Difference between revisions of "1 Ch 20"

Latest revision as of 13:48, 21 September 2011

And it came to pass, after the year was expired, and the time that the kings go out to battle, Joab led forth the power of the army, and he wasted the country of the children of Ammon, and came and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried at Jerusalem. And Joab smote Rabbah, and destroyed it. And David took the crown of their king from off his head, and found it to weigh a talent of gold, and there were precious stones in it; and it was set upon David's head: and he brought also exceeding much spoil out of the city. And he brought out the people that were in it, and cut them with saws, and with harrows of iron, and with axes. Even so dealt David with all the cities of the children of Ammon. And David and all the people returned to Jerusalem (1Ch 20:1-3).

Now there is seemingly a discrepancy in the story here. First of all, the time of year when they went out to war. There were times of the year which were better for fighting than other times of the year, and so they just had time. This is the time to go to war. They had appointed times for warfare. We just fight all the time, but in those days there were just certain periods, you know, get the crops all in, everything is all set. Now let's go out and fight for a while before the spring planting. And so the times for the war.

Now the seeming discrepancy is that Joab went out against the Ammonites, fought and defeated the city of Rabbah, and David stayed in Jerusalem. But then we have David returning to Jerusalem with the crown and the jewels of the crown upon his head. So we go back to Samuel for clarification, and we find in the book of Samuel that it gives us just a little fuller insight on this story, how that Joab went against the king of the Ammonites. He came to Rabbah and he saw that the city was delivered into his hand. In other words, he had more or less taken the city and he sent a message back to David and he said, "You know, the city is ready to fall. Come and lead the army in the actual capture of the city lest they say that Joab captured the city." And so it's a very magnanimous act on the part of Joab in sending to David to let David be the actual conqueror of the city. So David then went on and led the forces as the city of Rabbah fell to David, and they took the beautiful crown embedded with jewel that was worn by the king of Rabbah and put it then upon David's head. And David and all of them returned back to Jerusalem.

And so as often is the case, a seeming discrepancy of the Scripture has a very simple explanation. It is interesting how that so many people get all upset because they imagine there to be these contradictions in the Scripture and all. And they point out these things, but yet if you dig a little bit, you'll usually find an extremely simple explanation for the apparent difficulties that people are always finding in the Scripture. And this, of course, as I say is really told about in Second Samuel, chapter twelve, and the story is amplified a little bit more so we find out exactly what did happen.

Now in verses four through eight we have the final conquest of David over the Philistines and the slaying of some more of the giants, no doubt relatives to Goliath, and the one with the twenty-four fingers and toes. That is, six on each hand and six on each foot. That is not really too unusual a thing for a child to be born with six toes. They usually amputate it immediately upon birth and it makes no difference. It's just that it's sort of odd to have six toes and so they'll amputate the sixth one.

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-And so David when he was old, made Solomon his son king over Israel (1Ch 23:1).
+And it came to pass, after the year was expired, and the time that the kings go out to battle, Joab led forth the power of the army, and he wasted the country of the children of Ammon, and came and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried at Jerusalem. And Joab smote Rabbah, and destroyed it. And David took the crown of their king from off his head, and found it to weigh a talent of gold, and there were precious stones in it; and it was set upon David's head: and he brought also exceeding much spoil out of the city. And he brought out the people that were in it, and cut them with saws, and with harrows of iron, and with axes. Even so dealt David with all the cities of the children of Ammon. And David and all the people returned to Jerusalem (1Ch 20:1-3).
-Now David then began to set forth the order of the priesthood, the Levitical priesthood. Now David here demonstrates that not only is he a powerful king, a leader, but he's also an excellent administrator. And of course, David had great personal wealth, and he had hundreds of servants that they all had to be fed. And so he had to administrate the, in very many areas, and David was just a very adept, adequate administrator also. And as we get into chapter twenty-three, we find out David set up the priesthood and the first thing that he established.
+Now there is seemingly a discrepancy in the story here. First of all, the time of year when they went out to war. There were times of the year which were better for fighting than other times of the year, and so they just had time. This is the time to go to war. They had appointed times for warfare. We just fight all the time, but in those days there were just certain periods, you know, get the crops all in, everything is all set. Now let's go out and fight for a while before the spring planting. And so the times for the war.
-He gathered together all the princes of Israel, the priests and the Levites. Now the Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years and up: and their number by their polls, man by man, was thirty-eight thousand. Of which, twenty-four thousand were set forward the work of the house of the LORD; and six thousand were officers and judges: And four thousand were porters; and four thousand praised the LORD with the instruments which David said, I made to praise therewith (1Ch 23:2-5).
+Now the seeming discrepancy is that Joab went out against the Ammonites, fought and defeated the city of Rabbah, and David stayed in Jerusalem. But then we have David returning to Jerusalem with the crown and the jewels of the crown upon his head. So we go back to Samuel for clarification, and we find in the book of Samuel that it gives us just a little fuller insight on this story, how that Joab went against the king of the Ammonites. He came to Rabbah and he saw that the city was delivered into his hand. In other words, he had more or less taken the city and he sent a message back to David and he said, "You know, the city is ready to fall. Come and lead the army in the actual capture of the city lest they say that Joab captured the city." And so it's a very magnanimous act on the part of Joab in sending to David to let David be the actual conqueror of the city. So David then went on and led the forces as the city of Rabbah fell to David, and they took the beautiful crown embedded with jewel that was worn by the king of Rabbah and put it then upon David's head. And David and all of them returned back to Jerusalem.
-Now David was an inventor. He invented instruments. He was a musician. Our first look at David practically was when he was brought to play the harp before Saul. He was a skilled musician. He wrote a lot of songs. He had an artistic side to his character and nature, and yet, he was an administrator. He was a king. He was a tremendous warrior. He was just a man with really well-rounded talents. And so we see his first of all setting out.
+And so as often is the case, a seeming discrepancy of the Scripture has a very simple explanation. It is interesting how that so many people get all upset because they imagine there to be these contradictions in the Scripture and all. And they point out these things, but yet if you dig a little bit, you'll usually find an extremely simple explanation for the apparent difficulties that people are always finding in the Scripture. And this, of course, as I say is really told about in Second Samuel, chapter twelve, and the story is amplified a little bit more so we find out exactly what did happen.
-Now twenty-four thousand priests. That's more priests than what you need for a service. And so David set up orders for the priesthood so that you would serve for maybe two weeks out of the year. That was pretty good job. You work for two weeks, and then the rest of the time you're on your own. And so they would come, the Levites lived throughout the land. And there was certain cities for the Levites, but in their appointed... And they set up the order, and then they drew lots as who would be the first, the second, and third, and so forth. And so at your appointed order you would come and you would fulfill the duties of the priest in the temple for a period of a couple of weeks. And then you'd go back to your family and to your home and to your fields and so forth. And you'd take care of your own affairs.
+Now in verses four through eight we have the final conquest of David over the Philistines and the slaying of some more of the giants, no doubt relatives to Goliath, and the one with the twenty-four fingers and toes. That is, six on each hand and six on each foot. That is not really too unusual a thing for a child to be born with six toes. They usually amputate it immediately upon birth and it makes no difference. It's just that it's sort of odd to have six toes and so they'll amputate the sixth one.
-And so in the New Testament, this order that David established continued on up until the time of Christ for Zechariah the priest, because he was of the order of Abia, had come according to his course to minister there in the temple. And it was his duty to offer the incense at the time of the sacrifice. And while he was offering this incense before the Lord is when the angel Gabriel appeared and told him that his wife Elizabeth was going to have a son named John and he's going to be the forerunner of the Messiah.
-So that's still following the order that David had established with the priesthood where they had their turns. They would come in and fulfill their obligations. So the priesthood fell in different orders. Those that actually ministered in the temple. Actually those who were charged with the building of the temple. Now you see, in the old times of the tent in the wilderness, they had the porters, the guys who, whenever they would move, would have to break down the thing. Certain guys would break down the tent, fold it up, put it in packages and so forth, and then guys who were priests to carry the thing. And guys to set it up. Now that they're going to be building a temple, this particular ministry of the priest is no longer going to be necessary. You're not going to need the guys to carry things anymore because it's all going to be established. And so the different duties now were created. And the duty that to me is very beautiful are the four thousand who were just paid to be there and to spend their days praising God, singing and worshipping the Lord with the various instruments and just a constant worship of God that was going forth from the temple. To me that is beautiful.
-And I think that it's neat. Any time you want to come down here and just bring your guitar, whatever, and just sing and praise the Lord and worship the Lord here in this place, you're welcome. I think it's beautiful that praises be going up unto the Lord. From the place where we gather to worship Him. To learn of Him. And so it was in the times of David. They had four thousand men; this was their job just to play unto the Lord through the instruments that David had invented and created and all for them to worship God.
-And so the various families, and of course, we get now unto the names and so forth which we pass over. And so in verse thirty of chapter twenty-three though, their job was...
-To stand every morning to thank and to praise the LORD, and likewise at evening (1Ch 23:30);
-So every morning, every evening there were those who were just standing there praising the Lord and giving thanks to God. Beautiful, beautiful.