“Once again Yo’av was commander over the whole army of Israel, while B’nayah the son of Y’hoyada was over the K’reti and P’leti, Adoram was in charge of forced labor, Y’hoshafat the son of Achilud was secretary of state, Sh’va was recorder, Tzadok and Evyatar were cohanim, and ‘Ira the Ya’iri was David’s Cohen.”-2 Samuel 20:24-26
Alrighty, homies, we’ve now entered the final stretch of 2nd Samuel Chapter 20.
In these closing verses, we’re given a quick snapshot of David’s cabinet as it existed at the time of Sheva’s uprising.
Interestingly, what we’ve got here is identical to the list contained in Chapter 8.
However, there are some key differences.
Let’s dive into it.
The first character on the list is Joab.
That’s right.
After spilling Amasa’s guts out, that bad dude is back on top as the general of the king’s army.
Joab possessed his own standing army, but if more military might was needed, he’d have no hesitations dipping into the general population to create a militia.
Second, we have B’NAYAH, who led a small group of troops.
Their main duty was to guard the palace.
Third, we have ADORAM, who was responsible for forced labor for government projects.
These forced laborers were mainly gentile prisoners of war.
But Hebrew criminals were also thrown into the mix.
Later on, as King Solomon went hog wild with his building projects, he began to conscript more and more forced labor from the local Hebrew population.
Finally, we come to Y’HOSHAFAT.
This dude was the recorder.
The Complete Jewish Bible refers to him as “Secretary of State,” which, in my opinion, is way off.
His job had nothing to do with government diplomacy whatsoever.
He was more or less just the royal historian.
He recorded treaties, rulings, and David’s accomplishments.
Interestingly, his position is called ZAKAR in Hebrew, which means “to remember.”
Finally, we’ve got SH’VA .
In Hebrew, he was called the SOPHER, which means a “scribe.”
His job was probably sitting around all day creating a bunch of legal documents.
There are actually a couple of more folks on the list connected to the Priesthood.
But we’ll get into that tomorrow.
That should be interesting because it will demonstrate how David had strayed from the original instructions in the Torah.
Anyway, let’s close today’s post with an inspiring takeaway, starting with an interesting thought exercise.
Out of all the positions I mentioned above, which one do you find to be the most important?
I know you could argue that all of them are important.
But out of all of them, which one stands out to you as especially essential?
Okay, since I’m writing this and thus obviously can’t wait for your response, I’m going to share my opinion.
I would say the ZAKAR or the recorder was the most important…especially from a Godly perspective.
Why?
Because he recorded the history of Israel…which makes up a big part of the Scripture we study today.
In fact, that word ZAKAR is used in other parts of Scripture as a verb describing how God “remembers” His Covenants towards Israel, or how He “remembers” and keeps His promises.
The recording of words is an essential part of God’s plan for mankind.
How else do we know about the wondrous works of the Lord?
Or how He rescued His people from bondage in Egypt?
Then brought them to Sinai and gave them His instructions?
How else do we know about how and when to observe God’s special appointed times, such as Pesach, Sukkot, etc.?
It’s because these remembrances have been RECORDED!
Ya feel me?
Done.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“All Scripture is God-breathed and
is useful for teaching, rebuking,
correcting and training in righteousness,
so that the servant of God may be
thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
-2 Timothy 3:16-17
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