Unity

1st Chronicles 12

Are you surrounded by good friends? Maybe you are one of those good friends that are always there someone. When you are around a good support team you find yourself encouraged as well as confident. I attribute a lot to how I turned out to not only my family but I had good friends in high school, especially Tim and Dirk. These guys were normal guys who loved the Lord and by how they lived, they were encouraging to me. 

In this chapter we see David being uplifted as he was surrounded by mighty men who loved him and served him.

Six Years is a Long Time

David was anointed king but did not become king until Saul died. It was six years that there was an unrust in Israel as Saul was being king but David was the true king. Six years that David would run from Saul and hide in the wilderness. He would even be part of the Philistine army for a little while. In this chapter we read about how David was supported by so many faithful men. They came from the different tribes of Israel and were there to serve the king.

In verse 38 we see that all of Israel were of a single mind. They had one thing and that was unity for once. We read that Saul killed himself in chapter 10 and David was being honored as king now. We see that the fighting between Israel has stopped and the men are together in unity. 

As Christians we can have this problem of fighting and cause little divisions over the littlest things. I know there are certain things that I will not back down on, like salvation is through Jesus Christ and only him. Jesus was born of a virgin, Jesus died and rose again on the 3rd day. I am not going to compromise on the essentials, but certain things we can argue over and have been argued over for centuries. Peter told the church to have unity in mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind (1st Peter 3:8). Paul told the Corinth church that there should be no division in the body, but that the members have the same care for one another (1st Corinthians 12:25). 

For the Church to shine bright, we need Christ to be illuminated from her. When we cause division we shine our sinful self. May we be like the men who came to be of one mind with their leader and we can have one mind with Christ. Amen!

In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day

1st Chronicles 11

We see that David was anointed as king over Israel. God gave David a description the job, “He was to be a shepherd over the people.” This would be fitting for David as he already had training as a shepherd and he knew the details of watching over sheep. This is what God requires of a leader, to be over his sheep. A leader over sheep is responsible to feed the sheep and watch over them. 

The main move of David as king was making a place or city of his own. As of now Hebron was somewhat a capital for Israel but David saw Jerusalem and that it was already fortified by the Jebusites and knew that Jerusalem would be a good stronghold for Israel. 

David’s Mighty Men

From verses 11 to the end of the chapter we see that there is a description of David’s mighty men. If you want you can read 2nd Samuel 23 and compare. We see that there were 3 men who stood above the 30 mighty men. The man who is at the top of the list is Jashobeam who killed 300 men with his spear at one time. That is a pretty amazing task. From there we see Eleazar did not flee in defending a bean field for his king. Instead he stayed and fought. In 2nd Samuel 23, we see that his he fought so long and so hard that his hand was fastened to his sword.

We see that Benaiah killed a giant, warriors of Moab, and a lion in a pit on a snowy day. If we compare him to the task of David we see that Benaiah did things like David. He was around his leader and it paid off as he acted like his leader. The rest of the names we do not know what they exactly did but we know that their names are recorded in Bible forever. They were faithful warriors for the king.

Fighting a Lion on a Snowy Day

As we read about Benaiah, we read about how he killed a lion in a pit on a snowy day. It is easy to read over this and say cool. We need to understand that it was not easy to kill a lion. Especially a lion in their pit or nesting area. If it was a female lion protecting cubs, watch out! If you killed a lion during this time, you were considered a great warrior already because the lion is a mighty animal that could rip you to shreds. Not only was it a lion in a pit or nesting area, it was after snow had fallen. Have you ever tried to run in snow? It is not the easiest thing to do. In fact you get really tired, fast. He was able to kill a lion on a snowy day. We do not know why. We do not know if this lion was a threat to anyone. We just know that he did. I think he did it to show how faithful he is to the king. He was in a way showing off that he would do anything to protect or fight for the king. 

We have been placed under the King. Now, God will not ask us to kill a lion, but what about making a stand? What about sharing the Good News? We should be bold for the King, Jesus Christ. At his name every knee will bow and every tongue confess that he is Lord (Phil 2:10). Even more so being bold, we need to be able to fight against the schemes of the devil, who crouches around like a devouring lion (1st Peter 5:8). Stand even when the ground seems shaky,even though God is the solid ground in which we stand. Fight even though, the devil seems overpowering. God is bigger and in control over the devil. Do not give into the sin that entangles you. You can overcome the temptation that the devil throws at you (1st Corinthians 10:13). Keep fighting, the devil does not give and we can not afford too, but realize that Jesus fought for us and continues to fight for us.

Finish were it counts!

1st Chronicles 7

We are still looking at names, names, and more names. What is interesting about this chapter is that we see six of the sons of Jacob and their descendants mentioned. The different between this chapter and chapter 4 is that there is less detail in the descendants. These tribes are of the northern part of the kingdom.

Issachar

In verses 1-5 read about the sons of Issachar and how they began to be mighty men. These were men who would be ready to serve the kingdom as well as the king in service. 

Benjamin (6-12)

We see that the sons of Benjamin were mighty as well. Two significant characters come from the line of Benjamin; Saul, the first king of Israel and Saul who would know God’s grace and later was called Paul. Also in Judges 3, Ehud, who was judge over Israel was a left-handed man. I just like that because I am left handed. In Judges 20 we see that a lot of Benjaminites were left-handed and were really good at using a sling as a weapon. 

Naphtali and Manasseh (13-18)

We see that not a lot was written about the tribe of Naptali and that might be due to some limited sources the chronicler did not have. We do know that one significant person is from this tribe and that is Barak, the general who accompanied Deborah into battle (Judges 5). 

Manasseh was mentioned already in 1st Chronicles 5 but is mentioned here as well because half stayed on the border of Israel and half entered in. 

Ephraim (20-29)

We see that Joshua is mentioned in this section of the Ephraimites. Joshua was a great leader and faithful man unto God. We also know that Samuel, the last judge and the first prophet of Israel came from the tribe of Ephraim. 

Asher (30-40)

The last tribe mentioned in this chapter is Asher, which is a cool name. This tribe also consisted of mighty men. It is somewhat sad that the north had many mighty men but fell before the southern kingdom. Issachar, Ashur, Benjamin, they all had mighty men but the Assyrians defeated them. The other sad thing is out of all of the kings of the north, Israel, none of them did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. All of them did what was evil and worshiped the false idols. If we read Luke 2:36-38 we see a woman named Anna. She is mentioned from the tribe of Asher as one who longed for the Messiah and recognized Jesus as the Messiah. 

No matter what we do in this life, whether it is mighty, significant, or special, if we do not know Christ what does it matter. You may be remembered by people and written in history books but if you do not know Christ then your name stays here. You may not be remembered on earth but if your name is found in the book of life then you will be remembered in heaven for eternity (Revelation 3:5).

How Far is Too Far

1st Chronicles 5

I have been asked by different people how far could they do something without getting in trouble or when it becomes sin. Before I start going off on some explanation, I remind myself I asked the same question when I was younger. I would try to think I could go so far but just as long as I did not cross the line I was ok. Me and God were on good terms. I realized that thinking is wrong because my goal is to try to get close to sin thinking I could win. We need to have a different way of thinking about getting close to crossing the line of sin.

From chapter 4 to now we have been looking at the different tribes of Israel’s lineage. Chapter 4 we followed Judah and Simeon and in chapter 5 we will follow Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

Reuben mentioned 3rd

Reuben was Jacob’s first born son. As a first born son he was entitled to be first as well as receive the majority of the inheritance. In Genesis 35:22 we read that Reuben gave up his firstborn rights as he did something disgraceful. Judah was mentioned first because as well as vs 2 we see Judah rose above the tribes. Judah would be of the line for the chief ruler David and the Son of David, Jesus Christ. 

Men of War

In verse 18 we see that the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Mannasseh had valiant men who carried shield and sword, and drew the bow, and expert in war. These men were men of war but we see that in the middle of battle they would realize they were in need of God’s strength and they would cry out to God in battle and they would prevail over their enemies. Each tribe had a purpose for the community of Israel and these men would be men of war but even the men of war were weak without the strength of the almighty God. 

Aren’t you Glad you are Not Gad…

Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh were the tribes that stayed on the edge of the promise land. They liked it better than actually going all the way in. It is true that they kept their word and helped the Israelites in battle so they could obtain the land but they stayed on the edge and did not live within the land. As we read in 2nd Kings these tribes were the first to be carried off by the Assyrian army. We also read that in verse 25, “But they broke faith with the God of their fathers, and went after the gods of the peoples of the land.” They were the first tribes that gave in to idolatry.

How Far is too far?

In the beginning I remember asking myself this question and we can look at these 3 tribes (or 2 1/2) as an example. They did not want to go completely into the Promise Land. They wanted to be part of the community but also part into the other lands. We as Christians can do the same thing. We want to be part of the Christian community but we also have our other foot in the world. We try to balance it out but somehow the world will win over. The other nations influence over these tribes is sad and they were the first to be taken away from the enemy. The question we need to ask ourselves is not how close can I get to the line without crossing it, but how far away from sin can I be. We should want to be at the center with our relationship with Christ.

David says it best in Psalm 1- “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.”

Where do you stand? Are you close to the center of where God wants you? Or, are you on the edge and have your foot in both worlds?

Look Forward!

1st Chronicles 3

In this chapter of Chronicles we continue reading about the geneology if Israel. This chapter focuses on the history of David and his family. In verses 1-8 we see the list of David’s own children. Verses 10-16 are the list of kings from Solomon on. From verses 17-24 we see the post-exilic generation. Again the purpose of these chapters were to bring some history and confirmation to why the Jews were in Israel and God’s purpose for them. 

 We Have a Purpose

In the book of Acts we see Jesus with his disciples. Jesus had been risen from the dead for forty days and had been seen by several people. His time was coming where he was going to ascend to heaven and before he did he wanted to leave his disciples with some last words. In Acts 1:8 it says but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. As The disciples watched, Jesus ascended into heaven. I am sure the disciples were amazed as well as a little conplexed on what to do. But Jesus did tell them that they were going to be his witnesses to the world. 

As they were standing and watching were Jesus left them, two angels came and asked why do you still stand looking up into the heavens. Jesus will come again. As in way he was telling them, he will be back so you better make the most of it while you can. John 9:4, Jesus warns us to do work because there will be a time when darkness will come and you can’t work when it is dark. Jesus is going to come and we need to not be stuck on our life but we need to be witnesses to the world.

The intended readers of 1st Chronicles needed to not be fixated on their situation, they needed to look at the past as seeing the promises of God so they could look the future that God had for them. We too need to be stuck on our situations but look forward to the return of the King but until then, let us make the most of our time.

Be Part of the Community

1st Chronicles 2

Names, names and more names. Remember the author of Chronicles wanted the reader to know history. I wonder what it would have been like coming from Babylon and starting Israel back up as a country. They must have had identity issues as well as a negative outlook. They just came from the biggest nation at that time the world would have seen. They probably had their doubts if they were God’s people. So here the author wants to reader, a Jew living in Israel to be connected and part of the community and God’s chosen people. The author was showing them that they truly were not cut-off and if they would just look at their history they could see what God had for their future.

Jacob’s line of family

We see that the author mentions the sons of Jacob but focuses on the line of Judah. We see from Judah to his daughter in law, Tamar bore Perez. Perez had Hezron. Hezron was father to Ram and Ram fathered Amminadab. From him was Nahshon who was the father of Salmon. We then see Boaz (from the book of Ruth) who is the great-grandfather of David. It is important for us to know that God does have a special purpose to brig about the line of David. 

In Matthew 1 we see that Jesus Christ will come from the line of David. We have read from 2nd Samuel through 1st and 2nd Kings that God will not get rid of the line of David. The line of Judah needed to continue for the true King to come, Jesus Christ.

We Have our part in the Community

The author intended for the reader to realize their ancestry and to feel part of the big master plan. We need to realize that we too are part of God’s master plan, the save us from our sin. We read in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” We can read that workmanship can also mean masterpiece. God knew before the foundations of the world that we would need a savior because of our free will and of sin. We are part of the community and we have something in common. We are all sinners. We are all in need of salvation. Jesus came to die for the whole world. Those that have received Christ and asked for forgiveness are forgiven. How should this motivate us to share the Good News to the people we know? How can we know that we are part of God’s plan?