1 CHRONICLES 29 (NOTES OF A READING)
1 CHRONICLES 29 (NOTES OF A READING)
CAC What we see at the end of this book is the completion of the service of David, David being specially presented to us, as we know, as the one after God’s heart and who should do His will. I was thinking of Acts 13: 22: “And having removed him he raised up to them David for king, of whom also bearing witness he said, I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, who shall do all my will”. That is not a precise quotation from Old Testament Scripture, but it is a spiritual summing up of the great service of David, which is reached at the end of 1 Chronicles. It is in these closing chapters that David is seen as a man after God’s heart who does all His will: that is, we see everything secured Godward. There is the pattern of the house, and the material for its construction, and the bringing of all the spiritual elements in Israel into line, and then this wonderful utterance of worship to God, perhaps the most remarkable in the Old Testament, ascribing all to God and attributing all to Him; that is, the whole will of God is seen as completed.
Ques Does John 17 at all fit in with this? “I have completed the work which thou gavest me that I should do it” (verse 4), and “All things that thou has given me are of thee” (verse 7).
CAC I think that answers precisely to this chapter. The work is viewed as completed, so that all that was completed by David can be, so to speak, passed over to Solomon; the will of God is done in a patriarchal way by David.
Ques What is the special importance of that?
CAC David is referred to in that way as the patriarch David. He would bring in in a patriarchal way what would be passed on to his son.
Rem I have not quite got the idea yet.
CAC This is the setting of the type, David brings the will of God to completion, but he has to pass it over to his son, has he not? The palace was to be built by his son. The thought is that the palace is the beautiful edifice in which all that David has brought in should be enshrined and preserved. It was Solomon’s work to do it; David’s part was a patriarchal part.
Ques Perhaps you would explain what the force of patriarchal is?
CAC The thought is a chief father, one who can transmit things to his children. In the type all would be handed over to Solomon, so that to learn the blessedness of Christ as David is preparatory to our learning His blessedness as Solomon, but we must not confound the two.
Rem So that David speaks of “Jehovah, God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers” (verse 18).
CAC Yes, the thought is seen in them, and especially in the twelve patriarchs. It is the thought of something coming down from the father to the son. We have to transfer the thought to its present setting, and see how all that is completed is passed over to one who is in the relationship of son; and the palace and all enshrined in it is to be built by the son.
Rem It would open up Hebrews, Christ as Son over God’s house.
CAC Yes, it opens up the whole truth of the present position.
Rem What He gathers up in affection, now He transmits to the family circle.
CAC Yes, all is transferred into the hand of Solomon.
Rem And there is David’s request that the people should have it for ever “in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart”, in the dignity of it (verse 18).
CAC Yes, and all that Christ has accomplished in doing the will of God covers all that He was in incarnation and death and resurrection; all is covered by this David character. We all agree to that, but that is not Solomon. Now we must understand that first, otherwise there will be no palace. There is to be a palace now in which every precious thought brought in and made a reality by Christ as David is to be enshrined as a dignified structure which the saints are. But we do not come into that in any practical sense until we can distinguish between David and Solomon.
Rem The palace began to be built when Christ was in resurrection.
CAC It is not connected with David having done the will of God at all, but with Solomon.
Rem In Matthew 16 the building comes after Peter’s confession of the Son of God.
CAC Building is by the Son; it is not a patriarchal thought. We must bear in mind as intelligent persons that for us David and Solomon are seen in one Person. It is not that we derogate glory from Christ by distinguishing His glories, but we enhance them. There is a thought of Christ as Solomon now; He says, “glorify thy Son” (John 17: 1). What He has in mind is something different from the completed work (verse 4) (”I have completed the work ...” ), and that is the Solomon character, and in that character He builds the palace. God’s will covers the divine pleasure. Now, He says, ‘I want a palace in which to put it all’. It is passed on to the Son; it is the Son who is glorified.
Rem Paul’s ministry is on this line.
CAC I think the apostle Paul is precisely the one who brought in Christ as Solomon. Paul’s ministry is how the palace is built. His ministry of the glad tidings and the mystery is precisely how the palace was built. But there was something greater than his ministry — what he saw. He saw Solomon, as it were, in his glory, which is a greater thing. And that is what He wants us to see now. The Son of God glorified — that is Solomon; and everything is in His hand, in the hand of the glorified Christ, so that He can build a palace down here on the earth to enshrine and preserve these precious things until He comes again. The Solomon character includes the David character. What marvellous elevation it would give to our thoughts, and God would fill us with a sense of glory of Christ as the Son; He glorified Him in sonship.
Ques Why is Solomon sitting on the throne of Jehovah as king (verse 23)?
CAC He is exercising divine administration, but it is all in view of the palace being built.
Rem Psalm 45 tells of the king.
CAC Psalm 45 is David really, because it speaks of David dealing with his enemies. These great thoughts of God are intended to affect us in every position in which we are found. A clear view of Christ as Son would affect us at every point, and Paul’s ministry would put us together as the palace. We do not know much about it.
Ques Are we not too general in our thoughts as to the glories of Christ?
CAC I think that we should remember that the Bible is a most analytical book; God has been pleased, and I believe I say it in all reverence, to take Christ to pieces that we might consider each particular detail by itself; the types do this for us, bringing them within our compass.
Rem “The Father loves the Son, and has given all things to be in his hand” (John 3: 35).
CAC That is clearly Solomon. What Christ does for God is David, and what God does for Christ is Solomon; it is quite easy to apprehend. Christ has met and overturned all power and dominion; He has cleared the ground and brought in all for God in His own excellence. “I have glorified thee on the earth, I have completed the work which thou gavest me that I should do it” (John 17:4). Can anything be added to that? It stands in all its grandeur for eternity. ‘I have done all this for Thee, now glorify Thy Son’. Now that is Solomon. In the language of the type it is the building of the palace, because what the Lord does with the saints glorifies the Father.
Ques Is it a greater thing here than the displayed glory in 2 Chronicles?
CAC It is a wonderful climax, this chapter. I think it is greater because here you get the comprehensiveness of the divine thought. In David and Solomon put together you get the complete thought. It is connected with Paul’s ministry because you get David and Solomon together.
Ques Why is David telling the congregation to “Bless ... Jehovah ...” (verse 20).
CAC The spiritual thought is that they have all reached what David reached, under his headship. He extends it to his brethren; and, of course, the blessed Lord calls all the congregation to share with Him. The whole will of God is brought in and established and He can praise God in the light of it, but then He brings the brethren into it. God is seen as the source, He is Head over all. This chapter makes prominent the headship of God; all is traced back to the Father. The Lord extends the results of all He has done to the brethren.
Ques Is there a point to be reached beyond utterance?
CAC I think that is so. It is a wonderful climax reached. There is no such thing as silent praise, but there may be silent worship. You might get in a meeting like this a worshipful spirit without any utterance; the sense of the greatness of God and of what Christ has accomplished for God, and of what God has done with Christ, might make every heart vibrate with worship without any word being uttered.
Ques Is it illustrated in Corinthians?
CAC The principle is there really; of course, what is seen here is the greatness of the glories of Solomon.
“Jehovah magnified Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel, and bestowed upon him royal majesty such as had not been on any king before him in Israel” (verse 25). That is, it is the transcendent glory of Christ. What is in view here is the great result for God and that this glorious Person is great enough to build the palace. God would fill us with the glory of Christ as Solomon.
Ques Why was Solomon made king the second time?
(verse 22).
CAC To show us that the people have come to it. God made him king the first time and now the people do it. There is a great advance in the situation.
Ques. How does this work?
CAC I think that God brings about by spiritual instruction and illustration an exceedingly great estimate of Christ in the hearts of His saints, and He gives us to see that all was the result of His becoming man.
It is all gathered up in Christ now as the Son. Christians generally have very little idea of Christ as Solomon.
It works, going on with some of us fifty or sixty years, the Spirit of God and the servants of God always toiling with us. What are they labouring for? What is it all intended to do if not to make Christ great in our affections? All that God has done for us and in us, and all ministry, is to enhance Christ to us; we see Him in His surpassing excellence and it is transcendent. As to anyone who has seen the transcendent glory of Christ, do you think he would care a straw for this world? He would not look at it! He would not care whether he was rich or poor or high or low, when once the greatness of Christ personally had come before him; for here He is anointed to be prince which is what He is personally, not officially. Was He not magnified when He shone as light “above the brightness of the sun” on Saul of Tarsus? Saul then had not eyes for anything else.
Rem The keepers of the vineyard were to bring Solomon a thousand silver pieces (Song of Songs 8: 11).
CAC He had five times as much as they. You think five times more of Christ than of any of His servants.
Ques “Behold king Solomon With the crown wherewith his mother crowned him In the day of his espousals” (Song of Songs 3: 11). What would the crown there represent?
CAC It is very beautiful as bringing in the thought of what the assembly does for Him. The assembly loves to enhance Him. It is a feminine company which makes the Song of Songs one of the most interesting books, because it develops the feminine affection. The assembly loves to crown Him in the day of His espousals. Israel will rejoice in it, but we see it before Israel; Israel will enter into the joy that He has in the day of His espousals. It is not developed in the thought of Solomon, though you do get the gentile bride brought in.
This is the real spring of everything: there could be no palace apart from this. That a palace is not the thought of approach is important to see.
Rem They were eating and drinking before Jehovah with great joy (verse 22).
CAC You see the happy condition of things, and I trust we know something of it in assembly and privately, the happiness of seeing the cumulative glory of Christ as Son.
Rem The priest comes in here.
CAC I think it is a beautiful hint of provision being made for priestly service, not only the administrative side in the son as king, but a consideration for the pleasure of God; it goes on with sonship. “And all Israel obeyed him. And all the princes, and the mighty men, and all the sons likewise of king David, submitted themselves to Solomon the king” (verses 23, 24). Are we really brought into obedience to Christ as glorified? Paul said he was “not disobedient to the heavenly vision” (Acts 26: 19). They all come into it, into obedience to Solomon. You cannot see Solomon without submission. “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” (Acts 9: 6 A.V). Paul was reduced to absolute submission in the twinkling of an eye!
David completes his reign “full of days” (verse 28), and we see in the closing verses how the Spirit of God loves to dwell upon it.
Ques What were “the times that passed over him” (verse 30)?
CAC Those wonderful times that brought him to complete everything that was in the will of God.
Rem It says that David reigned forty years over Israel (verse 27).
CAC I think it reminds us that Christ does not get His full place with us all at once. There was a particular investiture of David at Hebron, but it was some years before he got his full place. So with us, Christ gets a partial recognition of what is due to Him, but this book contemplates the complete thought, so that David gets his complete place and transfers it to Solomon.