Tag Archives: George Washington

Genealogical Lessons

May 22, 2024 Tom Vander Well 1 Comment

These were the sons of Israel:
Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

The sons of Judah:
1 Chronicles 2:1-3a (NIV)

I have been the closest thing my family has to a genealogist. I’m not great at it because I don’t have the time and energy it takes to do it well, but I’ve learned a lot digging into my family history on both my mother’s and father’s sides of the family.

Our daughter Taylor works for a software company that does really cool things recording family stories for subsequent generations so she recently found herself repping their service at a giant conference on genealogy. Upon her return, we had a lot of fun digging into the tools she discovered and swapping tidbits we gleaned on family history. It had always been rumored that we were related to George Washington in some way, and I was excited to be able to firmly establish that I am George Washinton’s first cousin, ten generations removed. Taylor said she was more stoked by learning she was an 11th cousin of Grace Kelly. I guess we get excited about different things. I acknowledged to her that Cousin Grace is much easier on the eyes than Cousin George.

Genealogy has also provided me with some interesting situations. A while back I received a random message from a stranger online. The person was looking for information on an individual and based on their online search they thought I might possibly be related. It turns out they were correct. This individual was a child of the family member. It was one of those family secrets that no one knew about. Now, decades later, this individual was in the precarious position of wanting to know more about this biological parent they never knew, but not being sure if they wanted the truth to be known and open the proverbial can of worms. The situation led to me learning a lot more about some of my family than I ever knew before.

Family is messy. It always has been. It always will be. Genealogy taught me to embrace this truth along with graciously embracing my messy family and its members with love.

Today’s chapter continues the Chronicler’s genealogy. I realize most people skip over these lists, but there are little tidbits in any genealogy that have lessons for me if I’m willing to observe. When reading these genealogies I always look for things that interrupt the order and flow. Why did the author choose to suddenly provide details about this one person when every other person in the family was simply named? Why is a woman named when this is clearly a patriarchal genealogy with 99.9% male family members listed? Why did things switch to a person I can’t connect to anyone just previously mentioned?

There’s actually a handful of these anomalies in the Chronicler’s genealogy in today’s chapter. He had hundreds of years more history to draw from and far more sources at his disposal. He had to make choices about what to include, what to leave out, and how to present it.

What struck me immediately in today’s chapter was the listing of the 12 sons of Jacob (aka Israel). As a patriarchal society that always favored the firstborn son, the natural thing to do would be to start with the firstborn (Reuben) and his descendants and then proceed in order.

The Chronicler cuts directly to the fourth-born, Judah. Judah was the forefather of David. The Chronicler is writing as a Jewish subject of the Persian empire. His generation has returned from exile. They have rebuilt their city and their temple from rubble. He is looking back at his people, his history, and his faith. He is trying to make sense of it all. And who is the most pivotal and celebrated historical figure in the minds of the Chronicler and his contemporaries?

King David. The giant-slayer. The man after God’s own heart. The general. The conqueror who established a great, united kingdom. The psalmist. The priestly king who envisioned the Temple. The man through whom the prophets declared a Messiah would someday come.

The Chronicler is establishing his priorities. The history he is going to revisit to try and make sense of where he and his people now fit into God’s Great Story is going to center on David, the key historical figure in that Story.

In the quiet this morning, this has me thinking about key figures in my family and my family’s story. I can quickly name key figures for good, and key figures for ill. What lasting consequences did these figures have on the family? How do those consequences connect to my story? I also can’t help but think about my life and my story as I consider Milo, Sylvie, and MJ. I sit in the quiet and envision their children and their children’s children. How can I channel God’s love in such a way that it positively impacts their stories?

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

Chapter-a-Day

Disloyalty and Criticism

October 18, 2022 Tom Vander Well 1 Comment

The king then asked, “Where is your master’s grandson?”

Ziba said to him, “He is staying in Jerusalem, because he thinks, ‘Today the Israelites will restore to me my grandfather’s kingdom.’”

Then the king said to Ziba, “All that belonged to Mephibosheth is now yours.”
2 Samuel 16:3-4 (NIV)

I recently mentioned in a chapter-a-day post a gentleman whom I met who had served under five different U.S. presidents while working for the Department of Commerce. His favorite, he told me, was Harry Truman who always made a requested decision in a timely way and was always on top of the many details necessary to carry out the office well. His least favorite, he added, was Dwight Eisenhower whom he observed was on the golf course more than he was in the oval office and who seemed to avoid the politics and details the job required. His observations came to mind again this morning as I read the chapter.

As a history buff I’ve heard it said that military generals, with the exception of George Washington, make poor presidents. Politics is messier than the military. People don’t have to obey your every command. You can’t just give orders, you have to persuade and cajole those who disagree with you. U.S. Grant, who had the dogged determination to order his armies forward no matter the defeat, was the right man for the job in bringing the American Civil War to an end. He has been, however, generally regarded as one of the worst U.S. presidents in history.

As I read the story of David, I find it fascinating that this theme of difficulty moving from military command to political power appears to be apt, even in antiquity. David was a great military leader, but his leadership as a monarch reveals tragic flaws that echo the reflections of Eisenhower by my acquaintance. Absalom stole people’s hearts because he would take the time to listen to their cases and grievances while David avoided the responsibility and kept people waiting. Despite his genuine desire for God’s blessing on his people, David appears to have been more interested in personal pursuits than in national problems.

In today’s chapter, David is on the run for the second time in his life. This time, he’s fleeing his own son. David’s scandals have decimated his approval rating. He has few loyal followers left. As his monarchy collapses around him, people’s true feelings come to light and we see two examples of it in today’s text. I found the contrast between David’s response in the two confrontations found in today’s chapter interesting.

Mephibosheth, the handicapped son of Saul, had personally been shown favor by David. Now that David appears to have let the throne slip through his fingers, Mephibosheth repays David’s grace with disloyalty rather than gratitude. There is a power vacuum and Mephibosheth is going to try and make a play to grab power for himself. David responds by rescinding his former kindness and giving Saul’s holdings back to Saul’s servant, Ziba.

Shimei the Benjaminite lets out his frustrations with David in an annoying one-man protest in which he screams his disdain for David and hurls stones at the king. Unlike Mephibosheth’s disloyalty, which was a personal dishonoring of David’s kindness, Shimei’s verbal and stone assault comes from pent-up frustration with David’s leadership, scandals, and the resulting fallout. Perhaps David recognized the truth in Shimei’s criticism. David turns the other cheek and won’t even let his loyal guard force Shimei to be quiet.

Today I’m thinking and pondering the criticism and confrontations we all face. There is a difference between Mephibosheth’s selfish power grab and Shimei’s frontal assault. There’s a difference in David’s response. Nevertheless, Jesus never made such distinctions in his command to forgive others. His parables and Sermon on the Mount instruct me to forgive both hurtful verbal criticism and a very personal slap across the face. For the record, He experienced both.

In the quiet this morning, I’m taking a little inventory this morning of those who’ve been critical of me, and those who’ve caused me injury. I’m thinking about my own life, leadership and the blind spots that have given others good reason to be critical. I’m considering my own responses and searching my own heart to ask if I’ve truly forgiven them.

A Note to Readers
I’m taking a blogging sabbatical and will be re-publishing my chapter-a-day thoughts on David’s continued story in 2 Samuel while I’m taking a little time off in order to focus on a few other priorities. Thanks for reading.
Today’s post was originally published in May 2014.

Today’s featured image created with Wonder A.I.

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

Chapter-a-Day

Hamilton, History, and Me

June 29, 2018 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God.
2 Chronicles 14:2 (NIV)

Yesterday Wendy and I joined our friends in jumping on the Hamilton bandwagon. A regional touring production of the popular Broadway show about one of America’s founding fathers opened in Des Moines yesterday. The bottom line: Yes, it’s as good and amazing as everyone says it is.

Last night in bed Wendy was reading through different blog posts and articles about the places the hip-hop operetta strays from the facts of history. To be honest, I considered most of them to be nothing more than the typical ways writers are required to take license with history in order to tell one man’s life story in less than three hours on stage and to entertain the audience at the same time. I guarantee you that Hamilton has done more to motivate a generation of young people to dig into America’s history than any high school history teacher could do.

This morning as I read today’s chapter, the first of three chapters on the life of Judah’s King Asa, I thought about chroniclers of history whether they be relating stories via papyrus scroll, published novel, text book, research paper, or Broadway musical. The motivations and mediums may differ, but at a basic level the writers are all taking a lifetime of facts and reducing them into their own retelling.

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, the books of 1 Chronicles and 2 Chronicles were written at a time when Hebrew exiles had left the land of their captors in Babylon and returned to their homeland to rebuild and restore their country. The people, who’d been living in Babylon for a generation, are now staring at the rubble of Jerusalem and the rubble of Solomon’s Temple and they’re asking themselves all sorts of questions. Are we still connected to our history? Are we still connected to the God of our ancestors? Do we cling to the stories and faith of our ancestors, or do we ignore them and start over?

As I read through the accounts of the Kings of Judah written by the Chronicler I begin to see patterns. As noted in the past couple of weeks, the Chronicler is putting a positive perspective on the historical record. I can almost feel him encouraging his contemporary readers to dig-in, reconnect with their history, and celebrate their heritage just as Hamilton has done for our generation of Americans. He is also presenting a very simple, cause-and-effect story line. The kings who served God succeeded. The kings who abandoned God, worshipped idols, or were otherwise unfaithful experienced disaster and failure.

As I pondered this simple, cause-and-effect pattern I couldn’t help but think of Parson Weems who gave Americans the story of George Washington and the Cherry Tree. The story was less about historical fact and more about teaching a moral lesson. Please don’t read what I’m not writing. The Chronicles are historical retelling (not fables as is Pastor Weems stories), but I can feel in the pattern of the Chronicler’s retelling that there is a moral lesson he wants his readers to catch: Follow God and be blessed. Abandon God and be cursed. It’s a good moral lesson. However, in the quiet this morning I’m looking back and finding that along my Life journey I’ve observed that Life does not always break down into simplistic, dualistic terms.

This morning I’m thinking about all the lessons that history has to teach us. After the show last night Wendy and I joined our friends for a spirited conversation over dinner about history, stories, and the wide-range of areas into which Hamilton poked and prodded our thoughts. The Chronicles, similarly, provide historical stories and lessons for us to take an apply to our daily journey some 2500 years later; Lessons that, like life itself, can at once be both remarkably simple and amazingly complex.