Tuesday, May 4, 2010

I Chronicles Chapters 20-22

20:8 - So who are these giant people? Were they an entire nation of giants? What does all this mean? Some of these men were literally giant men. Goliath who David killed was almost 10 feet tall. Og the king of Bashan had a bed that was 13 feet long! The Rephaim described in I Chronicles 20 sound like they also are giant men. But I think it is safe to assume that not every descendant of these people was huge. These men are unique and stand out as warrior champions. The word Rephaim is also used to mean "important/great men" in the bible, so they may just be a race of people who are powerful, but not all literal giants.

21:1 - Satan is named the adversary here in the original Hebrew. It is really important that we understand the significance of this passage. We can see that the Israelites are starting to understand more about what is going on in the unseen world. Their theology has expanded and God has revealed to them that there is an adversarial force that is working against Him. Satan has come to tempt David into rejecting God.

21:3 - David is tempted by Satan, yes, but the he is the one who chooses to give into the temptation...and he goes all out. Joab confronts him and says, "Who cares how many people there are - isn't it enough that they are all your servants...don't do this David." He knows the census is wrong because it shifts the focus from God's power to man's power, but David rejects the good advise and pushes forward on his destructive path.

21:13 - Of all those choices, why does David choose death by pestilence at the hand of the angel of the Lord? Because he wants God to be the one to pour out the judgement and not nature (famine) or mankind (invading army). He trusts that God will act out of love and show mercy on His people, which is exactly what happens. How many hundreds of thousands would have died in three years of famine? How many people would have been raped and tortured and murdered by an invading army. David chooses to trust the punishment of the God who loves them.

21:17 - David fully understands now the enormity of the responsibility wrapped up in leadership. These people are punished because of his pride. How many times has that been the story of earthly kingdoms? Thousands of people punished and hurt for the arrogance of their leader.

Interesting side note - the place where David finally acknowledges his guilt and pleads for forgiveness with God, is the site of the future temple of the Lord. So now God has given the Israelites peace by giving them victory over the enemies surrounding them, and He follows up by allowing these events to bring about the building of the temple where they will have the spiritual power to overcome their adversary Satan. Pretty cool.

22:5 - I think it is awesome that David works so hard to give his son the tools he needs to be successful when he takes over as king. I want to do the same for my children...I want to give them the tools they need to be successful followers of God in this world.

22:16 - Great mission trip slogan! "Arise and work! The Lord is with you!"

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ch. 20: I wonder if the shiremans are decendents of the Rephaites?

Ch. 21: The plague is described as the sword of an angel of the Lord. What ever it was it happend so quickly as if someone swung a sword. 70,000 people in three days, I can only imagine the calamity.

Pride kills, and the higher in authority you are the greater the destruction. Lord, keep me a man of low position.

Brando - this account in 2 Sam 24 says that the Lord's anger incited David into the Census, while here it is Satan. What is your take on that?

Brand al Thor said...

Great question Mr. T about the God vs. Satan thingy. I tried to address it, but probably did a crappy job. I think they had a more fully realized theology of God by the time Chronicles was written. The first account writer probably only knew of God, so anything that happens good or bad is by God's hand. The Chronicles writer understands more deeply the spiritual war going on and believes that Satan incites David to rebel against God. God does allow the temptation to happen, so it's not really a contradiction. Does that make sense? We are watching God's ultimate plan be revealed over time to His people.

To-bi or not To-bi said...

21:12 - What is the significance of the number 3?

Matt said...

20:1- They reserved spring time for their battles? That's kind of ironic. Spring is suppose to be the season of life, yet they do they go off and kill each other. Am I reading that right?

21:8- So David just asks for forgiveness here- knowing God's gracious nature? Its as if he already knows about Jesus. Like he understands and sees the light that the crucifixion and resurrection projected into the past. Most Jews have sacrificed something at this point, right?

Brand al Thor said...

Tobi - the three is a number that marks divine completion - kinda like the Holy Trinity, God is complete in Himself. In this instance it would be used to signify that after the 3 years, months, etc...God's divine judgment would be complete. Good question.

Brand al Thor said...

Matty - spring marked the end of the rainy season in the middle east and the roads dried up so people could go to war and not get their supply carts and chariots all bogged down.