Joab
Tomorrow is a FANTASTIC read! (I read half of it already)
We have read about a man name Joab in the past but I want to recap a little. Joab is David’s sister son. (so it is his nephew). His name is Hebrew is Yaob meaning “the Lord is Father”
Joab was the military man behind Israel’s most successful warrior king, David. All three of his nephew’s were in David’s army but Joab was a ruthless commander. Joab was also very cunning and courageous, and was driven by revenge. You may remember when Abner(the general of King Saul’s successor wanted to switch sides with David, Joab murdered him. (fear of losing the right hand man position)
Well, Joab is a great help to David (for now) but pay attntion…His over zealous behavior will eventually bite him in the buttocks.
Speaking of buttocks….they are in tomorrow’s read. 🙂
2 Sam 8-9; 1 Chron 19
For some who jumped it all these names and people might be overwhelming. Well for even the ones who have read the whole time it might be overwhelming. I actually need the 1 Chronicles repeat to make sure it all sinks in. David is taking the role of King and he is conquering the land that was given to the Israelites. (the Promise Land)
David’s victories were big deals. First, I was surprised he killed the Moabites. I know God called judgement on them but being who his great-grandmother was (Ruth, the Moabite), it just surprised me…that’s all. But conquering Moab was quite the feat, they were ridiculously strong in military, they always have been (they began from the line of Lot and his daughter…yuck) The Edomites, another name we hear all the time, coming from the line of Esau (Jacob’s brother).
The details in the geography in these chapters is important because it fulfils God’s covenant with Abraham in Genesis. Then there is the story of Jonathan’s son (Saul’s grandson). Go to 2 Sam 4:4 if you need a reminder of how he became crippled. This is a very beautiful story.
Later when we read about David messing up (a lot) BUT you hear from the pulpit at church…He is a man after God’s own heart and you get confused think about moments like this. David’s CHARACTER.
Day 127: 2 Sam7, 1 Chron 17
Being that it is May 7th, lots of 7′s today (Day 127 and we read 7 and 17). Click here for reading. (God’s perfect number is 7) Gonna be a good one.
This such an important chapter! This is the Chapter that promises us that the Messiah will come from the Dynasty of David. When Mary was told she would give birth to a son as a virgin the angels said
“Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”
Mary was educated on the scriptures so on that phrase she knew that this baby was the promised Messiah.
This covenant will make us pay attention to the Line of Judah (David’s Tribe) from here….through the prophets…through the captivity….the remnant…..to Mary….all the way to the Tribulation and finally to the New Heaven!
“Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.” Rev 5:5
“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.” Rev 22:16
And Chronicles 17 gives a beautiful portrait of God. He does not want a house or temple built for Him, he is very content where He is. Yet, He will build us a Temple, a temple that will last forever, Jesus.
“‘The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you: When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with the rod of men, with floggings inflicted by men. But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’ 2 Sam 7:11-16
Remember what is the key word: Covenant! God’s long term purpose of redemption is evident here in what is called the Davidic Covenant. God promises David an eternal kingdom, throne, and seed. There are 9 different dynasties in Northern Israel, there is one dynasty in Judah-the line of David. The promise of a permanent dynasty IS fulfilled in Christ, “the Son of David”. prophesied in Isaiah 9:7 and told in Luke 1:32.
For you beautiful musically inclined Psalmist. When you read them you exalt the Lord in every word. You lift it high. I get that because when I am a Chronicler at heart, and when I read today, and read David’s prayer…well that is my Psalm…I read it in my head like I am reading it for 800 people to hear.
Why 2 of the same story.
Some of you are jumping in and you may be a little confused as to why we are reading the same thing….twice. It’s actually quite amazing.
2 Samuel was written right after David’s reign. Around the year 930 BC. It is a historical book. It’s purpose is to record historical events, and to speak to all of us about how living for the Lord can make a difference. We will see in this book what God desires of us and what He does not.
1 Chronicles was written by Ezra 500 years later! Around 430 BC. Ezra was like a librarian. He compiled facts and documents. His purpose was to show God’s promised Covenant through the Hebrew nation. (He will bring forth a Messiah through the Hebrew nation) That is why you see a lot of genealogy. It’s purpose is to show unity of the people for the purpose of God and His Glory.
If you think it is BORING to read the same thing twice. THING AGAIN. How do we know GOD WROTE THE BIBLE through the hand of man? Well, one way is this. 500 years apart…2 different authoes….they never met, and they wrote practically the SAME thing word for word. 3 words A…MAZE….ING.
Each book is the same yet different according to what God wanted us to read. So take your time and absorb it.
Bye. I love you. It’s Friday. Amen! I owe, I owe it’s off to work I go.
2 Sam 5:11-6:23 and 1 Chron 13-16
Click here for reading Yes I set an alarm today. I have to be at work at 6:45 and school starts at 7:00 so that is why you often see posts early. Plus I know that Ginger reads it EVERY morning so I try not too skip.
So it starts off with a reading many of us might have heard before. Uzzah dying for keeping the ark from falling. (what’s wrong with dat? Wuz just trying to help!….)
Let’s break this down like a CSI crime scene on TV. Look at some of these versus:
2 Samuel
- He and all the men…
- Set the ark on a new cart
- Uzzah and Ahio guided the cart
- Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark
1 Chronicles
- Let US bring the ark….
- …because it seemed right to all the people
- David assembled the people from Shihor River….to bring the ark
- they moved the ark from Abinadab’s house on a new cart
- Uzzah and Ahio are guiding it
- Was God consulted?
- Why was an ox carrying the ark while they celebrated?
- Where are the Levites to transport it? (as the Law required)
God repeated the Law to us over and over and over in Numbers to us. We know, we read it (maybe a little skim in there)! and there were paragraphs on:
- how to make it and
- transport it and
- when it would be carried and
- HOW it would be carried.
Where was the preparation to do such a task? Listen, there are like 500 life lessons one can take from Uzzah’s moment, or should I say David’s moment! David should have known better than to let all of this happen. But for me today, I see we live in a very liberal society that does not know what God wants for us. Or how Big and Awesome God is. We think if it’s not hurting anyone, then what is wrong with it.…God wants us to be happy right? We will be happy ABUNDANTLY if we follow His ways…no need to be changing them at all! Also, just because we think we are doing right, did we even consult God on it? (ouch right!)
If we are in His Book, and in Prayer, and then we sit still long enough to hear him answer He will lead us. Jesus didn’t say, bring me with you and follow these 2 people, he said FOLLOW ME!
When reading the Chronicles, I really enjoy the detail that God had the author pen. When it was time to properly move the Ark I loved reading how reverent they were this time. The consecration and offering before a godly task. Then the task was given 150%, following exactly as God had instructed, and then after the task, the praise and worship all to God’s glory with that beautiful Psalm. It didn’t surprise me that Asaph was on hand for that one, since I truly enjoyed his Psalms this week. It’s like listening to your favorite artist, a new song could be on the radio and you recognize their work immediately.
2 Sam 5:1-10; 1 Chron 11-12
That’s right. 10 versus in 2 Sam 5 and then 2 chapters in 1 Chronicles. Click here for reading
One of the last things I remembered about the book of Judges was the fighting amongst the tribes. I could not believe the 12 tribes that wandered for 40 years together were now in the promise land, fighting each other. But in God’s timing, David brings the tribes back together under David.
The first part of David’s kingship his capital was Hebron, but God was to give him Jerusalem as his new capital. (Isn’t it so stinking cool to see HOW all this History unfolds so that when our kids say why are they fighting over Jerusalem…we can say BECAUSE IT IS HOLY AND CHOSEN) Jerusalem was occupied by the Jebusites. You may have recognized that name: Jebusites were first mentioned in Genesis 10:16 as a descendant of the Hammites. At the time, we probably glazed over that name (go peek in your bible and see) but we now are reading about them. You may recall that Noah cursed the line of Ham after the “naked drunk” incident at the end of Genies 9, and so his line became a people that God would need to be judged. The next time in the bible we hear of them is during the Covenant with Abraham from God in Genesis chapter 15
On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates- the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”
SO the Jebusites were people that should have been killed when taking the land years ago. They now occupy the great city of Jerusalem. Taking Jerusalem was for political and military purpose. The city at this point was neutral and it had a great location. It was in the center of all the tribes and it was high on the hill (if you read the NT you know this because Jesus refers to it as The City on the Hill) , making it difficult to attack. But as we see in Chronicles, great warriors from all the tribes, describes in Chapter 12 “like an army of God“, especially the Benjaminites (Saul’s men) came together under David.
David then took up residence in the fortress and called it the City of David. He built up the area around it, from the supporting terraces inward. And he became more and more powerful, because the LORD God Almighty was with him. (2 Samuel 5:9,10)
Please note that we know the division is coming…but as of right now look at the unity. Chapter 12 verse 23…DO you recognize the names: Judah, Simeon, Levi….to Asher. These are the 12 tribes. WOW. We are exactly 1000 BC. They will remain united for another 70 years…and then 
divided.
Mistake
I got so excited about getting into 2 Samuel, I didn’t even look at the schedule. We are supposed to read
- Psalm 121, 123, 124, 125, 128, 129, 130
oops. I will read them tonight.
2 Samuel 1-4
click here for today’s chapters
Ok. Let’s start with Chapter 1. The first time I read it I was like..”why did David kill that poor man? He has come so far to give the crown to him”. After I reread it I realized 2 things, 1 his story did not line up. He was lying!! Second, if his lie had been true then he was a man that was willing to have the blood of one of God’s anointed men on his hands, and David was probably next on his mind.
David’s Lament for Saul and Jonathan: We are reading this Bible together…WHY? So that we can learn what pleases the Lord so we can better live the way He wants us to. Reading this completely humbled me. After all Saul had put David through, he grieved for him as much as he had for Jonathan. He put aside his ill feelings and looked at his tragedy thought the eyes of the Lord. We need to learn to see things through the lens of the Lord, not our “feelings”.
Chapter 2. Hebron (verse 1): a very important city. Goes all the way back to Abraham in Chapter 13; Abraham and his wife are buried there. It later became part of Caleb’s territory and also a city of refuge. It is in the center of Judah and becomes the capital for David to reign.
Some cheat sheet notes: (for my friend Debbie C)
- Ish-Bosheth:One of Saul’s surviving sons. Nervous guy. A puppet for Abner.
- Abner: Saul’s nephew. He was Ish-Bosheth’s commander and body guard. He used Ish to rule Israel.
- Joab: was the commander for David
Did we forget the purpose of being in the Promise Land? Love the Lord, Obey His commands, Worship Him, drive out the Canaanites. Where in it does it say divide the tribes and fight each other? Saul’s army (most of Israel) is fighting David’s army (Judah and probably Simeon because of land allotment).
See what they did back then is the same thing we do now. We send a small portion of our people to battle representing our whole nation. (We call ours the army, navy, airforce, marine) So this civil war battle was 12 verse 12. Al 24 died immediately. good grief.
In Chapter 3 I had to write down who was actually the king because the way Ish-Bosheth was acting, you wouldn’t know. It made sense that the tribes would name him king, he was the son of Saul, and David was anointed the first time in private but Abner is really the one calling the shots. SO Abner in a check mate move and plays both sides of the board but loses the game. What I did find interesting is the History. I know that Israel divides into North and South, I just never knew why. You can see this civil war really dividing the nation
Chapter 4, the first verse says it all:
When Ish-Bosheth son of Saul heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he lost courage, and all Israel became alarmed.
The faith we have in men, not God. I think we determine too much by looking at our government and feeling “hopeless” when we need to be looking higher and feeling “hopeful”.
Ziklag
Ziklag
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Biblical History Ziklag was listed as one of the 29 towns in Negev and was assigned to the tribe of Simeon (Josh 15:31; 19:5). It was apparently controlled by the Philistines during King Saul’s rule, and was given by King Achish of Gath to David when he was running from Saul. David used it for a home base for raids against various groups who threatened the southern borders of Judah (1 Sam 27). After being away one time, he returned to find it ransacked by the Amalekites. |
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Reading the Bible in 365 