(Reading Time: 5:30) Today I am catching up on a couple of posts I missed two weeks ago. So this blog will be dated May, 31st and numbered as No. 22. Sorry for the confusion. You will still enjoy this insight just the same.
As I was reading a couple of weeks ago through 1st Kings, I pondered a verse that I never really considered before. We all know that Solomon was the wisest man on earth in his day. Even until the writing of 1st Kings he was still considered the wisest man who had ever lived. His wisdom was not just limited to his governance, but “He described plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls. He also taught about animals and birds, reptiles and fish.” (1st Kings 4:33, NIV.) People from all over the world came to hear him teach and watch him judge his people.
In 1st Kings 4:31 the Bible states, “He was wiser than any other man, including Ethan the Ezrahite—wiser than Heman, Calcol and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame spread to all the surrounding nations.” That’s what caught my eye and started me to pondering this verse. Solomon was being compared to what are obviously other wise men of his time. Four of them to be exact. These wise guys are listed by name, Ethan, Heman, Calcol, and Darda. The two last guys were the sons of Mahol and Ethan was an Ezrahite.
So who are these guys to rate being listed along with Solomon for their wisdom? I had to look into it, because I recognized two of the names Ethan and Heman. Let’s start with them.
1st Chronicles 6:33 calls Heman a musician, from the tribe of the Kohathites. King David appointed him and two other men, Asaph and Ethan, to lead the worship in the temple Solomon built. There was another man, named Juduthan, who was replaced at a later date, but these men were highly respected for their musical talent, as was King David. They also were very close to the king and operated as prophets for him and as royal advisors.
“Heman and Jeduthun were responsible for the
sounding of the trumpets
and cymbals and for
the playing of the other instruments for sacred song.
The sons of Jeduthun were stationed at the gate.”
1st Chronicles 16:42, NIV.
As I studied more about these men I came to find that they also wrote several of the Psalms, as David did. The thing to note is that Heman wrote Psalm 88, a maskil about the final days of Jesus. Very prophetic. The very next Psalm was written by Ethan. These men knew their stuff and prophesied about many things to come in the future.
“4 As for Heman, from his sons: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shubael and Jerimoth;
Hananiah,
Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti and Romamti-Ezer; Joshbekashah, Mallothi,
Hothir and Mahazioth.
5 All these were sons of Heman the king’s seer.
They were given to him through the promises of God to exalt him.
God gave Heman fourteen sons and three daughters.
6 All these men were under the supervision
of their fathers
for the music of the temple of the LORD, with cymbals, lyres and harps,
for the ministry at the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun and Heman
were under the supervision of the king.
7 Along with their relatives—
all of them trained and skilled in music for the LORD—they numbered 288.”
1st Chronicles 25:4-7, NIV.
What an amazing family! Heman maintained an entire army of worship leaders and musicians for the temple. It was prophesied over him that God would exalt him. Asaph, Jeduthan, and Heman were under the direct supervision of the king himself. All of the singers and musicians came from these three families. Later Aspah replaced Jeduthan and excelled above them all.
So Ethan and Heman, leaders of worship in God’s house, were noted among the wisest people of their day. They were only surpassed in their wisdom by Solomon himself. Now the other two guys that were mentioned, Calcol and Darda, were the sons of Mahol. The only other place they are mentioned are in 1st Chronicles 2:6 where they are listed as two of the five sons of Zerah, “Zimri, Ethan, Heman, Calcol and Darda—five in all.” I have yet to figure this out, but the focus of what I am sharing is not their lineage, but their wisdom. Calcol means “sustaining” in Hebrew and Darda means “pearl of knowledge.” Again, these four men are listed up there with Solomon for their wisdom and all of them are associated with worship in the house of God.
Now although Asaph is not mentioned for his wisdom, he is mentioned the most often in the Bible, about 40 times. Even in the days of Hezekiah, his words were well known. He too is mentioned to be a seer, meaning a prophet or royal advisor.
“King Hezekiah and his officials ordered the Levites to praise
the LORD with the words of David and of Asaph the seer.
So they sang praises
with gladness and bowed their heads and worshipped.”
2 Chronicles 29:30, NIV.
I know this might seem a little disconnected, but even though not much is known about these men from their biblical account, their influence in temple worship, their words of wisdom, and even their prophecies, live on today. Ethan, Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the four wise men of the Old Testament.
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