Giving Power and Getting Power

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Hi GAMErs,
 
Today’s passage is 1 Chronicles 11:1-19.  Let’s go!
 
1 Chronicles 11:1-3 (NIV) 
1  All Israel came together to David at Hebron and said, “We are your own flesh and blood. 
2  In the past, even while Saul was king, you were the one who led Israel on their military campaigns. And the LORD your God said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler.'” 
3  When all the elders of Israel had come to King David at Hebron, he made a compact with them at Hebron before the LORD, and they anointed David king over Israel, as the LORD had promised through Samuel.
 
On verses 1-3:  David stepped into his destiny as king of Israel with the affirmation, encouragement and empowering of others.  Who is someone who could use your affirmation, encouragement and empowering today?  When you go out of your way to affirm, encourage and empower another person, you help them step into their God-given calling. 

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How to Live Life with Courage

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Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Chronicles 10:1-14. Let’s go!

1 Chronicles 10:11-12 (NIV) 
11  When all the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard of everything the Philistines had done to Saul, 
12  all their valiant men went and took the bodies of Saul and his sons and brought them to Jabesh. Then they buried their bones under the great tree in Jabesh, and they fasted seven days.

On verses 1-12:  Saul is wounded in battle against the Philistines.  So that he would not be killed by his enemies, Saul falls on his own sword and eventually dies on the hill of Gilboa.  His sons Jonathan, Malki-Shua and Abinadab are killed as well.  The Philistines find Saul’s body, strip him, cut off his head, and hang his dead body and the bodies of his dead sons on the city wall of the Philistine town of Beth Shan (1 Samuel 31:10).  They also place Saul’s head in the temple of their god Dagon (v10).  When they saw that Saul and his sons had died, most Israelites abandon their towns and flee for their lives (v7), with one important exception: when the people of Jabesh Gilead hear about what the Philistines have done to Saul’s body, the men of Jabesh-Gilead enter the Philistine city of Beth Shan, take down the bodies of Saul and his sons, bring them back to Jabesh Gilead and give them an honorable burial. 

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Restoring the Worship of God in Your Life

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Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Chronicles 8:1-40.  At first this might seem like nothing more than a list of names, but the Holy Spirit taught me some powerful lessons we can learn from this passage.  Can I share them with you?  Let’s go!

On verses 1-34:  Starting in 605 BC, and then again in 597 BC and 586 BC, the people of Judah are deported to Babylon in three stages (This three stage deportation is described in 2 Kings 24-25).   The Old Testament writers see this deportation as God’s way of disciplining the people of Judah for their unfaithfulness to Him (v1).  Now the Chronicler fast forwards several decades to 538 B.C. when Cyrus King of Persia has conquered Babylon and allows the Israelites to return to their towns (v2).  What was Cyrus’ reason for letting the Judahites return to Jerusalem?   It’s because Cyrus believed that God had appointing him to build a temple for the Lord in Jerusalem.  As Ezra 1:2-4 says:

Ezra 1:2-4 (NIV) 
2  “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: “‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah.
3  Anyone of his people among you–may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the LORD, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem.

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Out of Great Hurt God Brings Out Greater Good

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Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Chronicles 8:1-40.  Let’s go!

1 Chronicles 8:1-2 (NIV) 
1  Benjamin was the father of Bela his firstborn, Ashbel the second son, Aharah the third, 
2  Nohah the fourth and Rapha the fifth.
 
On verses 1-5:   1 Chronicles 8 is the longest and most comprehensive of the genealogies for Benjamin.  Yet when you compare the different genealogies for Benjamin found in the Bible (Genesis 46, 1 Chronicles 7:6-12, 1 Chronicles 8, and Numbers 26:38-46) those genealogies are not exactly the same.  Certain names appear in some lists but not in others.  Does this mean that the Bible contradicts itself?   Not necessarily.  We need to look closer at what’s going on.  One possible reason for the different names is that those who wrote out these genealogies were not writing down exhaustive lists of every single person who was born into Benjamin’s family tree.  Rather they were selective about which people from which generations to mention and focus on.  In some cases they focused only on tribal leaders or individuals whose lives taught a spiritual lesson that the writer wanted to highlight.  So when reading these genealogies, keep in mind that the term “son” does not always refer to a person’s direct descendant in the next immediate generation, but the writer could be skipping one or more generations and be referring to a grandson or an even more distant descendant.  

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God Can Bring Good out of Misfortune

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Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Chronicles 7:1-40.  God Can Bring Good out of Misfortune (Plus, Be a Good Team Player + How to Measure Greatness) .In this chapter, the Chronicler turns his attention to the genealogies of six other tribes of Israel.  Let’s go!

1 Chronicles 7:1 (NIV) 
1  The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puah, Jashub and Shimron–four in all. 

On verses 1-5:   Compared to other tribes, the Bible does not say much about Issachar as a tribe, although Issachar was given one of the richest lands in Palestine.  Arguably the two most notable figures to come out of the tribe of Issachar are Tola (mentioned in v1 and a judge who ruled over Israel for 23 years – see Judges 10:1-2) and Baasha, an idol-worshiping king who ruled Israel for 24 years (see 1 Kings 15:27).

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The Role of Music in Worship + Take Good Care of Those Who Work In The Church

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Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Chronicles 6:31-81.  Let’s go!

1 Chronicles 6:31-32 (NIV) 
31  These are the men David put in charge of the music in the house of the LORD after the ark came to rest there. 
32  They ministered with music before the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting, until Solomon built the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem. They performed their duties according to the regulations laid down for them.

On verses 31-47:  As part of describing the Levites, the Chronicler singles out three Levites whom King David put in charge of the music in the temple.  There’s Heman who wrote Psalm 88.  Asaph who wrote Psalms 50, 73-83.  And there’s Ethan who wrote Psalm 89.  These men used their musical gifts and their heart of worship to lead the Israelites into the presence of God through song.

What can we learn from this?  The fact that the Chronicler would spotlight the music ministers of the temple shows how important music was to the Israelites’ worship of the Lord.  Music does not equal worship, but music can be a powerful tool for worshiping God. 

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You are a Priest in God’s Kingdom

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Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Chronicles 6:1-30.  Let’s go!

1 Chronicles 6:1 (NIV) 
1  The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath and Merari. 

On verses 1-30:  In these verses the Chronicler focuses his attention on the next tribe of Israel, the tribe of Levi, also known as the Levites.   Divided into three clans (the Gershonites, the Kohathites and Merarites), the Levites had a special assignment from God.  God appointed the Levites to be His servants to do the work necessary to help all the Israelites in their worship of the Lord. 

In particular, Moses’ brother Aaron (who was a Kohathite) and his sons were to serve as priests for the people, offering sacrifices on behalf of the entire community (see v49).  That’s why verses 3-15 focus especially on Aaron and his sons, as they served as priests from the time that Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, to the time when the kings of Judah like Solomon ruled (v10), to the time when Judah was exiled to Babylon (v15).   

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There Is Help and Restoration in Jesus

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Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Chronicles 5:1-26.  In addition to the tribe of Judah, Israel also consisted of 11 other tribes.  Here the Chronicler begins to look at the descendants of each of those other tribes, beginning with Reuben.  Let’s go! 

1 Chronicles 5:1-2 (NIV) 
1  The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel (he was the firstborn, but when he defiled his father’s marriage bed, his rights as firstborn were given to the sons of Joseph son of Israel; so he could not be listed in the genealogical record in accordance with his birthright, 

On verses 1-10:  Reuben was Israel’s firstborn, and with that status came certain rights, such as a right to a majority of his father’s property and the status of being a leader in the family.  However, Reuben lost these rights as the firstborn when he slept with his father’s concubine (Genesis 35:22).  As a result, his status as firstborn in the genealogical record, his right to a majority of his father’s property and all the other privileges that came with being the firstborn were taken from him.  This affected not just him, but all of his descendants that would come after him.

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How to Receive Outstanding Blessing

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Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Chronicles 4:1-43.  Let’s go!

Here the Chronicler lists more descendants from the tribe of Judah (v1-23) and also from the tribe of Simeon (v24-43). 

The two names that stick out the most in this chapter are: from Judah, a man called Jabez (v9-10); and from the tribe of Simeon, the men listed in verses 34-37.   Let’s look at them more closely.

1 Chronicles 4:9-10 (NIV) 
9  Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, “I gave birth to him in pain.” 
10  Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request.

On verses 9-10:  What made Jabez so outstanding that God would bless him especially?    One of the important lessons we can learn from Jabez’ life is the importance of bringing your pain to God.  Jabez, whose name in Hebrew resembles the word for pain, did the wisest thing when he brought his pain to God and asked God to bless him.  When Jabez asked God to bless him, hal him and expand his territory, God did just that. 

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The Mark of a True Friend (Plus, You Are Royalty Because of Jesus’ Blood)

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Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Chronicles 3:1-24.  Let’s go!

1 Chronicles 3:5 (NIV) 
5  and these were the children born to him there: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan and Solomon. These four were by Bathsheba daughter of Ammiel.

On verses 1-9:  In these verses the Chronicler lists the names of David’s sons.  Notice that Solomon was the youngest of the sons born to Bathsheba, who originally became romantically involved with David in an extramarital affair.  Yet God still chose Solomon to be the next king of Judah.  Once again it goes to show that God does not discount you because of your background.

Notice also that the third son that Bathsheba bore to David was called Nathan.  This is interesting, given that it was the prophet Nathan who rebuked David for murdering Bathsheba’s first husband Uriah and committing adultery with Bathsheba.  Apparently David so appreciated Nathan’s courage to speak the hard truth into David’s life that he named his third son with Bathsheba after him.

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