A SURVEY OF THE BIBLE
(“The Book of First Chronicles”) (I)
I Chronicles 1:1-4, 17-19, 24-28; 9:1-3 (NIV)
I Chronicles 11:1-3; 28:11-19 (NASU)
11“Then David gave to his son Solomon the plan … (for) the temple … 19(and said) ‘All this … the Lord made me understand in writing by His hand upon me, all the details of this pattern.’” (I Chronicles 28:11, 19)
BACK TO THE PAST
(1) So far, the material found in the first twelve books of the Old Testament (i.e. from Genesis through Second Kings) has been linear. By that, I simply mean there has been very little back tracking or reiteration. On the contrary, the content of these books has (for the most part) run a straight line from the time of creation (c.f. Genesis 1), through the birth of the nation of Israel and her establishment in the land of Canaan (per God’s covenant promise) (c.f. Genesis 12:1, 7), to the Babylonian captivity of Judah (c.f. II Kings 25). Or, if we’re thinking in terms of people – from Adam – through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and their descendants – to King David – and finally to King Jehoiachin of Judah.
(2) Starting with the Book of First Chronicles, however, all that is about to change. Indeed, from this point on, much of the material found in the remaining books of the Old Testament is going to retrace the history we’ve just gone over – albeit from different perspectives. There will be a handful of exceptions, like (for example) the Books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Haggai– which carry the history of God’s covenant people past the time of the exile. Nevertheless, the content of many of the other books – like Job and Psalms, Isaiah and Jeremiah, Jonah and Nahum – are going to fall within time periods we’ve already looked at from a historical perspective.
(3) The Book of First Chronicles opens with a long series of genealogies – the first of which starts with “Adam”, and ends with “Abraham” (c.f. I Chronicles 1:1-27). Indeed, the opening verses list the names of men we haven’t heard of since the early chapters of the Book of Genesis – like, “Seth (and) Enoch”, “Methuselah (and) Noah”, “Shem (and) Ham”, and “Peleg (and) Terah” (c.f. Genesis 5-11). Most of the book, however, is taken up with a record of David’s reign as king (c.f. I Chronicles 11-29) – which was covered previously in the Book of Second Samuel (c.f. II Samuel 1-24).1
(B) AN INTRODUCTION TO FIRST CHRONICLES
(1) Like the Books of Samuel and Kings, the Books of First and Second Chronicles were originally one volume in the Hebrew Bible – and only became two when the Old Testament was translated into Greek around 200 B.C.2
At that time these books were also given a new title, “The Things Omitted” – to reflect the idea that they contained material not found in the Books of First and Second Samuel and First and Second Kings – which is only partially true,2 since about 50% of the material found in the books of the Chronicles is unique.4
The present title “Chronicles” originated around 400 A.D. when the Bible was translated into Latin – and has been retained by English translations ever since.2
(2) Jewish tradition attributes authorship of the Books of the Chronicles to Ezra the priest – even the same man we read about in the Old Testament Books of Ezra and Nehemiah (c.f. Ezra 7:11; Nehemiah 8:2). However, since there’s no historical or biblical evidence directly linking him to these books, there’s no way to be sure of that.3
(3) What we do know is that the Chronicler (whoever he was) had access to a wide variety of written source material. Hence, he refers to “the chronicles of King David” (c.f. I Chronicles 27:24), “the chronicles of Samuel the seer … the chronicles of Nathan the prophet and … the chronicles of Gad the seer” (c.f. I Chronicles 29:29) – as well as “the Book of the Kings of Israel” (c.f. II Chronicles 20:34), and “the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah” (c.f. II Chronicles 36:8).3
The use of so much “already written” source material has caused some people to question whether Books like First and Second Chronicles should be thought of as “inspired” (c.f. II Timothy 3:16-17; II Peter 1:20-21) – and therefore worthy of a place in Scripture – since they draw so heavily upon sources that are obviously “uninspired”.
My answer is, that just because a written source is not “inspired” in the biblical sense of that word, doesn’t mean it’s entirely inaccurate. More importantly, the Holy Spirit can guard the use of “already written” and uninspired source material, just as easily as He can guard what a man writes when he’s not using such material – just like He guarded Luke’s use of “eyewitnesses” for his source material, when writing the inspired Gospel that bears his name (c.f. Luke 1:1-4).5
(4) Technically, the Book of First Chronicles spans a historical period (of unknown length), from the time of “Adam” (c.f. I Chronicles 1:1) to the death of “David” (c.f. I Chronicles 29:28-30).4 However, if we don’t count the genealogical records that comprise the first nine chapters (c.f. I Chronicles 1-9), then the content of the book encompasses a period of about forty years – which is how long David reigned as king (c.f. I Chronicles 11-29; see I Chronicles 29:27).
(5) As for WHEN the Books of the Chronicles were written – since the Second Book ends with “Cyrus king of Persia” issuing a decree to let the Jews in his kingdom return to their homeland (c.f. II Chronicles 36:22-23) – and, since we know that decree came after Judah had been in captivity for seventy years (c.f. Jeremiah 25:11; 29:10; Daniel 1:21; 9:1-2) – therefore, it’s reasonable to assume these books were written after Judah’s exile was over, and God’s covenant people had returned (or were in the process of returning) to the land given them by covenant promise.6
(6) As for WHY these Books were written – many suggest it was to encourage the returning exiles, by reminding them that in spite of their checkered past, and present plight (which was bleak, to say the least), God’s covenant with them was still intact. After all, both the priestly line and the line of David were still unbroken (even after seventy years of captivity!) – so that the worship of God as prescribed in the Law of Moses could resume, once the Temple had been rebuilt – while the promise that one of David’s descendants would one day establish a kingdom that would last forever was still possible.4 Hence, starting in chapter eleven, we find that much of the content of the Book of First Chronicles has to do with David’s reign as King, with special attention given to his preparations and plans and for building the Temple (c.f. I Chronicles 11-29) (which his son Solomon eventually carried out).
(C) AN OVERVIEW OF FIRST CHRONICLES
(1) With those things in mind, then, the Book of First Chronicles can be divided into two broad parts – with the first being a List of the Genealogies of God’s Covenant People7 in chapters one through nine (c.f. I Chronicles 1-9).
(a) Although there are some exceptions – like the brief genealogy in chapter one of Abraham’s sons by his wife Keturah, whom he married after Sarah died (c.f. Genesis 25:1; I Chronicles 1:32-33) – for the most part, the genealogies found in these first nine chapters are of God’s covenant people. Hence, we have (for example) a record of “the sons of Judah” (c.f. I Chronicles 2:3-8) – a record of “the sons of David”, particularly through his son Solomon (c.f. I Chronicles 3:1-24) – and a record of “the sons of Levi”, with special attention given to “the sons of Aaron” who formed the priestly line (c.f. I Chronicles 6:1-30). Indeed, there appears to be a genealogical record for at least ten of Jacob’s twelve sons (c.f. I Chronicles 7:1-40) – although some are shorter than others, and none are complete. There are also two brief genealogies of King Saul, Israel’s first ruler, who was from the tribe of Benjamin (c.f. I Chronicles 8:33-40; 9:35-44).
(b) Although the arrangement is somewhat confusing to modern readers (at least I find it so), these genealogies summarize the line of God’s covenant people from Adam, through Noah and Abraham (c.f. I Chronicles 1:1-27), to those of Abraham’s descendants who returned to the Land of Promise after seventy years in captivity.8 Hence, chapter nine talks about those who were 2“the first to RESETTLE on their own property” i.e. after being 1“carried away into exile to Babylon” (c.f. I Chronicles 9:1-2, NIV).
(c) Another important fact we glean from the first nine chapters is (as we just noted) that there are genealogies for at least ten of the twelve tribes – including eight from the Northern Kingdom of Israel – rather than only having genealogies for the two tribes who comprised the Southern Kingdom Judah. Hence, we have genealogies for the tribes of Issachar, Naphtali, Manasseh, Ephraim, and Asher (c.f. I Chronicles 7:1-4) – as well as genealogies for the tribes of Simeon, Rueben, and Gad (c.f. I Chronicles 4:24-5:17). There are no genealogies in the Books of the Chronicles for the tribes of Dan and Zebulun – although there may very well have been representatives from those two tribes living in the province of Judah before and after the exile.
(d) One reason I say that, is because we’re told (in Second Chronicles chapter thirty) that during the reign of King Hezekiah of Judah, people from the Northern tribes of “Asher, Zebulun, Manasseh, Issachar and Ephraim” “humbled themselves” and returned to Jerusalem, so they could worship the true God in the way and place He had prescribed (c.f. II Chronicles 30:1-12). As a result, it’s quite probably that representatives from the entire nation (i.e. from all twelve tribes!) were present in Judah when that kingdom went into Babylonian exile – and then, would have been part of the remnant that later returned.9
(e) I don’t know if there’s a longer genealogical section in the bible than the one we find in the opening chapters of First Chronicles (c.f. I Chronicles 1-9) – but I do know many people get bored reading genealogies, or skip over them altogether. One of the things I like to do to try and make the reading of these long genealogies more palatable, is to look for little historical footnotes regarding certain people.
For example, in chapter one, verse nineteen we’re told that “two sons were born to Eber” (one of Noah’s great-great-grandchildren) – “the name of the one was Peleg, FOR IN HIS DAYS THE EARTH WAS DIVIDED” (c.f. I Chronicles 1:19). As it turns out, Peleg’s name means “to split or divide”10 – and the event after which he was apparently named was the dividing of the people of the earth into different language groups at the Tower of Babel (c.f. Genesis 10:25; 11:1-9).
Bible genealogies almost always follow the male line. However, once in a while a sister, or wife, or mother will be mentioned in passing – like in chapter one, verse thirty-nine where we’re told that “the sons of Lotan were Hori and Homam; AND LOTAN’S SISTER WAS TIMNA” (c.f. I Chronicles 1:39). Now it’s clear that women like Timna stood out in the mind of whoever was writing this genealogy – but we’re never told why – which leaves us with kind of miniature mystery (see also 3:19; 4:3).
Other historical tidbits that make the genealogies found in the opening chapters of First Chronicles more interesting, are – chapter two, verse thirty-two where we’re told that: “the sons of Jada the brother of Shammai were Jether and Jonathan, AND JETHER DIED WITHOUT SONS” (which would have been considered a great misfortune in that culture) (c.f. I Chronicles 2:32) – and then, in chapter three (which contains a record of the descendants of David who followed him on the throne), starting in verse sixteen where we’re told that: 16“The sons of Jehoiakim (king of Judah) were Jeconiah his son, (and) Zedekiah his son. 17(And) The sons of Jeconiah, THE PRISONER, (included) Shealtiel his son, 18(followed by a list of six of his other sons)” (c.f. I Chronicles 3:16-18). The “prisoner” label refers to the fact that Jeconiah was taken off into captivity by the Babylonians. But this part of the genealogical record also tells us that the line of David was not extinguished by the Babylonian exile!
And then, you may remember when books and tapes, seminars and wall plaques about “The Prayer of Jabez” were all the rage in many Christian circles? Well Jabez’s prayer is one of those historical tidbits found among the genealogies in the opening chapters of First Chronicles (c.f. I Chronicles 4:9-10).
So, if you want to make reading the genealogies found in the bible a little more interesting, look for these tiny gems of historical (and sometimes theological) information that God has hidden among these lists of names.
(2) The last genealogy in the opening chapters of First Chronicles is that of King Saul (c.f. I Chronicles 9:35-44) – which serves as a kind of transition to the second (and last) major section of the book, which starts in chapter ten (c.f. I Chronicles 10-29).11 Indeed, chapter ten contains a brief account of Saul’s death (c.f. I Chronicles 10:1-14) – after which the remainder of the book gives us a second biblical account of the reign of King David (in addition to the one found earlier in the Book of Second Samuel), which we will not get all the way through tonight.
(a) Historically, King Saul died in a battle with the Philistines on Mount Gilboa. However, the last two verses of chapter ten give us the theological reason behind his death, saying that: 13“… Saul died for his trespass which he committed against the Lord, BECAUSE of the word of the Lord which he did not keep; and also BECAUSE he asked counsel of a medium, making inquiry of it, 14and did not inquire of the Lord. THEREFORE (the Lord) killed him and turned the kingdom (over) to David the son of Jesse” (c.f. I Chronicles 10:13-14).
Note, then, that two reasons are given for Saul’s death – first, he repeatedly disobeyed the Lord’s commands (c.f. I Chronicles 10:13; I Samuel 13:13; 15:19; 28:18) – and second, he consulted a spiritist about an upcoming battle (which was strictly forbidden by the Law of Moses) (c.f. Leviticus 19:31; 20:6), instead of going to the Lord and inquiring of Him about the matter (c.f. I Chronicles 10:13-14; I Samuel 28:7-9).
[1] Note, too, that although Saul died by falling on his own sword (after he had been wounded in battle) (c.f. I Chronicles 10:3-4), the author of the Chronicles attributes his death to the Lord (c.f. I Chronicles 10:14) – thereby underscoring the fact that all human behavior is ultimately under God’s sovereign control11 (nor is this the only place in the First Book of the Chronicles where God is said to have put someone to death) (c.f. I Chronicles 2:3; 13:10).
[2] Finally, we’re told that after Saul’s death, the Lord “turned the kingdom (over) to David the son of Jesse” (c.f. I Chronicles 10:14) – which is really the main point of chapter ten, because it introduces us to the remaining chapters of First Chronicles, which are wholly occupied with the reign of King David.
(b) David’s reign, however, can be subdivided into two parts – with the first having to do with what I’m going to call his political reign, in chapters eleven through twenty-one (c.f. I Chronicles 11-21).
[1] Here we’re told, for example (in chapter eleven), about how the people of Israel came to David at Hebron (following Saul’s death), and anointed him as their king – and how David captured the city of Jerusalem from the Jebusites, and made it his capital (c.f. I Chronicles 11:1-9).
We’re also told (in chapters fourteen, eighteen and twenty) about several of David’s battles with the Philistines (c.f. I Chronicles 14:8-17; 18:1-17; 20:1-8). However, credit for these victories is given to the Lord – for we’re told that “God (went) out before (David) to strike the army of the Philistines” (c.f. I Chronicles 14:15) – and in another place, that “the Lord helped David wherever he went” (c.f. I Chronicles 18:6, 13).
[2] Interestingly, chapter twenty parallels (in part) the record found in Second Samuel chapter eleven – since both begin by telling us that, “it happened in the spring (of the year), at the time when kings go out to battle, that Joab led … the army (of Israel) and … besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem …” (c.f. I Chronicles 20:1; II Samuel 11:1). The Chronicler, however, does not tell us about what David did while he was in Jerusalem – namely, about his ensuing adulterous relationship with Bathsheba, or the subsequent murder of her husband Uriah (c.f. II Samuel 11:2-17) – but only that David eventually went to Rabbah in time to take credit for the victory (c.f. I Chronicles 20:2-3; II Samuel 12:26-31). The reason the author left this sordid picture out, has to do with his purpose for writing the Book of the Chronicles – and not because he’s trying to “sanitize” David’s rule as king, or pretend he never sinned (see I Chronicles 21:1-27).
[3] Interestingly, scattered throughout the record of David’s political reign as king are glimpses of the religious (or spiritual) aspect of his rule, which will be given greater attention in the last eight chapters of the book (c.f. I Chronicles 22-29).
For example, chapter thirteen tells us about David’s first attempt to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. You may recall (from Second Samuel chapter six) that as the ark was being transported on a cart, at one point it nearly upset, whereupon a man named Uzza(h) reached up and touched it with his hands to keep it from falling off, and was immediately killed by the Lord for his act of irreverence (c.f. I Chronicles 13:9-14; II Samuel 6:2-11).
Well, in chapter fifteen David makes a second attempt to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem – only this time he prefaces the effort by telling the Levites: “It was because you, the Levites, did not bring it up the first time that the Lord our God broke out in anger against us. (BECAUSE) WE DID NOT INQUIRE OF HIM ABOUT HOW TO DO IT IN THE PRESCRIBED WAY” (c.f. I Chronicles 15:13, NIV). In other words, God had given very specific instructions as to how the ark was to be transported (and by whom), which David and the people had ignored the first time around. Hence, we read a few verses later that this time “the sons of the LEVITES carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles thereon, AS MOSES HAD COMMANDED ACCORDING TO THE WORD OF THE LORD” (c.f. I Chronicles 15:15) – and, of course, this time, because they were doing in the manner God had prescribed in His word, they were successful.
All of which, illustrates the importance of worshiping the Lord the way HE has commanded us to in Scripture – and NOT in a way that seems good, or appropriate, or interesting to US.
[4] We’re also told in chapter seventeen about David’s desire to build a house of worship for the Lord – and how God said he was not the man to do it – but that one of his descendants would bring this about. Known as the Davidic Covenant (which is really an expansion of God’s covenant with Abraham), God said: 11“When your days are fulfilled (and) you … go to be with your fathers, … I will set up one of your descendants after you, who will be (ONE) OF YOUR SONS; and I will establish his kingdom. 12He shall build (a house for Me), and I will establish his throne FOREVER. 13I will be his father and HE SHALL BE MY SON; and I will NOT take My lovingkindness away from him, as I took it from him who was before you. 14But I will settle him in My house and in My kingdom forever, and HIS THRONE SHALL BE ESTABLISHED FOREVER” (c.f. I Chronicles 17:11-14).
David’s son Solomon was the immediate and partial fulfillment of this covenant promise, as the Book of Second Chronicles shows (c.f. II Chronicles 2-7) – and even David himself anticipated in the last chapters of the First Book of the Chronicles (c.f. I Chronicles 28:11-21). But there is another who is far “greater” (c.f. Luke 11:31) – who is the full and final realization of this promise – who has come, and is coming again – who is known as the “KING OF KINGS” (c.f. Revelation 19:16) – and whose name is Jesus!
1MacArthur: The MacArthur’s Bible Commentary; p. 481.
2IBID; 478.
3The New Geneva Study Bible: The First Book of the
Chronicles; p. 560.
4MacArthur: Ibid; p. 479.
5MacArthur: The MacArthur Bible Handbook; p. 111.
6Mathison: From Age to Age (The Unfolding of Biblical
Eschatology); p. 107.
7The New Geneva Study Bible: Ibid; p. 562.
8IBID; Footnote on I Chronicles 9:2; p. 573.
9IBID: Footnote on I Chronicles 9:3; p. 573.
10BCS: Strong’s Concordance; Word #6389 and #6385.
11MacArthur: The MacArthur’s Bible Commentary; p. 483.