The Ruin of the Kingship According to the Flesh: 1 Chronicles 9:35-44 - 10:1-14

From: Meditations on 1 Chronicles By: Henri L. Rossier

1 Chronicles 9‑10 • 3 min. read • grade level: 13

1 Chron. 9:35-10:14³⁵And in Gibeon dwelt the father of Gibeon, Jehiel, whose wife's name was Maachah: ³⁶And his firstborn son Abdon, then Zur, and Kish, and Baal, and Ner, and Nadab, ³⁷And Gedor, and Ahio, and Zechariah, and Mikloth. ³⁸And Mikloth begat Shimeam. And they also dwelt with their brethren at Jerusalem, over against their brethren. ³⁹And Ner begat Kish; and Kish begat Saul; and Saul begat Jonathan, and Malchi-shua, and Abinadab, and Esh-baal. ⁴⁰And the son of Jonathan was Merib-baal: and Merib-baal begat Micah. ⁴¹And the sons of Micah were, Pithon, and Melech, and Tahrea, and Ahaz. ⁴²And Ahaz begat Jarah; and Jarah begat Alemeth, and Azmaveth, and Zimri; and Zimri begat Moza; ⁴³And Moza begat Binea; and Rephaiah his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son. ⁴⁴And Azel had six sons, whose names are these, Azrikam, Bocheru, and Ishmael, and Sheariah, and Obadiah, and Hanan: these were the sons of Azel. ¹Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa. ²And the Philistines followed hard after Saul, and after his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul. ³And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him, and he was wounded of the archers. ⁴Then said Saul to his armorbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and abuse me. But his armorbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. So Saul took a sword, and fell upon it. ⁵And when his armorbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise on the sword, and died. ⁶So Saul died, and his three sons, and all his house died together. ⁷And when all the men of Israel that were in the valley saw that they fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, then they forsook their cities, and fled: and the Philistines came and dwelt in them. ⁸And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his sons fallen in mount Gilboa. ⁹And when they had stripped him, they took his head, and his armor, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to carry tidings unto their idols, and to the people. ¹⁰And they put his armor in the house of their gods, and fastened his head in the temple of Dagon. ¹¹And when all Jabesh-gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul, ¹²They 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. ¹³So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the Lord, even against the word of the Lord, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to inquire of it; ¹⁴And inquired not of the Lord: therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse. (1 Chronicles 9:35‑10:14)

The subject of the genealogies finishes with 1 Chron. 9:34³⁴These chief fathers of the Levites were chief throughout their generations; these dwelt at Jerusalem. (1 Chronicles 9:34). 1 Chron. 9:35-44³⁵And in Gibeon dwelt the father of Gibeon, Jehiel, whose wife's name was Maachah: ³⁶And his firstborn son Abdon, then Zur, and Kish, and Baal, and Ner, and Nadab, ³⁷And Gedor, and Ahio, and Zechariah, and Mikloth. ³⁸And Mikloth begat Shimeam. And they also dwelt with their brethren at Jerusalem, over against their brethren. ³⁹And Ner begat Kish; and Kish begat Saul; and Saul begat Jonathan, and Malchi-shua, and Abinadab, and Esh-baal. ⁴⁰And the son of Jonathan was Merib-baal: and Merib-baal begat Micah. ⁴¹And the sons of Micah were, Pithon, and Melech, and Tahrea, and Ahaz. ⁴²And Ahaz begat Jarah; and Jarah begat Alemeth, and Azmaveth, and Zimri; and Zimri begat Moza; ⁴³And Moza begat Binea; and Rephaiah his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son. ⁴⁴And Azel had six sons, whose names are these, Azrikam, Bocheru, and Ishmael, and Sheariah, and Obadiah, and Hanan: these were the sons of Azel. (1 Chronicles 9:35‑44) again take up the enumeration of Saul's family with a few differences that initiate us into the way in which the genealogies were composed. Thus, in this passage we find the ancestors of Ner back to Gibeon, whereas 1 Chron. 8:33-39³³And Ner begat Kish, and Kish begat Saul, and Saul begat Jonathan, and Malchi-shua, and Abinadab, and Esh-baal. ³⁴And the son of Jonathan was Merib-baal; and Merib-baal begat Micah. ³⁵And the sons of Micah were, Pithon, and Melech, and Tarea, and Ahaz. ³⁶And Ahaz begat Jehoadah; and Jehoadah begat Alemeth, and Azmaveth, and Zimri; and Zimri begat Moza, ³⁷And Moza begat Binea: Rapha was his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son: ³⁸And Azel had six sons, whose names are these, Azrikam, Bocheru, and Ishmael, and Sheariah, and Obadiah, and Hanan. All these were the sons of Azel. ³⁹And the sons of Eshek his brother were, Ulam his firstborn, Jehush the second, and Eliphelet the third. (1 Chronicles 8:33‑39) gives only the descendants of Ner and add to them those of Eshek, the brother of Azel. As ever, the Spirit of God who directed the composition of Chronicles has a particular purpose. In our passage here, it is first a matter of Saul's ancestors who according to their tribe's right dwelt at Jerusalem "beside their brethren" of Judah; then it is a matter of the direct line of descent from this king, avoiding the collateral branches which here have nothing to do with the purpose of this inspired book.

And so we reach 1 Chron. 10 which begins with references to the accounts in the books of Samuel and Kings, but as we have so often said, with the purpose of bringing out the counsels of God concerning Judah's royal line, that royal line from which Christ would descend.

Here an observation must be made. God presents man's ruin from two aspects. On the one hand, He gives us man's history in detail, for it is a matter of proving through specifics the irremediable condition of sinful man, placed under responsibility. Only after He has shown that his condition is without remedy does God pronounce judgment upon him. On this account we are given the detailed historical narratives from Joshua to the end of Kings. In the New Testament, the epistle to the Romans presents an analogous character: man's state without the law and under the law is traced from the Romans 1, until that "O wretched man that I am!" of Romans 7, the final experience of man's desperate state, even that of an awakened man, under the law but responsible before God to keep it.

On the other hand, when God presents the extent of His grace and the working out of His eternal counsels, He sets down at the very onset as being without remedy, man's definite ruin, without mentioning the trial through which He puts him in order to prove this condition to him. Such is the character of the book of Chronicles. The epistle to the Ephesians in the New Testament corresponds to this. Regarding sinful man's state this epistle has these words in Eph. 2:1¹And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; (Ephesians 2:1) as its fundamental principle: "You, being dead in your offenses and sins."

Saul's history as recounted in the Chronicles is a striking example of this truth. After Saul's genealogy, we find only the account of his death, recounted almost word for word (1 Chron. 10:1-12¹Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa. ²And the Philistines followed hard after Saul, and after his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul. ³And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him, and he was wounded of the archers. ⁴Then said Saul to his armorbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and abuse me. But his armorbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. So Saul took a sword, and fell upon it. ⁵And when his armorbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise on the sword, and died. ⁶So Saul died, and his three sons, and all his house died together. ⁷And when all the men of Israel that were in the valley saw that they fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, then they forsook their cities, and fled: and the Philistines came and dwelt in them. ⁸And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his sons fallen in mount Gilboa. ⁹And when they had stripped him, they took his head, and his armor, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to carry tidings unto their idols, and to the people. ¹⁰And they put his armor in the house of their gods, and fastened his head in the temple of Dagon. ¹¹And when all Jabesh-gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul, ¹²They 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. (1 Chronicles 10:1‑12)) from 1 Sam. 31. But the Spirit of God adds a very remarkable supplementary passage in 1 Chron. 10:13-14¹³So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the Lord, even against the word of the Lord, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to inquire of it; ¹⁴And inquired not of the Lord: therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse. (1 Chronicles 10:13‑14): "And Saul died for his unfaithfulness which he committed against Jehovah, because of the word of Jehovah which he kept not, and also for having inquired of the spirit of Python, asking counsel of it; and he asked not counsel of Jehovah; therefore He slew him." In this passage God explains the reason for His final judgment upon Saul, the same as that upon every sinful man: disobedience and departure from God. And remarkably, these are the very words we find again in Eph. 2, the chapter that proclaims the sinner's condition of death: "sons of disobedience" and "without God in the world" (Eph. 2:2,12²Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: (Ephesians 2:2)
¹²That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: (Ephesians 2:12)).

God had given Saul to Israel in the flesh according to their request, and this kingship could only end in complete failure. Henceforth God would act in accordance with the counsels of His sovereign grace: He "transferred the kingdom to David the son of Jesse" (1 Chron. 10:14¹⁴And inquired not of the Lord: therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse. (1 Chronicles 10:14)).

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