PLUS, AND MINUS. 1st Chronicles 3 The history of most nations we have studied in school is a recounting of events that have made the nation strong or weak. But events result from human actions that may have been calculated or spontaneous, spur-of-the-moment decisions. The list of names that continues in chapter three reminds us that as far as God is concerned, "nations are as a drop of a bucket." People live forever. History in God's eyes is an unfolding of His-story and how mankind, created in His image, has fulfilled or failed according to His plans.
Humans have a mind, like "The mind of God," so that we can know Him. In a believer’s life, our minds are changed from darkness to light when we are saved, so Paul could write, "We have the mind of Christ." We have emotions like God, "For God so loved the world...," and when we were made alive in Christ, love for God and for His people is part of the new nature we received by the new birth. "We love Him, because He first loved us...," and "We know we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren." This is a demonstrable fact. The will of God is revealed clearly in the scriptures. Believers seek to "Do the will of God from the heart."
In the list of names in the first nine chapters of 1st Chronicles, we have a series of lessons we can learn from the lives of those people named. Adam's transgression has affected all of the human race. We may not realize the lasting implications of sin in our lives on the following generations when we make a bad decision. But it will have an impact, for good or bad, on those who know what we chose to do. Noah decided to obey God and saved "his house." Abraham chose to live by faith. Isaac was a peace-loving man. Esau was a bitter man. Amalek was just plain evil. Jacob failed in a lot of ways, but recovered to fellowship with God. Perez didn't come from a good background, but God worked His own will through his lineage anyway. Boaz was a kind man. Jesse initially showed favoritism, but learned that God sees things differently than we do. Joab was just plain mean, and he died with nothing but a bad reputation, although he was a good general.
Then, in chapter three, we read of David's family at the head of the list. David was the king in the line of Judah through which our Lord Jesus Christ came. Joseph, Mary's husband, was from the kingly line of Solomon. Mary came from the line of David's son, Nathan. Perhaps he was named after the honorable prophet who lived in Israel at the time of his birth.
When God made Adam and Eve, He made them husband and wife for life. He planned for one man and one woman to be together for life. Polygamy was never His intention for marriage. David apparently followed the custom of pagan kings despite the warning Moses gave in Deuteronomy 17. For a man to have six wives, even when polygamy was an acceptable practice, was forbidden for those who were kings. Money didn't seem like a big problem to David; although he was wealthy, women were a big problem. As a result of that problem, David's family life became even more serious.
Some of David’s sons were born when he was in Hebron, and others when he was king in Jerusalem. There was a family division between those two groups of half-brothers that never healed. When we read about David’s family life, we see that it is mainly a series of unhappy events that divided them and led to terrible wickedness. Amnon shows that lust leads to tragedy. Absalom: You lose when you fight against God; Adonijah: Don’t try to take what isn’t yours to have; Bathsheba: One sinful act doesn’t mean you are finished; Solomon: Wisdom without God is foolishness.
David's sons were notable for being lustful, subtle, deceitful, bitter, and angry men. The teaching of the law and the prophets didn't mean much to them. They wantewhat they could get and sought to take what was only God's to give. At least two of them died in an attempt to go around the plan of God and take things into their own hands. Solomon asked God for wisdom, and got it, riches, and honor. But all of this was mainly directed at an outward show of materialism, apart from the building of the temple.
Israeli kings were not to have many wives, horses, gold, and silver because extreme wealth tends to turn us away from faith and trust in God. Poor Solomon made bad decisions, especially as he got older, and became a failure on almost all accounts. Solomon’s family line became kings, some of whom did things that pleased the Lord, and others were failures.
Parents cannot predict the outcome of the lives of their children, or what they choose to believe, and how they come to their convictions, but while they are young and under parental authority, it is important that they have a clear understanding of who God is. The word of God read and taught by parents is very significant because that is how faith is developed, and hopefully will become personal faith to them. “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.”
Generations that follow suffer because of the moral failures of those who should have known better than to do what they did. That by no means excuses them from taking responsibility for their actions, but it does remind us that what I do or don't do has influence that generations yet unborn will feel. We may do a lot of things right, but that doesn't mean we will not have to suffer the consequences of doing wrong. We must live each day in view of what is right in God's eyes. Each event in a day and each issue I have to face should be dealt with in the consciousness of the fact that there will be "fall-out" from those actions that will be either good or bad.
The list of names in chapter three concerns the nation and those who led the nation. Those who returned from captivity were given a positive, maybe even an idealized, view of their past leaders and their past history. It doesn't mean they were deceived in any way by the writer of the Chronicles, but there was no reason for them to be reminded of the failures and difficulties that David had, or his sin with Bathsheba. The crimes of Amnon and Absalom, Solomon's lack of self-control, or Adonijah's failures would have no unifying effect on those who were just released from captivity due to their national sin.
To spend time looking back at mistakes and failures has no real beneficial effect on a large group of diverse people. We can learn as individuals from the mistakes of others, but that is only useful if there is a positive point to be made for our learning. The favorable light in which the Chronicles is written points forward with hope to the future. There will be future glory for the nation under the reign of peace under the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ.
The first list of names is basically a legal and political line of humanity that brought Israel into favor with God. It begins with Adam, the father of humanity, and then goes to Abraham, the father of the faithful. In the second list, from David's kingship through Zerubbabel, the history of their nation under the rule of kings is traced to the results of their failure as a people.
None of the royal line succeeded Jehoiachin, who was taken captive to Babylon. However, the leaders of Babylon cared for their family and others from Judah. One of Jehoiachin’s sons, Shenazzar (Sheshbazzar), was responsible for returning the temple treasures to Judah after the exile. Zerubabbel, his nephew, was a man of importance in the returned remnant. According to the Book of Ezra, he was the governor of Judah for twenty years during the restoration.
The last names on the list are unknown people who, in one way, seem insignificant apart from the fact that through them and the succeeding generations came the Messiah, who entered the pages of Israel's history after the four hundred years of "darkness." It was then that "light came into the world." This list of names shows us that not everyone in the following generations may follow the Lord. Seeds of faith sown in families can bear fruit even though they may skip a generation or two. It is hoped that those yet to be born will think of their ancient heritage and learn from the stories and faith of those who lived long before them.
What part does love play in a family's life? Do the children sense their position in the order of things, the cause and effect? Are the personalities of children genetic or are they self-developed? Can they feel some kind of neglect when they are young? Or do they know they are enveloped by impartial love from their parents?
I guess there are a lot of things that affect the outcome of our lives. A gentle touch often sends a message of correction, love, appreciation, and pride. A lack of touch may leave a child wondering if they have done something wrong or feeling abandoned. Each person in a family may respond differently to the same act and the same words—each is taken independently.
What can a father do to make things as they should be? Is the recreational time spent the key – is it the fun? Does fun make life meaningful, or is the insistence on work to be performed, something accomplished that can be looked at with satisfaction of a job well done? Do opportunities arranged that lead to meaningful labor seem unfair when people are still children – is that how a family is established?
One would think a man after God’s own heart would know the answers, but with David, it was a choice he had to make, the same as I do. I must determine the amount of time allotted for leisure and play for my children. One has to consider what the ultimate source of pleasure is.
Knowing that I may be wrong, I have considered that what is significant to me—pleasure and meaning in work—should be the same to my family, so I insisted on time spent on serious labor. I hope and pray that it was not wrong that I persisted in this course. I thought that offspring would learn from their parents what was right, what was wrong, what was necessary, and what was not. I intended that meaningful work that brings satisfaction from a job well done would be learned by modeling, a discipline that was caught, and that pleasure and recreation alone would ultimately be for naught.
I wonder now, as probably David did, if I were to live over again, would I do it differently? Would God bless my labor? Would my family be different—would I want them to be more like me? Have I failed them in various ways? I guess I’ll have to wait and see! Sometimes, when reading scriptures like these, I wonder if my family wants to be as different from me as possible. I wanted to be like my parents. I don’t think my daughters and their families don't want to be like me. I am genuinely sorry if I have failed God and them in family life. I didn’t know what else to do.