On this episode of the Wayfarer Weekend podcast, I had a conversation with Marcus Pittman, co-founder of LOOR.TV, a start-up streaming service targeted at “cigar and whiskey evangelicals,” whom he defines as men primarily from college to middle age. Based on a video gaming model, young and aspiring producers and filmmakers get an opportunity to put their faith-based and conservative work before LOOR’s subscribers, and subscribers get to virtually invest in the shows they want to continue. Subscriber gets to participate in what shows get funded to continue and which don’t. Comedy, Sci-Fi, and Animated content that appeals to young men looking for what they can’t find anywhere else. I found it to be a very interesting model that could, if it catches on, disrupt the entertainment and steaming model in big ways.
Marcus Pittman
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When your days are over and you go to be with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. 1 Chronicles 17:11-12 (NIV)
After living over 40 years as a disciple of Jesus, I’ve come to realize that one of the greatest spiritual challenges one has on this earthly journey is to see the things of this earthly life in the context of God’s Kingdom. If I step back and look at the theme that Jesus was always preaching it was to live my life and relate to others with a Kingdom of God perspective.
So much of daily life is filled with earthbound needs and priorities. There a jobs to do, bills to pay, kids to raise, and a never-ending list of life’s daily maintenance tasks that make me empathize with Sisyphus.
I can let all of these things distract me from God’s Kingdom, which I’ve observed to be the human default. Jesus asks me to see all of it, to approach all of it, and to execute all of it with God’s Kingdom in mind. If you read Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), you’ll basically find that it is His overarching theme of the entire thing. Approach and live out daily life with God’s Kingdom in mind.
In today’s chapter, David moves into his new palace. I picture him walking out onto the balcony and viewing the tent he had constructed as a temple for God and the Ark of the Covenant. He immediately sees the contrast in earthly terms. “I live in a gorgeous palace, while I put God in a tent. Somethings not right here.” And, I have to honor David’s sensitivity. For those of us who have gone to beautiful, opulent buildings, cathedrals, basilicas, and the like for church on Sunday, David’s thinking feels right.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.” Isaiah 55:8 (NIV)
What struck me in the quiet this morning was God’s response His appointed King, the “man after His own heart.”
“Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any of their leaders whom I commanded to shepherd my people, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”
God didn’t ask David to build a temple. It’s a nice thought and all, but God has other things in mind in the context of God’s Kingdom. David is thinking bricks and mortar. God’s Kingdom is about flesh, blood, and Spirit. I love that God flips David’s desire 180 degrees: “Oh no, David. You’re not going to build Me a house. I’m going to build you my kind of house!”
God then explains that He is going to channel David’s earthly kingdom into God’s eternal Kingdom. From David’s line, from the House of David, will come God’s Son who will be the King of Kings. He will build God a House made of flesh-and-blood children from every nation, tribe, people, and language who sit at the table with Him eating the bread and drinking the wine of a new covenant. From tent to temple to table.
David is thinking in the context of a building in Jerusalem in 1000 B.C. God is thinking in the context of the plans He has for an eternal Kingdom beyond time.
And there it is again. David, with all good intentions, is stuck in his earthbound thinking. God invites Him to expand his heart and mind to see things in terms of the Kingdom of God. Just like His Son Jesus invites me to do in His teaching. He who would be the One to invite me to the table for a meal of bread and wine where my flesh and blood is transformed into the Temple of the Holy Spirit.
And here I sit in the quiet on a Friday morning, with every good intention to make good on the day ahead of me. I am God’s temple, God’s Spirit in me. As I head into day 21,231 of my earthly journey, a simple ordinary day, I endeavor to live in Kingdom context. I want to see each task as a Liturgy of the Ordinary, each moment with others as a divine opportunity, and each challenge as God’s classroom to educate me on Kingdom living.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
When they were but few in number, few indeed, and strangers in it, they wandered from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another. He allowed no one to oppress them; for their sake he rebuked kings: “Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm.” 1 Chronicles 16:19-22 (NIV)
Like everyone else in life, Wendy and I have experienced times of uncertainty. In fact, just a few weeks ago we were taking stock of some current circumstances in which we’re having to trust that God has a plan and is going to provide. Feeling my tendency to spiral into pessimism, Wendy sat and recounted for me all of the times over our nearly 20 years together when God has proven faithful in having a plan and providing. I needed to hear it. It was good.
Today’s chapter provides Part 2 of David’s grand event marking the Ark of the Covenant’s unveiling in its new tent temple in Jerusalem. Once again, the Chronicler reveals that David broke down the royal and priestly silos as he led in making the sacrifices and offerings. David then appoints musicians to play worship music and instructs them how he wants it done, using his own Psalms. With these events, not recorded in the original account in Samuel, the Chronicler reminds us that the warrior king was also the worship king who composed much of the book of Psalms and began his career as his predecessor’s private musician.
The lyrics the Chronicler quotes from the event can be found in three Psalms (105, 106, 96), but to understand why these additions are so important for the Chronicler and his contemporary readers, I have to place myself in their shoes on the timeline.
The people have just returned from decades of exile in Babylon. Reconstructing the Temple from the rubble, the Chronicler and his generation are going to have to do the very same things David did. Levites will have to be appointed as caretakers and musicians. Instructions will have to be given. They are restoring God’s sacrificial system as prescribed in the Law of Moses, just as David did.
The lyrics David prescribes at the event describe God’s covenant with Abraham, God’s promise to bless “a thousand generations,” and God’s faithfulness to the Hebrews who “wandered from nation to nation as strangers” before settling into the Promised Land. If I’m an exile having just moved back to Jerusalem from Babylon, this describes my own personal experience. I know what it’s like to live as a stranger in a strange land. I have had to cling to my faith in God and trust His promises, His covenant, and His faithfulness. Now I’m back in Jerusalem restoring the Temple and experiencing God’s faithfulness. What David is doing in today’s chapter and what David is singing in today’s chapter resonates deeply with my own life and experience. It’s life repeating itself. And through all of the uncertainty I’ve felt as an exile and now as a people trying to reconstruct our lives, our legacy, and. our identity as God’s people, I need to be reminded of God’s faithfulness. I need to trust that He has a plan and will provide. I can imagine reading today’s chapter and finding my soul saying: “I needed this. This is good.”
In the quiet this morning, I return from standing in the sandals of a returned Hebrew exile in 400 B.C. Jerusalem to sitting here in my 21st-century office. One thing that hasn’t changed in 2500 years is the human condition. Life is filled with uncertainty. I need reminding that God has a plan and will provide. Holy Spirit brought to mind a little verse, not particularly well-known, that has become a staple go-to along my own personal journey:
“If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot disown Himself.” 2 Timothy 2:13
I spent some time in the quiet this morning meditating on God’s faithfulness to the ancient Hebrews through the generations. I recounted some of those reminders Wendy gave me a few weeks ago of the many ways God has proven the truth of 2 Timothy 2:13 and the many times He’s proven faithful in having a plan and providing.
I needed this. This is good.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
Now David was clothed in a robe of fine linen, as were all the Levites who were carrying the ark, and as were the musicians, and Kenaniah, who was in charge of the singing of the choirs. David also wore a linen ephod. 1 Chronicles 15:27 (NIV)
I have a bit of a fascination with words and their origins. There is a weekly column in the Wall Street Journal in which the author, an etymologist, chooses one word that was used a lot in the news that week and explores its origins and uses. I know. It’s geeky, but it’s my kind of geeky.
When working in business, one hears a lot of references to silos, which I find fascinating living in Iowa. An agricultural staple used for storing grain on the farm became a universally used metaphor describing strict divisions within a business or corporation. In my career, I’ve had to struggle with our client’s silos regularly. The Sales and Marketing silo usually pays for customer research, but the results have all sorts of important data for the Customer Service team who is in the Operations silo. At best, they don’t communicate well. At worst, they consider each other internal rivals. Silos prevent the data from having a maximum impact on the client and their customers’ experiences.
In the ancient world of the Hebrews, there were also silos that God had established in the Laws of Moses. Only members of the tribe of Levi were priests and caretakers of God’s ark and the temple. Hundreds of years later, the Hebrews established a monarchy. But King David, despite being anointed by God and established as a man after God’s own heart, was from the tribe of Judah. That’s a different silo.
The Chronicler, unlike the earlier account of David’s reign in Samuel, is writing hundreds of years later and with knowledge of all that has happened since, including the writings of all the prophets. He knows from the prophets that the Messiah will come from David’s line and that the Messiah will be both King and High Priest.
In today’s chapter, I noted that the Chronicler was careful to explain that it was King David who ordered that no one but the Levites should carry the Ark of the Covenant and that they should all consecrate themselves before doing so as prescribed in the Law of Moses, a mistake they had made two chapters earlier. So it’s the King who is commanding the priestly tribe of Levi to do their job.
Later in the chapter, the Chronicler provides a little detail about the big event of the Ark of the Covenant’s big arrival celebration in Jerusalem. King David was wearing the same priestly garments as the Levites.
The Chronicler is establishing with David there was a tearing down of the silos between King and Priest. David had authority and told the Levites to do their job. David wore priestly garments as the Ark was brought into Jerusalem. The Chronicler sees David as the precursor of the King-Priest that will eventually be fully realized in the Messiah.
Note: The Priest-King issue as it relates to Jesus was eventually explained by the author of Hebrews, and it’s pretty cool. The answer lies in a mysterious figure who appears briefly in Genesis. I introduce him briefly in this post.
So what does this have to do with my life today? As a disciple of Jesus, I find that He’s all about tearing down the silos. He tore down cultural silos and religious silos. He burned the silo of a priestly class system to the ground and made every follower a member of the royal priesthood. I just talked about that in a message I gave to our local gathering of Jesus’ followers a few weeks ago.
So in the quiet this morning, I find myself asking “Where have I built silos in life that need to be torn down?” Where do I see distinctions between me and others that Jesus would say don’t exist? If I’m a member of the royal priesthood as God tells me I am, then how am I supposed to live that out in my life, my words, and my actions today? Or, have I built a silo around my heart and mind so that I can ignore this spiritual truth and tell myself “It’s not my job!”?
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
So David’s fame spread throughout every land, and the Lord made all the nations fear him. 1 Chronicles 14:17 (NIV)
When I was a teenager, I spent two years being spiritually mentored. The first thing my mentor had me do was memorize Joshua 1:8, the words Moses gave to his successor, Joshua:
Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
It was the beginning of my fascination with the Great Story and a commitment to reading it, studying it, and applying its principles and lessons to my life. You might say it was the seed that took root and eventually led to these chapter-a-day posts.
Of course, there’s also that promise the verse gives of prosperity and success if one lives according to the Book. Which, I have meditated on long and hard over the years. The promise has been a source of both tension and wisdom.
Today’s chapter is fascinating both for its content and its placement in the Chronicler’s updated history of the Kingdom of ancient Israel. One of the things I’ve learned in my decades of studying the Great Story is that the Hebrews were very deliberate in the structure of their writing. Today’s chapter is a great example.
In the previous chapter, the Chronicler reveals the priority King David placed on his faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses. He leads a procession bringing the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem where a temple will eventually be built for it. However, the Ark is not yet brought into the city. The Ark is left at the house of a man named Obed-Edom for three months. The Chronicler is sure to mention that while the Ark was in Obed-Edom’s home he and his household were blessed.
In the next chapter, the Ark is brought into the city of Jerusalem and David makes it a major event.
So, what happens in the three-month interlude?
The Chronicler tells of God blessing David in every way.
A foreign King makes a treaty with David and builds a palace for him. This shows David’s growing prominence in the region, as well as the respect and fear neighboring Kingdoms have for the powerful David. (verses 1-2)
David is blessed with more wives and children. (verses 3-6)
David, who the Chronicler is sure to mention always inquires of God before engaging in battle, is given major military victories over the Kingdom’s biggest rival. Not only this but when David and his men capture the idols of the Philistines, he dutifully burns them in accordance with the law of Moses. A detail marking David’s obedience to God that Samuel failed to mention. (verses 8-16)
With his structured account of David’s commitment to God and David’s blessed life and reign, the Chronicler is making the same connection that Moses was making with Joshua in the verse that I memorized all those years ago. Make God your priority, live according to His Book, and you will be prosperous and successful. One might say that this is the pre-Christian version of a prosperity gospel. The Chronicler is lifting up David as the example for his people to follow.
In the quiet this morning, I feel the nagging tension that comes with the fact that I regularly observe people making God into a good luck charm and a shortcut to worldly wealth and prosperity. It’s easy to do with the simplistic equation that is given. In my wrestling with this tension over the past 40-plus years, I have made a few conclusions.
First, I believe the promise is genuine. Making God and God’s Word the center of my life has led to success and prosperity for me. But, those words are layered with all sorts of meaning that I don’t believe are intended. God’s ways are not our ways, the prophet Isaiah reminds me. His thoughts are not my thoughts. Prosperity and success in God’s Kingdom does not look like it does for the Kingdoms of this World and people who are focused on this life and worldly things. Exhibit A is God’s own Son who revealed that success at the Kingdom of God level is taking up one’s cross and laying down one’s life for their friend. Prosperity in God’s Kingdom is ultimately an eternal concept, not a temporal one.
Second, living according to God’s Word has benefitted me in so many ways. I have avoided a lot of foolish mistakes because I followed God’s wisdom. I have diminished stress and anxiety with the antidote of faith and hope. I have found joy and contentment in enjoying the blessings I’ve been given rather than the envy and stress of chasing after the blessings of others.
Finally, I have learned that God’s view of “success” and “prosperity” comes at the expense of trials, struggles, tribulations, obstacles, and suffering. The Chronicler is holding up a specific piece of David’s story and an example for his people to respect and follow. However, he does so at the cost of providing context that is essential for wisdom and understanding. Before David was king he was an outcast and branded as an outlaw. David spent years on the run, living as an exile in the desert. The anointing and promise given to little boy David that he would be king would not come to fruition for decades in which his everyday life was a constant struggle for survival.
So, in the quiet this morning I once again find myself back at a place of understanding. Yes, there is success and prosperity in surrendering to Jesus and living my life according to His Word. No, that doesn’t look like success and prosperity as the world defines it, though it may look that way at certain times for certain individuals like King David. It does not, however, change a couple of basic principles that the Great Story gives as necessary context. First, spiritual blessings and maturity in this life are rooted in struggle. Second, this world is not my home. True prosperity is found in eternity.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
“Let us bring the ark of our God back to us, for we did not inquire of it during the reign of Saul.” 1 Chronicles 13:3 (NIV)
Along my life journey, I have had the opportunity to hold many positions of leadership. Being a disciple of Jesus, my faith is not compartmentalized into a piece of my life. My endeavor is that Jesus’ teaching and example will factor into my thoughts, words, and actions in everything I do and in every relationship. I’m certainly not perfect. I can give you references of individuals who would be happy to share with you my failings. Yet, as I glance back at my experiences on life’s road, I can certainly mark some progress I have made.
As a lover of history, I can think of exemplary leaders whose faith influenced them greatly. Of course, there are examples of effective leaders who had no faith at all. I can also think of examples of men of strong faith who weren’t particularly effective leaders. So, how does faith fit into the leadership equation?
In today’s chapter, our Chronicler continues his own revised history of the Kingdom of Israel. In previous chapters, it’s been clear that he is focused on the glory of King David’s reign and national unity. This makes perfect sense given the fact that he and his contemporaries are attempting to revive a sense of national identity and the faith of their ancestors from the rubble and restoration project of Jerusalem. For decades there had been no nation, no Temple, and no system of worship. Now, there are seeds of rebirth that have been planted. With his writing, the Chronicler hopes to help them take root in the hearts and minds of his people.
He began his history by fast-forwarding to the beginning of the reign of King David. He then gave priority to David’s military strength, the heroic warriors of David’s army, and the power with which David expanded the nation’s power, territory, and influence to historical heights.
Now, he chooses to take another shortcut and make an addition to the historical record. The Chronicler fast-forwards to David’s decision to bring the Ark of the Covenant [cue: Raiders of the Lost Ark Theme] to his new capital city of Jerusalem. The Ark had been basically relegated to storage. With David’s establishment of Jerusalem as the nation’s capital, there is a place for the nation’s faith and the sacrificial system of the Law of Moses to take front-and-center prominence for the first time since the days of Joshua.
Why is this important?
The Chronicler wants both his people’s sense of identity and the faith of their ancestors to take root in this era of rebirth and reconstruction. Having presented David as the mighty warrior who put Israel on the map as a regional power, he now shifts to David, the man after God’s own heart. David’s leadership was intimately intertwined with his faith in God and God was a part of everything he thought, said, and did. He certainly wasn’t perfect, but there is no doubt that his faith fueled his leadership and priorities.
In the quiet this morning, I find myself meditating on the intersection of faith and leadership. I acknowledge that some individuals are effective leaders with little or no faith in the equation. I, however, do not think I would personally be a good leader without my faith at the core of my being. My commitment as a disciple of Jesus has taught me humility, servant-heartedness, and love for the least. I think my ability as a leader grows with the increasing presence in my life of the Spirit’s fruit of love, love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. I’d hate to think what kind of a person, and what kind of leader, I would be without my relationship with Christ. Like David, my leadership and my faith are inextricably intertwined. I believe that’s what the Chronicler wants his readers to see.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
Day after day men came to help David, until he had a great army, like the army of God. 1 Chronicles 12:22 (NIV)
Today is June 6, 2024. Eighty years ago today the Allied nations launched the greatest military assault in human history. Crossing the English Channel and landing on the beaches of Normandy, the tide of World War II had shifted. Hitler’s days of conquest to rule the rule the world and create “the master race” were effectively over. It was the Allies who now pursued conquest in order to eliminate the threat of Nazi tyranny.
Generally speaking, human history is a never-ending series of conquests. Whoever had the bigger, better, and more equipped army conquered greater territories and prevailed until a bigger, better, and more equipped army came along. And, history proves that, at some point, one always seems to eventually come along.
One of the reasons that David was viewed as the greatest king of Israel was because he was a successful warrior and a successful leader of warriors. For over a decade, David lived as a young fugitive in the desert, hiding from Mad King Saul. During that period of time, he became a legend in an almost Robin Hood-like fashion. It started as a rag-tag group of mercenaries, outcasts, and misfits who hailed from a wide variety of backgrounds. As tales of the desert warrior spread along with word of his exploits, more and more men sought David out and joined his burgeoning personal army.
By the time David becomes king, he already has a large, well-trained and experienced army who were personally loyal to him. His army were men from every tribe and virtually every local nation. David succeeded in earning their loyalty. As king, David and his personal army were uniquely prepared to conquer neighboring nations and expand his nation’s power and wealth. Bolstered by the addition of the national army that had been previously loyal to Saul, David was geared to rise to prominence.
In today’s chapter, the Chronicler continues to wax eloquent on the greatness of David’s army and his military leadership. History goes to the conquerors. One again, for the Chronicler and the conquered and defeated people returning from exile, the memory of a once great warrior-king who conquered the region and led an army “like the army of God” would have been inspiring to a people trying to reclaim their identity within the larger Persian Empire.
In the quiet this morning, I find myself thinking of the men that I knew who participated in battles to liberate Europe. One was a high school teacher, bound to a wheelchair, who one day reluctantly shared his experiences of storming the beach at Normandy and taking out a German pill-box on D-Day. Another was a retired postman who always had a smiling and pleasant disposition and rarely said a single word. He was among the few pilots to survive 25 bombing missions over Germany and earn a ticket home. A third was a Tuskegee Airman who survived the battle of racial prejudice as well as the war over Europe. He returned to become an educator in Iowa and was kind enough to share with me his story over pints at the Pensacola Naval Air Station.
How different life would be had these men not made the sacrifice to serve along with the thousands who didn’t live to tell their tales. I found it interesting how the Chronicler mythologized David’s warriors. As I noted yesterday, we like to glorify our past and make heroes of our warriors. I consider them heroes. But I have found, however, that these warriors I described were each reluctant to share their stories. The “glorification” was something they eschewed. I could feel the unspoken pain of the horrors they’d witnessed. I sensed the survivor’s guilt that comes with the memory of all the faces and names of friends who died fighting next to them. There was a common humility these men had in trying to diminish the glorification and honor the terror of being one lucky S.O.B who made it when so many laid down their lives.
While in college, I was asked to give a speech at a Veteran’s Day parade. As I rode to the parade grounds with a bus full of mostly World War II veterans, I noticed that the Veteran sitting across from me was staring out the window, a glazed expression on his face as was lost what I can only guess was a bitter memory. As I watched, tears began streaming out of his eyes and down his ruddy, wrinkled face. I almost felt ashamed to be there watching. It was a holy moment. It was qadosh.
He caught me looking at him.
Tears still streaming down his face, he said, “Never get in another war. Never.”
If only history in the fallen world east of Eden was as simple as willing it to be the way we’d like it to be.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
When all the elders of Israel had come to King David at Hebron, he made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel, as the Lord had promised through Samuel. 1 Chronicles 11:3 (NIV)
In a few weeks, I will attend my 40th high school class reunion. I graduated in 1984. I came of age in the Reagan years. I entered high school the year Reagan took office and finished college the same year Reagan completed his second term.
It’s common for people to look back at their high school and college years as the “Glory Days” of life. Bruce Springsteen even wrote a song about it. I do find it humorous to think back about what life was like in those days. I get a lot of memes in my social media feed about growing up in the 1970s and 1980s and they always make me laugh. Life has certainly changed a lot in 40 years.
In today’s chapter, the Chronicler begins his description of the reign of King David. With both his words and his choice of details, he paints a “Glory Days” picture of Israel’s great King.
Twice in the first three verses of the chapter, the Chronicler chooses to say that “all” of the people and elders asked David to be their king. He then chronicles the capture of Jerusalem and David making it his capital city. The Chronicler then highlights David’s “mighty warriors” including the trio of nearly comic book-worthy heroes known as “The Three.”
Unity, power, and strength are the themes the Chronicler establishes immediately in his Cliff Notes condensed version of events. While it is true that his contemporary readers knew the more detailed accounts of Samuel version of history it is worth noting that the Chronicler chooses not to deal with the fact that David was named King of Judah years before the rest of the tribes asked him to be king over them. David united the tribes into one Kingdom, but history has taught me that no leader has 100 percent support. Even Walter Mondale took two states in 1984.
It’s also fascinating that the Chronicler puts David’s “Mighty Men” right up front in the narrative, while the author of Samuel placed it near the end almost as an appendix to David’s story. Again, there is a bit of glorification being presented in the Chronicler’s retelling.
Yet in the quiet this morning I can’t help but once again think about the Chronicler’s place in history. His generation was born and raised in exile. He’s known nothing but subservience to foreign empires. Now, he’s returned to Jerusalem which lay in rubble to rebuild a Temple that was also burned and turned into rubble. Our of the realities of defeat, destruction, exile, and subservience he is trying to find a way to rally his people to put their faith in God and have some pride in their national identity. So, he’s focusing on the unity, power, and strength that their great King David had back in the glory days.
And, I get it. It’s human nature to glorify our past. I certainly wouldn’t mind if Ronald Reagan was on the ballot this November.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
So the Lord put [Saul] to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse. 1 Chronicles 10:14b (NIV)
I enjoy reading the book reviews every Saturday in the Review section of the Wall Street Journal. I’ve found a lot of great books to add to my library and to my wish list. One book that made it on my wish list recently is entitled The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson. It focuses on the months between the election of Abraham Lincoln and his inauguration, and how those months contributed to the eventual secession that led to the Civil War.
I’ve noticed when reading critical reviews of books about history, the critic will often talk about what the author chose to include and exclude. For example, the reviewer of Erik Larson’s book lauded Larson for including “neglected figures” as well as for diminishing his attention to Abraham Lincoln as he is “so familiar a figure.”
In today’s chapter, the Chronicler finally switches from nine chapters of genealogies to the actual narrative of Israel’s history. What’s immediately fascinating is that he picks up the story with the battlefield suicide of mad King Saul, King David’s predecessor.
Back the truck up.
What’s fascinating about this is that the story of Saul is a huge part of King David’s backstory. I would argue that one does not have a true understanding and appreciation for who King David was without the years he spent on the lam from the mad King, refusing to take Saul’s life just to fulfill God’s prophetic anointing as the next King.
At the time the Chronicler is writing his retelling of history, the books of Saul and Kings are well-known. The story of Saul and David is well-known. Much like Mr. Larson, who chose not to tell the history of the entire Civil War, but only the fateful months preceding secession, the Chronicler is being selective in his retelling. He cuts directly to the start of David’s reign. The Chronicler already tipped his hand when he gave precedence to the genealogy of Judah and David in the opening chapters. His focus is on the story of King David’s reign and the reign of David’s dynastic line.
As I meditated on this in the quiet this morning, I found my thoughts floating down two rivers of thought.
Along my life journey, I’ve observed that most people are selective when it comes to which parts of the Great Story they take time to read and study. The four books dealing with Jesus’ life and teaching always make it to the top of the popularity charts and with good reason. The letters of Paul are always popular, as well. They’re quick reads packed with helpful spiritual truth and instruction, much like Proverbs which along with Psalms, You get where I’m going here. The ancient laws of Leviticus and the prophecies of Habakkuk aren’t “go-to” reading for most people. It’s not unusual for the Chronicler to be selective in his retelling, we all do it. What I’m curious to learn is which bits of history he selects to include and exclude, and what lesson there might be in that.
The other river of thought my mind wanders down in the quiet this morning is the reality that if I am endlessly selective in the bits of the Great Story I read and study, I will never fully understand or appreciate those bits and how they connect into the much larger Great Story that God is telling from Genesis to Revelation, from the Alpha-point to the Omega-point, from the beginning to end.
Last year, our local gathering selectively studied seven “I Am” statements that Jesus made in John‘s version of Jesus’ story. I was tasked with unpacking three of them. In each of my lessons, I sought to unpack how “Bread,” “Gate,” and “Resurrection” are recurring themes throughout the Great Story. With each metaphor, Jesus was saying “I Am the entire Story in bodily form.”
But I don’t fully appreciate each metaphor unless I know the entire Great Story, and how everything is connected.
Having floated down two rivers of thought, I found that they converged in the words of the Teacher of Ecclesiastes: There is a time to be selective, and there is a time to be exhaustive. The Chronicler has chosen to be selective. Great, I’ll go with the flow, and try to learn from his selectivity.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
Now the first to resettle on their own property in their own towns were some Israelites, priests, Levites and temple servants. Those from Judah, from Benjamin, and from Ephraim and Manasseh who lived in Jerusalem were… 1 Chronicles 9:2-3 (NIV)
Our place at the lake is in central Missouri on Lake of the Ozarks. I have a lot of family history connections in the region on my mother’s side. Great-great-grandparents are buried in the little town of Atlanta which Wendy and I pass by every time we drive to the lake. Another Great-great-grandfather fought in the Civil War on the Union Side for the Missouri 10th Infantry. Missouri was a border state and was heavily divided during the Civil War. Remnants of that division remain.
As we approach the lake there is a giant Confederate battle flag that flies along the highway. The base of the giant flag is surrounded by a fence with barbed wire. A light is fixed on the base at night to discourage anyone from tampering with the fence or the flag. It wouldn’t surprise me if there weren’t cameras, too.
A few years ago I was traveling through southern Missouri on my way to a client meeting in Memphis. GPS took me on a curious route through some remote areas and I happened upon a property surrounded by a giant wrought-iron fence. The entrance had a locked gate and above the gate were the initials C.S.A. (Confederate States of America). The property and the house at the back were covered with Confederate battle flags. I considered stopping and taking a picture of it, but I was afraid I might get shot at.
In today’s chapter, we finish the Chronicler’s long stretch of genealogical information before he begins the narrative part of ancient Israel’s history. He focuses this last section on all of the priests and Levites who returned from exile in Babylon. Because only descendants of Aaron could be priests and only members of the tribe of Levi could attend to the maintenance, upkeep, and security of the Temple, this final list of families was important to the Chronicler. With the newly rebuilt temple inside the rebuilt Jerusalem, he was establishing for his contemporary readers the individuals and families who were responsible for these duties.
Curiously, he begins this list with the term “All Israel” and then goes on to provide lists of Levite families from not only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin (the two primary tribes of the southern Kingdom of Judah) but also from Ephriam and Manasseh (Ephriam was often used to refer to the entire northern kingdom of Israel). This is fascinating because the nation of Israel was taken into captivity by the Assyrian Empire and the people of Israel were still largely scattered among other nations. With his inclusive words “All Israel” and his inclusion of the Levites from among northern tribes, The Chronicler is establishing a new age for the Hebrews returning from exile. The divided kingdoms are no longer kingdoms, so they are no longer divided. He considers that they are a united family of tribes once again under their historic faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses.
As I meditated on what would have been a historic shift of thought for the Chronicler’s generation, the Confederate flag on Highway 54 and the Confederate loyalist compound sprang to mind. Along my life journey, I’ve observed the truth of the well-known statement that those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. I’ve also observed a related truth: Those who get stuck in history will never be able to learn from it.
This is true, not only on a national level but also on a personal level. The spiritual journey is a path laden with trials, temptations, obstacles, and conflicts. God’s desire is that I walk through them so that I might develop the character traits of perseverance, faith, hope, and spiritual maturity. and wholeness. If I, for example, get stuck in hatred, bitterness, and the refusal to forgive a person (or persons) who wronged me, it’s like me continuing to fly a Confederate battle flag 180 years after the conflict ended. I can’t learn and grow spiritually from that conflict until I embrace the forgiveness, grace, and mercy Jesus extended to me and channel it toward the individual(s) who injured me.
In the quiet this morning, I pondered where there might be “sticking points” in my own life, along my own journey. Where am I “stuck” in my own personal history? Holy Spirit brought to mind a prayer that Wendy and I have been including every morning in our prayer time together. It’s a prayer that our entire gathering of Jesus’ followers has been uttering collectively and individually for the past few months. It seems a good prayer on which to end today’s post and to begin today’s journey:
Lord Jesus, I seek to live as your disciple in all that I do today. My life is your school for teaching me.
I relinquish my agenda for this day and I submit myself to you and your kingdom purposes.
In all situations today, I pray: “Your will, Your way, Your time.” Amen
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
Wayfarer 