King James Bible Study – [And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. – Mark 8:34]
Date: Thursday, May 02, 2024
Chapters: I Chronicles Chapters 11-12, Psalm 133
Message: True Liberty And Unity
Hello My Friend,
As I was reading the chapters for today this passage came to mind, [Ephesians 4:11-15 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: 14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:]
[Unity; The state of being one; oneness. Unity may consist of a simple substance or existing being, as the soul; but usually it consists in a close junction of particles or parts, constituting a body detached from other bodies. Unity is a thing undivided itself, but separate from ever other thing.]
Unity seems to be something of a rarity these days, there is so much division that those who agree with each other are biting and chewing each others heads off. And the Church is no better, they too cannot seem to get along anymore. We need to understand that one nation, one kingdom, and one house divided cannot, and will not stand! [Matthew 12:25-27 And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: 26 And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? 27 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges.]
Being in unity does not mean that we have to agree on everything, but it does mean that we need to have respect for one another and agree that we all have a right to the same liberties. Respecting one another brings the best unity as we learn to treat each other as we would want to be treated[Psalms 133:1-3 A Song of degrees of David. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! 2 It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; 3 As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.]
[for there the LORD commanded the blessing,] Zion, is not just the hill where the city of David would be, it is the very mountain of God, the one in which every people of every nation will come together in full unity of their faith in Christ, [Isaiah 2:2-4 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. 3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.]
As we continue the reading of 1 Chronicles, it also gives the account to the entire nation of Israel, all twelve tribes, asking David to become their king. It also goes on to tell us how David reclaimed the land that the Jebusites took, known as Zion, and that it was Joab, David’s cousin, who was made chief.
[1 Chronicles 11:1-6 Then all Israel gathered themselves to David unto Hebron, saying, Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh. 2 And moreover in time past, even when Saul was king, thou wast he that leddest out and broughtest in Israel: and the LORD thy God said unto thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be ruler over my people Israel. 3 Therefore came all the elders of Israel to the king to Hebron; and David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the LORD; and they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of the LORD by Samuel. 4 And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, which is Jebus; where the Jebusites were, the inhabitants of the land. 5 And the inhabitants of Jebus said to David, Thou shalt not come hither. Nevertheless David took the castle of Zion, which is the city of David. 6 And David said, Whosoever smiteth the Jebusites first shall be chief and captain. So Joab the son of Zeruiah went first up, and was chief.]
[the LORD thy God said unto thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel,] This reminds me of what Jesus said to Peter when He told him to feed His sheep. God, does not use self-willed, power driven, arrogant people to lead His people, He uses the humble who see themselves as no better than anyone else, [Matthew 23:12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.]
[David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the LORD;] A great leader is not one who dictates our every move by what they believe to be true. A great leader is not one to succumb to every “need” of the people nor one who lives in fear of the people as to not offend someone. I am going to say this lightly and with a grain of salt, but it is not the governments job to provide for and cater to everyone’s lifestyles. A great leader is one led under the authority of God, one who protects their nation from the enemy and makes sure that everyone has an equal opportunity. In fact, this is what a real democracy and republic is, [Acts 10:34-35 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: 35 But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.]
To be accepted of God, that is what this is really all about. We went to church last night and the person preaching said that the Atheists hate God yet do no believe that He exists. The truth is that you cannot hate someone that does not exist and if more people stopped listening to the lies told about God then they would see that He is no respecter of persons and will save anyone who believes in and receives His Son. Now, with that said, while one person can get the fire lit, it takes more than one person to bring unity. David, knew that he could not run the kingdom by himself even though he had great faith in God. I Chronicles, goes into great detail of the army that David put together, people from every tribe were included, and eagerly served.
[1 Chronicles 11:9-13 So David waxed greater and greater: for the LORD of hosts was with him. 10 These also are the chief of the mighty men whom David had, who strengthened themselves with him in his kingdom, and with all Israel, to make him king, according to the word of the LORD concerning Israel. 11 And this is the number of the mighty men whom David had; Jashobeam, an Hachmonite, the chief of the captains: he lifted up his spear against three hundred slain by him at one time. 12 And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo, the Ahohite, who was one of the three mighties. 13 He was with David at Pasdammim, and there the Philistines were gathered together to battle, where was a parcel of ground full of barley; and the people fled from before the Philistines.]
[who strengthened themselves with him in his kingdom,] A nation is only as strong as the leader’s faithfulness to God is. Just take a look into the history of our most successful presidents in America and you will find that their faith in God was extraordinary. Because David was a Godly man, he put Godly men in charge of the kingdom. Now, we will see later on how that success can turn people away from God, but for the first time since they left Egypt they were in unity and therefore the kingdom was blessed from God. Every nation under God is a blessed nation, [Psalms 33:10-12 The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect. 11 The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. 12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.]
[who was one of the three mighties.] The three mighty men this passage is referring to are Jashobeam, Eleazar, and Abishai. The only reason why David became a great leader was because of his faithfulness to God, and the way he treated the people. Now, we are given the reason why these three men were given the recognition that was given to them. The chapter recalls the time when David was running from Saul and hiding in the cave of Adullam, and theses three men risked their lives to bring him water.
[1 Chronicles 11:15-19 Now three of the thirty captains went down to the rock to David, into the cave of Adullam; and the host of the Philistines encamped in the valley of Rephaim. 16 And David was then in the hold, and the Philistines’ garrison was then at Bethlehem. 17 And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, that is at the gate! 18 And the three brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: but David would not drink of it, but poured it out to the LORD, 19 And said, My God forbid it me, that I should do this thing: shall I drink the blood of these men that have put their lives in jeopardy? for with the jeopardy of their lives they brought it. Therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mightiest.]
[David would not drink of it, but poured it out to the LORD,] Why did David pour out that water when the men went through all the trouble to get it? Instead of keeping it for himself, he poured it out to God because he realized that those men risked their lives to get the water for him, and that their lives are more precious than his own selfish needs. Had they gotten the water for all of them then David would have gladly accepted it, but it was only for him, so he did not want to be selfish and drink it in front of them. Is that not what Jesus did for us, He unselfishly sacrificed His own life to give us His water, and He actually gives it to us freely, [John 4:13-14 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.]
[shall I drink the blood of these men that have put their lives in jeopardy?] Brave men and women died for our country do that we do have the freedom to even worship God or some other god. There is always a price to freedom and that price is usually the lost of lives so we as a nation need to stop using our liberties for our own selfish desires, [Galatians 5:13-15 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. 14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 15 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.]
God, wants us to life the best life, but the freedoms we enjoy today all came from the fact that our first leaders feared God. David, continued to set up Israel in the way God directed him, even if that meant he had to deal with some people who he thought was his friends, but were against him in every way. At first, the majority of Israel was against David being king, but there were some who supported him. Chapter 12, goes into detail about the tribes who came to David when he was living in Philistine territory.
[1 Chronicles 12:1-3,8 Now these are they that came to David to Ziklag, while he yet kept himself close because of Saul the son of Kish: and they were among the mighty men, helpers of the war. 2 They were armed with bows, and could use both the right hand and the left in hurling stones and shooting arrows out of a bow, even of Saul’s brethren of Benjamin. 3 The chief was Ahiezer, then Joash, the sons of Shemaah the Gibeathite; and Jeziel, and Pelet, the sons of Azmaveth; and Berachah, and Jehu the Antothite, 8 And of the Gadites there separated themselves unto David into the hold to the wilderness men of might, and men of war fit for the battle, that could handle shield and buckler, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and were as swift as the roes upon the mountains;]
[And of the Gadites there separated themselves unto David] Theses were a small group of men among the tribe of Gad who lived on the other side of the Jordan who separated themselves from their brethren, and from the government of Saul, and came over to David. Sometimes unity actually involves separation from ones family. Jesus said it this way, [Matthew 10:34-36 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. 36 And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.] It is not that Jesus does not want us to get along with family, but the truth is that family is often our biggest deterrents from God’s will. This is why Jesus also said that if we love them more than Him then we are not worthy of Him, [Matthew 10:37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.]
Not only did this one small group of Gad have faith in David, several other small groups from many of the tribes did as well, including the Benjamites who were Saul’s tribe. David, recalls when these small groups from each of the tribes came to him and supported him when Saul was still king.
[1 Chronicles 12:16-19 And there came of the children of Benjamin and Judah to the hold unto David. 17 And David went out to meet them, and answered and said unto them, If ye be come peaceably unto me to help me, mine heart shall be knit unto you: but if ye be come to betray me to mine enemies, seeing there is no wrong in mine hands, the God of our fathers look thereon, and rebuke it. 18 Then the spirit came upon Amasai, who was chief of the captains, and he said, Thine are we, David, and on thy side, thou son of Jesse: peace, peace be unto thee, and peace be to thine helpers; for thy God helpeth thee. Then David received them, and made them captains of the band. 19 And there fell some of Manasseh to David, when he came with the Philistines against Saul to battle: but they helped them not: for the lords of the Philistines upon advisement sent him away, saying, He will fall to his master Saul to the jeopardy of our heads.]
[If ye be come peaceably unto me to help me, mine heart shall be knit unto you:] This is unity in its finest and goes back to what Jesus was saying. We will never agree on everything, in fact sometimes it is best to say, “We agree to disagree.” and just walk away, but we can call get along with each other because what we are doing when we fight is becoming a stumbling block, [1 Corinthians 8:6-9 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him. 7 Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge: for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled. 8 But meat commendeth us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse. 9 But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak.]
New Christians as well as those whom have backslidden and right on the edge of receiving Christ themselves watch how we seasoned and so called Christians operate and if they see us fighting it will keep them from Him and may even run some people away from Him. All it takes is for one brave person to step up and do the right thing regardless of what our family, friends, or society thinks for others to follow. As the chapter continues, David, recalls how people from all twelve tribes supported him, even Levites.
[1 Chronicles 12:22-26,29,31 For at that time day by day there came to David to help him, until it was a great host, like the host of God. 23 And these are the numbers of the bands that were ready armed to the war, and came to David to Hebron, to turn the kingdom of Saul to him, according to the word of the LORD. 24 The children of Judah that bare shield and spear were six thousand and eight hundred, ready armed to the war. 25 Of the children of Simeon, mighty men of valour for the war, seven thousand and one hundred. 26 Of the children of Levi four thousand and six hundred. 29 And of the children of Benjamin, the kindred of Saul, three thousand: for hitherto the greatest part of them had kept the ward of the house of Saul. 31 And of the half tribe of Manasseh eighteen thousand, which were expressed by name, to come and make David king.]
[which were expressed by name, to come and make David king.] Soldiers risk their lives for their country and their leader, they do not think about the color of ones skin, how much money they have, or what lifestyle they live. They are unbiased and do whatever it takes to protect their nation. Just imagine how powerful of a nation that we will be again if we all came together in unity. During David’s reign, and partially through Solomon’s, and for the first time since Joshua, the entire nation was united as one nation under God.
[1 Chronicles 12:38-40 All these men of war, that could keep rank, came with a perfect heart to Hebron, to make David king over all Israel: and all the rest also of Israel were of one heart to make David king. 39 And there they were with David three days, eating and drinking: for their brethren had prepared for them. 40 Moreover they that were nigh them, even unto Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, brought bread on asses, and on camels, and on mules, and on oxen, and meat, meal, cakes of figs, and bunches of raisins, and wine, and oil, and oxen, and sheep abundantly: for there was joy in Israel.]
[Moreover they that were nigh them…for there was joy in Israel.] David’s success as king was due to the fact that he set up Israel in the way that God directed him, and when he did sin, he repented. That cannot be said for many of our leaders today, most are like Saul, too proud to admit they did anything wrong, let alone humble themselves to God. We must remember that a nation can only stand if it remains in unity with God, that is the true joy of any nation, [1 Peter 2:13-17 Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; 14 Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. 15 For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: 16 As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. 17 Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.]
Jesus Christ Revealed/Magnified: [1 Chronicles 11:2 And moreover in time past, even when Saul was king, thou wast he that leddest out and broughtest in Israel: and the LORD thy God said unto thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be ruler over my people Israel.]
Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for Your Word, while we do not need it to believe in You it is our guide to live our lives in Your will so that we might receive Your promises. What better way to give our thanks than to live according to Your Word. While we can never know everything You want us to know, I pledge to You that I will make Your Word a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path, and hide it in my heart that I might not sin against You. Lord, Lead me and guide me, fill me with Your mercies, grace, love, and the wisdom to do the work You have given me. Keep me walking by faith, trusting in Your Word, and let our nation return to You, and be united as one nation under You one again. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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