I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Chronicles 5-7.

At two separate points in today’s passage it tells us that the Lord’s presence filled the Temple.  The way the passage is written one might conclude that these were two different events.  However, it looks to me that the first time it mentions God’s presence entering the Temple was the end of an abbreviated description of the dedication of the Temple which described the priestly activity connected with bringing the Ark into the Temple while the second time was the end of a longer description of the event from the perspective of the general populace.  The other interpretation of these two clouds of God’s presence filling the Temple is that the first time it filled the parts of the Temple where only the priests went and the second time God’s presence spread out and filled the entire Temple including the Temple courtyard. I tend towards the first interpretation, but see valid understandings of God that can come from the second.

I like looking at Solomon’s prayer asking God to watch over the Temple and God’s answer at the same time. Solomon asks God to put His name on the Temple and to watch over it.  He also asks that God answer prayers directed towards the Temple and to God.  There is one specific request Solomon makes to which I think we should pay special attention.  Solomon asks God to hear and answer the prayers of those who are not part of His people so that all people may have the opportunity to become God’s people (my simplification of Solomon’s request).  God’s answer to Solomon was that He had chosen the Temple to be set apart as holy.  However, God rejected Solomon’s request to put the condition of praying towards the Temple on people’s prayer.  God’s answer to that part of Solomon’s prayer was, “if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. ”  God promised it to the people of Israel in Solomon’s time and He promises it to us today.  Let us humble ourselves, pray, seek God’s face, and turn from our wicked ways.  That is what it will take for God to restore our land.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Chronicles 27-29.

This passage lays out how David laid out his government of the Kingdom of Israel.  It lists those who commanded the forces he kept prepared against an unexpected attack (and probably sent out to deal with bandits who raided caravans on the trade routes) and those who he appointed to administer the various aspects of his government.  Perhaps the most interesting thing is how he included the leaders of each of the tribes into his government.  Certainly, that contributed to the division of the Kingdom when his grandson took the throne, but it also helped to make the people think of themselves as part of the Kingdom rather than just as part of the various tribes.

However, I want to spend a little time about something it relays from David’s instructions to Solomon.  Up until this point, most of what was written in this book was there to show how the Returned Exiles were connected to the Kingdom of David.  This was included as instruction on how they, and we, should live.  It includes a series of points which we should meditate on frequently:

• Learn to know God intimately
• Worship and serve Him with your whole heart and a willing mind
• God sees every heart and knows every thought and plan
• If you seek Him, you will find Him
• If you forsake Him, He will reject you.

Part of me wants to expound on that, but everything I think to write seems to dilute the above.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Chronicles 24-26.

I have written previously that I find passages containing genealogies difficult to read and make a blog entry about.  Today’s passage is one such passage as it is a combination of genealogies and who was assigned what task in rituals we no longer follow.  However, there is one element of this passage that is worth taking careful note of.  When priests and Levites were assigned tasks in the Temple, great care was taken to make sure that not only was no preference shown, but that everyone could see that no preference was shown.  We should make an effort to follow this example when selecting leaders today.  There are tasks where it is appropriate to select people based on their relationship with the decision-makers.  There are others where it is important that those chosen not be selected on that basis.  In those latter circumstances, we need to make sure that everyone can see that no one received preferential treatment.  In those circumstances avoiding the appearance of impropriety is almost as important as avoiding impropriety.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Chronicles 17-19.

The message which God gave to David through the prophet Nathan contains some prophecies which clearly apply to the Messiah and not to Solomon.  In fact, in many ways it more closely tracks as a Messianic prophecy than one fulfilled by Solomon.  While Solomon did indeed build a temple to God, he did not truly keep God’s favor his entire life, as God chose Jeroboam to take the Northern Tribes away from Solomon’s son while Solomon yet ruled.  On the other hand, the Church is indeed God’s Temple, built by Jesus.  Jesus suffered death at God’s command and has His favor for all of eternity.  Speaking of eternity, Jesus will reign over God’s people for all of eternity.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Chronicles 13-16.

I am not sure that the order in which the account of David moving the Ark, Hiram sending him messengers, and the Philistine attempt to defeat him is the order in which these events occurred.  I suspect that the compiler of this book was also unsure.  Nevertheless, I find the difference between Hiram’s response to David taking the throne and that of the Philistines interesting.  Hiram sent messengers and offered to help David build palaces and otherwise fortify Jerusalem into a true capital.  The Philistines sent an army and tried to defeat David before he became too powerful for them.  Hiram established a long-term relationship with Israel which benefited both nations.  The Philistines provoked David to war and he completely defeated them.  They were never again a power in the region (although there is evidence that they maintained a separate identity until around the time Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians).

I love the psalm included in today’s passage.  It gives us some instructions which we should follow today, especially now.  Let us give thanks to God and proclaim to the whole world how great he is.  Sing to Him and exult Him and continually seek Him.  Give thanks to God and remember that He is in charge.  If we do these things and truly believe them, we will not be afraid, not even of disease and disaster.  Then when people ask us why we are not afraid, we should tell them that we are not afraid because God is in control; He is good and He loves us.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Chronicles 10-12.

I find a few portions of today’s passage interesting.  First, it appears to me that David conquered Jerusalem so as to set it up as his capital.  This would have been important because Hebron was very much a town of the tribe of Judah.  One might almost consider it to be the capital of the tribe of Judah.  By moving his capital from Hebron to Jerusalem David made it less like he was the king of Judah who had come to rule over all of Israel.  It made David equally king of all of the tribes.  The compiler of this passage makes the same point in another way at the end of his discussion of David’s mighty men.  After listing the Three and the Thirty, he gives us a list of warriors from each of the tribes who came to follow David while he was at Hebron, and before.  David became king because warriors from all of the tribes chose to follow him and support his claim to kingship.

Going back to look at what this passage says about the Three and the Thirty we see some things which interest me.  As I am reading this it seems like these men were leaders of David’s army.  Unlike some other men who are mentioned from time to time, they had no specific unit which followed their orders.  Instead, they would be given charge of units, or take charge of units in ways that changed from battle to battle and war to war.  More interesting to me is the fact that there were more than thirty members of the Thirty.  Further, according to the translators’ notes and other translations, there was more than one leader of the Three.  The original Hebrew mentions that Joab’s brother was the leader of the Three, even though he was not one of them.  But before that it named one of the Three as the leader of the Three.