shema<\/em>), v. 2a<\/p>\nB. In my heart to build, v. 2b<\/p>\n
C. God said, You shall not build, v. 3<\/p>\n
D. Yahweh chose David and Solomon, vv. 4\u20135<\/p>\n
C\u2019. Solomon will build, v. 6<\/p>\n
B\u2019. Solomon\u2019s kingdom established, v. 7<\/p>\n
A\u2019. Guard and seek God\u2019s commandments, v. 8<\/p>\n
The Torah-frame is notable: David begins with a Deuternomy 6-ish \u201cHear, brethren and people\u201d and ends with an exhortation to keep the Lord\u2019s commandments in order to retain the land. That sets the context for David\u2019s talk about temple-building. A successful temple project doesn\u2019t depend on mere skill (\u201cwise\u201d men, men of chochmah<\/em>, v. 21). It will succeed if the leaders of Israel \u201clisten\u201d and \u201cguard and seek\u201d God\u2019s commandments. <\/p>\nIn 1 Chronicles 17, Yahweh prohibits David from building a house for Yahweh because Yahweh is building a house for David. In chapter 28 (as in 1 Chronicles 22), the issue is David\u2019s life of war and bloodshed. Though his wars were legitimate and just, they disqualify him from building a \u201chouse of rest\u201d (v. 2). The sharp distinction between wartime and peacetime kingship is remarkable, especially as David\u2019s exhortations to Solomon have a military ring to them (\u201cbe courageous and act,\u201d 28:9; \u201cbe strong and courageous, and act,\u201d 28:20). There is a time for war and a time for peace; there is also a king for war and a king for peace, a king who breaks and a king who builds. Peacetime politics is not<\/em> war carried on by other means. <\/p>\nThough the practical issue of the speech has to do with building the temple, David\u2019s speech is centrally about election\u2014Yahweh\u2019s choice of David and Solomon. The election is multilayered, both communal and individual. In the background is the Deuteronomic truth that Yahweh chose Israel; in choosing a king, Yahweh is choosing an Israel-in-flesh. David explicitly names four levels of election: God chose Judah from among the tribes; Jesse\u2019s house within Judah; David from among his brothers; Solomon from among David\u2019s sons (vv. 4\u20136; bachar<\/em> 4x). God chooses a nation, a tribe, a family, and within that family, individuals. <\/p>\nDavid varies the language at the end of verse 4. The electing God \u201ctook pleasure\u201d (ratzah<\/em>) in David from among the sons of Jesse. Among other things, it\u2019s a sacrificial term for the \u201cacceptance\u201d of an offering that meets the requirements of wholeness (Leviticus 1:4; 7:18; 22:23, 25). That sacrificial motif plays underneath David\u2019s speech. Saul was chosen by lots, in a similar multilayered, telescoping process: Benjamin is taken, Kish\u2019s house is taken, Saul is taken (1 Samuel 10:20\u201321). And we can hardly read about Saul\u2019s selection without thinking of Achan, who is revealed as the cause of Israel\u2019s defeat at Ai by a similar process of lot-casting (Joshua 7:16\u201318). Saul is designated as king, and Achan unveiled as a criminal, by the same process that determines the scapegoat on the Day of Atonement. Both Saul and Achan are \u201csacrificial,\u201d though different ways. (Saul\u2019s death is a scapegoat death that clears the land and makes way for renewal.) David too is a choice sacrifice.<\/p>\nSaul is selected by lot, but there is no mention of an extension of Yahweh\u2019s choice beyond Saul. Yahweh\u2019s choice of David, though, doesn\u2019t terminate with David. David is chosen from his father\u2019s sons, and then Solomon is further chosen from among David\u2019s sons. At the very least, this means that David\u2019s line has a future that Saul\u2019s did not. Yahweh\u2019s choice of David is an inter-generational election. David is chosen as father of a chosen son.<\/p>\n
Yahweh\u2019s choice of both David and Solomon is an election to privilege. David is chosen \u201cto be king over Israel\u201d (v. 4). Solomon appears to have an even higher status, chosen to \u201csit on the throne of the kingdom of Yahweh over Israel\u201d (v. 5). As man of peace and royal builder, Solomon is a \u201csacrament\u201d (William Johnstone) of Yahweh\u2019s kingship in a more overt way even than David. He shares Yahweh\u2019s throne because He is chosen as Yahweh\u2019s son (v. 6). Sonship is everywhere in the passage (ben<\/em> is used 17x in chapters 28\u201329; 7x in David\u2019s opening speech alone). David repeatedly refers to Jesse\u2019s sons and his own: \u201camong the sons of my father . . . of all my sons . . . many sons . . . chosen my son Solomon . . . Your son Solomon\u201d (vv. 4\u20136a). Then BOOM: In the sixth use of \u201cson\u201d in the speech, Yahweh breaks in to claim David\u2019s son as his own: \u201cYour son Solomon . . . I have chosen to be a son to Me.\u201d<\/p>\nA chosen son is a privileged son who sits on Daddy\u2019s throne. A chosen son is also a son with a task. Yahweh ben<\/em> is the one who will banah<\/em> a house for his Father. That is what sons do; indeed, that\u2019s what sons are<\/em>. A man is a father only if he has children, so his sons and daughters are the house-builders for the father. Sons can, of course, make a muck of it. A foolish son destroys his father\u2019s house, legacy, wealth, and reputation. But a wise son builds and is a house for his father. Now, go thou and allegorize.<\/p>\nBarthians have already anticipated the denouement. Yahweh elects David and Solomon, and so determines their<\/em> status, task, and future. Yahweh\u2019s election of David, and especially of Solomon, is also a self<\/em>-determination. Once He has chosen David\u2014freely, out of His delight in David\u2014He is determined as God of David. More intimately, He determines Himself as Father by His choice of Solomon as His son. Yahweh\u2019s election is determinative for Israel and the nations. Yahweh\u2019s election is likewise determinative for Yahweh. Once He elects, He cannot abandon Israel or David without denying Himself, something He cannot<\/em> do.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At the end of 1 Chronicles, David delivers a series of speeches to the qahal (assembly) of Israel, the officers and princes of his court and bureaucracy (on 1 Chronicles 28\u201329 generally, see here). The qahal consists of the \u201cprinces\u201d (sar is used 6x) and warriors (gibborim). The speech is structured chiastically: A. Hear (shema), […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3021,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,136],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-ot-chronicles","category-election"],"yoast_head":"\n
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