Boring Chronicles

There are a lot of jokes about reading 1 Chronicles, and Second Chronicles also. So when I heard someone solving a mystery from 1 Chronicles 6, my ears literally popped up. The question was about Samuel. In 1 Samuel 1,the genealogy of Samuel is listed through Elkanah, as "an Ephraimite."

We all know that to be a priest required a direct descent from Levi. Only Levites were allowed to enter the Holy Place and offer sacrifices to the Lord. So when we hear that Samuel's father was from Epharim, it raises a question. Was Samuel a legitimate priest, or was he a "special case?"

Special cases get messy very quickly as we find more and more instances where we "need" a special case to explain something. Instead of doing the appropriate research, we merely apply the "SC" label and skip the question. Soon, there is no real standard, just exceptions defined by their special circumstances.

(Disclaimer: I did not find this. I was shown it by one much brighter than I.) Let's look at the details. First the 1 Samuel verse:
    Now there was a certain man from Ramathaim-zophim from the hill country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.

Sometimes we just skip the sections where a list of names occurs. This clearly says, "Elkanah...an Ephraimite." But don't skip the intervening names. Jeroham and Eliab in particular are critical.

Now lets check out 1 Chronicles 6:26, 27. Context: This is listing the sons of Levi down through the line of Kohath. Interestingly, one of the line is Korah, the one who challenged Moses and was killed in Numbers 16. (But that is a story for later.) But his son or grandson must have escaped, because here we find the line of descent continuing. Just to avoid confusion, you might note that there are three Elkanahs in the line.
     26 As for Elkanah, the sons of Elkanah were Zophai his son and Nahath his son, 27 Eliab his son, Jeroham his son, Elkanah his son.

Notice verse 27: Eliab and his son Jeroham precede Elkanah (III to keep track). So this Elkanah is the same on as in 1 Samuel 1. And just to confirm our analysis, I direct your attention to verse 28, listing Samuel's sons.
    28 The sons of Samuel were Joel the firstborn, and Abijah the second.

And just to confirm our conjecture turn to 1 Samuel 8.
    And it came about when Samuel was old that he appointed his sons judges over Israel. 2 Now the name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah;

Samuel was indeed of Levite ancestry and we did not even need to submit him to a DNA test to confirm it. The boring old book of Chronicles did it for us. God did not just list all of these families to inflate His word count. They are there because, as Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:16: (Another 3:16 verse)
    "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:"

We can be confident that there are no "wasted pages" in the Scripture. Let's be very cautious in discounting any of it, regardless of how "boring" it is. It is only boring when we do not know how valuable it is.

Now back to Korah in Numbers 16. This guy led a rebellion against Moses, even to the extent of challenging Moses' appointment by God to lead the group. Out of this overt revolt came the sons of Korah and the line down to Samuel. So out of this rebellious heart, a family emerged that ultimately led to the greatest judge in Israel's history. In Numbers 16 we would not have expected anything from this branch of Levi's offspring. As Paul Harvey used to say, "Now you know the rest of the story."

A raw diamond is very unattractive in the natural state. But an amazing, beautiful, and spectacular gem lies underneath the ordinary, boring exterior. In just the same way, all of Scripture will shine light on the issues we face in this world. "Doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction..." are certainly valuable components of our tool kit for facing the trials of today.

As Alexander Scourby, in his inimitable voice intones: "Listen to the Bible. It's great for the soul!" (And reading.)