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record of Saul's death as given in I Sam. 31:, and compare it with I Chron. 10: The
reader will notice minor differences in the two records, but none of these would seem to
justify the time and space of re-writing. At I Chron. 10: 13, 14, however, we find a
definite addition, the Divine comment upon the factual history recorded in I Sam. 31::
"So Saul died for his trespass which he committed against the Lord, because of the
word of the Lord, which he kept not; and also, for that he asked counsel of one that had a
familiar spirit, to enquire thereby, and enquired not of the Lord: therefore He slew him,
and turned the Kingdom unto David the son of Jesse" (I Chron. 10: 13, 14).
The books of Samuel and I & II Kings view history from the human standpoint,
whereas the same events are shown in I & II Chronicles as they appear from the Divine
standpoint.
"In the former books we have three chapters (or 88 verses) given to the secular events
of Hezekiah's reign (II Kings 18:, 19:, 20:), and only three verses (II Kings 18: 4-6)
given to his great religious reformation. In Chronicles this is exactly reversed. Three
chapters (or 84 verse) are devoted to his reformation (II Chron. 29:, 30:, 31:), while
one chapter (or 32 verses) suffices for the secular events of his reign" (Appendix 56,
Companion Bible).
Here, then, is material to our hand. All we need is diligence, patience, the gift of some
key-thought, and the record will unfold itself. For this we prayed, and waited, and at
length we were led to discover that Israel's history is to be understood dispensationally in
the light of their attitude to the house of God. We noted down every king that had
anything to do with the Temple, either for good or ill, and to our amazement the notes
took shape until we were able to perceive, however dimly, the onward movement of
something greater than human action or design. The record is written round the lives of
sixteen kings, of which three were Gentiles: Shishak, king of Egypt; Nebuchadnezzar,
king of Babylon; and Cyrus, king of Persia. This leaves the number of Israel's kings
as 13, an ominous number associate with rebellion (Gen. 14: 4), fleshly failure
(Gen. 17: 25), self (I Kings 7: 1), and Satan (Rev. 12: 9). The thirteenth king of
Judah was Ahaz, who was, as we shall see, a type of Antichrist.
Before we can go further it will be necessary for us to acquaint ourselves with the way
in which Chronicles associates the history of Israel with the house of God. This can be
done by each reader for himself by patiently reading through the record and noting each
occurrence. The following is the structure obtained.