The Reign of David

1 Chronicles 9-12

            The reading today begins with one more list of names: the names and genealogies of those priests and Levites who returned from the exile. Notice that in some cases their lines go back to the sons of Levi, and notice also that there is a concern to emphasize that David gave them their position. As Monday, so today: the genealogies are about legitimacy. They are an assertion that the men who are serving us today are direct descendants from the times of David and from the Exodus. In this case, the assertion is not so much about rights and power as it is for comfort, that the Lord has not completely forsaken them, but that He is still providing the blessings He always provided.

            I mention that because sometimes we assert continuity for less than great reasons. We hear and maybe say things like, “My ancestors founded this…: and we mean it as a way of asserting our rights over it. Or, in some Christian denominations, they talk about apostolic succession, a teaching that their bishops serve in an unbroken line from the bishops before, all the way to Peter. In some ways, it’s intended as a comfort, that they are the same church as always. In other cases, it becomes a way of putting other denominations down because their pastors and bishops are somehow questionable. (When Lutherans talk about apostolic succession we do not mean that there’s an unbroken line of ordination but that the teaching of the church has been unified since the apostles.)

            When we get into the narrative portions in chapter 10, we notice the Chronicler wants to emphasize certain aspects of the story of David. So, for example, he passes over the entire war between the house of Saul and David. Remember 2 Samuel mentioned a couple of times that David ruled in Hebron for 6 ½ years; here it is simply said that all Israel acclaimed him. The only hint of trouble is the repeated notice that some of his army defected or ‘went over to David’ from Saul. Otherwise the emphasis is on the unity of the kingdom under David. Again, we see the comfort trying to be given to the post-exilic community, “We are the heirs not of a broken kingdom, but of the unified kingdom of David.”

            The relocation of the list of David’s mighty men from the end of his reign in 2 Samuel to the beginning of his reign in 1 Chronicles makes the same point. Look at 1 Chronicles 11:10, ith its emphasis on all Israel and the strong support David had.