History – 1 Chronicles 20-24

We briefly mentioned some weeks ago that 1 Chronicles should be seen as a parallel documentation of 1^st and 2^nd Samuel. This speaks for itself when we read of similar incidents concerning one of the pivotal characters of both books – David.

What was David like as a warrior, leader, and king? What was David like as… a man? We get glimpses into his love for God and Israel, as well as the human errors of his very human being. More than all that, we get an understanding into the history of Israel during its monarchical epoch, and the relationship that king David had with the nation and God, all of which serve as historical lessons.

We’ll read these 5 chapters today: 1 Chronicles 20 – 24.

Bible Passage:  1 Chronicles 20-24

The following serve as bite-sized summaries of each chapter.

Chp 20 – David’s forces led by Joab, went out into battle against the Ammonites and later on, the Philistines. When David chose to remain in Jerusalem, it was when he committed his heinous crime and sin with Bathsheba (cf. 2 Sam 11: 1-5)

Chp 21 – David was obviously at a certain apex in his glorious rule. The peaceful times led to another grave error when he called for an unholy census of the warriors of Israel (cf. 2 Sam 24:1-25). Punished for his error, Israel bears the brunt of the sin, while he, the guilt of the crime.

Chp 22 – David was told by God that he was not to construct the temple for the Lord. The task instead was to be bequeathed to his son, Solomon. David nevertheless makes grand and massive preparations of building materials.

Chp 23 – David pronounces Solomon as king over Israel. David also makes very precise and detailed plans for the service of the Levites, ensuring that they tend to the needs of the tabernacle of meeting.

Chp 24 – David along with Zadok, divided the Levites into their main priestly duties and a 24-hour shift-work for the office of the temple service is stipulated.

***The above points are meant for our quick reference***

More than all this factual knowledge, we ought to make it a point that our bible reading allows us to glean spiritual insight and wisdom that can only come from God. Whether it is warnings for our souls, or encouragements for our spirits, we read and we’ll put all things in prayer, asking God to lead us on to better spiritual nurture levels.

What do you see?

The NDP song this year triggered us to look within and without ourselves. What do we see in this nation? What do we see in ourselves? Staying on those points, I thought it was relevant for us today, since we also ought to ask that question in the biblical and spiritual sense (God’s nation & ourselves).

Biblically, we see David’s deeds, both prudent and daft. But before we take a swipe at good old David, it may be wise if we turn that index finger back at our own noses and ask the same question in the spiritual sense: What do we see?

Error In Peaceful Times

Quite evidently, the error in today’s reading is the unholy census that David called for. Even after Joab’s advice to turn from that folly, he was still knuckleheaded in his insistence. If we consider that David was on a roll, winning battles and conquering his enemies with God’s help, we understand that he was heading into a lull – one of the greatest enemy of a godly person.

Additionally, such an unwise move shows us David’s pride in his achievements. The objective is clear: we should not make the same spiritual error in our work and worship. When things are going well, we must thank God and not glorify our own efforts.

Foresight and Farsighted Wisdom

This comes largely from 1 Chron 22. Though refused by God, David was not one to sit and wail his missed opportunity to be remembered as the builder of the grandest temple of God. Rather he made preparations, which to be modest about it, was rather ample. I’m more of the opinion that he was ALL-OUT and extremely DEVOTED to the preparations for the temple.

“Of gold and silver and bronze and iron there is no limit” (22:16). I mean… wow. What more can we say?

We are doing the same today in our preparations for the future generations. Our children, our RE students, our little lambs… they are all under our tutelage. We should go all-out and be devoted to planning for the future of God’s church. Our aim is to aspire for God’s glory to be upon His church, and we as RE teachers, parents, and older ones play a crucial, decisive role.

Systematic and Organisational Leadership

David was quite the astute planner as well. His role in seeing to the organisation of the Levites and their duties allowed for their orderly service to God. While not all of us are made to be organisational leaders, we are given the potential and capacity to be orderly for God.

This translates into being orderly in our daily lives as Christians as we plan for our families, career, studies, or major life-decisions.

This translates into being orderly in our worship and service of God in church as we go about the regular church services and proper form of divine work.

On this Sabbath Day, as we pray and worship God, let’s learn from history.