Year 5 Week 15 Day

Transcription

1 Year 5 Week 15 Day April 8 April 14, 2016

2 Week 15 Day April 8 April 14, 2016 I. Invocation and Adoration: O my God, since Thou art with me, and I must now, in obedience to Thy commands, apply my mind to these outward things, I beseech thee to grant me the grace to continue in Thy presence; and to this end do Thou prosper me with Thy assistance, receive all my works, and possess all my affections. In Jesus name. Amen. (Brother Lawrence ) Reading of Proverbs 18:13-24 (Optional) We shall continue to use the Book of Proverbs as an optional reading to transition us from worship to confession: Read this passage a few times each day, not for the sake of Bible study, but to grasp a major thought each day and translate that thought into either adoration or confession. II. Confession Pause now and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you your sins and ask for forgiveness. III. Thanksgiving List, one by one, things for which you should give thanks.

3 IV. Scriptural Reflection: This week, we shall continue the study of I Chronicles of the Old Testament. Read slowly and reflectively the assigned passage twice at least and consider the questions below each day: Day 99 1 Chronicles 6:54-81 The reiteration of the cities allotted to the Levites back in the days of their entrance into the Promised Land (Joshua 21, see note below) serves a practical purpose in that - It affirms the rights of the Levites who have returned from exile so that they could re-occupy the land of their ancestors, and - It encourage the Levites who chose not to move to their ancestral cities especially around Jerusalem to move back to perform their duties (Nehemiah 11:3-4) It is helpful to use the following chart that focuses on the Kohathtites as a guide to follow the record in this chapter: Three Sons of Levi 1. Gershon 2. Kohath whose descendants are: Ram (Amram) Aaron (the priesthood line) & Moses Ishar Hebron Uzziel 3. Merari (1) The allotment to the Kohathites their record is divided into two parts vv & vv a. Aaron s descendants: i. Why does the Chronicler emphasize that the first lot came out for the Kohathites? (v.54; Joshua 21:4) ii. Of the 13 towns given to Aaron (v.60), why was Hebron not given to them entirely? (v.55-56; Joshua 14:14) iii. From which tribes do the descendants of Aaron receive their dwelling place? (vv ; Joshua 21:4) b. Rest of the Kohathites: i. How many towns do the rest of the Kohathites (including the descendants of

4 Moses) get? (v.61) ii. From which tribes do the rest of the Kohathites receive their dwelling place? (vv. 61; 66-70) (2) The allotment to the Gershonites (vv. 62, 71-76) a. How many towns do the Gershonites get? (v.62) b. From which tribes do the Gershonites receive their dwelling place? (vv. 62; 71-76) (3) The allotment to the Merarites (vv. 63, 77-80) a. How many towns do the Merarites get? (v.63) b. From which tribes do they receive their dwelling place? (vv. 63; 77-80) (4) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life? Note: The Levites were not the sole possessors of these towns, but simply received the number of dwelling houses which they actually required, with meadow land for their cattle in the suburbs of the towns, while the rest of the space still belonged to the different tribes (K&D, Joshua, 154). Day Chronicles 7:1-40 After the genealogy of the Levites, the Chronicler now continues with the rest of the tribes. It is helpful to bear in mind that - This record of genealogy differs from all previous ones in that it has an ad-hoc purpose to help the returnees from exile to re-establish their lives in a much smaller piece of land than their ancestral land before their exile; - Many of the original families of the twelves tribes have either dwindled or ceased to exist or their descendants have not chosen to return (such appeared to be the case with the Transjordan ½ tribe of Manasseh; see 5:26), therefore their descendants are either omitted or casually mentioned; and - When compared to the genealogy of Numbers 26, it is obvious that many so-called sons are grandsons or great grandsons who had become important family heads with significant descendants so that they are also listed as sons. (1) Issachar (vv. 1-5) a. Why not look up a map of the Bible to see where is the land originally allotted to this tribe (which is south of the Sea of Galilee, west of the Jordan River). b. Look up the genealogy in Numbers 26:23-25: how many over 20-year old were counted then?

5 c. How many were counted in the time of David? (vv.2, 5) (2) Benjamin (vv. 6-12) a. Please check with your Bible map and locate the land of Benjamin (immediately north of Judah, west of the Jordan River) b. Look up the genealogy in Numbers 26:38-41: how many over 20-year old were counted then? c. How many were counted in the time of David? (vv. 7, 9, 11. Greater details of his genealogy are expanded in chapter 8) (3) Naphtali (v.13) a. Please check with your Bible map and locate the land of Naphtali (one of the northern-most tribes of Israel) b. Look up the genealogy in Numbers 26:48-50: how many over 20-year old were counted then? c. Why does the Chronicler give only a one-sentence genealogy to Naphtali without referring to their number counted in the time of David? d. Why does the Chronicler call them the descendants of Bilhah? (see Genesis 30: 7-8) e. Which other tribes next to Naphtali (geographically) are omitted in this record of genealogy by the Chronicler? (4) Manasseh (vv ) a. Please check with your Bible map and locate the land of Manasseh (west of Jordan) b. Look up the genealogy in Numbers 26:29-34: how many over 20-year old were counted then? c. Why is there no number given about their count in the time of David? What does it say about the purpose of this genealogy by the Chronicler? d. Also, read Joshua 17:1-2 and compare the names of the sons of Manasseh to those of Numbers 26 and the Chronicler s genealogy to get a sense of not so much of the confusion, but the way sons or descendants are recognized. (5) Ephraim (vv ) a. Please check with your Bible map and locate the land of Ephraim (sandwiched between Manasseh and Benjamin, west of Jordan) b. Look up the short genealogy in Numbers 26:35-36: how many over 20-year old were counted then? c. Although the Chronicler does not mention their number in the time of David, he does provide greater details of their descendants:

6 i. Who stands out as one of the most important descendant of Ephraim? (v.26) ii. Based on its geographical location, what might be the purpose of detailing the exact location of their land in vv ? (see Nehemiah 8:16; 12:39 as well) (6) Asher (vv ) a. Please check with your Bible map and locate the land of Asher (along the coast line south of Tyre) a. Look up the genealogy in Numbers 26:44-47: how many over 20-year olds were counted then? b. How many were counted in the time of David? c. Although their number has dwindled over the years, what does the Chronicler say about these heads of families? (v.40) (7) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life? Day Chronicles 8:1-40 This appears to be a supplementary genealogy to that of 7:6-12. Again, this genealogy appears to be of an ad-hoc nature in that - Apart from the first-born of Benjamin being Bela, the rest of the sons of Benjamin do not jive perfectly with that of Genesis 46:21 (except Ashbel) nor Numbers 26: 38-41, nor the earlier record of 7:6-12; and - This rather detailed record comparable to that of Judah and the Levites proves that it is meant for the returnees from exiles because the majority of them were led by the family heads of the Judah and Benjamin and the priests and Levites (Ezra 1:5) As we read this chapter of Benjamin s leading descendants who presumably are more relevant to the returnees from exile, let s simply take note of the following: (1) Who are listed here as the sons of Benjamin? (vv. 1-2) (2) The sons of Bela (vv. 3-28): the following appears to be important heads of the families under the lineage of Bels and they include: a. The sons of Bela (vv. 3-5): it is helpful to list their names out for reference. b. The other descendants of Bela (vv. 6-28): i. Descendants of Ehud (vv. 6-7): he was likely the Ehud (the Judge) who was mentioned as the son (or descendant) of Gera (see Judges 3:15ff) ii. Sons of Shaharaim (vv. 8-11): no idea who he was, and he was mentioned likely because of the many sons he begot.

7 iii. Sons of Elpaal (vv ): no idea who he was and he was mentioned likely because of his two sons Shema and Beriah drove out the inhabitants of Gath (who were Philistines). iv. Sons of Beriah (vv ): likely the son of Elpaal mentioned above. v. More sons of Elpaal (vv ): not sure if he was the Elpaal in v.12 or another significant head of families with the same name. vi. Sons of Shimei (vv.19-21): not sure if he was the same person as the Shema in v.13 but likely due to the sequence of this record. vii. Sons of Shahnak (vv ): not sure if he was the same person as the Shashak in v.14, but likely due to the sequence of this record. viii. Sons of Jeroham (vv ): not sure if he was the same person as the Jermoth in v.14, but likely due to way this record is arranged. c. The Chronicler states clearly where all of these families resided: where was it? (v.28) d. What practical purpose does the above genealogy serve? (3) Other descendants of Benjamin who lived near Jerusalem (vv ) a. The descendants of Jeiel (vv ) Not sure from whom Jeiel was descended, but his descendants were listed for at least two reasons: - They too lived near Jerusalem, the most important place of their re-settlement (v.32), and - He was the forefather of King Saul and thus it is really the genealogy of Saul. b. Jeiel was the father of Gibeon who was the father of Ner who was the father of Saul (v.33) c. The descendants of Jonathan (vv ): the genealogy is now confined to the line of Jonathan who died along with his father, Saul: i. From Meribaal to Micah (Meribaal is called Mephibosheth in 2 Samuel 4:4) ii. From Micah to Ahaz iii. From Ahaz to Jehoaddah to Zimri to Moza to Binea to Raphah to Eleasah to Azel and Eshek and their descendants (vv.35-40) iv. The sons of Ulam, son of Eshek received special praise as brave warriors. (4) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life? Day Chronicles 9:1-44 The record of former Jerusalem s inhabitants: it is helpful to bear in mind that

8 - Ezra 1 gives a brief summary of the first returnees from exile (BC 538); but it does not mean they all lived in Jerusalem (Ezra 1); - Nehemiah 11 records the inhabitants of Jerusalem after his own return in BC 445. When he successfully rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem and used his political power to make the returnees cast lot to have one of every ten move into Jerusalem (Nehemiah 11:1) because the city was large and spacious, but there were few people in it (Nehemiah 7:4). This record could well represent the inhabitants at the end of the twelve years period of Nehemiah s work (i.e. BC 433) - However, it is unsure what is meant by first to resettle in this chapter (v.2) as some of the names of the heads of the families correspond to those of Nehemiah 11, but most do not, and certainly all the numbers given are different. Since the numbers given in I Chronicles 9 are greater, it appears that many have since (their first resettling) moved away from Jerusalem and some were made to move back by Nehemiah by lots. (1) Source of genealogy (v.1) a. What is the source of the genealogy used by the Chronicler in the last few chapters? b. What is the purpose of pointing out his source of information by the Chronicler? (2) The people from Judah (vv. 4-6) a. Descendants of all three sons of Judah were represented: Perez, Zerah and Shelah (2:3-4). How many people were from Judah in total? (v.6) b. How many were there from Judah after Nehemiah s forced resettlement? (Nehemiah 11:6) (3) The people from Benjamin (vv. 7-9) a. Although the names of a few family heads are mentioned, how many people from Benjamin moved back to Jerusalem in the beginning? (v.9) b. How many were there from Benjamin after Nehemiah s forced resettlement? (Nehemiah 11:8) (4) The priests (vv ) a. The priests were those who ministered directly in the temple: how may were there in the first resettlement? b. How many were counted subsequently by Nehemiah? (Nehemiah 11:12-14) (5) The Levites (vv ) a. The Chronicler is more interested in recording the names of the families and not their numbers, what might be the reason?

9 b. How many were there in the time of Nehemiah? (Nehemiah 11:18) (6) The gatekeepers (vv ) a. Why does the entrance to the dwelling place of the Lord need to be guarded? b. Whose names does the Chronicle invoke in affirming this important role of the gatekeepers? (vv.20, 22-23; see Numbers 25:7-13). c. How many gatekeepers were counted compared to Nehemiah s time? (v.22 and Nehemiah 11:19) (7) Duties of other priests and Levites (vv ) a. What was the duty mentioned in v.28? b. What were the duties mentioned in v.29? c. What was the duty mentioned in v.30? d. What were the duties mentioned in vv ? e. Why were the musicians exempt from these duties of the common Levites? (v.33) (8) In general, who were the ones first re-settlers from exile? (v.2) (9) Who were the ones who resettled in Jerusalem itself? (vv.3, 34) (10) Repeated record of Saul s genealogy (vv ) this is an exact repetition of 8:28-38, the purpose of which seems to be to establish a link between this section of genealogy to the next section of the history of God s people from the close of the reign of King Saul. (11) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life? Day Chronicles 10:1-14 After nine long chapters of genealogy, the Chronicler now turns to the historical lessons that the returnees from exile should learn, beginning with the death of King Saul. Since this reintroduction of the narrative seems a bit sudden, it is helpful to reflect on this incident based on some previous incidents in the book of 1 Samuel: (1) This was a battle not only with the well-trained and well-equipped Philistines, but also without the presence and blessings of the Lord (1 Samuel 28:19), the result was predictable. Have you ever experienced a time when you felt that you were facing life s battle all on your own, without God s blessings? What did you do or what could you have done? (2) The tragedy of this battle began with the killing of the three sons of Saul, including Jonathan. How do you feel about the death of Jonathan, being one who remained

10 faithful to the one truly anointed by the Lord till the end? Should he have died for the sin of his father? (3) Saul eventually had to face his destiny which was known to him and yet was fought against by him till the very end. Let s spend some time to reflect on his life: a. He was a son who cared about his father (1 Samuel 9:5) and yet turned into someone who had no regards for his people, forcing them to fight on in spite of their extreme fatigue (1 Samuel 14:24): what had happened? b. He also began as a humble person, feeling unworthy to be chosen as king by the Lord (1 Samuel 9:21), and yet turned into someone who would do everything to maintain his power, even pursuing the life of David whom he knew was appointed by God to replace him (1 Samuel 24:20): what had happened? c. His pride grew from the offering of sacrifice on his own (1 Samuel 13:9), to sparing the Amalekites against God s clear instruction (1 Samuel 15:9), to the annihilation of God s high priest and his family (1 Samuel22:17-19): what had happened? (4) If you were to write the epitaph for Saul, what would you say? (5) Compare the death of Saul as recorded here, to the death of Eli as recorded in 1 Samuel 4:17-18: a. In what ways did the two men resemble each other? b. Who led a more pitiful life? Why? c. What lessons might you learn from their deaths? (6) Of all the people in Israel, why would the people of Jabesh Gilead risk their lives to retrieve the body of Saul, give him a proper burial and even fast for him for seven days? (See 1 Samuel 11) (7) What is the main message to you today, and how may you apply it to your life? Day Chronicles 11: 1-47 The Coronation of David 11:1-9 The history s lesson quickly jumps from the death of Saul to the coronation of David (1) The Chronicler says the anointing of David by all Israel was done as the Lord promised through Samuel (v.3); do you have any idea how long David had waited for this promise to come to pass? (He was anointed by Samuel at his father s house when he was a boy 1 Samuel 16:13, and was crowned king in Hebron at age 30 2 Samuel 5:4) (2) What lesson can you learn from this long time of waiting?

11 (3) What does the Bible attribute David s success to? (v.9) David s Mighty Men 11:10-47 A list of mighty men who were famous and contributed to the success of David s kingdom was given in three groups; the Three, namely Jashobeam, Eleazar and Shammah who was not named here, but was named in 2 Samuel 23:11; the Two, namely Abishai and Benaiah and the Thirty. The first three obviously gained the highest respect of David and his men. The Three (vv ) (4) How special was Jashobeam? (5) How special was Eleazar? (6) Information was given about the third, Shammah in 2 Samuel 23:11-12 how special was he? (7) While the Bible says the three in this story were part of the Thirty, it would be odd that the names of these three mighty men were not mentioned. And since this story follows immediately the introduction of the Three, it is safe to assume that this was a story of the three greatest men among all the warriors. From the location given, the feat mentioned here took place in the war with the Philistines described in 2 Samuel 5:17ff: a. Since David eventually did not drink the water brought back by the three, do you think he was totally without water, or did he simply yearn for the water from the well occupied by the enemies (probably known as the Well of David later on)? Why? b. Why did the three risk their lives in response to David s words? c. What really distinguished these Three from the rest of the mighty men of David? The Two (vv.20-25) Though Abishai was mentioned as the chief of the Three, most commentators believe it refers to being the chief of the Thirty : (8) How special was Abishai? (9) How special was Benaiah? The rest (vv ) or the Thirty (see note below) (10) Although, we do not really know who these thirty men were, except their names, what might be the purpose of listing them in here? (11) What does the inclusion of Uriah, the Hittite (v.41) signal to you? (12) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life? Note: The Thirty appears to be a general term or a round number used to denote this

12 special elite group of mighty men, because while 2 Samuel 23 listed under the Thirty some 31 men, 1 Chronicles listed 16 more and still calls them the Thirty (1 Chronicles 11:25). Day Chronicles 12:1-40 This is a more detailed account of how these mighty warriors joined David: The Benjaminites 12:1-7 (1) What was David doing in Ziklag? (see 1 Samuel 27:1-7) (2) Why would these Benjaminites, being relatives of Saul, defect to join David? (3) How special then were these Benjaminites? (4) How much did their defection mean to David? The Gadites 12:8-15 (5) When did these Gadites decide to defect to David? (v.8) (6) How does the Bible describe their unusual bravery and might? (v.8) (7) How does the crossing of the Jordan (they were from the Transjordan region east of the river) signify their unusual might? (v.15) Other Defectors to David 12:16-18 (8) Obviously, there was no way for David to know if these defectors were genuine: what did he say to them? (v.17) (9) How did they reply (through Amasai)? (v.18) (10) Why does it signify that Amasai s words were inspired by the Holy Spirit? The tribe of Manasseh 12:19-22 (11) With the defection of these people from the tribe of Manasseh, the Bible adds that a. Day after day men came to help David : as a fugitive on the run, how would David feel about the promise of God? b. Like the army of God : in what way was it like the army of God? Others joining David at Hebron 12:23-40 (12) Why don t you do a quick calculation to see how many fighting men did David have in total at Hebron? (13) They appeared to be joining David only after Saul s death: a. Does it make their joining David less genuine? Why or why not? b. What kind of a scene is depicted by vv ? (14) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life

13 V. Meditative Reflection Day 99 Everything According to God s Command These were the locations of their settlements allotted as their territory (they were assigned to the descendants of Aaron who were from the Kohathite clan, because the first lot was for them). (1 Chronicles 6:54) Back in the days of Joshua, as the Israelites entered into the Promised Land, Joshua was dividing the land to be inhabited by each of the tribes. At it appeared that Joshua had allotted the land for all of the tribes and even appointed cities of refuges among them, the heads of the Levites approached him as if to remind him that he had left them out: The Lord commanded through Moses that you give us towns to live in with pasturelands for our livestock (Joshua 21:2). I do not believe that Joshua had forgotten about them, although they do not have any land inheritance, the Lord has made sure that the rest of the tribes would share their land with them, (a total of 48 cities including 6 cities of refuge). It was really a matter of procedure that Joshua allotted their cities after he had apportioned the land to the rest of the tribes. The Chronicler chooses to emphasize what happened next, and that was lots were being drawn and the first lot came out for the Kohathites, clan by clan (Joshua 21:4). The emphasis is important in that the Levites then and now should know that This did not happen by chance; but God, according to select His wonderful counsel, placed them just in that situation which He had determined to select for His own temple (Calvin). To reiterate here is also necessary to prevent the Levites to live as they chose to, given the fact that upon their return from exile, many of the land in Judah and its vicinity were impoverished and needed a lot of work to rebuild. In fact, many Levites had chosen not to live as originally allotted especially around the Jerusalem area which was in a state of extreme poverty. That had resulted in not having enough Levites to serve in the temple (see Nehemiah 11 to see how they cast lot to make people, especially the Levites to move back to Jerusalem from other cities). This list of allotment of cities to the Levites serves a very important purpose, and that is to remind these servants of the templet to obey the command of the Lord.

14 Day 100 There is Always Hope in the Lord All these were descendants of Asher heads of families, choice men, brave warriors and outstanding leaders. The number of men ready for battle, as listed in their genealogy, was 26,000. (1 Chronicles 7:40) I wonder what might be going through the minds of the returnees from exile while they were reading the genealogy of the Chroniclers which must have reminded them of: - Many of the heads of the families of their tribes are no longer counted as they must have either dwindled into insignificance or simply ceased to have any descendants anymore; - The seemingly useless purpose of recording the number of fighting men that some of the tribes had at the time of David (e.g. in 7:2) and the omission of such statistics for tribes like Manasseh and Ephraim, and - The total omission of the genealogy of Dan and Zebulun. The picture was definitely one of the good old days, as they only had a total of 42,360 adult-males who returned from exile to Jerusalem (Ezra 2:64). Even in the time of Ezra which was about 80 years after their return (B.C ), their number could not be compared to that in the time of David. I believe the Chronicler wishes only to send them a message of warning, to learn from their mistakes of the past in rejecting God as their King, but also seeks to show them the mercy of God in that as much as their number has greatly dwindled, the fact that they are now back in the land that God has promised, and God has preserved a remnant for Himself, they should cherish such a second chance to rebuild not only the temple and Jerusalem, but to return to God whole-heartedly. This message is pretty well summed by these words by one of their leaders to Ezra in renouncing their sin: But in spite of this, there is still hope for Israel. Now let us make a covenant before God (Ezra 10:2-3) Day 101 Benjamin, the Smallest of Sons Benjamin was the father of Bela his firstborn, Ashbel the second son, Aharah the third, Nohah the fourth and Rapha the fifth. (1 Chronicles 8:1-2)

15 The fact that the Chronicler gives such details about the descendants of Benjamin causes me to reflect on the unusual history of this tribe. The Son of Sorrow : Benjamin was the youngest son of Jacob and was the only son born in the future Promised Land itself (between Ephrathah and Bethel). His birth marked the most tragic moment in Jacob s life in that his most beloved wife, Rachel died at this child s birth. In her dying agony, Rachel named this son, Benoni which means son of my sorrow, but Jacob renamed him Benjamin, meaning son of my right hand. As the youngest of all twelve sons, Benjamin was the most beloved of them all to Jacob. (Genesis 35) Close to Extinction: During the time of the Judges, when everyone did as they saw fit (Judges 21:25), the Benjaminites would not give up the wicked men who committed gang-rape of a concubine of a Levite. Subsequently, the Israelites united in their righteous zeal and almost completely wiped out every single man in the tribe of Benjamin (over 25,500), leaving only 600 survivors (Judges 20). A Kingly Tribe: By the grace of God, the Israelites mourned for the loss of this tribe before God, and through a rather bizarre scheme, helped restore this tribe which, by the time of David had increased back to some 60,000 in terms of male 20 and over (1 Chronicles 7: 6-12). Most notably in this era was the choosing of Saul from this tribe as the first king of Israel by God Himself (1 Samuel 10). Although Saul subsequently proved to be disobedient to God and met a most tragic end, dying together with his son, Jonathan, the tribe of Benjamin rose in status among the tribes of Israel. A Faithful Tribe: As much as David from the tribe of Judah had taken over the reign from Saul, at the time of the division of the kingdom, the Benjaminites were the only tribe which sided with Judah to honor the God-chosen line of the southern kingdom (1 Chronicles 11:1); and at the time of Cyrus decree to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple, the majority of those returnees whose hearts God had moved were from the family heads of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and Levites. (Ezra 1:5) A Faithful Apostle: Perhaps, the most notable person form the tribe of Benjamin from a kingdom s perspective is the Apostle Paul who was once named after his famous ancestor Saul. However, on the road to Damascus, he met Christ Jesus and upon his conversion, his name was changed to Paul and he had become perhaps the Apostle most greatly used by God to spread the gospel to the Gentiles. Indeed, like his ancestor, Benjamin who was the smallest of all Jacob s son, Paul (which means little) also considered himself the smallest of all apostles (1 Corinthians15:9). However, his impact, like that of the tribe, was far from being the smallest in the Kingdom of God.

16 Day 102 One Sows and Another Reaps Now the first to resettle on their own property in their own towns were some Israelites, priests, Levites and temple servants. (1 Chronicles 9:2) Nehemiah has already given a rather detailed record of how the city of Jerusalem was repopulated under his leadership which likely happened toward the latter part of his ministry (i.e. around BC 430). Then the record compiled by the Chronicler whom we believe to be Ezra would be, as stated, referring to those who were the first to resettle after their return from exile (9:2, i.e. around BC 538), except he only records those who settled in Jerusalem itself, namely the priests, the Levites, the families from Judah and from Benjamin.; At the time of Ezra s writing, it is obvious that many of these re-settlers had moved away from Jerusalem, prompting him to use this record to encourage them to move back to Jerusalem to properly re-establish the city and temple worship. While his effort might not have succeeded right away, I believe it did pave the way for the success by Nehemiah. It is often how things work in God s ministry, one sows and another reaps (John 4:37). It is natural for the one who reaps to rejoice, but he should understand that it is not entirely because of him, but a joint effort of the sower and the reaper, and of course, ultimately it is the work of the Holy Spirit. And so, the one who sows and cannot see any immediate result should not be discouraged. Whether people give us recognition or not, our labor of sowing will never be in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58); our true reward is not from men, but from the Lord. Day 103 A Microcosm of the Nation So Saul and his three sons died, and all his house died together. (1 Chronicles 10:6) As we come to the beginning of the historical lessons in 1 Chronicles, we begin with the end of Saul s life which ended in a most tragic fashion he and his three sons died together on the same day. But what makes his death ever more pitiful is the fact that his life ended in a fashion very similar to that of Eli, the unfaithful high priest who honored his sons more than God. The death of the two wicked sons of Eli was predicted by the man of God (1 Samuel 2:34) and as they died in the battle against the Philistines;, Eli also died on the same day, breaking his neck in the process. In a similar way, the death of Saul and his sons was also

17 prophesied by the man of God (1 Samuel 28:19), and Saul s head was cut off by the Philistines. But somehow, I feel that the death of Saul was far more tragic in that - He lived during a time when Israel was experiencing a spiritual transformation under Samuel: he benefited from the teaching of Samuel; he even participated in this process of reformation. His driving out of all mediums and spiritists was a case in point (1 Samuel 28:3); - He experienced personally the coming upon him of the Spirit of God (1 Samuel 10:10) and the empowering of God in gaining victory over their enemies: - Unlike Eli, Saul, in Jonathan, had at least a son who was godly, honest and courageous enough to point out the erring way of his father (1 Samuel 19:4-5), not to mention the company of Samuel who cared deeply about him and prayed for him (1 Samuel 16:1). Not that Eli had any excuse for his follies, but he was quite alone in his spiritual dark hole. On the contrary, Saul was surrounded by godly men and was given many opportunities for repentance. Both Eli and Saul knew that they had not obeyed the Lord. When told of God s punishment, Eli simply resigned to accept what he thought was the inevitable result. Saul, however, continued to fight against the will of God till the very end. Both brought shame to the name of the Lord and His people! Both lived a life of great regrets! However, to the Chronicler, the life of Saul is a microcosm of the entire nation of Israel. This is why he chooses to begin the part of the historical lessons with the tragic ending of Saul. Day 104 Not Just Mighty Men These were the chiefs of David s mighty warriors they, together with all Israel, gave his kingship strong support to extend it over the whole land, as the LORD had promised (1 Chronicles 11:10) The list of mighty men of David was recorded both in 2 Samuel 23:8-39 and in 1 Chronicles 11:10-47 which was expanded in the latter by 16 names (vv ). Both lists have some variations which commentators are quick to attribute to scribal errors or corruptions of the text. However, it is customary to this day in the Oriental culture for a person to have more than one name both my grandfather and my father had more than

18 one name. In any case, the recording of the names of these mighty men, I believe, does not mean that the Bible follows Ancient Near East traditions in giving exaggerated legends of mighty men; rather, as inspired words of God, it shows: - How blessed David was in having so many mighty men loyal and devoted to him; - David s success was not just his, but that of all his fellow men; and - Ultimately, it was through them that the Lord brought about a great victory (2 Samuel 23:10, 12). In fact, the way the list was compiled clearly shows that these men were honored first and foremost not by their unusual might, but by their unusual loyalty to their king. Abishai and Benaiah could easily out-fame the first three mentioned. In fact, Abishai was the chief of all 30 mighty men (v.20). However, the Three were mentioned first and were honored above all other mighty men, primarily not because of their mighty deeds, but because of their loyalty and love for their king (the Thirty Mighty Men appeared to be a fluid term at times covering all the mighty men of David). I do not believe David was totally without water, he was just expressing his desire that he could drink from the well of Bethlehem his home town. He was simply home-sick, and the three men heard not just his words, but his heart s desire and they were willing to risk their lives to give comfort to the heart of their king! How blessed David was! I do not think loyalty even comes close to describing the virtue of these three mighty warriors! Day 105 It is Worth the Waiting All these were fighting men who volunteered to serve in the ranks. They came to Hebron fully determined to make David King over all Israel. (1 Chronicles 12:38) David received the anointing by Samuel back when he was a boy (1 Samuel 17:33), meaning he was likely between years old, utmost. And when he eventually reigned as king in Hebron, he was 30 years old (2 Samuel 5:4). That means, from the time he received the promise of God to the time he saw this promise fulfilled, he had to wait some thirteen years. It was not only a long time to wait, but what happened during this time of waiting made it truly a character-molding exercise. A period of despise: Even at the time of anointing by Samuel, he was despised by his own father as too young and not worthy to even meet with the prophet Samuel. His father did not even think of him

19 as Samuel asked him to parade all his sons before him. His siblings also thought very low of him, and mocked at his attempt to fight Goliath, not to mention Goliath himself who despised him because of his age (1 Samuel 17:28, 42). One can imagine how low a self-image David must have about himself. But he looked not at himself, nor the opinion of men, but solely at the promise of God. A period of fleeing: As God honored him and gave him not only victory but fame, to the point that the women in Israel sang, Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands (1 Samuel 18:7), his good fortune quickly turned into a curse. He had to flee for his life, as his master, King Saul was determined to seek his life. He had to wonder where God s promise was! A period of trust: This period of fleeing, likely spanning almost a decade, has turned into a character-molding exercise. Time and again David had the opportunity to kill Saul. This would not only save his life, but instantly usher him into usurping the reign of Saul. However, to everyone s disbelief (and that has to include you and me), he would not touch even a hair of Saul, because he regarded him as the Lord s anointed (1 Samuel 24:6). In other words, he would not use his own strength, he would not depend on his own way, he would not seize his own opportunity, but would put his trust entirely in God not only to save his life, but to honor His promise. The result of this absolute trust in God paid dividends in the most amazing manner, not only in seeing some from all tribes of Israel crown him as King, but to hear the Spirit-inspired pledge through the mount of Amasai: We are yours, O David! We are with you, O son of Jesse! Success, success to you, and success to those who help you, for your God will help you (12:18). Indeed, it is always worth the waiting, if we are willing to totally trust in God as David did!

20 VI. A Time for Silence You have meditated much with your intellectual faculty today. Now have a moment of silence (the length is up to you, 5 or even 30 minutes), and ask God quietly, Lord, is there any important message from you today that I might have missed? Show me, your servant is listening? VII. Supplication Use the following chart to cover people and ministries that you want to remember before the Lord, apart from praying for yourself: Sunday Your family Other people Church Ministries Other Ministries City & World Others Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday VII. Benediction May He turn our hearts to Him, to walk in obedience to Him and keep the commands, decrees and laws He gave our ancestor. Amen. (1 Kings 8:58)