The Muster Roll of a Peculiar People Text: 1 Chronicles 7:6-12
Introduction: Why God Counts
We live in an age that despises history and detests arithmetic. Our culture is allergic to the past and innumerate when it comes to the things of God. We want our religion to be a warm, sentimental feeling, a spiritual haze that makes no demands and keeps no records. The last thing modern man wants is a God who keeps lists, who counts heads, who tracks bloodlines. But the God of the Bible is precisely this kind of God. He is a God of order, of history, of covenant, and of arithmetic.
And so, when we come to a passage like this one in 1 Chronicles, our eyes have a tendency to glaze over. Names we can't pronounce, numbers that seem arbitrary, lists that feel like a cosmic phone book. The temptation for the modern reader is to skip these chapters, to get to the "good parts," the stories, the psalms, the pithy proverbs. But in doing so, we commit a grave error. We are treating the Holy Spirit as though He were a tedious bookkeeper. But as Paul tells us, all Scripture is God-breathed and is profitable. That means there is profit here. There is gold in these hills, but you have to be willing to dig.
These genealogies are the skeletal structure of redemptive history. Without them, the story of the Bible turns to theological mush. They are the historical backbone that proves God keeps His promises in real time, in real space, to real people. They are not here by accident. The Chronicler is writing to a post-exilic community, a remnant returned to the land, asking themselves who they are. They had been scattered, their temple destroyed, their king deposed. The question was, "Is God done with us?" And the answer of Chronicles, through these long lists, is a thunderous "No." God remembers His covenant. He remembers the tribes, the families, the fathers. He is numbering His people because they are His people.
This particular passage drops us into the muster roll of the tribe of Benjamin. Benjamin was a tribe with a checkered past, the smallest tribe, the tribe of King Saul, the tribe that nearly got wiped out in a horrific civil war. And yet, here they are, numbered, accounted for, and noted for their strength. God's grace is not for the pristine, but for the peculiar. And in this accounting of Benjamin, we see a picture of God's meticulous care for His people, the importance of patriarchal strength, and the way God builds His kingdom, one family at a time.
The Text
The sons of Benjamin: Bela and Becher and Jediael, three. The sons of Bela: Ezbon, Uzzi, Uzziel, Jerimoth, and Iri, five. They were heads of fathers’ households, mighty men of valor, and were 22,034 recorded by genealogy. The sons of Becher were Zemirah, Joash, Eliezer, Elioenai, Omri, Jeremoth, Abijah, Anathoth, and Alemeth. All these were the sons of Becher. They were recorded by genealogy, according to their generations, heads of their fathers’ households, 20,200 mighty men of valor. The son of Jediael was Bilhan. And the sons of Bilhan were Jeush, Benjamin, Ehud, Chenaanah, Zethan, Tarshish, and Ahishahar. All these were sons of Jediael, according to the heads of their fathers’ households, 17,200 mighty men of valor, who went out with the army to war. Shuppim and Huppim were the sons of Ir; Hushim was the son of Aher.
(1 Chronicles 7:6-12 LSB)
God's Arithmetic of Grace (vv. 6-7)
The accounting begins with the principal sons of Benjamin and then immediately focuses on the line of Bela.
"The sons of Benjamin: Bela and Becher and Jediael, three. The sons of Bela: Ezbon, Uzzi, Uzziel, Jerimoth, and Iri, five. They were heads of fathers’ households, mighty men of valor, and were 22,034 recorded by genealogy." (1 Chronicles 7:6-7)
Right away, we are confronted with the glorious particularity of God's covenant. He doesn't just deal with humanity in the abstract. He deals with Benjamin, and with Bela, and with Ezbon. God knows His people by name. This is a profound comfort. In a world that wants to reduce everyone to a demographic, a statistic, or a consumer profile, the God of Heaven knows your name. He knows your lineage. He has placed you in your family, in your time, in your place.
Notice the structure. The authority flows from the father to the sons. These men are identified as "heads of fathers' households." This is biblical patriarchy in its raw, structural form. It is not a suggestion; it is the load-bearing wall of a stable society. God builds His covenant people through faithful households governed by faithful men. When men abdicate this role, when they become passive, foolish, or tyrannical, the household crumbles, and the nation follows soon after. Our society's frantic rebellion against this structure is not a sign of enlightenment; it is a sign of civilizational suicide.
And what is the character of these household heads? They are "mighty men of valor." This is not simply about being a good soldier, though it includes that. The Hebrew phrase, gibborim hayil, speaks of strength, ability, competence, and substance. These are men of capability. They are men who can get things done, protect their families, provide for them, and lead them in righteousness. Valor is not just brute force; it is moral courage. It is the strength to stand for the truth when it is unpopular, to discipline your children when it is difficult, and to love your wife as Christ loved the church. God is not looking for soft men. He is looking for mighty men of valor to head His households.
And then we have the number: 22,034. This is not just trivia. This is a census, a muster roll. These are the men fit for war. This is a reminder that the people of God are an army. We are the church militant. This numbering demonstrates God's faithfulness. Despite Benjamin's sordid history, God has been fruitful and multiplied them. He has raised up a fighting force from this tribe. Grace does not just forgive; it multiplies.
Generational Faithfulness (vv. 8-9)
The Chronicler continues with the second son, Becher, reinforcing the same pattern.
"The sons of Becher were Zemirah, Joash, Eliezer, Elioenai, Omri, Jeremoth, Abijah, Anathoth, and Alemeth. All these were the sons of Becher. They were recorded by genealogy, according to their generations, heads of their fathers’ households, 20,200 mighty men of valor." (1 Chronicles 7:8-9)
Again, the names are listed. The lineage is clear. And the description is repeated: "heads of their fathers' households, mighty men of valor." This repetition is deliberate. The Holy Spirit is driving a point home. The strength of a nation is not found in its treasury or its political programs, but in the character of its fathers. A nation with tens of thousands of competent, godly, courageous men leading their families is a formidable nation indeed. A nation of passive, foolish, and cowardly men is already conquered, no matter how large its military budget.
The phrase "according to their generations" is key. This is about covenant succession. Faithfulness is a generational project. We are not called to be isolated Christian heroes, but to be links in a covenant chain. We receive a heritage from our fathers, and we have a solemn duty to pass it on, strengthened and fortified, to our sons. This is why teaching your children the Scriptures, catechizing them, and modeling repentance and faith is not an optional extracurricular activity. It is the central task of a covenantal father. It is how the army of God is supplied with new soldiers in every generation.
Ready for War (vv. 10-12)
The third line, from Jediael, continues the theme and adds an explicit note about their purpose.
"The son of Jediael was Bilhan. And the sons of Bilhan were Jeush, Benjamin, Ehud, Chenaanah, Zethan, Tarshish, and Ahishahar. All these were sons of Jediael, according to the heads of their fathers’ households, 17,200 mighty men of valor, who went out with the army to war." (1 Chronicles 7:10-11)
Here the military purpose is stated plainly: these were men "who went out with the army to war." The valor was not theoretical. It was tested in battle. A man's strength is for something. It is to be expended in a worthy cause. For Israel, this often meant literal warfare against the enemies of God. For the Christian, the battle is primarily spiritual, but no less real. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12).
This means that Christian men must be trained for war. We must know our enemy. We must know our weapons, which are not carnal but are mighty through God for the pulling down of strongholds. We must be able to wield the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. A man who does not know his Bible is a soldier who shows up to the battle without a weapon. He is useless. These Benjamites were counted and recorded because they were ready. The question for us is, are we?
The final verse is a bit cryptic, likely a fragment or a summary of other lines.
"Shuppim and Huppim were the sons of Ir; Hushim was the son of Aher." (1 Chronicles 7:12)
Even in its brevity, it serves the same purpose. It anchors individuals to their fathers. Ir and Aher are likely other names for Benjamin's sons, but the point remains. Every man has a place in the line. No one is a disconnected atom. We are all sons of someone, and our identity is tied to that reality.
The Muster Roll of the True Benjamin
So what do we do with this? We are not Benjamites. We are not mustering for war against the Philistines. How is this profitable for us?
First, we must see that these lists point to the ultimate Son, Jesus Christ. All these genealogies, all this counting, was to preserve the line through which the Messiah would come. Benjamin's tribe was part of the southern kingdom of Judah. They remained loyal to the house of David when the northern tribes broke away. And from this combined people of Judah and Benjamin, the Christ was born. The apostle Paul, that great warrior for the gospel, was a Benjamite, a "Hebrew of Hebrews" (Phil. 3:5). He was a mighty man of valor from the tribe of Benjamin, who wielded the sword of the Spirit and conquered nations for Christ.
Second, we must see that in Christ, we are brought into this covenant family. By faith, we are grafted into the olive tree of Israel (Romans 11). We who were Gentiles, without God and without hope, are now fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God (Ephesians 2:19). God is counting a new people, a holy nation, from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. He knows you by name. Your name is written in the Lamb's book of life, the final and ultimate genealogy.
And God is still looking for mighty men of valor. He is still looking for men who will be the heads of their households, who will raise their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, who will provide for and protect their families. He is still looking for men who are ready for war, ready to contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints. The numbers in our passage are impressive: 22,034, plus 20,200, plus 17,200. That's nearly 60,000 warriors from one tribe.
God's method for taking the world is the faithful, fruitful, Christian household. He is calling you men to be strong, to be competent, to be courageous. He is calling you to lead. And He is calling you to trust His grace. The tribe of Benjamin was not a tribe of superstars. They were flawed. They had a dark past. But God in His grace preserved them, multiplied them, and used them. He does the same for us. We are all flawed. We all have a past. But in Christ, we are forgiven, we are numbered among His people, and we are called to be mighty men and women of valor for the cause of His kingdom.