1 Chronicles 22–28
Jewish writing has a long tradition of internal debate and seeking truths within the same story. Our writer in Chronicles is writing to an exiled Jewish audience in Babylon. He is making a patriotic plea for the people to return to Israel by telling the same story already told in Samuel and 1 & 2 Kings. His retelling of this story brings new color, because he is writing for completely different reasons. If you merely read through Chronicles without this comparison in mind, the beauty of the story is lost.
In 1 Chronicles 22:5, the author begins with David saying, “My son Solomon is young and inexperienced; but the house that is to be built for the Lord must be made so magnificent that it will be renowned and glorious in all lands. Therefore, I will make preparations for it.” Conversely, in 1 Kings 2:3, there is only personal instructions to Solomon: “Be strong and be a Man! Keep the mandates of the Lord, your God, walking in his ways”. Why does Chronicles care so much about building this house? The answer may lie in the chapters following.
Chronicles devotes five long chapters listing the jobs conducted in the execution of this new house and specifically, who is going to do them. Each family is listed by name. Some have a short lineage, going back to Joseph or Moses or Aaron. The focus is on the people supporting this new national project. The author is writing a story his audience already knows, but he is telling them that they are a part of the story in a way not told before. He is telling the exiled Jewish people; they all have a place in this great project. This was not a royal temple built by a king, but rather it was their temple, built by the God of Abraham.
In the new testament, Paul communicates this idea of one people working towards a common purpose in 1Corinthians 12:12, “Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.” Paul is not making this idea up. Nor is it anything new to Jewish teachings. Christ has one Church and one people working for one purpose. Your vocation matters not if you are in Christ, you are part of Christ’s temple project. Jesus’s story is a retelling of the Jewish story, but He tells it in a way we have never heard before. And that is beautiful.
Dad Devotional 