Recap

So far in 1-2 Chronicles we’ve read through the introductory genealogies and started king David’s reign. While separate books in our Bible 1-2 Chronicles tell one story, giving a recap of the Old Testament from Adam to the Jews' return from exile.

We read through the opening chapters of the book dedicated to the genealogies of God's people. This started with Adam and followed his descendants down to Jacob. Then, from Jacob, we explored the genealogies of each of the twelve tribes focusing on Judah, the tribe of the royal family, Levi, the tribe of the priests, and Benjamin, the tribe of the first king Saul.

Then we jumped forward to look at the genealogies of the people who had returned from exile, to show that these people were indeed connected to Israel's rich history. This was followed by king Saul's genealogy and how his reign was cut short while in battle with the Philistines, opening the way for David to take over.

As we moved into the section of the book focused on David, we saw the author use David as a model for what an ideal future king will look like. David was described as a shepherd of God's people, and a military ruler who led them to defeat their enemies. He claimed Zion, God's holy city, and built it up. The men in his army were from every tribe in Israel because David was able to unite God's people under himself. David sought God's will every time before he went into battle.

Then we read how David was committed to the presence of God. He reclaimed the Ark from where he had left it, and this time made sure he brought it into the city properly. While bringing it in he wore the same robes that the priests wore. A king serving as a priest. He appointed the Levites and the priests over the Ark and his new tent, and offered praise to God, praying for the people that they might know him and praise him too.

He then decided he wanted to build a temple for God, but the prophet Nathan persuaded him otherwise. God would make one of David's sons king after him, and he would build God's temple. God would make this future king as his own son, and would his establish his reign forever. 

1 Chronicles 18-21

Most of the focus of today's reading is on the wars that David fought. There is a lot of imagery at play here that is important. There's a reason that the author has placed the description of the battles directly after God has committed himself to David and his descendants.

The first is something we've already mentioned, the king defeats his enemies. The second flows from this. What came as a result of David going out and fighting all these wars was that afterwards Israel had an unprecedented period of peace. The king's victories bring an era of peace.

As David's son will go on to take over from David, enjoying this season of peace, it will be he who establishes God's temple. The king's victories bring an era of peace where God's reign will be established. These battles also further establish Israel as a nation, claiming more land and bringing back spoils for the people to enjoy.

So David defeats the Philistines, Moabites, and the Syrians. We get long descriptions of how badly he defeated them and the riches he claimed from them in battle. Next up were the Ammonites. Their old king had recently died, and David sent a group to congratulate the new king and mourn the loss of his father. But the new king didn't trust that David's intentions were genuine and so humiliated his men, sending them back to David shaven and half naked.

This Ammonite king then realised his mistake and began to panic. They went to Syria to hire some help and together came out to fight the Israelites. Joab, the commander of David's army, split the army in two and set his brother Abishai in charge of the other half. The two armies would take an enemy each, one fighting the Ammonites and the other fighting the Syrians. If one started to struggle, the other would send some help, and vice versa.

They defeated their enemies, and the Syrians began to flee. David then lead his men to chase after their enemies and kill them as they fled. The Syrians had already tried to defeat David once before. He wasn't going to give them a third chance. Then David went out and claimed various cities from the Ammonites, including the city of Rabbah.

After this comes a list of Philistine giants that David and his men defeated. We've not spoken on the significance of giants for a while, so we'll have a quick recap. Giants were associated with two groups of people, the Anakim and the Rephaim. Both of these groups were descendants of the Nephalim, who were the offspring from when the Sons of God (key spiritual beings) slept with human women (see Genesis 6:1-4, Numbers 13:33).

To put it another way, giants were closely associated with spiritual rebellions. They were the result of spiritual beings disobeying God and trying to challenge him all the way back in Genesis 6. So when we see David and his men killing giants, they are fighting spiritual warfare as much as physical warfare. The king defeats the forces of spiritual rebellion.

But then we get another reminder that David was not perfect. Out of his own pride, and encouraged by Satan, David decided to hold a census to see how great his kingdom is. There are a couple of things noteworthy here. The first is that this first time in the Hebrew where Satan is used as a name. Everywhere else Satan is used as a title, ‘the satan’. In this we get the first and only real sense in the Old Testament that Satan serves as the big baddy of the Bible.

The second is when this story was told in 2 Samuel 24:1-17 there it was the Lord who incited David to do this. The distinction was likely cause by the two author’s slightly different theologies. The author of 2 Samuel 24:1-17 was happy to emphasise the fact that ultimately all things come because God allows it and the people had angered God, so he allowed for David to be tempted to sin in this way.

In contrast, the author of 1 Chronicles 21 clearly wants to create a little distance between God and causing his people to sin, so he specifically mentioned how it is Satan that does the job. It also allows this story to serve as an example of how David differs from the ideal king. When tempted by Satan David gives in. The ideal king will reject Satan’s temptations.

Back to the story. Joab tries to persuade him otherwise, but David insists, so Joab goes out and holds a census. Unsurprisingly, God is unhappy with this and begins to strike down the people of Israel. Realising his error, David repents and cries out to God for forgiveness.

God gives David a choice; three years of famine, three months of being defeated by his enemies, or three days of disease through the land. David decided that the quicker the punishment, the better, and that it was much better to be at the mercy of God than the mercy of his enemies. He chooses three days of disease, and 70,000 Israelites die across the next three days.

David is deeply grieved, wishing he could take the suffering of the people upon himself. David then goes out, buys a field, and makes sacrifices to God. What this story highlights is the fact that even under Israel's greatest king, David and the people still need God's forgiveness. Even when everything is going well, human sin ruins it.

Psalm 66

This psalm is attributed to king David and is a mixture of praise and thanksgiving. Psalms 65-68 are often grouped together as a mini-cluster. They are all communal praise psalms that talk about ‘we’ and ‘us’.

Psalm 66:1-4 - Sing praise to God

Psalm 66:5-7 - See what God has done

Psalm 66:8-9 - Bring blessings to God

Psalm 66:10-12 - Reminder what God has done

Psalm 66:13-15 - Bring offerings to God

Psalm 66:16-19 - Hear what God has done

Psalm 66:20 - Bring blessings to God

In this psalm, the psalmist alternates between bringing praise, blessing, or offerings to God, and reminding themselves and others what God has done for them.

We start with singing praise. God is glorious and powerful. He deserves the praises of all the earth.

Then the psalmist points back to the Exodus. Of when he calmed the chaotic sea and turned it into dry land so his people could walk through. He is a God who watches over the people of the earth and is in control. And so the psalmist encourages over to bless God. He has provided for and guided his people.

Then we’re back to what God has done. In Israel’s history, God has tested them, like silver in the fire. He has laid burdens on them, and allowed their enemies to defeat them. But through all those trials and testing, God has led his people to a place of abundance.

This leads the psalmist to promise to bring offerings to God. When they were struggling, they promised God much if he would rescue them. Now they are flourishing, they have much to bring back to God and give back to him.

And so the psalmist calls to those around them to hear what God has done. Through all their struggles, the psalmist had cried out to God. They didn’t try to hold on to their sin, or continue in it. Because of this, God listened to them and answered them.

At this, the psalmist turns back to God and blesses him once again, for he is a faithful and loving God. In this psalm, we see the way that praise and thanksgiving work together. We need to not only remember all the good that God has done and tell others. We also need to come back to God with our praise and offerings. To let his generosity and goodness, spark the same in us and we give back to him.