28 David assembled at Jerusalem all the officials of Israel, the officials of the tribes, the officers of the divisions that served the king, the commanders of thousands, the commanders of hundreds, the stewards of all the property and livestock of the king and his sons, together with the palace officials, the mighty men and all the seasoned warriors. 2 28:2Then King David rose to his feet and said: “Hear me, my brothers and my people. I had it in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord and for the footstool of our God, and I made preparations for building. 3 28:3But God said to me, ‘You may not build a house for my name, for you are a man of war and have shed blood.’ 4 28:4Yet the Lord God of Israel chose me from all my father’s house to be king over Israel forever. For he chose Judah as leader, and in the house of Judah my father’s house, and among my father’s sons he took pleasure in me to make me king over all Israel. 5 28:5And of all my sons (for the Lord has given me many sons) he has chosen Solomon my son to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel. 6 28:6He said to me, ‘It is Solomon your son who shall build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father. 7 28:7I will establish his kingdom forever if he continues strong in keeping my commandments and my rules, as he is today.’ 8 28:8Now therefore in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of the Lord, and in the hearing of our God, observe and seek out all the commandments of the Lord your God, that you may possess this good land and leave it for an inheritance to your children after you forever.
9 28:9“And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever. 10 28:10Be careful now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary; be strong and do it.”
11 28:11Then David gave Solomon his son the plan of the vestibule of the temple, and of its houses, its treasuries, its upper rooms, and its inner chambers, and of the room for the mercy seat; 12 28:12and the plan of all that he had in mind for the courts of the house of the Lord, all the surrounding chambers, the treasuries of the house of God, and the treasuries for dedicated gifts; 13 28:13for the divisions of the priests and of the Levites, and all the work of the service in the house of the Lord; for all the vessels for the service in the house of the Lord, 14 28:14the weight of gold for all golden vessels for each service, the weight of silver vessels for each service, 15 28:15the weight of the golden lampstands and their lamps, the weight of gold for each lampstand and its lamps, the weight of silver for a lampstand and its lamps, according to the use of each lampstand in the service, 16 28:16the weight of gold for each table for the showbread, the silver for the silver tables, 17 28:17and pure gold for the forks, the basins and the cups; for the golden bowls and the weight of each; for the silver bowls and the weight of each; 18 28:18for the altar of incense made of refined gold, and its weight; also his plan for the golden chariot of the cherubim that spread their wings and covered the ark of the covenant of the Lord. 19 28:19“All this he made clear to me in writing from the hand of the Lord, all the work to be done according to the plan.”
20 28:20Then David said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous and do it. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed, for the Lord God, even my God, is with you. He will not leave you or forsake you, until all the work for the service of the house of the Lord is finished. 21 28:21And behold the divisions of the priests and the Levites for all the service of the house of God; and with you in all the work will be every willing man who has skill for any kind of service; also the officers and all the people will be wholly at your command.”
Response
The Chronicler’s emphasis on the divine authorization of the temple in Jerusalem and on the links with Moses and the tabernacle may well be addressing the challenge posed by other temples to the Lord that were built after the exile, for example, in Egypt at Elephantine and Leontopolis and on Mount Gerizim in Samaria. The concern to worship God according to his desires is something to emulate. That the issue continued is reflected in the comments of the woman at the well to Jesus, to which Jesus responds by shifting attention from a specific place to the call to worship “in spirit and truth” (John 4:20–24). Jerusalem has its place in the drama of God’s purposes, but in Christ the movement is not to or in but from Jerusalem.
In the temple at Jerusalem, Jesus, the Son of David, spoke of “his body” as the temple (John 2:19–22), and from Jerusalem the church expanded, a growth spoken of as “living stones” being added to a “spiritual house” from an expanding geographical area. The temple of the Holy Spirit is God’s “building” in progress (1 Pet. 2:5; 1 Cor. 3:9, 16). In his last words to his followers, Jesus with royal authority commissioned them to “make disciples of all nations,” promising his presence with them through to the very end of the age (Matt. 28:19–20). Here is a task that continues the long history of God’s purposes in choosing a people to be a blessing. It looks forward to the time in which the “new Jerusalem” comes, a city built with gold and all kinds of precious stones, a city with no temple hiding from view symbols of God’s reign; rather, the “glory of God” will be evident to all (Rev. 21:1–2, 15–27).
The temple of the Holy Spirit also has significant people providing leadership, but no work is done in isolation. It is easy to speak, for instance, of the work of Paul, but he repeatedly affirms those who are with him and provide for his ministry and those who are also part of the ongoing building (Rom. 16:1–23; 1 Cor. 3:5–10; Phil. 4:14–19; Col. 4:7–18; etc.). The “assembly” David gathered to charge concerning building the temple foreshadows the “church” (Gk. ekklēsia) Christ has called together to be his witnesses.
28:2–8 “King David” addresses the gathered group not as “servants” or “subjects” but as “brothers” and “my people,” both terms of kinship; he is “one of us” (cf. Deut. 17:15). His words follow those spoken previously to Solomon (cf. comments on 1 Chron. 22:6–10; 22:11–16), with some changes of emphasis. Here the “house” is to be a resting place for the “ark,” which was the central reminder of the Mosaic “covenant,” the “footstool” of God’s throne (Ps. 132:7). As in 1 Chronicles 22:8–9 there is mention of David as a “man of war”; in chapter 22 this leads to a contrast with Solomon as a “man of rest,” but here it is the “ark” that is to “rest” (also 2 Chron. 6:41 = Ps. 132:8)—attention is drawn to God’s having a “house” for his throne.
David introduces Solomon by first summarizing God’s sovereign choice through the history of his people: God “chose” first the tribe of “Judah” as “leader” (Hb. nagid; cf. Gen. 49:8–10; Ps. 78:68), then David’s “father’s house” (cf. 1 Sam. 16:1), and then David himself (cf. 1 Sam. 16:12–13; Ps. 78:70). Finally, just as David was not the eldest (or even likeliest) son of Jesse, so out of all David’s sons the Lord “has chosen Solomon” (only Chronicles uses this language for Solomon; cf. 1 Chron. 22:9–10; 2 Sam. 12:24–25). The Davidic dynasty, something new for Israel, is legitimized as a continuation of God’s choice and an outworking of his rule; Solomon will “sit on the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel” (1 Chron. 28:5).
This recounting of the past is the basis for David’s charge to the people (the verbs are all plural). Words addressed to Solomon (22:13) are just as important for the people to heed. They are not simply a group “assembled” by David (28:1), for “all Israel” is the “assembly of the Lord” (cf. Num. 16:3; 20:4; Deut. 23:2–3, 8; Mic. 2:5). They are not only to “observe [“keep”] . . . all the commandments” (shamar has a note of watchfulness) but also to “seek” them (darash; cf. comment on 1 Chron. 10:13–14; also Ps. 119:45, 94, 155); the people are to be intentional in a devotion that continues to the next generation. For hearers who have returned after exile, the message is clear: here is the path to enjoyment of “this good land . . . forever.”
28:9–10 Unlike the previous private charge (22:11–16), David turns publicly to Solomon (“And you,” followed by singular verbs). “The Lord” has been David’s God, whose temple he is preparing (also 28:20, “my God”); now Solomon is to acknowledge publicly that the Lord is his God (“know” is common in ancient international diplomacy as legal recognition of a superior’s authority; cf. Hos. 8:2; 13:4). Solomon is to serve him “with a whole heart” (the phrase is used later of the people’s offering; 1 Chron. 29:9) and a “willing mind” (with a sense of “pleasing, delighting”), for the Lord looks beyond external actions. As the Lord understands “every plan and thought” (as in Gen. 6:5, “intention of the thoughts”), so David later, following the people’s generosity, prays that the Lord would “keep forever such purposes and thoughts [same Hebrew] in the hearts of your people” (1 Chron. 29:18).
“Seek . . . be found . . . forsake . . . cast off”—the balance of these two pairs is a feature of Chronicles. “Seek” (Hb. darash) is a favorite word, occurring almost forty times in Chronicles in a religious context, generally expressing devotion to God, but used here also of God’s “searching” (or “seeking” a responsive heart). The promise that he “will be found” is repeated in 2 Chronicles 15:2 in a passage that reports how God “was found” both in the past and in that current situation (2 Chron. 15:4, 15). The opposite, “forsake” (ʻazab, “leave, abandon”), is used nineteen times in passages unique to Chronicles, both of people’s “(not) forsaking” God, his commandments, or the temple (2 Chron. 7:19, 22; 12:1; 13:10, 11; 21:10; 24:18, 24; 28:6; 29:6; 34:25) and of God’s “(not) forsaking” his people (1 Chron. 28:20), and also sometimes in the combination of God’s “forsaking” the people because they “forsook” him (2 Chron. 12:5; 15:2; 24:20). (Cf. comment on 2 Chron. 7:13–16 for related words.) The pairings are primarily not a statement of general retribution but a call to repentance and restoration within the covenant relationship, as is evident in the narrative contexts (e.g., 2 Chron. 12:1–12; 15:1–15). Here the promise is a basis for confidence as Solomon “seeks” God, building the temple. The charge to “be strong” and build the temple is backed by the dynamic relationship with God, who himself “searches” (or “seeks”).
28:11–19 Parallels with Moses and the tabernacle are evident in the use of “plan” (Hb. tabnit; vv. 11, 12, 19), the same word used for the tabernacle’s “pattern” (Ex. 25:9, 40). The “plan” David “had in his mind” (1 Chron. 28:12) is at the end stated to be “all [that] he made clear to me in writing from the hand of the Lord” (v. 19). In verse 12, “mind” translates ruakh, which is variously equivalent to English “breath, wind, spirit, Spirit,” so the Hebrew phrase could be understood as “all he had by the Spirit with him” (different from v. 2, which has lebab, “[with my] heart”). The physical buildings and rooms are described only briefly (vv. 12–13; contrast 1 Kings 6–7), but a link with the tabernacle’s specifications is the “room for the mercy seat,” a term used only here outside the Pentateuch (Ex. 25:17–22). The “plan” importantly covers more than the built aspects; it moves on to the “divisions” of all who served there (1 Chron. 28:13a; chs. 23–26), but more attention is given here to detailing the diversity of “vessels” (28:13b–18).
The “vessels” include those previously associated with the ark and tabernacle (22:19; 23:26) but now cover numerous new vessels, whose “weight” is specified in a comprehensive list. (One example is that the tabernacle had only one golden lampstand [Ex. 25:31–40], whereas the temple has at least ten [2 Chron. 4:7].) More “silver” items are mentioned than in either the tabernacle or the temple in Kings. The final item is that to which all the others are directed: “the ark,” representing the service of God. Calling the ark a “chariot” may have been suggested by the vision in Ezekiel 1, but also the idea of God’s sitting on a chariot fits the ancient description of God as the “Lord of hosts [heaven’s armies] who sits enthroned on the cherubim” (2 Sam. 6:2). Interest in the “vessels” continues in Chronicles, for that is what continued in the postexilic temple (2 Chron. 4:7–22; 25:24; 29:19; 36:7, 10, 18; Ezra 1:5–11). Here is another way in which the Chronicler links his hearers’ present with David and a “plan” from God.
28:20–21 David’s final words to Solomon repeat what he had said in 22:11–16: the basis for being “strong” in completing the large task of building the temple is the promise of God’s presence throughout (cf. Josh. 1:6–9). Further, there is a multitude of workers to help (spelled out in 1 Chron. 29:1–9). The two charges, to the “assembly” and to Solomon, cannot be separated. These are the last words addressed to Solomon, for the task of the temple is a task for all to share.
1 Hebrew lacks of the temple
1 Knoppers, I Chronicles 10–29, 930.
2 Cf. Introduction: Theology of 1–2 Chronicles: Divine Reward and Punishment.
3 McConville, I and II Chronicles, 99–100.
4 Kelly, Retribution and Eschatology.
5 Selman, 1 Chronicles, 253–254.
6 Japhet, I & II Chronicles, 497.
7 Knoppers, I Chronicles 10–29, 940–941.