Making sense of a life story...

David's Children

(1 Chronicles 3:1-9, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, June 4, 2017)

[1] These are the sons of David who were born to him in Hebron: the firstborn, Amnon, by Ahinoam the Jezreelite; the second, Daniel, by Abigail the Carmelite, [2] the third, Absalom, whose mother was Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur; the fourth, Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith; [3] the fifth, Shephatiah, by Abital; the sixth, Ithream, by his wife Eglah; [4] six were born to him in Hebron, where he reigned for seven years and six months. And he reigned thirty-three years in Jerusalem. [5] These were born to him in Jerusalem: Shimea, Shobab, Nathan and Solomon, four by Bath-shua, the daughter of Ammiel; [6] then Ibhar, Elishama, Eliphelet, [7] Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, [8] Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet, nine. [9] All these were David's sons, besides the sons of the concubines, and Tamar was their sister.

Sons born in Hebron

David's pathway to the kingdom was most unusual. You can think of in terms of places and people as the Chronicler does here, focusing on wives and children associated with two locations, Hebron (currently a significant city in the West Bank) and Jerusalem.

For the fuller picture on the story and meaning of David's life you might begin with Bethlehem, then Saul's royal orbit, then on the run, Ziklag, Hebron, and Jerusalem. The Hebron period began by explicit divine direction after the death of Saul and Jonathon (see 2 Samuel 2:1, 5:1-5).

The first son mentioned in Hebron is Amnon, who will forever be associated with the last name in our passage, his sister Tamar, and also with his younger brother, Absalom, who murdered him in retaliation for Amnon's horrific actions against Tamar. Absalom eventually led a full-blown insurrection against his father. While we would not normally mention David's low-points from 1 Chronicles, it is hard to avoid the idea that the Chronicler is at least drawing our attention to such matters by beginning his list of David's children with Amnon and ending with Tamar.

One more name from the seven and a half years in Hebron during David's thirties should be mentioned—Adonijah, who made himself a rival against Solomon and eventually lost his life. All of this rebellion, murder, rape, and rivalry did not happen in Hebron. David was only there when his children were very little. Like the rest of mankind, David could not have known what would happen in the next 33 years of his life unless God told him, which he did not.

Sons born in Jerusalem

David's sons born in Hebron were older than his sons born in Jerusalem. By the natural order that the world normally thinks about but doesn't really follow, Amnon, Absolom, and Adonijah were more likely candidates than young Solomon to be the second king in the line of David. God had a different plan.

David was anointed as king by his own tribe, Judah, in Hebron. At the end of that seven years and after a difficult power struggle with the remnants of the house of Saul, David was recognized officially by all of the tribes of Israel as the Lord's chosen monarch over the entire nation. He also took Jerusalem, which had long resisted God's conquest.

In Jerusalem he had more children. Two were very important to the future of the line that would lead to the Messiah: Solomon (note Matthew's genealogy that leads to Jesus, probably through Joseph) and Nathan (see Luke's genealogy that fills out the story that brings us our Savior, most likely as seen through Mary's ancestors). Both Solomon and Nathan were the children of David and Bathsheba, called here Bathshua.

Tamar was their sister

It is worth our while to briefly reflect on David's daughter, Tamar, one more time. She surely was not the only daughter of David (see 2 Samuel 13:18). Yet she alone is listed here. Together with the troubling facts known to everyone who knew basic Israelite history, we cannot escape from the truth that what must have seemed idyllic back in Hebron when all the kids were under the age of eight, certainly took a heart-breaking turn in the direction of depravity and tragedy.

The family relationships that these names represent were far from perfect in those Jerusalem years. And yet this was God's man, chosen to start a dynasty that led to the Redeemer of God's elect through both a biological mother, a descendant of David's son Nathan, and her husband, though not the biological father, a descendant of David's son Solomon.

Those in their thirties may finding themselves thinking about their lives. We can all do no better than to trust in Jesus to take us through the decades that remain in our lives and to knit together every year with powerful opportunities to obey Him. Through His apostle, Paul, a single man who also had his own life story, God has assured us that our labor in the Lord is not in vain.

The family of Jesus in the New Jerusalem

All that background of David's complicated family brings us to a much better king with a much more satisfying end. If we were to list the places of His life we would have to include at least these: Bethlehem, Nazareth, and Jerusalem. Unlike David, He never made it out of

His thirties. He never married, and He did not have any natural children.

Of course, no one could name all of His Father's adopted children! Not one of them could have been included in God's household had it not been for what Jesus did for them in Galilee and in Jerusalem, living a life of unparalleled obedience and then dying on the cross for their sins. We should also add to His list of places an empty tomb, the present heavens, and the New Jerusalem that will one day come upon the earth. His story is now ours through faith. Is this your story?

All kinds of people with every manner of sin have found forgiveness and life in His Name. In Him they have a future and a purpose that help people in their thirties, sixties, nineties—and every decade from a prenatal heartbeat to the long goodbye of dementia. Perspective... Prayer...

Though David's family life was extremely troubled, he was greatly blessed by God, and was able to take Jerusalem and establish it as the holy city of the Old Testament, especially through the work of his son Solomon. Far greater than the family of David is the household of his descendant, Jesus, who has made a way for us to reign with Him in His New Jerusalem.

Old Testament Reading—Psalm 17 – When I Awake

Gospel Reading—Matthew 7:21-23 – [21] Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. [22] On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ [23] And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’