GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
1 CHRONICLES 27 Summary
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In this chapter, four additional groups are presented.
Part 1: The Army (27:1-15).
The emphasis is on who was the overall commander in which month. The more important names, as expected, are assigned command early in the chapter, since they were the commanders during the spring of the year, which was “the time when kings go off to war” (2 Samuel 11:1). This is reminiscent of the first four batters in a baseball lineup, and for much the same reasons. When we compare the first names here with the mighty men listed in chapter 11, we find that Joshobeam, (Eleazer son of) Dodai, and Benaiah were the commanders in March, April, and May.
The monthly divisions of the army were not meant to serve at the capital, but rather refers to their time on duty as reserves, whether the country was at war or not. In an emergency, all Israel might be called up for service (Judges 20:2; 1 Samuel 17:19).
Part 2: The Princes of the tribes (27:16-22).
Here the leaders of the tribes are listed. The Levites had two leaders: Hashabiah over the non-priestly part, and Zadok the high priest over the priests themselves. Judah’s prince was Elihu (Eliab, 1 Samuel 16:6), David’s oldest brother. For some reason, Gad and Asher are omitted, perhaps to bring the total number of tribal leaders to the satisfying total of twelve. The same thing happened earlier when the tribes of Dan and Zebulun were not included in the tribal accounting in chapters 4-7.
After verse 22, the author breaks off and comments that the list that might have been expected to follow– the tallies of the soldiers from each of the tribes, twenty years and older– is not included for two reasons:
23 David did not take the number of the men twenty years old or less, because the LORD had promised to make Israel as numerous as the stars in the sky. 24 Joab son of Zeruiah began to count the men but did not finish. Wrath came on Israel on account of this numbering, and the number was not entered in the book of the annals of King David. (NIV)
The first reason for not including the number is that Joab, David’s military commander, did not finish the role call because it was sinful. Second, God’s wrath put an end to the project, which was recorded earlier in chapter 21. In Chronicles, this is the only one of David’s sins that is recorded (Bathsheba’s name only appears in 2 Chronicles 3:5 as the mother of Solomon and his three brothers), but most of David’s famous actions are not listed, either. There is no mention of Goliath, for instance, except as the brother of another giant (1 Chronicles 20:5), nor of David soothing King Saul with his harp, of running for his life from Saul, his friendship with Saul’s son Jonathan, nor of his trouble with his son Absalom. The primary focus of David in Chronicles is as the man who brought the pieces of the tabernacle together and supplied the location, funding, plans, raw materials, and organized the manpower for the building of the temple and the service at the temple.
Part 3: The King’s private property (25-31)
28 Baal-Hanan the Gederite was in charge of the olive and sycamore-fig trees in the western foothills. Joash was in charge of the supplies of olive oil. 29 Shitrai the Sharonite was in charge of the herds grazing in Sharon. Shaphat son of Adlai was in charge of the herds in the valleys. 30 Obil the Ishmaelite was in charge of the camels. Jehdeiah the Meronothite was in charge of the donkeys. 31 Jaziz the Hagrite was in charge of the flocks. All these were the officials in charge of King David’s property. (NIV)
David held property here and there throughout the kingdom. He had storehouses, watchtowers, farmland, vineyards and wineries, groves of fig trees, and olive presses. He had herds in the hills of Bashan and in the valleys of Galilee and Judah. He had camels, donkeys, sheep, and goats.
Part 4: The King’s counselors (32-34)
Eight men are presented quickly and with varying amounts of explanation. Jonathan was one of David’s uncles and a scholar, “a scribe” (sofer, like the “skillful writer” in Psalm 45:1).
Jehiel was in charge of the king’s sons. His position could have been similar to the one Paul describes in Galatians when he says that the law of Moses “was put in charge to lead us to Christ” (Galatians 3:24). This position was a paidagogos (παιδαγωγός), one who leads and guides a child into maturity; he is a tutor, a coach, a finishing school instructor, and possibly a teacher of school subjects (reading, writing, arithmetic) as well as a military historian, sparring partner, and more. Jehiel’s capabilities must have been exceptional, but his moral values did not seem to have a lasting effect on David’s older sons.
The position held by Ahithophel was taken over by Jehoiada and by Abiathar the priest after Ahithophel got caught up in Abalom’s rebellion and committed suicide (2 Samuel 11:23).
The other man named here is Hushai the Arkite. His name along with that of Ahithophel, Jehoiada and Abiathar tells much of the story of Absalom’s rebellion without actually describing the events. He was loyal to David and even went at David’s command over Absalom’s side to counter the wisdom of Ahithophel.
As David’s life lengthened and drew closer to the day when he would be gathered home to heaven, his troubles and obstacles did not diminish. What we are not told about is that another son, Adonijah, also rebelled against him after Absalom. David also had difficulty keeping warm. His body was suffering on account of the many hardships he went through as a younger man. But David’s mind and wisdom did not desert him, nor did he ever let go of his faith. There was no question about the organization of his kingdom; although he stumbled into a sin in the organization of the military, his arrangements for the rest of the kingdom: Levites, priests, musicians, princes, his own private property, and his choices in counselors and advisors, show that he surrounded himself with capable individuals. He did not want “advisors” who would simply do whatever he wanted them to do. He wanted men to help him do one of the most difficult tasks that has ever fallen onto the shoulders of any human being: To be King over God’s own chosen people.
In David’s Psalms, God is truly the King over all. When David uses “king” to describe himself, it is as a worshiper, one who trusts in God (Psalm 21:7) and who rejoices in God (Psalm 63:11), or, in one case, as the groom at his own wedding (Psalm 45). He asks the Lord for salvation (Psalm 20:9). David’s faith is a pattern for us and an example. Though we are sinners, we love our Lord, and our Lord is the one, the only one, who saves.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
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Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – 1 Chronicles 27 Summary