Year 1, Week 35, Day 2 Bible Reading Observations

Year 1, Week 35, Day 2

I have a brief observation for today’s reading of 1 Chronicles 8-9.

Today’s reading brings to conclusion the genealogical section of 1 Chronicles. 1 Chronicles 8 provides more detailed genealogical information for the tribe of Benjamin. While the previous day’s reading offered some details for Benjamin (see 1 Chronicles 7: 6-12), today’s reading has more extensive details. There are probably two factors that led the Chronicler to spend additional space on Benjamin. First, the tribe of Benjamin will stay loyal to the tribe of Judah during the era that the nation of Israel divides into two kingdoms. The tribe of Benjamin will stay loyal to the Davidic throne and thus side with the tribe of Judah, comprising the Southern Kingdom [922 B.C. to 586 B.C.]. A second factor that Benjamin is given additional space is that Saul, Israel’s first king, was a Benjaminite. 1 Chronicles 9 brings the section containing genealogical details to an end. What began with Adam (1 Chronicles 1:1) concludes with a people in Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 9:34), followed by a repeat of a genealogy of Saul. The entire Book of Chronicles ends with a statement after completion of the exile and captivity concerning a return to Jerusalem: “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the LORD his God be with him. Let him go up’” (2 Chronicles 36:23).

One of the things that struck me from today’s reading is the significance of what the LORD taught His people through the exile, and yet return to the Land: “How shall we sing the LORD's song in a foreign land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill! Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy!” (Psalm 137:4-6); and: “O God, the nations have come into your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple; they have laid Jerusalem in ruins” (Psalm 79:1). One of the reasons behind all the genealogical details from the first nine chapters of 1 Chronicles is to provide a historical record of the LORD’s justice and mercy. While the historical narrative concerning Israel will resume in the following day’s reading, the genealogies have already hinted at where Israel as a nation is going. Israel is heading for exile. Moses, in the Law, had warned Israel that as a part of the covenant stipulations, their duration in the Land would be tied to their covenant obedience. Unfaithfulness would result in removal from the Land: “Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things, therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you…And the LORD will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known. And among these nations you shall find no respite” (Deuteronomy 28:47,64-65a). 1 Chronicles 9 connects all the preceding genealogies of Israel with note of their unfaithfulness: “So all Israel was recorded in genealogies, and these are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel. And Judah was taken into exile in Babylon because of their breach of faith” (1 Chronicles 9:1). Unfaithfulness to the LORD does not go unpunished. As we continue the narrative of Israel’s history, we can anticipate an exile; and when we read of the record of the exile, we will be reminded of the answer already provided: “All the officers of the priests and the people likewise were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations. And they polluted the house of the LORD that he had made holy in Jerusalem” (1 Chronicles 36:14). 

But the historical narrative provided by the Chronicler does not end with the exile but with the permission to return to Jerusalem (as noted above). The genealogies that the Chronicler provides also prepares us for this historical event. The genealogies listed in 1 Chronicles 9:2-34 begin listing the people who would resettle in Jerusalem: “Now the first to dwell again in their possessions in their cities were Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the temple servants” (1 Chronicles 9:2). It would be small remnant from a select numbers of tribes, “And some of the people of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh lived in Jerusalem” (1 Chronicles 9:3); as well as the Levites, “These were heads of fathers' houses of the Levites, according to their generations, leaders. These lived in Jerusalem” (1 Chronicles 9:34). Of course, this return from exile was also included in the covenant stipulations given through Moses: “then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you. If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there he will take you. And the LORD your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it” (Deuteronomy 30:3-5). Thus, through the genealogical data, we should see that the LORD is faithful to His covenant. As we now begin to read of the gradual descent of Israel into unfaithfulness, we can also keep on eyes on the mercy of the LORD, who will, as promised, return and renew His people to the Land: “When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.” The LORD has done great things for us; we are glad.” (Psalm 126:1-3).

What struck you in today’s reading? What questions were prompted from today’s reading?

Pastor Joe