Chronicles

Good old 1 and 2 Chronicles: The books of the Old Testament that we all scratch our heads about because it's basically the same as Kings.  So why am I writing about Chronicles, you may ask?  Because it's been my favorite biblical book for a long time.  Let me tell you why.

The Old Testament is biblical master of the blindsiding insight.  You're just reading along, minding your own business, and then suddenly you get hit with a brilliantly profound sentence completely out of nowhere.  You look around for a second, as if to say, "How did that happen?  How could that possibly be in the Old Testament?"  But there it is, in black and white.  It flashes you a self-satisfied smile, pleased to be the master of the scriptural sneak-attack, even after 2500 years.

In my experience, no book does this better than Chronicles.  Maybe this is because we expect nothing from it, and so are more pleasantly surprised when we find anything of significance.  Don't believe me?  Let me give you an example.

In the first few chapters of Chronicles, you're just plowing through on your merry way, absorbing place names and genealogies.  Then you get to chapter 10, and at first it looks like just another war chapter.  Saul dies, his armor-bearer dies, and the Philistines take his body as a trophy.  But then in verses 11 and 12 you get this:

"And when all Jabesh-gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul, they arose, all the valiant men, and took away the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, and brought them to Jabesh, and buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh, and fasted seven days."

Seemingly out of nowhere, Chronicles has given you a remarkably touching scene.  The people of Jabesh-Gilead loved Saul so much that every single man of combat age (the valiant men) decided to pay him one last sign of respect: they rescue the body of their king.  They take him away from the insults of his enemies and bury him in a beautiful setting.  It could be that they call it the oak in Jabesh because everybody would know that oak in Jabesh where Saul was buried.  Perhaps people that walked by would look at the oak in Jabesh, and retain some tenderness for these people that had risked so much to honor the man they missed so dearly.  But why the men of Jabesh Gilead?  Why would they love Saul any more than anyone else?  Saul was from Gibea, not Jabesh, so why such an emotional connection?

In 1 Samuel 11, a small group of Israelites are besieged by the Ammonites.  The Ammonites tell them to surrender on very grisly terms, but the Israelites ask for a short reprieve on the off-chance that somebody will come to rescue them.  They send out messengers to beg for aid, and who should respond but Saul.  Before the week's reprieve has expired, he comes charging out of the hills and saves the small community of Israelites.  The name of the city he saved so valiantly?  Jabesh-Gilead.

This was Saul's first military action of significance, and Saul was probably king for around 20 years, perhaps even 40 years.  Yet the citizens of Jabesh- Giliead never forgot Saul and, decades later, would show him the ultimate sign of respect.  In some ways, the story of Saul begins and ends with the people of Jabesh- Gilead, people with a good memory.

This is the reason I love Chronicles so much.  Little unexpected nuggets like this make it a beautifully poignant book of scripture; delightful islands of surprising spirituality in the midst of the mundane.