Getting Biblical in Daily Life
Jewish Perspective
1 Chronicles was written by Jews, for Jews, about Jews, so you can bet that it has a lot to offer any follower of Judaism.
In Hebrew, the book is called Divrei Hayyamim (which means "the events of the days") and it's actually the last book in the Hebrew Bible. It's part of the section called Ketuvim, or "writings".
The focus in 1 Chronicles is King David, a major figure in Jewish history and culture. Not only was he the greatest king in the history of Israel, he was also the one who built Jerusalem, made it the center of Jewish life, and started plans for building the Temple. He's also credited with writing most of the Psalms. and played the lyre in the Jerusalem Philharmonic. He ruled over a United Kingdom of Israel and Judah—the only king to do so for a substantial length of time.
David and his descendants have an important place in Jewish thinking around the concept of the mashiach. That just means "anointed one" in Hebrew, but you may know the idea better by the Greek term "messiah." The basic idea is that God will send a new ruler (who also happens to be one of David's descendants) to lead the Jewish people back into a time of independence and peace. A few Jews think that the messiah will bring all the Jews back to live in Israel and that he'll also build a Third Temple (just like David started on the first one). Oh, and he'll bring peace to the entire world, too. It's a big job description. Christians think they've found this guy in Jesus, but contemporary Jews are still waiting for their messiah, or a "messianic era" of peace and security. The Jewish idea of a messiah is less other-worldly than the Christian view. With David as a role model, the messiah will be a righteous king who will unite and lead Israel as an independent nation.
The Temple in Jerusalem is central to Jewish history, and the Temple Mount in Jerusalem is seen as holy because Jews believe it to be the site of the ancient Temples as well as the place where God tested Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice. Jewish liturgies contain prayers for the restoration of Jerusalem and the Temple, and Jews face east towards Jerusalem when they pray. Check out the lyrics to Hatikvah, the Israeli national anthem and you'll get the picture of the importance of Jerusalem in the Jewish consciousness:
As long as the Jewish spirit is yearning deep in the heart,
With eyes turned to the east, looking towards Zion,
Then our hope, the two-thousand year-old hope, will not be lost:
To be a free people in our land,
The land of Zion and Jerusalem.
After the destruction of the Second Temple, Judaism underwent some changes that had begun after the Babylonian exile. With no priests and no Temple, worshipping God through priestly animal sacrifices gave way to personal prayer and worship. Things became decentralized rather than centered in one Temple, and the synagogue as a place of learning and worship became the communal structure.
Still, synagogues today retain some aspects of the Temple—they all contain an ark with scrolls of the Torah (the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures) which includes the Ten Commandments. The ark is located on the east side of the synagogue and usually covered by a curtain, like the old "Holy of Holies" part of the temple where the high priests offered their prayers for the community. Decorative menorahs often adorn the sanctuary. Reform Judaism calls their houses of worship "temples," although some people think this trivializes the memory of the Temple itself.
Some very Orthodox Jews believe that the Temple will in fact be rebuilt and all Jews will be gathered back to Israel. Prayers at the end of some Jewish holidays promise, "Next year in Jerusalem!" But for most Jews, these prayers are more like fond memories of an idealized Jerusalem and represent an appreciation of Jewish history and hopes for the future, not necessarily a real plan for moving to Jerusalem and reconstructing the Temple. They express a longing for a unified nation in a peaceful homeland, like in the Hatikvah lyrics. Not many people think the Temple will or even should be restored. Exceptions are groups like The Temple Institute who actively advocate that a new temple be erected on the Temple Mount. Now there's a problem-free plan…
Christian Perspective
Christians embrace Jerusalem as a holy city. Even though 1 Chronicles was originally part of Hebrew Scriptures, Christians today still consider it a holy and sacred text. They've even got it tucked away for safe keeping in a little section they call the Old Testament. Most of the early Christians were actually Jewish. Jesus and his first followers grew up in Jewish homes, celebrated Jewish holidays, and led altogether Jewish lives. It makes sense that the guys writing the first stories about Jesus would be familiar with the people and events from 1 Chronicles. Just look at all this name dropping:
She came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and see, something greater than Solomon is here! (Matthew 12:42)
Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. (Luke 12:27)
It was Solomon who built a house for [God]. Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made with human hands. (Acts 7:47-48)
They asked for a king; and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, who reigned for forty years. When he had removed him, he made David their king. (Acts 13:21-22)
But probably the most important passage for Christians is this promise from God:
I will raise up your offspring after you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from him who was before you, but I will confirm him in my house and in my kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever. (1 Chronicles 17:11-14)
If you look at the context of this verse, God is clearly talking to David about his son, Solomon. He's going to be in charge after David dies and God will keep their kingdom going strong forever, right?
But since these promises didn't exactly pan out that way, many Christians have taken this to mean that some future descendant of David (not Solomon) will be born to save the world and rule for eternity. Christians think this points directly to Jesus. That's probably why Matthew and Luke both go through a whole lot of trouble to let us know that Jesus came from the House of David, since the Bible's clear that if someone isn't a descendant of David, he's not the messiah.
David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel, and Salathiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah. (Matthew 1:6-16)
Jesus was about thirty years old when he began his work. He was the son (as was thought) of Joseph son of Heli, son of Matthat, son of Levi, son of Melchi, son of Jannai, son of Joseph, son of Mattathias, son of Amos, son of Nahum, son of Esli, son of Naggai, son of Maath, son of Mattathias, son of Semein, son of Josech, son of Joda, son of Joanan, son of Rhesa, son of Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, son of Neri, son of Melchi, son of Addi, son of Cosam, son of Elmadam, son of Er, son of Joshua, son of Eliezer, son of Jorim, son of Matthat, son of Levi, son of Simeon, son of Judah, son of Joseph, son of Jonam, son of Eliakim, son of Melea, son of Menna, son of Mattatha, son of Nathan, son of David. (Luke 3:23-31)
So these two lists don't exactly agree with each other. Matthew's genealogy says that Jesus is a descendent of Solomon and Luke's has him as one of Nathan's sons. Also, Jesus and Joseph aren't exactly biological relatives (according to the story, Joseph never contributed any of his, um, DNA, to the boy). But Jesus gets to claim David's lineage anyhow. The rest of the New Testament really takes this idea and runs with it:
- Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me! (Mark 10:47)
- The Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. (Luke 1:32)
- He has raised up a mighty savior for us in the house of his servant David. (Luke 1:69)
- Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. (Luke 2:4)
- To you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. (Luke 2:11)
- His Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh. (Romans 1:3)
- Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David. (2 Timothy 8)
- The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals. (Revelation 5:5)
The Christian Scriptures mention the Temple as well. Around the time Jesus lived, the Second Temple was still standing in Jerusalem. He actually went there quite a bit:
- Jesus was circumcised in the Temple (Luke 2:22-24).
- He taught there as a 12-year-old boy—impressive. (Luke 2:46)
- The Devil tempts him to jump off the top of the Temple (Luke 4:9).
- He healed people in the Temple (Matthew 21:14).
- He taught in the Temple (Mark 12:35).
- He paid temple taxes—render unto Caesar and all that jazz (Matthew 17:24).
- He kicked moneychangers out of the Temple—the Pharisees were not amused (Mark 11:14-16).
- He predicted the destruction of the Temple (John 2:19-21).
- The curtain that covered the Ark in the Temple tore at the moment of his death. (Mark 15:38)
The first apostles even stayed in the area after Jesus' death. Peter healed a man who couldn't walk outside the gates of the Temple (Acts 3:2). Paul was eventually arrested there for teaching about Jesus (Acts 21:27). They didn't appreciate his sermons in God's house.
After the Second Temple was destroyed in 70 CE by the Romans, Christians began to see the role of the Temple a little differently. Maybe God didn't need an ornate house of worship for people to be close to him. After all, he had given the world Jesus and his church. And, really, aren't those the ultimate Temples?
• 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.'[…] But he was speaking of the temple of his body. (John 2:19, 21)
• [The church is] the temple of the living God. (2 Corinthians 6:16)
• In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord. (Ephesians 2:21)
• I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. (Revelation 21:22)
The brick-and-mortar temple now became symbolic of Jesus and his church. The early followers of Jesus used these familiar images when preaching to their fellow Jews.
Muslim Perspective
Along with Christianity and Judaism, Islam is one of the Abrahamic religions. That just means that all three faiths can trace their origins back to Abraham in the Book of Genesis. They also share similar principles, like believing in only one God. Also they all happen to like waffles. But then again, who doesn't.
That means that not only do Muslims share a common faith ancestor with Judaism, they're also familiar with Jewish scriptures. Take David, for example, who's called Dawud in Arabic. He's regarded as a prophet and king in Islam. The Quran even tells a story about a time David tried to settle a dispute about sheep:
Muslims also believe that David is one of the prophets (along with Moses and Jesus) who had a book of the Bible revealed to them by God. David's was the Book of Psalms (Source), which is called Zabur in Islam. Allah (which is just the Arabic word for "God") was trying to tell the world what he wanted to say in these earlier Bible books. But sadly, humans wrote it down and gave it their own distorted spin. The Quran, on the other hand, doesn't have any of this human meddling, so is the perfected version.
And what happens to all the other Jews from the Hebrew Bible who never got the chance to know Allah? No worries:
Indeed, those who believed and those who were Jews or Christians or Sabeans [before Prophet Muhammad]—those [among them] who believed in Allah and the Last Day and did righteousness—will have their reward with their Lord, and no fear will there be concerning them, nor will they grieve. (Source)
So what else do Muslims and Jews have in common? Well, they both believe that Jerusalem is their holy city. This has caused no problems whatsoever. Right.
According to Islamic tradition, the Prophet Muhammad took a physical and spiritual journey into Heaven in 621 CE from the very spot where the al-Aqsa mosque was built. That makes it the third most holy place (after Mecca and Medina) in Sunni Islam. Like Jews, they believe that this was the site where Abraham almost sacrificed Isaac. Only Muslims are permitted to worship on the Temple Mount, even though Jerusalem is currently under Israeli auspices.