2
Samuel 22:21-23:23
2 Samuel
22:21-51
It is good
to keep in mind that David wrote this when his days of running from Saul had
ended. He had been made king of Israel, and now, no nations threatened Israel.
These were still his "pre-Bathsheba" days.
Vs. 21-25
Notice the times that David mentions his righteousness. We might feel uneasy
reading that, but there is a reward for keeping our way pure before the Lord.
That's no joke. David dealt very righteously with Saul, sparing his life twice.
Vs. 26-27
God repays in kind.
Vs. 28-31
David learned through his suffering to have great confidence in the Lord.
Vs. 32-43
This is the catalog of skills and abilities God gave David to save him from
Saul.
Vs. 44-46
Not only did God save David from his own people, but after the civil war when
David had to face other nations, God protected David and made the nations come
to him. This is mentioned in Isaiah 55.
Vs. 47-49
God was David's rock.
Vs. 50-51 Note that v. 50 is quoted by
Paul in Romans 15:8-9, For I tell you
that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in
order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the
Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore I will
praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.” I'm impressed that
Paul even knew this verse.
This is
not only a great song, but it sounds like a lot of The Psalms rolled into one.
As disciples, following Christ in the harvest and keeping our hearts clean before
Him, regardless of what happens to us in this life, our song entering heaven
will sound pretty much just like this.
2 Samuel
23:1-23
Vs. 1-7
These verses are thought to have been written at the end of David's life as a
sort of preface to introducing his mighty men. David was, if you will,
scrapbooking; and when he came to this page, he wrote a poem.
One thing
that David understood after the fiasco with Absalom was that God was holding
true to His covenant with David. Verse 5 points to this.
Unfortunately,
David did have some thorny people around him, but as a blessing from God, David
was given great loyal friends who not only supported him emotionally and
spiritually, but when it came to battle, these guys knew how to kick it.
Vs. 8-11
This is the only list where you get all the names of THE THREE.
V. 8 With
a name like that you had to be a ferocious guy. So, in one battle, with only a
spear (and no automatic weapons or grenades) he killed 800 guys.
Notice
that the other two took a stand by themselves as Israel's troops were
retreating and they turned the battle. We see ninja movies and laugh, and
rightfully so. These guys would have made ninjas cry.
Vs. 13-17
This is one of their famous exploits, done out of love and loyalty for David.
V. 16
Nowhere does it say it was evening and they snuck in. I think they fought their
way in and out of Bethlehem in broad daylight. They were just three guys, just
walking down the road with a bucket, right through enemy territory. They
probably whistled as they walked.
V. 17 This
is the spiritually perceptive David. What a thoughtful act, both praising their
loyalty and offering something precious before the Lord. No wonder his men
loved him.
Vs. 18-23
This will be continued tomorrow, but for now, we meet the leaders of THE THIRTY.
Vs. 18-19
We have met Abishai, standing with David over the sleeping Saul, wanting to
kill him. As Joab's brother he fought various battles with Joab, as second in
command. He was also the guy who wanted to cut off the head of Shimei, the
ranting, cursing Benjaminite. To think, this guy killed 300 men in a battle,
but he still wasn't on par with THE
THREE.
Vs. 20-23
Benaiah is around a lot, but we don't hear much about him. We will hear more
about him in a couple of days, because he will remain loyal to David during the
final test of David's life and he will serve Solomon.
He killed
the two giants of Moab, a lion (he must have had “cat-like reflexes”), and,
unarmed, he killed this big, good-looking Egyptian.
Both of
these guys were the head men of THE
THIRTY.
Wouldn't
it be great to work in the harvest with a group of people like this, reaching
the lost, making disciples, loving one another and following our Lord? That's
supposed to be the church.
Acts 2
V. 1 It is
no accident that the church was born on Pentecost, or rather, on the Feast of
the Harvest. You shall keep the Feast of
Harvest, of the firstfruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. (Exodus 23:16)
Notice
also that they were believers in Jesus. If the rushing sound had been a 747
crashing into their building, instead of the Spirit, they would have gone to
heaven. I say this only to say, that what God is doing here is special and for
effect. Some people say that what happened in Acts is normative for today. For
me, that idea sounds noble, but is not being honest with the text. If you bring
that idea to your reading of Acts you will misunderstand what God is doing
here. Honestly, God is doing some stuff here to fulfill different purposes in
the inception of the church. It is not normative to have believers in Jesus who
are not given the Spirit at the moment of conversion. We will see this again in
Acts, and not just here. The honest thing to do is to observe and ask why and
try to understand what God is doing. To make blanket statements might sound
like big faith, but if it isn't true to the text, it's just not true.
Vs. 2-4
This is a very important and emotionally memorable sound and light show that
God is putting on. God could have done this silently, but you won't understand
the importance of this visual and emotional event until we get to chapter 11
where it will be utterly crucial.
Notice
too, that in the OT when the Spirit came upon Samson or on David, He rushed
upon them. He still rushes.
Vs. 5-13
At this time, Jerusalem was filled with thousands of men (women and children,
too). It was a holy day where all Jewish men were required to be in Jerusalem.
It is said that because this feast and the Passover were so close together that
more people came for the Feast of the Harvest than for the Passover. Also, all
of the people who were in Jerusalem for the crucifixion would have been here.
It is said that the small city would have had 25,000 men or more there for
Pentecost. Also, the area surrounding Jerusalem would have looked like a tent
city for miles.
Notice
that the gift of tongues was actual languages. In 1 Corinthians 14:22 Paul says
that tongues was a sign for unbelievers, as it is used here. This same sign
will be used for another kind of "unbelief" in a few chapters. It was
always “only” a sign for the Jews (1 Corinthians 14:21, Isaiah 28:11).
Vs. 14-36
This is one of the most famous sermons of all time. I wonder if in the middle
of this sermon, as Peter is talking, he was also thinking, "What in the
world is coming out of my mouth?"
Notice
that it was 9 a.m. when this happened.
Vs. 17-21
These verses give us an interesting lesson in understanding how prophecy can
have a partial fulfillment. It is obvious that some part of this prophecy from
Joel applies here, but just a portion. The focus here is the pouring out of the
Spirit before the day of the Lord.
Yet, that day of the Lord is obviously the seven-year Tribulation. This could
give you the idea that something similar to this will happen at the beginning
of the Tribulation that will empower the Jews to come to God and missionize the
world during those first 3.5 years.
Notice
that David is both referred to and quoted in this sermon. It's hard to get away
from David. Because of Jesus, David is an important person throughout the New
Testament. Among all the other things that Jesus fulfilled, He fulfilled the
covenant God made with David.
V. 36 This
apparently was Peter's application, because here, he stopped talking. Many of
these people were present during the Passover and had been in the mob shouting
for Jesus' crucifixion. The Spirit led Peter to put the OT Scriptures together
in such a way, that with the Spirit's help, the crowd was moved to repentance.
Vs. 37-39
This is pretty amazing because they basically ask, "What must we do to be
saved?" Notice that they addressed all of the apostles.
So why was
this baptism important here? We are not saved through baptism. Here, it was a
test of sincerity and a sign of devotion to Jesus. No one who hated the name of
Jesus, and there were many of those, would stomach being baptized in that name.
It showed genuine repentance on their parts, having been part of that mob that
demanded Jesus' death. The formula, "Father, Son and Holy Spirit,"
might have been used as prescribed in the Great Commission; but here, because
of their previous stand against
Jesus, they were being baptized with an emphasis on His name. This showed that
they had turned to Him and it revealed the truth of their faith.
The
promise of the Holy Spirit was important for the Jews and was, apparently, how
they understood God's promise of a new heart. In the prophets, the promise of
redemption is often promised as receiving a new heart and having a heart of
flesh and having the law written on their hearts. When they understood that God
was now giving His Spirit to those who belonged to Jesus, they understood Jesus
as fulfilling this promise.
V. 40
While the portions of the sermon we’ve read were written verbatim, here Luke
tells us that there was more that was said.
V. 41 So,
now what? What do you do with 3000 people? Jesus didn't equip them to handle
this. Or did He? When you see Jesus teach His men, most often, they were with
Him, observing Him do what they would be doing in the future. Jesus fed the
5000 and the 4000 and told the disciples to set the people in groups. So the
disciples knew how to handle a crowd. You break them down into groups of
hundreds and fifties, like the feeding of the people. And because of the
synagogue system, they also had a model of how to meet, create order and assign
leadership.
Vs. 42-47
I've heard people lament that the church today is removed from this genuine
oneness, but these conditions were very unique. We see something similar to
this when a town is hit by a tornado, or if there is some other kind of pressing
event. That is all to say that the Spirit brought about the circumstances and
there was a mission. To try to bring about the oneness that only comes about by
a common mission or rescue, without a common mission or rescue embraced by
everyone, is utterly futile; and that is what a lot of Christians and churches
are experiencing - futility. The harvest is where you find Christ and His
fellowship.
It is
interesting that they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching.
Notice that there are a couple of mentions of breaking bread, which I
understand as communion.
V. 45 was
not communism, but open-hearted sharing. It is interesting that this giving
will set up one of the first cases of status seeking in the church.
V. 47 In
contrast to the day Jesus was crucified, Jerusalem is a happy place now, kind
of festive, like a spiritual Feast of the Harvest. All the people were cool
with those who had claimed Christ as their Savior and Lord, and each day,
people were being saved.
If
Jerusalem proper had 25,000 people in it because of the feast, and if 3000 of
them trusted Christ on that first day of the feast, then one-eighth of
Jerusalem now believed. This must have been a noticeable thing, especially the
baptisms. They must have had to have used all the public fountains and pools in
and around Jerusalem. Of course, all of the apostles knew how to baptize.
Everyone in Jerusalem would have been exposed to this. It was a Feast of the
Harvest to remember.
Remember
the chief priests, scribes, Pharisees and the elders? The only feast these guys
were having was on Maalox and Rolaids.
Psalm
122
This song,
to be sung as the pilgrims came to Jerusalem for the feasts, was written by
David. It seems to be a prayer of peace for Jerusalem, for what the city means.
Vs. 1-2
The thing that stands out to me is that the
house of the Lord (in David's day it would have been the tabernacle) is in
the first verse and in the last verse. David's desire while he was running was
to be in God's presence. Even during those years in the wilderness, God fixed
David's heart on Jerusalem; and one of the first things David did as king of
the nation was to bring the ark, the presence of God, into the city. David was
used by God to make Jerusalem the center of the nation's devotion to God and
the place to seek Him.
Vs. 3-5
When you read of the thrones for judgment,
you begin to get the sense that this psalm has a prophetic sense of the future
of Jerusalem during the Millennium. The disciples will sit on 12 thrones,
judging (governing) the 12 tribes of Israel, and the Messiah will judge the
nations there at the beginning of His earthly reign.
Vs. 6-9
Notice the seeking of peace. Peace is to be prayed for Jerusalem, because that
is where the tabernacle is, and that is where people seek peace with God. That
peace is found in God's presence. The prayer for the peace of Jerusalem was
that God's presence would always dwell there. It didn't dwell there because of
sin and the city was destroyed a couple of times. In the future, Jerusalem will
be a city of peace because the eternal Son of Man, the Son of David, will dwell
there.
Proverbs
16:19-20
Amen, and
it is the poor in spirit who seek the Word, whereas it is hard for God to share
His treasure with the proud.
If you’re reading along and don’t have a One Year
Bible, click on this link http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/every-day-in-the-word/. If that doesn't
work, go to http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/
and click on “Every
Day in the Word.”
I'm writing these comments to and for those who are
following a One Year Bible and interested in growing deeper as a disciple,
following Jesus in the harvest. My hope is to see the growth of a discipleship
culture in the church. Groups of 3-4 disciples, meeting weekly, encouraging
each other to follow Christ and work to reach out and make disciples who make
disciples. The Bible itself is the most universal manual we have and key to our
growth and service in Christ. Nothing keeps us more focused on why we are here
or what we are to be doing. My comments are only meant to provide some
explanation of the events or to show the flow of God's plan of redemption. My
comments are in no way exhaustive, but are designed to keep us focused on
Christ and our role in His harvest. My hope is that the people in these groups
will grow in Christ and be willing, after a year, to find 3 others to meet with
and encourage in their growth as disciples, disciples making disciples in the
harvest.
If you would like a complete description of this model
of being and making disciples you can find it in my book: Simply
Disciples*Making Disciples. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011WJIDQA?*Version*=1&*entries*=0
If you would like a more descriptive commentary that is
still readable and concise, I'd recommend the Bible Knowledge Commentary. It's
keyed to the NIV, so the result is the commentators are constantly telling you
what the Greek or Hebrew is. That never hurts.
I am not endorsing any particular One Year Bible; in
fact, I read something you don't, die revidierte Lutherbibel 1984.
Anyone reading along with us is welcome to do so and is
encouraged to take their own notes and make their own observations. If the
comments made do not agree with your particular tradition or understanding,
that's OK. Nothing I've written is meant to criticize any point of view, but
only to express the truth of what God has written to us, as I understand it.
Send comments or feedback to dgkachikis@gmail.com.
If you would like documents containing an entire month
of the Reading Notes, go to https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes. You can download
these to use on your computer or to print.
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