I realize that this section of scripture is about as exciting as reading the phone book.
🤔 Phone book? What’s a phone book?
Oh yeah. I forget. The young whipper snappers don’t know what that is. Way back in the 1900s telephone companies published everyone’s contact info in a printed book. It was usually updated annually.
🤯 You mean your phone number was public information?!
Yes.
😲 What about privacy?!
👵🏼 Think we should tell him about party lines?
No. The young mind couldn’t handle it.
Anyway. As I was saying…
These chapters in First Chronicles where we have all the lists of who did what during David’s reign is kinda like reading a Washington D.C. phone book.
But – there are a couple of observations I’d like to share that may make it more interesting.
One quick footnote… Remember our guy Benaiah the Captain of David’s Body Guard and warrior extraordinaire? In 27:5 we get the detail that his father was Jehoiada the priest. That means Benaiah was from a priestly family and would’ve had training as a priest himself. He was a warrior-priest. That basically describes Jesus too. Anyhoo. I just think that’s super cool.
On we go…
OBSERVATION #1
THIS IS NOT A DEMOCRACY
🙄 Well duh. I knew that. David is a king. There’s no parliamentary structure. Why’s that such a big deal? Is that seriously all you’ve got? Do you need a nap?
Yes. I did need a nap today but give me a minute and let me explain.
All of the men listed in these chapters are fulfilling government roles. They are like secretaries of commerce and agriculture, military leaders, even governors and those with monetary oversight.
No one elected them. Israel didn’t have campaigns and election cycles at this point in their history. As much-touted as democracy is in the world, it is not the superior form of government. If it were, God would’ve used it. This is a Theocracy – rule by God. Consider who is truly on the “throne” in each form of government and ask yourself if they might sometimes be opposed to each other.
Notice how the gatekeepers (security guards) were assigned in the same way as the singers and musicians and the priests – by casting lots.
“They were assigned by families for guard duty at the various gates, without regard to age or training, for it was all decided by means of sacred lots.”
1 Chronicles 26:13 NLT
I wonder if these were no ordinary dice but perhaps the urim and thummim?
There is no jockeying for position or campaigning to be the Keeper of the Western Gate or whatever. People who were young and fairly inexperienced might have been assigned to important offices while older or more experienced or more outwardly impressive men might have been put in more obscure places. Man looks on the outward appearance but God looks at the heart. There is no political posturing and slick speeches when God is in control. Politicians can fool people into voting for them but no one can fool God.
The sacred lots were a way for the people to know beyond any doubt what Yahweh’s will was. The LORD hand-picked every staff member for the running of His Kingdom. And it really was HIS Kingdom, not David’s. David was to be a shepherd under the authority of God Himself.
This brings me to…
OBSERVATION #2
PROPHETIC PICTURE?
Ok – so that’s more a question than an observation but consider the following:
- David prefigures Christ as the King who finally drives the wicked out of the land (including the last of the Nephilim)
- David appears in the roles (or at least the attire) of prophet, priest, and king which are the 3 roles that require anointing and of which Christ is the supreme.
- David is the shepherd-king who loves even his rebellious son and is willing to die in his place (see 2 Sam. 18:33)
If David is a picture of Jesus, might the kingdom and how it is set up give us some prophetic insight into how Christ will set up His earthly kingdom?
If you think that when you die or get raptured you’ll be handed a white robe, a harp and the keys to a golden mansion where you’ll lounge about eating grapes all day…
🚜 🚜 🚜 🚜 🚜 🚜 🚜
Hey! What’s this? Where did all the heavy equipment come from? What’s going on here?
👷🏽♂️ I’m with the demolition crew.
Wha…? Who…??
😏 It’s all good. I called them in. You had that look on your face that you get when you’re fixin’ to demo someone’s theology all to bits.
👷🏽♂️ Line ‘em up, fellas.
🚜 🚜 🚜 🚜 🚜 🚜 🚜 (beep beep beep)
So – I have a demolition look?
😏 Yep.
Then let it begin…
“The crowd was listening to everything Jesus said. And because he was nearing Jerusalem, he told them a story to correct the impression that the Kingdom of God would begin right away.”
Luke 19:11 NLT
Jesus then tells them a parable to fix their theology about the future kingdom. It’s about a king who gave money for his servants to invest and then he went away for a long time.
When the king returns, his servants have to stand before him to give an account of what they have done. The successful ones are not rewarded with an all-expenses paid trip to an island paradise or lifetime membership at the golf club. They are rewarded with – a government job.
“‘Well done!’ the king exclaimed. ‘You are a good servant. You have been faithful with the little I entrusted to you, so you will be governor of ten cities as your reward.’”
Luke 19:17 NLT
Granted, we must tread very lightly in drawing any doctrine from parables, but this isn’t the only place where this idea shows up.
“Then I saw thrones, and the people sitting on them had been given the authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony about Jesus and for proclaiming the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his statue, nor accepted his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They all came to life again, and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years.”
Revelation 20:4 NLT (emphasis mine)
In his letter correcting the Corinthian Church for their inability to settle their own disputes, the Apostle Paul drops this bomb:
“When one of you has a dispute with another believer, how dare you file a lawsuit and ask a secular court to decide the matter instead of taking it to other believers! Don’t you realize that someday we believers will judge the world? And since you are going to judge the world, can’t you decide even these little things among yourselves? Don’t you realize that we will judge angels? So you should surely be able to resolve ordinary disputes in this life.”
1 Corinthians 6:1-3 NLT
The judiciary is a government role.
Peter once asked Jesus what reward they would have for having given up everything to follow Him.
“Jesus replied, “I assure you that when the world is made new and the Son of Man sits upon his glorious throne, you who have been my followers will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
Matthew 19:28 NLT
It’s consistent. Reward = kingdom job.
You might argue that Jesus was only referring to the Apostles in the text above. And that may be true in this particular case but the Corinthian believers weren’t the 12 Apostles. Neither are the saints in Revelation 20.
Look at what Jesus promised to the Church of Laodicea:
“Those who are victorious will sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat with my Father on his throne.”
Revelation 3:21 NLT
I don’t think Jesus is saying that millions of Christians will squeeze in to sit on the heavenly throne. His “throne” is represented in all the places of his dominion. David had governors that carried out the dominion of his throne in the far districts beyond the Jordan. In a sense they sat with him on his throne as they carried out his rule on his behalf.
Carrying out dominion on His behalf was ALWAYS God’s purpose for humanity:
“Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”
Genesis 1:28 NLT
The Prophet Isaiah spoke famously of the future kingdom where the wolf and the lion and the lamb are all friends. Just before that verse he describes life like this:
“In those days people will live in the houses they build and eat the fruit of their own vineyards. Unlike the past, invaders will not take their houses and confiscate their vineyards. For my people will live as long as trees, and my chosen ones will have time to enjoy their hard-won gains.”
Isaiah 65:21-22 NLT
Another famous passage in Micah speaks of the future reign of Messiah where swords are remanufactured into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks. Then it says,
“Everyone will live in peace and prosperity, enjoying their own grapevines and fig trees, for there will be nothing to fear. The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has made this promise!”
Micah 4:4 NLT
It is echoed by Zechariah…
“And on that day, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, each of you will invite your neighbor to sit with you peacefully under your own grapevine and fig tree.”
Zechariah 3:10 NLT
I get to build my own house and live in it and tend my own vines and fig trees? Yes please. Sign me up!
Zechariah 14 describes what the reign of Messiah will look like in considerable detail. Pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the Festival of Sukkot (Tabernacles) will be globally mandatory. Any nation that does not come will experience drought and pestilence. The chapter also describes worshipers boiling the meat of their offerings in holy pots. There is clearly infrastructure here. Someone is organizing and administrating all of this.
I put it to you for consideration that the saints of the Most High will be His officials in the Kingdom of Christ on earth. We will reign with Him bearing the authority of His throne. We will exercise dominion over the earth – which will probably need a LOT of rehab after the devastation of the various judgements in Revelation.
I do think that there will be musicians who serve the LORD in Jerusalem. So I suppose the idea of harps in the hereafter is likely accurate. It won’t surprise me one bit if the musicians and singers serve 2, 8-day shifts every year just like God set it up under David. Maybe everyone works in shifts like that. It’s the opposite of now. Most of us get 2 weeks of vacation. Imagine flipping that.
Perhaps you enjoy farming? Or gardening? You’ll have your own grapevines and fig trees and probably much more. Perhaps flocks and herds too. Only – no predators. The wolves will be pets.
I’ve already asked the Lord for a job arranging rocks in creeks so that the water sounds more musical. I wouldn’t mind any job on the beach either. The Lord could assign me to rake the world’s beaches for a thousand years and I think I’d be just fine with that. But I’d also love the job of working in God’s library or perhaps uncovering lost treasures and tablets. And then I can go home and eat my figs or whatever. I don’t think work will feel like work does now. I think it will feel like the “work” we did as children when we would spend 8 hours building a fort. I think it will feel like play.
If you do not currently think about the future in such terms, you need to. It’s a very happy thought. The saints are not spending eternity in a cloud-land with floating golden houses. We are spending eternity with our Lord and He’s coming back to earth. And it’s not for a quick visit then going back to heaven. He’s coming to STAY. To reign.
And I expect that He will hand-pick His government employees, but probably won’t need to cast lots. He knows our strengths and our desires and capabilities. I suspect the reward for faithfulness in this life will be… a Kingdom job. You best get about preparing for it.
But I’ve already called dibs on Creek Management and Beach Raking. 🏝️🌅😉
To The Reader 