The Glorious Bother of a Godly Order Text: 1 Chronicles 27:16-22
Introduction: The Sanctity of the Spreadsheet
We live in an age that is allergic to lists, allergic to order, and allergic to authority. Our rebellious culture wants a spirituality that is spontaneous, free-form, and entirely subjective. They want a god who is a warm, fuzzy feeling, not a king on a throne who keeps meticulous records. And so, when the modern reader stumbles upon a passage like this one in 1 Chronicles, his eyes tend to glaze over. It seems like a dry, dusty roster of unpronounceable names. It feels like reading the administrative annex of an ancient tax code. What could this possibly have to do with me, my life, my salvation?
The answer is, "everything." This is not filler. This is not the inspired equivalent of packing peanuts. These lists are here to teach us something profound about the nature of God, the nature of His kingdom, and the nature of the world He has made. God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, which is to say, of order (1 Cor. 14:33). He is a God who numbers the stars and calls them by name (Psalm 147:4). He numbers the hairs on your head (Matthew 10:30). He keeps a book of remembrance for those who fear Him (Malachi 3:16). And here, in the high point of the Old Testament kingdom, He records the names of the men responsible for the administration of His people. God cares about organization. He cares about logistics. He cares about godly bureaucracy.
We are looking at a snapshot of David's administration, a kingdom that was a faint shadow of the coming kingdom of his greater Son. And what do we find? We find structure. We find delegated authority. We find a place for everyone and everyone in his place. This list is a rebuke to our sloppy, individualistic, anti-authoritarian age. It shows us that a godly society is not a chaotic mob of individuals all doing what is right in their own eyes. A godly society is an organism, a body with different parts, each with its own function, all working together under legitimate, God-ordained headship. This is true for the family, it is true for the church, and as we see here, it is true for the civil realm. To despise this kind of order is to despise the God of order.
This passage, then, is a lesson in the theology of godly administration. It is a reminder that faith is not just a matter of the heart; it is a matter of the org chart. It is a call to recognize that faithfulness to God involves the glorious bother of building and maintaining structures that reflect His character. David's kingdom was not great by accident. It was great because it was ordered, and it was ordered because David feared the God of all order.
The Text
Now those over the tribes of Israel: chief officer for the Reubenites was Eliezer the son of Zichri; for the Simeonites, Shephatiah the son of Maacah; for Levi, Hashabiah the son of Kemuel; for Aaron, Zadok; for Judah, Elihu, one of David’s brothers; for Issachar, Omri the son of Michael; for Zebulun, Ishmaiah the son of Obadiah; for Naphtali, Jeremoth the son of Azriel; for the sons of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Azaziah; for the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joel the son of Pedaiah; for the half-tribe of Manasseh in Gilead, Iddo the son of Zechariah; for Benjamin, Jaasiel the son of Abner; for Dan, Azarel the son of Jeroham. These were the princes of the tribes of Israel.
(1 Chronicles 27:16-22 LSB)
God's Arithmetic (v. 16-17)
The Chronicler begins his list with the tribes, starting with Reuben and Simeon, and then makes a crucial distinction within Levi.
"Now those over the tribes of Israel: chief officer for the Reubenites was Eliezer the son of Zichri; for the Simeonites, Shephatiah the son of Maacah; for Levi, Hashabiah the son of Kemuel; for Aaron, Zadok;" (1 Chronicles 27:16-17)
Right away, we must notice that God is interested in names. These are not just placeholders. Eliezer, Shephatiah, Hashabiah, Zadok. These were real men, with real families, and real responsibilities before God. The God of the covenant is not the god of abstract principles; He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is the God of Eliezer, son of Zichri. Our faith is historical, it is particular, and it is personal. God knows His own by name. This is a profound comfort. In a world that wants to reduce everyone to a number, a demographic, or a statistic, God insists on the dignity of the individual, known and named by Him.
We see here the civil leadership of the tribes. These are the "princes" or "chief officers." This is not the military structure we saw earlier in the chapter, nor is it strictly the priestly structure. This is the civic administration. God's plan for a healthy nation involves distinct spheres of authority. The military, the civil government, and the church are not all mashed together into one totalitarian blob. They have their own leaders, their own responsibilities, all under God. This is the seedbed of the doctrine of the separation of powers, a profoundly biblical concept that our modern statists are desperate to erase.
Notice the special attention given to Levi. The tribe of Levi had a chief officer, Hashabiah. But then the house of Aaron, the priests within the tribe of Levi, had their own distinct head, Zadok. This is a crucial distinction. All priests were Levites, but not all Levites were priests. The Levites had broader administrative and teaching roles throughout Israel, while the Aaronic priesthood was focused on the sacrificial system and the temple. The Chronicler, writing after the exile, is reminding the returned remnant of the proper ordering of their society. You must have civil order (the princes of the tribes), and you must have spiritual order (the Levites and priests), and you must know the difference. When these lines get blurred, when the king tries to be the priest like Saul, or the priest tries to be the king, you get tyranny and chaos.
The Royal Tribe and the Sons of the East (v. 18-21)
The list continues, highlighting David's own tribe and the complex arrangement of the tribes descended from Joseph.
"for Judah, Elihu, one of David’s brothers; for Issachar, Omri the son of Michael; for Zebulun, Ishmaiah the son of Obadiah; for Naphtali, Jeremoth the son of Azriel; for the sons of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Azaziah; for the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joel the son of Pedaiah; for the half-tribe of Manasseh in Gilead, Iddo the son of Zechariah;" (1 Chronicles 27:18-21 LSB)
For the tribe of Judah, the chief officer was Elihu, one of David's own brothers. This is not nepotism in the corrupt sense we think of it. In a covenantal society, family is central. David is entrusting the leadership of his own kin to a man he knows and trusts intimately, his own flesh and blood. Leadership begins at home. A man who cannot rule his own household is not fit to rule the household of God, or the tribe of Judah (1 Timothy 3:5). This appointment demonstrates confidence and the strength of covenantal bonds. Elihu's authority flows from his character and his relationship to the king, all under God.
The list proceeds through the northern tribes, Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali. Again, real men, with real names, doing the real, often thankless, work of governance. Omri, Ishmaiah, Jeremoth. These are the men who make a kingdom function. We are often fixated on the king, the man at the very top. But a king is only as effective as the men he appoints under him. A godly king establishes a godly order by choosing faithful subordinates. This is a principle for pastors choosing elders, for fathers training sons, for business owners hiring managers. The health of the whole depends on the faithfulness of the parts.
Then we come to the sons of Joseph, which had been split into two tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh. And Manasseh itself was so large that it was administered in two halves. One half was west of the Jordan, and their chief was Joel. The other half was in Gilead, east of the Jordan, and their chief was Iddo. This is sanctified pragmatism. The structure of the administration had to fit the reality on the ground. You don't impose a one-size-fits-all template that ignores geography and demographics. Godly order is not rigid and brittle; it is robust and adaptable. The principle of tribal headship is maintained, but it is applied wisely to the specific situation of Manasseh. This is wisdom. We hold fast to the biblical principle, but we are intelligent in how we apply it to the messy realities of a fallen world.
The Flank and the Summary (v. 22)
The list concludes with the remaining tribes and a summary statement of their role.
"for Benjamin, Jaasiel the son of Abner; for Dan, Azarel the son of Jeroham. These were the princes of the tribes of Israel." (1 Chronicles 27:22 LSB)
The prince for Benjamin is Jaasiel, the son of Abner. This is a name that should leap off the page. Abner was the cousin of King Saul and the commander of his army. He was, for years, David's chief rival and enemy. After Abner's death, David did not purge his family. He did not engage in the kind of vindictive, paranoid score-settling that was standard practice for pagan kings. Instead, he integrated the son of his former adversary into a position of high honor and responsibility in his own administration. This is a stunning display of gospel grace and political wisdom. David is binding the kingdom together, healing old wounds, and demonstrating that loyalty to the covenant and the king now transcends old tribal rivalries. He is turning former enemies into faithful allies. This is what Christ does on a cosmic scale, reconciling us to God when we were His enemies (Romans 5:10).
The list ends with Dan. We should note that two tribes are missing from this list: Gad and Asher. We are not told why. It may be a scribal omission, or it may be that their administration was handled differently. The Bible does not feel obligated to satisfy all our curiosities. What it gives us is sufficient. What is clear is the summary statement: "These were the princes of the tribes of Israel." This was the system. This was the structure. This was the God-ordained, David-implemented system for governing the people of God in that era.
Conclusion: Christ's Kingdom Org Chart
So what do we do with a list like this? We are not living under the Davidic monarchy. We are not organizing ourselves by tribe. So what is the point?
The point is that David's kingdom was a type, a foreshadowing, of the kingdom of Christ. And the principles of order, delegated authority, and personal responsibility we see here find their ultimate fulfillment in the church and in the world under the reign of Jesus. Jesus is the true King, the Son of David. And He has an administration.
When Jesus ascended, He gave gifts to men. He appointed apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry (Ephesians 4:11-12). He has established a government in His church, with elders who rule and deacons who serve. To despise this structure is to despise the King who established it. Our church life is not meant to be a disorganized free-for-all. It is to be an ordered community, under the headship of Christ, exercised through the elders He has appointed.
Furthermore, this list reminds us that God's plan for the world is comprehensive. He is not just saving souls for a disembodied eternity in the clouds. He is building a kingdom that covers the earth as the waters cover the sea. This involves not just the church, but families, businesses, schools, and governments. Every sphere of life is to be brought under the lordship of Christ. And every sphere requires godly order. It requires faithful men, known and named by God, taking up their responsibilities as princes in their own right, exercising delegated authority under the great King Jesus.
You may not be a prince of a tribe. But you are called to rule somewhere. You are called to bring godly order to some patch of creation. For a man, that begins with ruling your own heart, your own home. For a woman, it involves being a wise manager of the household. For all of us, it means submitting to the authorities God has placed over us, and exercising the authority He has given to us with faithfulness, wisdom, and courage.
This list is in the Bible to teach us that God's redemption is not a chaotic, sentimental mess. It is a glorious, ordered, administrative triumph. He is not just saving a mob; He is building a kingdom. And in that kingdom, every name is recorded, every post is assigned, and every faithful servant will one day hear the King say, "Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master" (Matthew 25:23).