David had 20 children whose names we know. Plus more by his concubines whose names we do not know. And it is this area of his life – multiple wives and concubines – that will get him in trouble and be the undoing of his son and successor Solomon.
Just because God doesn’t show up and chew him out for having a bunch of wives does not mean that the Lord approves.
Never mistake God’s patient silence for approval.
And never mistake success for His blessing.
David was doing what the kings of other nations do. They all had big harems and lots of kids. Even some of Israel’s earlier Judges did so. Remember the guy with 30 sons on 30 donkeys?
God will work with what He’s got to work with. And he is so gracious that He remains faithful to His promises even when we throw monkey wrenches in it. But we are never free from the consequences of our choices. And David’s family will suffer because of his many wives and children. But God will also redeem his family tree by having Jesus born of the Virgin Mary, a descendant of David’s son, Nathan, and raised as the legal heir of Joseph, a descendant of David’s royal line through Solomon. Which brings me to…
There’s a problem in the genealogies that is much-debated. If you compare David’s descendants in 1 Chronicles 3 with the genealogies of Jesus in Matthew 1 and Luke 3, none of them match. You have Shealtiel with 2 fathers, Zerubbabel with sons we’ve never heard of, and Joseph with 2 fathers.
If you look up articles online about it, here are some of the answers you’ll find:
- We honestly have no idea but we trust the Bible.
- Levirate marriage but we’re not sure.
- There are errors in the text.
- Mistranslation.
- There are gaps in the genealogies and they are there on purpose.
- Some combination of the above.
Here is one of the best articles I found that explains the inconsistencies and provides an historic basis for its claims. It’s about a 4 minute read and there is also an audio option if you want to simply listen to it.
We need to know about these problems in the text. They are nothing to be afraid of or nervous about. Yes, critics will point them out and say, “See – the Bible has errors.” You are better to be aware of them and prepared to respond than to stand there like a deer in headlights.
If you were in a Christian in the early 2000s, you probably read the book, The Prayer of Jabez. It was the hottest thing going. There were sermon series on it, devotionals, and Bible study groups reading it together. There were coffee mugs, keychains, mouse pads, and wall art. It was everywhere. Suddenly everyone was asking God to bless them and enlarge their territory.
I’m not knocking Jabez. There are important lessons to learn from this small snippet of a story in the midst of all these genealogies. For one, his name (grief, sorrow – and pronounced in Hebrew like yah-bates rather than jay-bez) did not define him. The experience of his parents (his mother’s difficult labor) did not define him.
When the text says he was more “honorable” than his brothers, that’s a word we’ve encountered before. It’s kabowd, which means heavy or weighty. And yes, it can mean glory or importance, but it really does mean weighty. Maybe the Hebrew text is just telling us he was a big baby and mom’s labor and delivery were hard because of it. It’s not like she could have a C-section.
Also, he has brothers, so he’s not the first or even second born son. He won’t inherit the leadership of the family.
But Jabez asked Yahweh to bless-bless him, (in Hebrew it is doubled for emphasis), in the form of:
- More land
- God’s hand (making-doing power) to be with him
- Divine protection from bad things
And God grants him his request!
The challenge we all seemed to be contemplating in the early 2000s as we discussed The Prayer of Jabez, is that maybe we weren’t praying big enough prayers asking God to bless-bless us.
But some people got the wrong idea about Jabez and thought it was all about just asking God for stuff and God should be obliged to grant it because… Jabez. So in response to this trend, in 2001 pastor Jim Cymbala of The Brooklyn Tabernacle wrote a short book called The Life God Blesses. (I read that one too.) It provided the balance without attacking The Prayer of Jabez. In it he talks about the kind of heart God is seeking to bless.
Both books have good lessons. Our past reputation and our origin stories do not have to define us. We can seek God for help and favor. We can come boldly and ask. But it is also true that our actions and attitudes have a big part to play in God answering those prayers. Our choices have consequences that can look a lot like blessings or a lack thereof. We do not earn God’s favor, so even the undeserving can ask. But, we can’t demand it either so even those who think they are deserving need to trust the Lord even when He withholds that favor.
This little footnote at the end of chapter 4 is noteworthy:
“Five hundred of these invaders from the tribe of Simeon went to Mount Seir, led by Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah, and Uzziel—all sons of Ishi. They destroyed the few Amalekites who had survived, and they have lived there ever since.”
1 Chronicles 4:42-43 NLT
It took several centuries, but here are some brave descendants finally getting the job done.
If there have been problems – addictions, sinful patterns – that have plagued your family for generations, perhaps you will be the generation who finally destroys those last remaining demonic strongholds and takes over that space in victory.
Yay! 😀
Chapter 5 ends with the tribes east of the Jordan River: Reuben, Gad, and the eastern half of Manasseh.
The text makes sure the reader remembers why Reuben is here down the line instead of first in the genealogy list.
Ouch.
Let that be a lesson to us. God takes leadership seriously. And you can’t be morally corrupt and lead His people. He will remove you and put someone else in your place.
Gad lived up in Giant Territory on the border with other nations who they had to occasionally fight.
Manasseh also lived in the land formerly stalked by giants – even to Mount Hermon itself (if ya know, ya know). But they got curious about the spiritual practices of the giant clans and followed after them into idolatry.
At one point all 3 tribes fought together against an invading force…
“They waged war against the Hagrites, the Jeturites, the Naphishites, and the Nodabites. They cried out to God during the battle, and he answered their prayer because they trusted in him. So the Hagrites and all their allies were defeated.”
1 Chronicles 5:19-20 NLT
That’s a great reminder that even if you are in the heat of battle – in the middle of an argument, in the seconds that seem to stretch after you get bad news, in the moment when you can’t decide if you’re going to scream, cry, or just turn and walk away – you can still call out to God for help. But the key is TRUST. “He answered their prayer because they trusted in Him.”
K. You’re doing GREAT! We’ve made it half way through the toughest section of the whole Bible. And we even learned some things.
Next week will be more Psalms and Chronicles. We’ll get out of the genealogical weeds and get a glimpse of the organization of the Temple – which still hasn’t been built in the narrative yet, but it’ll be helpful to have this background when we get there.
Blessings!
To The Reader 