"With great pains I have provided for the house of the Lord a hundred thousand talents of gold, a million talents of silver, and bronze and iron beyond weighing, for there is so much of it, . . ." 1 Chronicles Ch. 22, vs. 14.
It is not just about money and supplies; people are counted, too. In arranging for the ministry of the Levites in the temple, David accounts for the service of 38,000 men:
24,000 are assigned to priestly duties,
6,000 are judges and administrators,
4,000 manage temple security,
4,000 are responsible for music, (that's a big choir!)
More big numbers! Scholars wonder if they are meant literally or metaphorically. The best answer seems to be both, in different ways and places.
The thirst for numbers also led David into some deep waters:
"Satan stood up against Israel, and incited David to number Israel." 1 Chronicles Ch. 21, vs. 8.
And so he counted over one million, one hundred thousand men in Israel, to the north, and four hundred and seventy thousand in Judah, to the south, who were capable of bearing arms. That's an impressive military machine even by today's standards.
But God was displeased with this, we are told. Numbers have their uses, but when they obscure, or supersede the truth of the Living God, they have strayed beyond their bounds.
In consequence, seventy thousand of them died before the plague was halted, and David spent six hundred shekels of gold to purchase the site on which the ark of the covenant could come to rest.
What meaning should we draw from all these numbers? The lesson David learned was: "All things come from Thee, O Lord, and of Thine own have we given Thee." 1 Chronicles Ch. 29, vs. 14.
What about you?
I have often thought if I were a Roman Catholic priest hearing confession I would try the following: Instead of asking the penitent person to do penance by reciting repeatedly the Lord's prayer or saying the rosary over and over, I would assign the reading aloud of the first nine chapters of First Chronicles!
ReplyDeleteBig numbers, indeed! King David seems to have taken faith in God very seriously. In the ancient world a "talent" was a measure of 75 pounds. King David did not stint in his preparation for the building of a place to house the Ark of the Covenant. He provided seven and one half million pounds of gold and seventy five million pounds of silver. At today's current prices, you do the math and see if you can calculate the value of the gold and silver alone for the building of the Temple.
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