Today’s Scripture Reading (April 3,
2019): 1 Chronicles 6
There are stages to life and how we are known. We start off being
the child, or grandchild, of someone else. I have to admit that, as a kid, it
was sometimes exciting, and occasionally
annoying, being known as the child of
someone. I feel fortunate that I have a number of well-behaved ancestors. There was
never a time when I felt any shame being the child of Duane and Shirley, or the
grandchild of DeVerne and Fanny, or Murray and Aura. My aunts and uncle are
also reasonably well-behaved. And I was
mostly okay being defined as their relative
unless, of course, it was I who did
something wrong. The next stage of life doesn’t seem to last very long. In this
stage, you are known for your own actions and accomplishments. In this stage,
all of those relatives that once you were
defined as being related to them, now they become identified as being related to you. Maybe we wish that this stage lasted longer, but it
doesn’t. Soon it gives way to the stage
of life where you begin to be known as someone’s parent or grandparent. In all
honesty, I don’t overly mind this stage either. I am proud to be dad and
grandpa to the next generation.
During the reign of Solomon, as the time of the Tabernacle gave
way to the days of the first Temple in Jerusalem, there were some extraordinary people. One of them was Heman.
Heman was a singer, maybe the George Beverly Shea of his generation. (If you
aren’t sure who George Beverly Shea was, I invite you to look him up, as well
as his connection with Billy Graham for that generation.) Heman sang for all of the important ceremonies of his day. He was Heman, the musician, a man
well-known in his time.
But what amazes me is his family line. Or more precisely, what
amazes me is the lack of comment in his family line. In other places in Ezra’s
writings, Ezra makes comments placing people in their proper position in history. But with Heman, that
doesn’t happen. Maybe it is simply
assumed that we will know. Heman is the son of Joel, the son of Samuel. Or, perhaps we could rephrase this as Heman was the
grandson of Samuel. If you are wondering,
yes, that Samuel. The Samuel who crowned Saul King, and anointed David as the
King who would replace him. The Samuel who lived with Eli, the High Priest and who became the last Judge
of Israel. The Samuel who shaped a nation.
Except, here, he is Samuel, the son of Elkanah. Or, more
importantly, here the last Judge of Israel is known and defines as being merely the grandfather of Heman, the singer.
Tomorrow’s
Scripture Reading: 1 Chronicles 7
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