1 Chronicles 19:1-21:30 ~ Romans 2:25-3:8 ~ Psalm 11:1-7 ~ Proverbs 19:10-12
~ Click here to read today's Scripture on BibleGateway.com ~
~ Listen to today's Scripture on DailyAudioBible.com (podcast) or OneYearAudioBible.org ~
Old Testament - In First Chronicles 21 we read about David taking a census after being tempted by Satan. Satan didn't force David to do this - Satan tempted him and David fell prey to the temptation. This census was a sin because David was seeking to demonstrate how mighty "his" army was - when he should have realized all that he had came from God and that David's true strength came from God and not his army. The census was a sin of pride. (And it is very interesting to note that Joab, who is not one known for his scruples, realizes this census is a sin!) And so we read in verses 14 & 15 - "So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel, and seventy thousand people died as a result. And God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem. But just as the angel was preparing to destroy it, the LORD relented and said to the death angel, "Stop! That is enough!" At that moment the angel of the LORD was standing by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite."
New Testament - Paul's writings in Romans 3 verses 7 & 8 today are so powerful for us to remember always: ""But," some might still argue, "how can God judge and condemn me as a sinner if my dishonesty highlights his truthfulness and brings him more glory?" If you follow that kind of thinking, however, you might as well say that the more we sin the better it is! Those who say such things deserve to be condemned, yet some slander me by saying this is what I preach!" Have you ever thought in any way along the lines of "well, it doesn't really matter if I sin?" This is such risky thinking. Let me highly encourage you to read the Bible to see what it says about sin and in particular these early chapters in Romans. In reading these chapters in Romans do you see the risk, and really the stupidity, in continuing in unchecked sin?
Bible.org's commentary on today's readings in Romans titled "No Excuse for the Jews" is at this link.
Psalms - Today we read Psalm 11, which is one that you might miss the full meaning of if you didn't know some of the commentary behind this Psalm. Basically in this Psalm King David is expressing his unshakable trust in God to other people around him who are very scared of enemy attacks. Knowing this - check out verse 1: "I trust in the LORD for protection. So why do you say to me, "Fly to the mountains for safety!" Like David, do we really trust in God for our protection? Or do we sometimes rely on others or our own cunning - or, our own fear - for protection? Are there times when we are faced with a challenging situation that we feel like running away from it? “Fleeing to the mountains” for safety? When, instead, should we simply trust in God for our protection and move forward in spite of the fear within us? Is there an area of your life where you need to turn over more trust in God for ultimate protection? Will you flee to God only instead of fleeing to the mountains?
Proverbs - Proverbs 19 verse 11 is a bit challenging for me: "People with good sense restrain their anger; they earn esteem by overlooking wrongs." I can see the point of restraining our anger. But overlooking wrongs... I guess I'm having a hard time with this one. I believe there is a point where we do need to speak the truth in love to someone about their wrongs. If we simply overlooked their wrongs, then would we really be doing them any favors? I mean, I guess we would be keeping the peace by overlooking wrongs, but I'm just thinking there is a time and place to speak the truth in love. In love. Not in anger. Let me know what you think on this one? I know just recently I posted up about not getting into an argument with a friend over the way he left a voicemail to me with a bad tone. And that seemed to be the right thing to do, and correlated with a recent Proverb we read. And today's Proverb indicates we earn esteem by overlooking wrongs. I see where this Proverb is often / generally true - but is it always true? Let me know your thoughts on this in the Comments below if you will! Thanks!
YouTube Video: Today's readings in Romans reminds me of Jeremy Camp's song "Let it Fade:"
Will you let your old life fade? Click here for your new life!
Please join us in memorizing and meditating on a verse of Scripture this week: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23 (NIV)
Comments from You & Questions of the Day: What verses or insights stand out to you in today's readings? Please post up by clicking on the "Comments" link below!
God bless,
Mike
I Chronicles 19:1-21:30
21 24But the king replied to Araunah, "No, I insist on paying what it is worth. I cannot take what is yours and give it to the LORD. I will not offer a burnt offering that has cost me nothing!"
No matter how many times I’ve read this verse, it always takes my breath away causing me to search my soul and ask myself, “Have I offered up to God burnt offerings that cost me nothing?” Have I taken what does not belong to me and given it to God? These are sobering questions and most of the time I find answers I really do not want to claim ownership.
Romans 2:25-3:8
If one could be circumcised outwardly, as a representation of what was has happened on the inside, yet be uncircumcised in heart, then the outward signs Christians use to identify themselves to others as Christians, me included, can hide an empty shell of an unregenerate believer. Uhg!
The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceeding weak - who can know it? I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.
(Jer 17:9-10 JPS)
God always knows the truth about us, the real truth and is not afraid to tell us what we need to hear.
Psalm 11:1-7
Mike, thank you for the insight about this Psalm, it helps to understand that David went through the same struggles I go through in dealing with friends who try to convince you to take the easy way out when God is telling you to go in a different direction.
Proverbs 19:10-12
Mike maybe verse eleven,
Good sense makes a man restrain his anger, and it is his glory to overlook a transgression or an offense (AMP),
Should go with or be seen in the light of the twelfth verse,
The king's wrath is as terrifying as the roaring of a lion, but his favor is as [refreshing as] dew upon the grass (AMP).
Both verses deal with rage/anger and favor or ignoring something. When you have a king or leader who makes decisions or judgments out of rage and anger without thinking things through then people are placed in harms way because the government is not stable. Then the king or leader will be the talk of every conversation in the country and not seen in a favorable light.
Maybe I’m way out in left field but Proverbs can be tricky reading. There are verses that appear to be disjointed but if one takes a step back and gives another look a connection can be seen. In the Amplified Bible’s translation, the first verse implies that these are a kind of puzzle,
THE PROVERBS (truths obscurely expressed, maxims, and parables) of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:
I believe this implies reading this book may mean you have to get your hands dirty by digging and mining through all the verses
Posted by: Ramona | July 14, 2009 at 08:27 PM
Romans 2:25-3:8
2:25
"Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised."
"The churchgoer need only to substitute baptism, confirmation, or church membership to apply that to the twentieth century, to Protestant or Catholic American. So many Americans rest upon the fact that they have been baptized, confirmed, or accepted as members of a church, as the sign that they belong to God. Paul says that is useless and worthless, if something has not happened in the heart."
"God says that nothing outward makes you a Jew. One becomes a Jew when his heart is changed. As with Abraham and Jacob, you become a Jew when you believe in Yeshua Hamashiach, Jesus the Messiah."
If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Galatians 3:29 NIV)
http://www.raystedman.org/romans2/3505.html
=================================================================================
Paul has preched all over and has heard from the Jewish and Gentile community before, common objections come up. Anticipating those objections in Rome, he answers them here in chapter 3.
If we all are unrighteous:
1) What value is there in being a Jew (God's chosen people)?
"You had the Word. They were given the written Word on stone, so that it was permanently preserved. Thus they had a knowledge of the mind and will and character of God that other people did not possess. They had a greater opportunity to know and obey God than anyone else in that day. Therefore they had a tremendous advantage. Implied in this is the fact that, though the Jew had this tremendous advantage, he failed to make use of it, and therefore it did him no good at all. He was no better off than if he had never known the Law at all because he did not put it to its intended use."
2)So if some Jews did not believe, God would nullify His promises to Israel?
Not at all! "That would suggest that God is the failure. It would suggest that God gave a promise and then did not keep his words, just because a few people failed to measure up. So God would be at fault. Our human hearts always tend to blame God for what goes wrong in our life, for our inability to fulfill what God demands. Paul says, "Never let that be! Let God be true, and every man a liar." God is going to keep his word no matter how many fail."
Posted by: John A. | July 14, 2009 at 09:19 PM
Romans 2:25-3:8
[Continued]
MORE OBJECTIONS
3) But if our unrighteousness brings out God's righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing his wrath on us?
NOPE. Man sins because after Adam he is in rebellion to God. His nature is sin. God does not cause sin, and in the end God must judge sin or else he would not be just and righteous. His glory is brought out because in the end all evil will be held accountable to God and punished. If it were not mankind could be said to have gotten over on God.
The just and righteous verdict for ALL mankind is condemnation and eternal separation from God (Hell). It is only by the grace of God that some are saved by faith (trust in God) in the imputed righteousness of Christ.
=================================================================================
4)If my falsehood enhances God's truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?" Why not say -- as we are being slanderously reported and as some claim that we say -- "Let us do evil that good may result"?
A) The unrighteous are playing word games here as the distinction of evil and good is being blurred.
How can something be evil if the end result is good. Or how can something be good if it has evil as its cause. There is no good or evil just acts, and individuals need to decise what is good or not in their own minds.
B) Lawlessness is being encouraged here in this question. Do whatever we like and God will make it good and be glorified.
Problem: Good and Evil are distinct and separate. Evil is Evil and needs to be judged no matter the independant result of God's glory and making it good. (See question 3).
Lastly, one of the things God will judge in the end is Lawlessness. So coming up with reasons to produce lawlessness is stupid. No matter the justification the end result will be judged. Your condemnation is deserved.
Answers to 1 and 2 came from:
http://www.raystedman.org/romans2/3506.html
Posted by: John A. | July 14, 2009 at 09:47 PM
1 Chronicles 19-21:30
19:4 "So Hanun seized David's men, shaved them, cut off their garments in the middle at the buttocks, and sent them away."
"This was a way of humiliating these men.
Having their beard cut off was a way of making them to be children, beardless.
Having their clothes cut off at the waist was … pretty embarrassing!"
19:13 "Be strong and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The LORD will do what is good in his sight.""
"Trust the Lord
Ultimately, none of the efforts we make are of any use unless the Lord is a part of it.
Solomon wrote,
(Psa 127:1 KJV) A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
David wrote,
(Psa 20:7 KJV) Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God."
http://www.calvaryfullerton.org/Bstudy/13%201Ch/2002/131Ch18-20.htm
=================================================================================
20:1 In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war,...but David remained in Jerusalem.
This is the time of the Bathsheba incident. Why is it not mentioned here as it is in Books of Samuel and Kings (written from man's perspective)?
"I & II Chronicles is written from a heavenly perspective. You see, God does not mention the sin of David because God does not hold our sins against us....That should be a great comfort to us, for we all will blow it, make a mistake, but God has forgiven us and will not hold it against us, for all our sins are covered by the blood of Christ. But also understand that many times we do suffer the consequences of our sin, even though God has forgiven us. David saw the result of his sin and how it effected his own family with incest and murder and-so-on."
http://www.ccmanitowoc.org/Library/Guglielmo-Joe/Studies/TH/13-1CH/TH1054.HTM
20:2David took the crown from the head of their king (alternate translation:Molech)....
The Crown weighed 75 pounds and I believe it was the crown on the idol of Molech.
"Molech - also called Milcom, this was the main god of the Ammonites. The idol had a face like an ox, a body like a man's, was hollow and made of brass. The idol was placed within seven chapels, the more you sacrificed, the deeper inside you were allowed. If you offered flour, you were only allowed into the first chapel, but if you offered your baby, you were allowed into the seventh chapel. The idol had arms stretched out, as if receiving something, and was heated in the fire until it glowed red. Then the offering, or child was placed on the red hot arms and burned alive while they beat drums to drown out the cries of the baby. The same god was worshipped by the Moabites, but called Chemosh.
It could be that David took the “crown of Molech”"
Posted by: John A. | July 15, 2009 at 12:16 PM
1 Chronicles 19-21:30
[CONTINUED]
21:1 Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel.
(Exo 30:12 KJV) When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the LORD, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them.
"So what was wrong with David’s taking a census?
Some have suggested that David was motivated by pride, and that he wanted to know just how awesome he was.
Some have suggested that David was coming to rely upon his military strength instead of relying upon the Lord.
The Jewish historian Josephus records (Antiquities, 7:12:1),
Now king David was desirous to know how many ten thousands there were of the people, but forgot the commands of Moses, who told them beforehand, that if the multitude were numbered, they should pay half a shekel to God for every head.
The suggestion is that David didn’t pay the “ransom”, and this was wrong."
21:5 Joab reported the number of the fighting men to David:...
Here we are told that there were 1,100,000 men in Israel, and 470,000 men in Judah who drew the sword.
There is a “discrepancy” between these figures and those of the parallel passage in 2Sam.24:9:
II Samuel 24:9 And Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people unto the king: and there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the sword; and the men of Judah [were] five hundred thousand men.
We are told in 1Chr. 27 that David had a standing army of 24,000 men from each of the twelve tribes, rotating each month. This is a total of 288,000 men. If you add that number to the additional 800,000 counted during the census, you could come up with a number that could be rounded off to 1,100,000 men. The tribe of Judah is mentioned in Chronicles as 470,000, which could have been rounded in Samuel to 500,000.
21:6 But Joab did not include Levi and Benjamin in the numbering,...
"The reason for not counting Levi, was that this was the priestly tribe, not to be a part of the armies of Israel. Their job was to take care of the nation’s worship.
A possibility for why Benjamin was not counted is found in:
I Chronicles 27:24 Joab the son of Zeruiah began to number, but he finished not, because there fell wrath for it against Israel; neither was the number put in the account of the chronicles of king David.
Joab apparently never got to the end of his job before God’s wrath began to fall on Israel. Possibly he might not have gotten to Benjamin yet, since Benjamin was the last born of Jacob’s sons."
[Note: Joab also may have been dragging his feet on the count because Joab disagreed with David] about doing the count.]
http://www.calvaryfullerton.org/Bstudy/13%201Ch/2002/131Ch21-26.htm
Posted by: John A. | July 15, 2009 at 12:36 PM
1 Chronicles 19-21:30
[Continued]
21:8 "Then David said to God, "I have sinned greatly by doing this. Now, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing."
THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT: David was a believer. David had a heart for God. I believe the reason God loved David so much is because NO ONE repented like David. David truly felt pain when He grieved the Lord. It may take David some time, but he always came humbly, submissively, reverantly, and trustingly when repenting of his sins.
No Christian is perfect. We have imputed righteousness when we believe in faith that Jesus is our Lord and Savior - but we will ALL still sin and stumble in our walk with God. The mark of a true Christian is not that we are sinless, but that we recognize our sins and go to the Father for (paternal/relational) forgiveness. The Father will restore the relationship, but there very well may be some consequences in our lives for our sins. Just like David in the rest of this chapter. [my comment]
=================================================================================
21:17 David said to God, "Was it not I who ordered the fighting men to be counted? I am the one who has sinned and done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? O LORD my God, let your hand fall upon me and my family, but do not let this plague remain on your people."
"Accept responsibility
David has the marks of a great leader. He is willing to accept responsibility for his actions. He doesn’t blame someone else."
21"24 But King David replied to Araunah, "No, I insist on paying the full price. I will not take for the LORD what is yours, or sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing."
"Give God the best, not left-overs. Sometimes we can fall into the trap of only giving to God the things that don’t cost us anything.
When you give to God what is “left-over” at the end of the pay check. Does it really cost you anything?
Illustration
It is our best work that God wants, not the dregs of our exhaustion.
-- George MacDonald, 19th century Scottish author.
The concept of sacrifice is that it costs you to give it.
It’s like the young man who is going to pick up his sweetheart for a date, and he stops to pick up his neighbor’s dead flowers to give to his girl. How much does he love her?"
"We have another “discrepency” with the parallel passage:
II Samuel 24:24 And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy [it] of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
The explanation:
David paid 50 shekels for the threshing floor and oxen, but paid 600 shekels all together for the entire “site”, the large plot of ground adjacent to the threshing floor."
21:27 Then the LORD spoke to the angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath.
"The sacrifice was enough.
Lesson
Jesus paid for us.
God is no longer at “war” with us because Jesus has paid the price for our sins.
(Rom 5:10 KJV) For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
(Rom 5:1 KJV) Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:"
http://www.calvaryfullerton.org/Bstudy/13%201Ch/2002/131Ch21-26.htm
Posted by: John A. | July 15, 2009 at 12:56 PM
DID GOD CHANGE HIS MIND
21:15 "And God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem. But as the angel was doing so, the LORD saw it and was grieved because of the calamity and said to the angel who was destroying the people, "Enough! Withdraw your hand." The angel of the LORD was then standing at the threshing floor of Araunah [g] the Jebusite."
I do not believe that is the case.
God gave David a choice, and David selected the three day punishment. Nothing said God had to punish for three days.
Grieving? Would a father be upset if he had to punish one of his children very severely and saw that the child was suffering greatly. In the same way, God grieved when punishing Israel for David's sin.
What about the 70,000? No one is promised a day and each has an appointed time. In the 70,000 if any were believers they are in heaven now. If they were unrighteous then their time of judgment was at this moment.
Why halt the punishment? If the purpose of the punishment had been served, then it could be stoppecd. However, I really think it was a pause to give David time to react to the punishment.
David's reaction: He along with elders dropped to the ground in sackcloth - extreme reverence and fear of the Lord. More importantly, David said - 'No More' Take me and my family, but spare the people."
This is what God was really looking for in David. God knew David's heart and knew he meant it. David was advancing in his walk and was conforming to the image of Christ. David was offering to intercede and give up his life for his people. Just as Christ did for us.
This was the goal all along - yes, sin required punishment, and punishment was meted out, once David advanced in his walk there was no need for any more punishment.
Posted by: John A. | July 15, 2009 at 01:13 PM