1. 1 Chronicles 5:25–26 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

Summary

1 Chronicles 5:25–26 (ESV)

25 But they broke faith with the God of their fathers, and whored after the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God had destroyed before them.

The record of the Transjordanian tribes, however, reaches its climax in the summary of their exile, which is derived from 2 Kings 17:7–23.1 Interesting to note is that the sequence of events in the exile of the northern tribes follows almost word for word the description of Judah’s going into exile (2 Chronicles 36:14–20). These essential elements can be summarized under four headings:2

  1. Like Achan the Transjordanian tribes acted unfaithfully. The word unfaithful appears frequently in Chronicles to describe flagrant covenant violation (1 Chronicles 2:7; 1 Chronicles 5:25; 1 Chronicles 9:1; 2 Chronicles 36:14).

  2. Their unfaithfulness was expressed in idolatry. They whored after the gods of the people of the land whom God had destroyed before them (1 Chronicles 5:25). Just as an adulterer breaks covenant with his wife when he joins himself to prostitute, so too, forsaking the one true God for idols is seen in the same light (2 Chronicles 36:14; see further Leviticus 17:7; Deuteronomy 31:16; Judges 2:17; Judges 8:27; Isaiah 57:3; Jeremiah 3:1; Ezekiel 16:15).3 What makes this sin so monstrous is that these tribes returned to the idolatry of the Canaanites (the people of the land), the people that he had rooted out of the land. This is the ultimate insult—to worship the very gods that God had destroyed the previous occupants of the land for worshipping.4

    This very act resembles Solomon's observation: Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly (Proverbs 26:11). Having been brought out of the bondage and slavery of Egypt, the land of a multitude of false gods, these same people, despite the outpouring of blessing and kindness upon them, through unbelief and unfaithfulness placed themselves under that very same bondage. This time it is Assyria and not Egypt. This is exactly what the prophet Hosea had told them: They shall not return to the land of Egypt, but Assyria shall be their king, because they have refused to return to me (Hosea 11:5).

    It is here that the writer shows a clear understanding of the vomit theology laid out by Moses in Leviticus (Leviticus 18:24–30). Repeated transgression against God and rejection of his covenant causes unspeakable defilement of the land, which can only take so much before vomiting out the inhabitants of the land God had given to them. Despite repeated warnings by God’s prophets, the tribes of the northern kingdom persisted in their idolatry (2 Kings 17:13–15).5

  3. God sent a foreign army to punish them (1 Chronicles 5:26; cf. 2 Chronicles 36:18–20). The theology of divine retribution is here set forth. The king of Assyria carried them away into exile. God stirred up the spirit of Tiglath-Pileser to come against Israel and carry them off into exile. The verb stir up (Heb. ya‘ar) is used frequently to speak of human instrumentality that God stirs into action, usually in judgement (Isaiah 41:2, Isaiah 41:25; Isaiah 45:13; Jeremiah 50:9; 2 Chronicles 21:16). Pul was the private name of Tiglath-pileser III prior to his accession in 745 BC. The NIV has properly translated the words as God stirred up the spirit of Pul…that is, Tiglath-Pileser. This same name is also found as Pulu in Neo-Babylonian texts.6

  4. The result was the Assyrian exile (1 Chronicles 17:23).

    The Chronicler clearly recognizes the sovereignty of God in this entire matter. It is God who stirred the spirit of the king of Assyria to judge the sin of Israel (1 Chronicles 5:26). Likewise, it is God who stirred the spirit of the king of Persia to permit the Jews to return to their covenant homeland (2 Chronicles 36:22–23).7

    The diaspora (dispersion) that resulted took place in the campaign by the Assyrian king in 734 BC (see 1 Chronicles 5:6; 2 Kings 15:29). How many were taken captive cannot be known, but the Chronicler possessed information as to their destinations—Halah, Habor, Hara, and the vicinity of Gozan. As part of the ten lost tribes, their whereabouts were known at least to the Chronicler who said they were in those places “until this day” (1 Chronicles 5:26). The unspecificity of the time frame here referred to allows for a broader future interpretive fulfilment in a New Testament gospel-related context.