In order to fully understand this post, you will want to go back
and read the last post, as its content will be essential to following
the conversation you’ll find in this post.
So, keeping in mind the two different biblical
sources we have for Davidic/Solomonic history, I want to take a look at
how the two sources tell their history and what kinds of conclusions we
can draw by noticing their differences. So first, let’s do a fly-by
summary of what’s seen in the Samuel/Kings account.
SAMUEL/KINGS
After
a seven chapter biography of Saul — his selection, his struggle, and
his rejection — we are introduced to the shepherd boy David in the
chapters that describe his anointing, his service of Saul, and the
defeat of Goliath. Immediately following the Goliath story, Saul begins
to deal with the jealously and ill-will he feels toward David. The remainder
of 1 Samuel (over ten chapters) will outline the long and arduous
pursuit of David by Saul, and the story goes to great lengths to display
David’s humility, morality, and refusal to do anything that would not kiddush haShem.
1 Samuel ends with Saul hopelessly taking his
life and 2 Samuel will begin with David mourning the death of his
enemy. The first nine chapters of 2 Samuel record how David solidifies
his throne in Israel, yet we cannot move past this without making two
points: 1) Everything David does in establishing his throne is completely void of self-indulgence. David’s actions will continue to kiddush haShem, and
we’ll even have over three chapters dedicated to David establishing the
seat of God in Jerusalem, bringing the Ark of the Covenant to rest in
that place, and his subsequent prayers, praise, and celebration. 2) David’s “military approach” is so counter-intuitive, that it continues to throw David’s men off their hinges. David
will continue to mourn the death of his enemies and slay HIS OWN MEN
when they attempt to murder the king’s enemies on their own. The story
reads as a completely wacky tragedy for those trying to learn how to
live in an upside-down kingdom that brings shalom to chaos.
At this point, the story turns to David’s defeat of
the Ammonites and the famous story of his relationship with Bathsheba.
After the story of Bathsheba, David’s life will take a turn for the
worse. His family becomes a heaping pile of dysfunction, his own
children begin raping and killing each other, and Absalom will chase his
father through the kingdom (echoes of Saul?) and David will run from a
son who eventually dies at the hands of his leading general, who will
pay for that protection with his life. David will count his fighting men
— a move that will get him in trouble — and the book of 2 Samuel comes
to an end.
The book of 1 Kings begins with the throne of
Solomon being established and his many building projects. Queen Sheba
visits Solomon in chapter 10, where we are told about Solomon’s
incredible splendor. Now, while there are some possible hints that
things aren’t as great as they appear in the preceding chapters, the
first indication that the author of Kings give us in in the middle of
chapter 10 where we are told that Sheba’s gift (probably a treaty tax of
good faith) weighs 666 talents — a deliberate attempt by the author to
tell us we’ve reached a turning point in the story. In fact, it’s going
to be this long list of treaties that gets Solomon in trouble, as each
treaty is signed by the marriage of Solomon to a daughter of the
opposing king/queen. The very next chapter tells us about Solomon’s 700
wives and how they lead him astray to idolatry; it is at this point
where Solomon’s kingdom falls apart.
So, if we were to step back and ask what the
author is saying about this story, I think we would see a definite
point. The Samuel/Kings agenda is to say that the Kingdom falls because
of immorality. The definite, undeniable turning point in the David story
is his sin with Bathsheba; it’s David’s immorality that leads to his
downfall. In a very similar fashion, it is Solomon’s immorality that
leads to his downfall and the definitive shift in his story, as well.
His wives will lead him into idolatry. From the perspective of the first
source, the problem is clear. These men have a problem holding true to
God’s path (we haven’t mentioned “trusting the story” in a while, but it
certainly fits here).
CHRONICLES
However,
the story of Chronicles tells a completely different story, and it’s
not because the author is trying to save space. Let’s look at the
differences between the two sources.
After a lengthy section of genealogies, the
Chronicler spends his time introducing you to the reign of David. There
is no effort spent in trying to put David’s morality on display, only
his pedigree. There’s no discussion about his exclusion of Saul or how
he goes about his warfare. Even more surprising is the absolute
exclusion of the Bathsheba debacle. The telling of Chronicles is void of
a morality parade. For the author of Chronicles, David’s kingdom
consisted of something other than a high moral ethic and it fell for a
far broader reason than the moral failure of a leader.
Likewise, the story of Solomon is completely void of
the mention of Solomon’s many wives and his subsequent idolatry. What
is so striking about this for me (your experience might be different) is
that throughout my life I have been taught about the moral
(particularly, sexual) failures of these two men, yet another
biblically-inspired author seems to be trying to convince us not to miss
the bigger point.
The author of Samuel/Kings is not incorrect in the
way he tells the story at all. All the observations he makes about the
moral struggle are true and the agenda that drives the story is useful
and compelling for the reader to become a particular kind of individual.
But remember that the Chronicler is trying to write about history with a
sense of hindsight and perspective; I feel as though he is trying to
tell us that we may miss the forest for the trees if we aren’t careful.
To put it another way, there is a story BEHIND the story.
And this post became so long, that I've split it into two parts. Come back on Monday to find wrestle more with the story that may lie behind the history of the Old Testament.
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