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JULY
17
1
Chronicles 24:1-26:11
When the question is asked about
David being a man after God's own heart, it gets kind of muddled by the
catastrophe of his acts with Bathsheba and Uriah, and the fallout within his
family and among his friends. Ezra knew this was all recorded in 2 Samuel.
Here, Ezra is showing the David who recovered from these losses and served God
with all he was until he died. What we see here is the deep heart of passion of
David, visible in the spiritual leadership he took in Israel. This is what
showed David was a man after God's own heart. Thank you, Ezra.
These chapters are easy to
"organize," thanks to the editors who made the chapter divisions.
1 Chronicles 24
Vs. 1-6 This is the organization
of the two chief families of the priests. Notice in v. 3 that David himself
took the leadership to organize the priests. Notice also in v. 4 that Ithamar
had fewer people. This was thanks to King Saul and Doeg slaughtering all the
priests and their families at Nob in 1 Samuel 22:18. This was also because of
God’s judgment on Eli and his sons back in 1 Samuel 2-4.
Vs. 7-21 David organized the
priests into 24 divisions, meaning they would only serve about two weeks a
year. Notice the division of Abijah in v. 10. In the future, ending the 400
silent years that came after Malachi, we will meet someone famous in Luke 1:5
who belongs to this division.
Vs. 20-31 These Levites were to
help the priests in the temple service and were selected by lots and paired
with the different divisions.
Did you know David did all of
this?
1 Chronicles 25
Vs. 1-8 David, a singer and
musician himself, exercised spiritual leadership in organizing the singers.
Notice in v. 1 that David and the chiefs of his servants did this selection. In
the German, it says it was the army commanders. It gives the idea that the
singers may also have accompanied the army into battle. Jehoshaphat brought the
singers into battle with him.
V. 5 Notice that this guy,
Heman, was blessed by God to perform his service. This was the first family
gospel band.
V. 6 Notice that three of these
guys were directly answerable to David.
V. 7 Also, there was training
and schooling for singing and playing.
Vs. 9-31 Again there were 24
divisions of singers to match the 24 divisions of priests.
1 Chronicles 26:1-11
We don't see David's name until
v. 27 (tomorrow) as the responsible party in organizing these
"gatekeepers." Now it isn't exactly clear what they did, but it seems
that they also helped in the worship and music. It is possible that the
gatekeepers organized groups of pilgrims who were arriving for the feasts. They
would have led these people in cleansing, worship and singing. In Nehemiah the
gatekeepers were also singers, and they were associated with the worship. You
wouldn't want a singer to guard the gate. You'd want a soldier. These guys must
have met people and used their gifts in worship to bring these people to a
place of spiritual and physical readiness. Just a suggestion.
V. 4 Notice the name of
Obed-edom. His was the family that hosted the ark of the covenant after David's
first attempt to bring it to Jerusalem failed. Obed-edom's house was blessed,
but in 2 Samuel 6:11 we never heard how he was blessed. Now Ezra tells us. Look
at vs. 4-8. Not only did God bless his land and crops, but his family also grew
from sons to grandsons; and they were all blessed by God for the service of
worship in Jerusalem.
We haven't finished finding out
how much David organized, but Ezra's point is clear. A leader makes it his
personal passion to lead the people in worship. He himself worships, but he
also takes the responsibility to make sure things are well organized and
prepared for the people of God. This would be Ezra's message to those who
returned from exile and thought they were leaders of the people.
As disciples who make disciples,
our service to others is to prepare them in following Christ and making
disciples. They say that leadership and passion are "caught" not
taught. Love and passion have to be in us, for it to be passed on to others.
And we need to be intentional in leading others to be disciples who love Christ
and make disciples, who make disciples.
Romans
4:1-12
Up to this point, Paul has done
some heavy duty theology and has really messed with the thinking of the Jews.
Now it's time for an illustration: Abraham.
Vs. 1-5 In the ESV there is a
note that gained by can be rendered
as "about." I think "about" is accurate. Paul is saying
something like, "For example, let's take a look at Abraham." This
point about Abraham is clear. Abraham became righteous by faith, not by works
or religion.
Vs. 6-8 Righteousness by faith
and grace was also a part of David's experience. David was regarded as an
inspired prophet. Here he says that forgiveness and righteousness are possible
without the law. But more than that, David was spared from death for the crimes
he committed by God's mercy. According to the law, David should have died.
Apart from the law there was a way that God could righteously forgive David.
Vs, 9-12 This part of the
argument is fairly easy to understand. I'll bet this had the same effect on
Paul's readers as it did on Paul himself when he first discovered this. What a
great argument and truth. If you look at this section in Genesis 15:1-18, it is
pretty stunning to think that Abe had this kind of faith, especially when you
remember that he had to wait 25 years to see the promise, in the form of Isaac.
Paul is still making a
distinction between Jews and Gentiles, but he ties them together by saying that
both are saved by the faith of Abraham.
Psalm
13
Back at the beginning of the
year when we first read this psalm, we hadn't read about David running for a
decade from Saul. David was definitely in the "pits" when he wrote
this. Those were long years of living in the hills and on the run.
Vs. 1-2 How many times does how long appear, and what is the subject
of each question? Verse 2 is a verse you wish you never had to identify with,
but in following Christ as a disciple, it is a certainty. It is hard to live
day after day, taking counsel in your soul, not hearing from the Lord, seeing
no clear leading or deliverance. Day after day, realizing that the Lord is
keeping you safe, but you're always carrying a weight of sorrow. It is a kind
of "weight" training that every disciple must go through.
Vs. 3-4 As David cries out,
notice lest and note the different
fears David had.
Vs. 5-6 David trusted in God's steadfast love even when he didn't
"feel" that love. His heart would rejoice in spite of his emotions.
David, as usual, promises to sing the praises of God.
Interestingly, we just read 1 Chronicles
16:41, which is toward the end of David's life with those years of despair and
running long behind him. He commands the singers to constantly be reminding the
people in worship, to give thanks to the
Lord, for His steadfast love endures forever. The "weight"
training left its mark on David's faith. Those long years of struggling taught
David the love of God.
Proverbs
19:15-16
Verse 15 might just sound like a
general life principle, but next to v. 16 it takes on an added meaning. Are the
commandments just the moral laws or do the commandments open the door to the
redemptive purpose of God and what's happening on this planet? It seems to me
that to drift through life as a believer gets you into trouble too.
After Paul talks about the armor of God in Ephesians 6, he
goes on to say to keep alert with all perseverance. I was reading this morning
Jesus saying that, For
whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake
and the gospel's will save it (Mark 8:35). Notice that Jesus also says
you have to be willing to lose your life for the gospel's sake. For our sake,
we tend to separate Jesus from the gospel: the Savior from the salvation of
men. We love the good buddy Jesus and we love to sing about Him. But Jesus is
still in the business of saving people, and spreading His gospel is really
loving Him. His ways in v. 16 would
include the command to go and preach the gospel. Disciples are disciples in the
harvest.
Please Read
the Following Disclaimer
I'm writing the Reading Notes to and
for those who are following a One Year Bible and are 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, that is, 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 and important discipleship manual we have and it is the 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, or whom we are to be following. 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, as disciples, 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, making disciples in the harvest.
If you would like a more descriptive
commentary that is still readable and concise, I'd recommend the Bible Knowledge Commentary (BKC).
I read the BKC in doing background for the Reading Notes and refer to it quite
often. I also make reference to maps or charts in the BKC, though I will only
note where those resources can be found. Often you can do a search for these
and find them in Google books. Buying both volumes of the Bible Knowledge
Commentary would be a good idea.
I am not endorsing any particular
One Year Bible translation; in fact, I read something you probably don't, Die
Revidierte Lutherbibel, 1984. Unless noted, all Scripture quotes are from the
ESV Bible.
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. Often there is a breadth of opinion on certain events, both
historical and prophetic. Many of my views come from my church background,
theological training and my personal study.
I'm
doing this with discipleship in mind, meaning, I'm writing out thoughts that
will keep discipleship and our growth as disciples applied to what we are
reading. Remember, the real focus of the Reading Notes is to be a supplement,
a disciple’s commentary, giving motivation and insight so that we will keep
following our Lord in the harvest, reaching the lost and making disciples, who
make disciples. Being in the Word every
day, sitting at Jesus’ feet, learning directly from Him, is the essential
essence of being and making disciples.
May the Lord bless you as you follow Him in the
harvest, reaching the lost and making disciples, who make disciples. Dan
If you would like documents
containing an entire month of the Reading Notes, go to https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes.
If you would like a full
presentation of discipleship read Simply
Disciples*Making Disciples.
Or if you are struggling with
insomnia and would like a long boring dissertation on disciple making, these
can both be found on https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes.
Reading Notes ©, Dan Kachikis
2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018
The One Year Bible © by
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton Illinois 60189
The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version® (ESV®) Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of
Good News Publishers.
All charts/graphics/outlines
from the Bible Knowledge Commentary are used with the permission of David C.
Cook.
© 1983, 2001 John F Walvoord and Roy B Zuck.
The Bible Knowledge Commentary is published by David C Cook.
All rights reserved. Publisher permission
required to reproduce.
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