God’s Word for You
2 Chronicles 8:7-10 Aliens in the land
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Monday, October 21, 2024
7 All the people who were still left from the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites (who were not Israelites), 8 that is, their descendants remaining in the land, whom the Israelites had not destroyed were conscripted by Solomon for forced labor. They remain working so to this day. 9 But Solomon did not force the Israelites into this labor. They were his fighting men, leaders of his officers, and commanders of his chariots and charioteers. 10 They were also King Solomon’s chief officials—two hundred and fifty officers supervising the men.
This is the last time the Hittites and other nations here are mentioned in the Bible apart from the description of Solomon’s wives in the same time period (some of his many wives were “Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites,” 1 King 11:1). There are a few basic things about these nations that might be useful to know for some students:
The Hittites were once a huge and mighty nation, extending south and east from the city of Hatti in north central Asia Minor (the Galatia of the New Testament). Critics of the Bible often claimed that no such nation ever existed, and the Hittite references in the Bible were held up as evidence that Genesis and the historical Old Testament books were fictions. However, discoveries by archaeologists in the 1880s revealed what believing students of the Bible already knew: the Hittites were a true, historical nation. They were hill people, preferring mountainous areas in Turkey as well as in Canaan (Numbers 13:29). They expanded as an empire after the time of Abraham (who had some Hittite friends and neighbors, Genesis 23:3). After the time of the Judges, they were no longer a world power and survived in local bands and tribes such as those mentioned here in 2 Chronicles.
The Amorites were an earlier power, rising to dominance shortly after the Tower of Babel incident until about the time of Isaac, Jacob and Job (17th century BC). A northern group of Amorites was under the sway of the giant Og in the days of Moses (1400s BC, Numbers 21:33-35), and a southern group was ruled by Sihon (Numbers 21:21).
The Perizzites were a forest people living “above Ephraim” (Joshua 17:15) which may mean on the mountain peaks high in the hill country of Ephraim. Many Perizzites were defeated by the men of Judah and Simeon in a battle at Bezek (Judges 1:4-5).
The Hivites are a mysterious group, probably hill-dwelling or cave-dwelling, living on the slopes of Mount Hermon in the north. Some Hivites were pressed into service by Joshua as lumberjacks and water-carriers (Joshua 9:27).
The Jebusites were the Canaanite (perhaps Amorite or Hittite) group living on Mount Zion when David captured their city around 1003 BC (2 Samuel 5:6-7). David allowed many of the conquered Jebusites to continue to live in the city under his rule. The man who owned the threshing floor where the temple was built was a Jebusite named Arauna (1 Chronicles 21:15).
It seems that these former enemies of Israel now became employed in beefing up Israel’s defenses. Some of the related verses in 1 Kings 9 suggest that this force of forced labor fortified the frontier fortresses to the north (Hazor and Megiddo) and the south (Gezer and Tadmor) as well as the two castles at Beth Horon we read about in verse 5.
Should we take time to discuss the ethics of forced labor? In Solomon’s time, what was the choice? When his own brother, Adonijah, was permitted to go free and forgiven after rebelling against him (1 Kings 1:51-53), he came right back and made another play for the throne. To defend his own life and the role God had given him, Solomon had his brother put to death for treason (1 Kings 2:23-25). What about these people who had been enemies of Israel, and had been condemned to death by the Lord’s own command? David had mercy on them, and Solomon continued that mercy. The conditions were certainly harsh, but theirs was a life that would allow for Sabbath days and holidays, food, water, marriage and a family. If one of them wished, he could be circumcised and join the nation of Israel, and presumably he would be released, “to set him free from his captivity,” probably in the seventh year of work, along with his family (Exodus 21:2-3).
Solomon used Israelites to do the fighting and as the officers of his army as well as the labor force. One of the men who had this task was Adoniram. He must have been fairly young when David assigned him to this post (2 Samuel 20:24), because after Solomon’s forty years on the throne he was still in the same position when Solomon’s son Rehoboam made his bad beginning to his reign (2 Chronicles 10:18).
Every government must address the question of what to do about people living there who are not citizens. That is the government’s task. But what about us, the citizens of the nation? We’re also citizens of God’s kingdom. Our Lord teaches us to be clothed with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience (Colossians 3:12). And again, the Holy Spirit says: “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it” (Hebrews 13:2). And the Father proclaims: “I will be quick to testify against those who deprive aliens of justice but do not fear me” (Malachi 3:5). Solomon gave the aliens in Israel work. Hard work it surely was, but work. He did not drive them away. When our Lord met strangers and aliens, he did not lecture them about whether they belonged in the land, but he showed concern for their souls. May we walk as Jesus did in this way and every other way in life (1 John 2:6).
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.