Welcome to BibleBum where we are exploring the entire Bible in one year to better learn how to follow God’s instructions and discover the purpose for our lives.  The BibleBum blog uses The One Year Chronological Bible, the New Living Translation version.  At the end of each day’s reading, Rob, a cultural history aficionado and seminary graduate, answers questions from Leigh An, the blogger host, about the daily scripture.  To start from the beginning, click on “Index” and select Day 1.

1 Chronicles 26-28

Questions & Observations

Q. (1 Chronicles 27:25-31): Why does the king have so many possessions?  I just thought kings were there to rule and have a fancy place to live with fancy things in it and nice clothes.  Why olive oil, sheep, goats, donkeys, etc.?

A. Well, it is clear from this text that he had a lot of people in his “employment,” so that is probably part of your answer.  From what I understand, being a king involved regular work as the ambassador of your nation to those around you.  We will see more of this type of activity under Solomon than we did with David.  In order to make an impact, I suspect part of what a king would do would be to share the goods that they had stockpiled in order to make a good impression.  It would be a great way to “grease the wheels” of diplomacy.  The other thing I could see is the king’s court could serve as a kind of storehouse for the nation, so that since the king controlled these things like food, he could distribute them to those who had need.  I have no idea if David actually did this or not, but it sounds like something God would desire out of a king.