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Chapter-a-Day

Black Sheep Family

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Black Sheep Family (CaD 1 Chr 5) – Wayfarer

…and though Judah was the strongest of his brothers and a ruler came from him, the rights of the firstborn belonged to Joseph.
1 Chronicles 5:2 (NIV)

Along my life journey, I had a friend enter my story unexpectedly. This person may take the prize for being the most tragic individual I’ve personally met on my earthly journey. What are you supposed to do as a teenager when you borrow your dad’s car for a date but have to clean up the blood your father left in the back seat and the trunk before picking up your date? Talk about being haunted by your past. This was a heartbreaking story of a child who dealt with more than any child should have to deal with in life. It was a life that ended just as tragically.

In today’s chapter, the Chronicler shares the genealogy of the three tribes who settled east of the Jordan River. These tribes would be part of the northern kingdom of Israel that broke away from Judah and refused to recognize the lineage of King David as monarch. They were all swept away into exile by the Assyrian Empire where they remained at the time of the Chronicler’s writing.

Two prevailing thoughts come to me as I meditate on today’s chapter. First, the Chronicler once again makes it clear that he is primarily interested in the tribe of Judah, from which the Dynastic line of David hails. He makes this evident. Having established this, I find it interesting that he doesn’t shy away from presenting the genealogy of the tribes he would likely consider “black sheep.”

The tribes the Chronicler lists in today’s chapter were the rebels who shunned the tribe of Judah and David’s line. Reuben, in particular, was the dishonored firstborn who lost his paternal blessing. Unlike the Chronicler and his ancestors from Judah, who returned from exile, these tribes remained scattered across the old Assyrian empire.

But they are still family. They are still part of the story.

As I’ve explored my family’s stories on both paternal and maternal sides, I’ve discovered rifts and feuds. Mind you, I discovered nothing outside of the normal conflicts and scandals that are part of the mess that comes with being part of any family. One of the hardest things about family is that it’s not something we get to choose. My mind wanders to my friend cleaning up the blood their father left in the backseat. I can’t imagine.

As a disciple of Jesus, I cannot help but consider Jesus’ thoughts on family which are somewhat conflicting. His own flesh-and-blood mother and siblings once attempted to take control believing Jesus to have lost His mind (Mark 3:21), and Jesus responds by providing an expanded view of family. “Who are my mother and brothers?” Jesus asked before gesturing to all of His followers and declaring them family. Jesus would go on to acknowledge that many who choose to follow Him would be required to leave flesh-and-blood family behind, though he promised they would find far more family ahead than they left behind.

In the quiet this morning, I find my head and my heart holding the tension between honoring, loving, and serving my flesh-and-blood family while acknowledging that I have friends whom I consider family. It’s easy to fall into an either-or, binary mentality on either side of the issue. I find Jesus’ example to be “both-and.” Yes, He seemed to diminish His family when they thought He was out of His mind, but He also used his dying breath to ensure that a spiritual “brother” (John) would care for His physical mother, Mary. This, despite the fact that Jesus had multiple flesh-and-blood younger brothers who were socially responsible for caring for her.

Then, of course, there is the larger reality of genetics which proves that we all came from the same woman. In many ways, Jesus’ teaching is simply pointing to a much larger truth that may only be seen with perfect clarity in eternity. We humans are all one family, whether we are willing to acknowledge it or not. I’m glad that the Chronicler acknowledged his black sheep family members. I find a spiritual lesson in his honesty.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

An Entire Life Reduced to One Bullet Point

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My Great-Grandmother, Daisy Yeater, holding my mother.
My Great-Grandmother, Daisy Yeater, holding my mother.

The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel (he was the firstborn, but when he defiled his father’s marriage bed,his rights as firstborn were given to the sons of Joseph son of Israel; so he could not be listed in the genealogical record in accordance with his birthright, and though Judah was the strongest of his brothers and a ruler came from him, the rights of the firstborn belonged to Joseph). 1 Chronicles 5:1-2 (NIV)

My great-grandfather, born Wouter van der Wel in the Netherlands. Evidence suggests that he became angry when his widowed mother married her former teacher, a man much older than she. He left home by himself, crossed the Atlantic, settled in northwest Iowa and “Americanized” his name to Walter Vander Well.

My grandma Vander Well’s father, Daniel Bloem, was an alcoholic and was difficult to live with. A widower, his three daughters took on the burden of constantly looking after him. When my grandparents secretly got married, they told no one and my grandmother continued to live at home and take care of her father. A man of great temper, he asked my grandmother “When are you going to marry that Herman Vander Well?”

“I already have,” she replied honestly.

“Then get the hell out of my house!” he responded.

Very little is known about my grandpa Hendrickson’s father, Perry Hendrickson. He contracted tuberculosis when my grandfather, the eldest of three siblings, was just ten years old. Not wanting to be a burden on his family, Perry Hendrickson shot himself at home. It happened to be my grandfather’s birthday when he came home to find his father’s lifeless body. Great grandma, Olive Hendrickson, farmed my grandfather off to be raised by family which likely saved his life. She drug the younger children through several tragic marriages and their lives appear to have continued down tragic paths.

Grandma Hendrickson’s father was William Yeater. As an adult he discovered that he was the illegitimate son of a local Irish immigrant named David McCoy. William sued for his share of the estate and won a large settlement. An alcoholic and philanderer, my great grandmother, Daisy, gave him second chances but eventually divorced him for good and raised five children through the depression through her unshakable faith in God and hard work. When William offered to share part of his settlement with Daisy, she flatly refused to take his money and provided for her children by herself.

I know that reading through the genealogical records isn’t the most exciting of assignments, but I have to admit that there are all sorts of things that resonate with me as I read the chronicles. As an amateur family historian, I’m fascinated by what nuggets of history and information get passed down through the generations. Consider for a moment that when Reuben, the eldest son of Jacob, slept with his father’s concubine the year was somewhere in the neighborhood of 1900 B.C. Tradition holds that the scribe writing the Chronicles was Ezra who would have penned his work somewhere between 400-500 B.C.

For 1500 years, the one thing that gets passed down and remembered about Reuben was the mistake of sleeping with his father’s concubine and losing his birthright to the two sons of Joseph. Talk about tragedy. The tribe of Reuben for generation after generation across centuries and two millennia lived under the curse of being the tribe that could have had it all if great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandpa Reuben had simply kept his dick in his tunic.

Very little of our lives will be remembered. The few nuggets of information I have about my great-grandparents is far more than I know about their parents. I think about my ancestors. There are volumes of their life story that have been lost and their legacy is reduced to a single bullet point that conveys how subsequent generations remember them:

  • He was angry with his mother and ran away to America.
  • He was an alcoholic, temperamental, and a burden to his daughters.
  • He killed himself on his son’s birthday.
  • She lived a hard life and was married five times to different losers.
  • He was an alcoholic, a philanderer, and his wife wanted nothing to do with him.
  • She was a woman of faith and hard work. Her children honored and adored her.

Today, I’m thinking about my legacy. What will be remembered about me? How are my words and actions affecting future generations? What do I want my bullet point to be?

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day 1 Chronicles 5

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And even though Judah became the strongest of his brothers and King David eventually came from that family, the firstborn rights stayed with Joseph. 1 Chronicles 5:2 (MSG)

To this point in the book, the author of Chronicles has focused his genealogical listings on the tribe of Judah and particularly the house of David. We see it yet again in the verse above as the writer appears to explain to his readers why first born rights among the tribes of Israel were not with the first born Reuben, nor with his favorite team: Judah. He does, however, bring up an interesting connection.

Joseph and David were both the youngest among their brothers and were derided as such. God raised both of them to prominence over their brothers and gave them both positions of power, authority, and blessing. Both David and Joseph are constant reminders that God is a God of the underdog. God raises the lowest, most humble. When we are at our weakest, God tends to performs His greatest works in our lives.