I Chronicles 12-15
Today we may begin to appreciate a bit better the added value that Chronicles brings to Israel’s historical narrative. In II Samuel, we have only a few verses about David becoming king of all Israel, II Samuel 5:1-3, which is largely echoed in I Ch. 11:1-3. Today we get more detail. We see that it is not just some elders and chiefs who agree to make David king. In fact, thousands upon thousands of warriors, from each tribe of Israel, come to David in Hebron to turn the kingdom of Saul over to him, according to the word of the LORD. (I Ch. 12:23) This is a good deal more than a bunch of politically connected leaders all shaking hands in a back room. This is a grand display of national unity in the coronation of King David. (I Ch. 12:23-40) Of course, we should also note that in Chronicles there is a very deliberate complete omission of all the strife leading up to that coronation…
Now let’s take a look at the next issue: bringing the Ark to Jerusalem — in two phases. We have this story in II Samuel 6 and here in I Ch. 13,15. In both accounts, the core of the story is the same. We see that David desires to bring the Ark to Jerusalem, but the first attempt — by ox cart — fails when Uzzah reaches out to steady the Ark and the LORD “breaks out” upon Uzzah, killing him. The Ark spends a few months in the house of Obed-edom, and then they again try to bring the Ark to Jerusalem, this time successfully.
But the Chronicles account gives us more insight, explaining what the Samuel account leaves unexplained:
Then David said that no one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, for the LORD had chosen them to carry the ark of the LORD and to minister to him forever. … Then David summoned the priests … and the Levites … and said to them, “You are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites. Consecrate yourselves, you and your brothers, so that you may bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel, to the place that I have prepared for it. Because you did not carry it the first time, the LORD our God broke out against us, because we did not seek him according to the rule.” So the priests and the Levites consecrated themselves to bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel. And the Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles, as Moses had commanded according to the word of the LORD.
I Chronicles 15:2,11-15
So the second attempt succeeds where the first attempt failed, because this time they do it the right way, with Levites carrying the Ark on their shoulders rather than transporting it on an ox cart. (By way of refresher, see the February 10 post.) Chronicles thus gives us a fuller view than we would have had with just the Samuel account. And in this fuller view, there is a lesson for us: Good intentions are not enough; the way we do things matters, too.
We may have some really excellent goal in mind. We may even be called by God to accomplish that goal. But that does not mean that we are free to ignore the Lord in how we accomplish that goal. If God gives us any direction on the proper way to do things, we need to pay attention. That applies not only to worship and ritual, but to everyday life. We are called to honor the Lord in everything we do — both in what we do and in how we do it.