerings.  He doesn’t need them, however.  He is capable of helping Himself just fine.  He is our provider.

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Year 9, Day 288: 1 Chronicles 16

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1 Chronicles 16 gives the response from David to God.  The ark is in place and in Jerusalem.  The rest of the trip happened without incident.

David praises God.  He lifts up God and remembers how God has served His people from the exodus onward.  He praises God for bringing the people out from their oppression in Egypt and raising them up to make a glorious nation.  God deserves the praise and David gives it to him.

This is notable.  David has his flaws.  He can be a touch arrogant.  He can’t seem to stop taking wives and having children from every wife he takes.  This doesn’t mention the concubines.  He doesn’t seem to have any trouble at all helping the Philistines when it suits his pleasure and then coming back and crushing him once his power is returned.  In spite of all of these flaws, the one thing that David doesn’t do is to go against his faith in God.  He might not follow perfectly – or even close to it – but he is always following.

God tells us in His Word that David is a man after His own heart.  This is what He means.  David isn’t perfect.  He has his flaws.  But he is always pointed towards God.  He never turns his back away from God.  Even in sin, his heart is inclined towards repentance.

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Year 9, Day 287: 1 Chronicles 15

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David brings up the ark to Jerusalem.  He does it, however, only after learning from his mistakes.  He has the priests and Levites consecrate themselves and do it the right way.  The ark is successfully brought up.  God is pleased.  David learns a valuable lesson about doing things God’s way, for which Uzzah paid the price.

There is something interesting at the end of the chapter.  In the midst of the fanfare, David’s first wife, Michal, looks on in disgust.  She sees the process and can find as much joy in her heart as everyone else seems to have.

Remember that Michal was Saul’s daughter.  Also remember that Michal was David’s first wife.  She, like Uzzah, is a casualty of David’s humanity.  Michal has been watching David collect wives, have children with them, and move along to another woman.  I can’t blame her for looking on and not being able to muster all the joy the others have.

Our sin has consequences.  When we learn from our sin, the consequences don’t necessarily go away.  Other people remember us in our sinful state.  They remember what we did that was so wrong.  When we sin, it is important to make things right with God; it is just as important that we go to those affected by our sin and make things right with them, too.

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Year 9, Day 286: 1 Chronicles 13-14

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The two chapters today bring out the humanity of David.  As much as the Chronicler wants to show that God is moving behind the scenes, the Chronicler also wants to show that God’s movement in history is not without human influence as well.

In the first major story, the arc is brought up to Jerusalem.  On its way, the cart carrying the ark falters and Uzzah dies when he tries to reach out and stabilize it.  While it seems like a cruel story at first read, it really is a story about disobedience.  It isn’t about Uzzah’s disobedience; it is all about David’s disobedience.

The ark was made with pole loops so that the ark could be covered on long poles between human priests.  David has the ark put into a cart.  Because of this, when the cart shifts, the oxen pulling the cart don’t know to stop and they certainly can’t lower the ark to the ground.  Therefore, David puts Uzzah in a position to fail.

I love David’s question.  “How can I bring the ark into my home?”  He is terrified about the power contained within.

The answer is simple.  God doesn’t punish the obedient.  So long as David follows the rules, he is in no danger.  So long as David has his focus on God and God’s ways, he is in no danger.

This story sets up the story of David’s family that follows.  All David needs to do is respect God’s idea of marriage and things will go well.  However, once more David misses the mark and lets his humanity show through.  He takes multiple wives.  He then has multiple children with those wives.  Several chapters from now we’ll hear about the rebellion that ensues because of this choice.

The reality is that God’s hand is at work behind the scenes.  He is the one in control.  His influence will endure even after we are gone.  That doesn’t mean that we don’t have a roll to play.  Our humanity, both the good and bad choices that we make, impact what God is doing.  The chronicler wants us to realize that we may be penultimate to God, but we are not utterly insignificant.  Our choices matter; we should be careful when making decisions that impact God’s hand at work.

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Year 9, Day 285: 1 Chronicles 12

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1 Chronicles 12 continues the report of David’s forces.  The prior chapter was mostly regarding his kin; this chapter shows people from the other tribes coming to his assistance.  What is neat is that we are reminded on several occasions that this was to fulfill the word of the Lord.  The Chronicler is trying to remind the exiles returning to rebuild Jerusalem that things happen because God desires it.

What is really neat about this chapter is that we hear the Chronicler speak about the support of David in terms of deserting Saul in support of David.  Remember that as Saul’s rebellion grew in his heart, God sent a troubling spirit to him.  Saul’s grasp of sanity left him more and more.  The more Saul loses touch with reality, the more people look to David as the rightful king.

There is a lesson for leaders in this passage.  Sane people will seek sane leaders.  Logical people will seek leaders who have agendas that meet up with reasonable goals.  When the leadership goes off the deep end, sane people quit listening.

I find this an intriguing critique on the political scene in America over the last decade or two.  Out politicians have gone further and further afield.  We now have politicians who no longer blush at swearing in public (on both sides, remember).  We have politicians who are so stuck on their side of the line that they’ve lost focus completely on what government is supposed do: work on behalf of the people.  I am not surprised by how few people I meet in a normal day to day life who simply don’t care about our government and its politics anymore.  As I said, when leadership loses its grip on sanity, sane people find new leaders to follow.

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Year 9, Day 284: 1 Chronicles 11

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1 Chronicles 11 continues to demonstrate the agenda of the Chronicler in its message.  Chronicles is a book written with a specific purpose, and the manner in which the story is told serves that purpose well.  The Chronicler is telling the story in a vastly different manner than Samuel told the story.

First, look at the simple transition that the Chronicler gives regarding Saul being king to David being king.  It seems like the elders come to David and accept his leadership.  Gone are the stories that Samuel gives us about potential rebellion and splits among the Hebrew leadership.

Why would the Chronicler spin the story this way?  The Chronicler is writing during a return from exile.  People are coming back to a broken land and feel their brokenness all to real.  The fractures among the people caused by the exile are felt at almost every turn.  The Chronicler needs to inspire hope and unity in the people.  Therefore, the turmoil of the transition from Saul to David are glossed over completely.

The same is also true about the conquest of Jerusalem.  The Chronicler would have us believe that the fight for Jebus was quick and painless.  We know that this also isn’t true.  Jebus, or Jerusalem, was a well defended by its military force and its geography.  The fight was won by David, but it was no simple battle.

Again we see the purpose of the Chronicler in this over-simplification of the story.  Jerusalem is being rebuilt.  The people don’t need a story about the difficulty in taking Jerusalem.  The people need a story reminding them that God’s will made the impossible quite possible.  The people need to know that when God fights for them, they can be successful.

Finally, we look to the extensive report of David’s mighty men.  Compared to the stories that come before this section of the text, the Chronicler speaks volumes about these mighty men.  Why would the Chronicler use such detail?

In each of these stories, one of David’s mighty men has done something seemingly impossible.  David’s mighty men show how people can succeed when the world assumes failure is inevitable.  Remember that the Chronicler is speaking to a people who are returning from exile with little money, little resources, and little unity.  They need to be inspired about the impossible.  They need to know that people who came before them trusted God and God delivered.  They need to have faith that their sacrifice will be worth it.

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Year 9, Day 283: 1 Chronicles 9-10

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Finally, 1 Chronicles opens up into a topic that isn’t a genealogy.  Obviously, I’m skipping chapter 9.  Chapter 10 begins a retelling of the history of the Hebrew people.  Yet, it begins with the death of Saul.

This should seem a little awkward.  What is the point of starting a story with the death of the king before the one the Chronicler desires to place his focus?  The point is simple.  Saul died and his lineage lost the throne for a very simple reason.  Saul died because he broke faith with God.  Saul died because he started to seek power through a seer, a means that was anathema to God.

Why would the Chronicler desire to make this point?  Remember why the Hebrew people went into exile under the Assyrians and the Babylonians.  The exile happened because the people broke faith with God.  The people started following methods and means that were foreign to God.

The Chronicler wants to make a point that false gods and breaches of faith are all things that God takes seriously.  Saul did it and God took his lineage out of the picture.  David restored faith, but the lineage of David gradually slid away from God and they would pay the price.  The Chronicler wants us to know that rebellion against God is one of our main issues as human beings.

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Year 9, Day 282: 1 Chronicles 8

Theological Commentary: Click Here

1 Chronicles 8 is a bit of an enigma.  There is nothing wrong with the chapter.  Saul was a king prior to David, so his lineage is recorded.  It makes sense, right?

Actually, not so much.  Remember that Saul was a rival king.  Saul tried to kill David to preserve the throne for his own son.  As the conflict between David and Saul aged, Saul grew more and more unstable.

Why is Saul’s lineage listed here if he had such an antagonistic relationship with David, who is well remembered and whose lineage continued on the throne?  There isn’t an obvious answer to that question, but we can speculate.

Remember that when David took the throne, he looked for a way to remember his relationship with Jonathan.  Jonathan had been killed in battle, and Jonathan was one of David’s closest friends.  David found Mephibosheth, also called Merib-baal in this chapter.  Mephibosheth was pulled into David’s court where he lived in peace and comfort.  He even acted as a spy under Absalom’s revolt!

Saul was a rival king to David.  He even tried to kill David, whom God had appointed as king.  Saul actively worked against the Lord at the end of his life.  Yet, here his lineage remains intact.  He is remembered.  One might even say it is a display of generational forgiveness.  God judged Saul and replaced him with David.  However, God did not wipe the memory of Saul from the history books.  In spite of Saul’s error, because of David’s love for Jonathan the lineage remains.

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