These were the descendants of Ehud, who were heads of families of those living in Geba and were deported to Manahath: - 1 Chronicles 8:6

Today's Scripture Reading (June 29, 2025): 1 Chronicles 8

Israel. The name alone is enough to evoke conflicting views on the Middle East situation. Its people are fiercely independent and self-aware. In an ocean of Arab States, Israel seems to exist on its own little island, set apart and different from all their neighbors. The nation itself was reformed in 1948, following an almost 1,900-year absence from the world stage. (Israel ceased to exist in the early 70's C.E. as the Roman Empire decimated the nation and pulled down her walls and temple). However, the Second World War revealed that, as a planet, we had a problem. The Jews were a people without a homeland, and they were under attack. They needed a place to call home, and their ancestral land beckoned. Israel was not replanted easily. The opening moments of the new nation meant that she was immediately embroiled in a new war against neighbors who wished that she didn't exist. But for those first inhabitants of the land in 1948, any fight seemed worth the attempt to finally have a place where the Jews could once again call their own.

I am not sure that Israel has ever been a safe place. She has developed some positive ties with some of her neighboring countries, but there are still many in the area who wish that Israel would cease to exist. But for this moment in time, at least Israel's people have a place to stand and a place to claim as theirs. Israel is part of the area of the world that is known as The Levant, a term that has inserted itself into our culture with the growing presence of the rebel states, which also call this part of the world theirs. However, for now, Israel still has a place to exist, if not a place to be in relative safety.

This passage in 1 Chronicles is a troublesome one, and there is a high probability that the passage has suffered from at least some kind of corruption. At the very least, we see the story of the deportation of some of the tribe of Benjamin from their native lands to Manasseh, a town within the tribe of Judah. Judah and Benjamin shared a border, but more than that, the two tribes shared a future. After the death of Solomon, Israel would be divided into two nations, Israel in the north and Judah in the south. While the northern nation would comprise the vast majority of the tribes of Israel, the southern nation would consist of only two tribes: Judah and Benjamin. The story we have in the books of Chronicles is aimed at those two tribes who chose to stand together. This story of the deportation of the descendants of Ehud forms one of the early interconnections between the two tribes.

What we don't know is why this portion of the tribe of Benjamin was deported into the territory of Judah. However, the likely result was that within Judah, this portion of the tribe of Benjamin found a haven to thrive and grow. They would help Judah tame the land, and in return, they would be kept safe from all who wished to cause them harm. It was the beginning of what would become a lasting friendship, culminating in the two major forces that would shape the Christian Church: Jesus the Messiah, a descendant of the tribe of Judah, and Paul the Apostle, a descendant of the tribe of Benjamin.  

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Chronicles 9

Originally Published on February 28, 2016