One of my favorite movies is “The Jerk,” starring Steve Martin.  In a scene played with the utmost sincerity, Navin R. Johnson finds his name in the phone book, and rejoices with his realization that he is somebody.  He remarks “Millions of people look at this book everyday…I’m in print…Things are going to start happening to me.”

I couldn’t help but to recall that scene as I read chapters in the Old Testament from I Chronicles, chapters 1 through 8.  Here we see in a very organized list the sons of sons of sons…page after page after page…take a look at one such list…from Chapter 6

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 ¹ The sons of Levi:

Gershon, Kohath and Merari.

² The sons of Kohath:

Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel.

³ The children of Amram:

Aaron, Moses and Miriam.

The sons of Aaron:

Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

⁴ Eleazar was the father of Phinehas,

Phinehas the father of Abishua,

⁵ Abishua the father of Bukki,

Bukki the father of Uzzi,

⁶ Uzzi the father of Zerahiah,

Zerahiah the father of Meraioth,

⁷ Meraioth the father of Amariah,

Amariah the father of Ahitub,

⁸ Ahitub the father of Zadok,

Zadok the father of Ahimaaz,

⁹ Ahimaaz the father of Azariah,

Azariah the father of Johanan,

¹⁰ Johanan the father of Azariah (it was he who served as priest in the temple Solomon built in Jerusalem),

¹¹ Azariah the father of Amariah,

Amariah the father of Ahitub,

¹² Ahitub the father of Zadok,

Zadok the father of Shallum,

¹³ Shallum the father of Hilkiah,

Hilkiah the father of Azariah,

¹⁴ Azariah the father of Seraiah,

and Seraiah the father of Jozadak.

¹⁵ Jozadak was deported when the Lord sent Judah and Jerusalem into exile by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar.

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Can you imagine how it would feel to have your father’s name, followed by your name, followed by your son’s name, in the holy books of the nation of Israel?  These scrolls would be carefully stored, brought out on special days, and read to an assembly.  These scrolls would be memorized by the priests, as part of their training for the priesthood, and recited verbatim.  Your family name would be forever spoken!  In the first fifteen verses, we see 27 generations of men carefully recounted.  That’s over 500 years of history, in only fifteen verses.

In following books in the Old Testament, we see additional lists of names.  Looking ahead, in the book of Ezra, chapter 10, verse 18, we see a name listed there “Joshua son of Jozadak,”  Jozadak!  He received special mention in 1 Chronicles 6:15 as one of the men exiled to Babylon.   The exile to Babylon was a terrible experience for the nation of Israel, and the exile was in fact a judgment from God against the sins of the entire nation.  In Ezra, we read of the return of the Israelites to their land, and the reading of the Book Of The Law to the assembled people.  In response to the reading, the people repented of sin, and endeavored to live according to the commands of God.  Joshua son of Jozadak made what had to be a difficult decision to divorce his wife from another nation.

Think of the pain it would be, to divorce your spouse recognizing how vital it is to obey God’s commands.  But, we have to remember this special time of restoration and the chosen role of Levi and his descendants.  Levi and his sons served God as priests, bringing God’s Holy Word to the nation, leading the festivals, and performing all the acts of sacrificial worship on behalf of the people.  Levi and his sons were forever to serve God, to be holy, and to represent the nation before God.  In one very solemn annual event, the Levites were to ceremonially reestablish a holy relationship between God and the nation on the Day of Atonement.

So, in reading the long lists of names, we can skim over the names as if the list were pages in a huge phone book.  Or, in reading the names, we can pause, if only for a moment, and recognize each name represents a generation who chose to live for themselves, or to live for God.  Each name represents a generation living in shame, or living in holiness.

We all can remember the words of Revelation 21:27, God’s prophecy of a new city where citizens dwell with God in a new Jerusalem…

²⁷ Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

I can’t help but think we all are going to be just like Navin R. Johnson, excitedly waiting for the new phone book, the “book of life,” flipping pages madly to find our name.  I rejoice that on that day, like Navin, I can exclaim “I’m in print!” Let’s endeavor to lead holy lives, now, as we look ahead to that day when God and man return to full fellowship in the new Jerusalem.

 

 

Some of us can remember Paul Harvey, the renowned radio announcer who came on the air at about 12:05 pm on Saturday, after the top of the hour news.  In the next fifteen minutes, he told an amazing story without divulging the name of the principal subject, and in such a way, that those casually hearing the news actually stopped what they were doing to listen.

I can remember every Saturday at the gas station where I worked in 1977-1979 how we turned up that old AM radio, which was covered with greasy fingerprints, while eating lunch and taking a break from oil changes, tire repair, and pumping gas.

 

The story always ended with the big reveal of the person who experienced the events.  You could never expect the ending.  Not in a million years.   At the last possible moment, Mr. Harvey would intone…”and now, you know the rest of the story” as he signed off.

 

 

 

If we read the Old Testament, like a book, at times the stories from one chapter don’t make sense at first.  In Exodus 32, we read of the tribes of Israel rebelling against God, while Moses was on Mount Sinai, and his brother Aaron the high priest actually creating the idol of a calf for worship.

We all naturally wonder how God would ever permit Aaron to take one more breath, with that kind of sin.  We struggle to understand God…His apparent forgiveness…for something so bad…and specifically, it seemed, for Aaron.

But, many pages later, we’ve moved into a very interesting passage, one where Moses himself is speaking to the tribes.  Imagine, if you will, Moses being on the air on that old AM radio, like Paul Harvey, and all the tribes gathering around to hear him.  The stories are retold, but this time, in the first person.  “I fell prostrate before the Lord…” and “So I made the ark out of acacia wood…and I went up on the mountain with the two tablets in my hands.”  The personal recollections speak powerfully to us.

And, in this passage, we read something of great importance.  It is, if you will, the rest of the story.  Look at Deuteronomy 9:20

“And the Lord was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him, but at that time I prayed for Aaron too.”

Wow!  What seems at first to be most confusing, yes, even concerning, now becomes clear.  God in his righteousness wanted to express His valid judgment against Aaron.  God in His holiness had every right to destroy Aaron.  Moses, in his position as both God’s leader and Aaron’s brother, had a terrible realization that he loved God, and yet he loved his brother too.  Can you imagine the conflict he felt inside?  We can’t know what Moses prayed, but I imagine it was words recognizing both God’s holiness and judgment, and Aaron’s shortcomings and humanity.

So we see that God remained God, throughout this time.  Aaron, a high priest, experienced a restoration through repentance, yet also was punished in accordance with his sin.  God in his sovereignty chose, on His own, to forbear Aaron’s sin, to provide absolution, and to use Aaron for many years in leading the nation in worship and adoration.  Moses learned time and time again that prayer allowed God to show Himself, His true nature, His power, His holiness, and His faithfulness to His chosen people.  Prayer didn’t change God, to be sure.  Prayer changed Moses.

Read God’s Word!  Trust that God will never change, and that He will reveal Himself to you in your time together.  When you find something that doesn’t make sense, allow it to be a time of learning.  Pray.  Pray like Moses did.  And in time, God may give you a chance to share with your tribe the faithfulness of God in your life.