Tag Archives: 1 Chronicles 13-16

Daily Bible Study

May 13, 2023 Bible Study — David Reveals That He Believed In Scripture

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

I want to start by looking at what we can learn about the religious practices and beliefs of Ancient Israel from King David’s two attempts to move the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem.   The first time, they commissioned a new cart to move the Ark, but when the oxen stumbled, Uzzah touched the Ark to steady it and was killed.  As a result David ordered the Ark to be given into the care of the closest landholder.  A few months later, after receiving an offer from Hiram of Tyre for supplies to build his palace and two battles against the Philistines, David decided to move the Ark again.   This time, David gave careful instructions about how the Ark should be moved, and explains what they did wrong the first time.  He says that they failed by not inquiring of God about how to do it, and by not following the prescribed way of moving it.  This tells us two things.  First, it tells us that a document existed at the time which those who followed the religion of Israel (which is, at the least, a precursor to what we call Judaism, and may be what we call Judaism) considered authoritative regarding their religious practices.  Second, those who practiced that religion considered consulting that document to be one of the ways in which one could inquire of God.  Or, to combine those two things into one thing, there existed at that time a document which they looked at in essentially the same way in which we look at the Bible today.  So, while we today believe that God has since added to Scriptures since then, those who worshiped God at the time of King David had a similar view of Scripture to that which we hold today.  One other point, we can take from this: the people of that day were just as lacking in thorough knowledge of the Scripture as most of us are today.

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

Daily Bible Study

May 13, 2021 Bible Study David Consolidates His Power by Unifying the People of Israel In Their Worship of God

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

Today’s passage describes how David established himself as king of Israel.  Actually, the writer started the process of laying out the steps which David took to consolidate power under himself.  As I noted yesterday, David’s approach contrasted with that of Saul.  As yesterday’s passage noted, David started by conquering Jerusalem and making that his capital.  Jerusalem was not a traditional base of power for any of the tribes, so it could be perceived as belonging to all of Israel, not just one tribe.  Today’s passage starts with David getting the consent of the leaders of all of Israel to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem.  At first, that goes badly and David gives the Ark into the care of a Philistine living nearby, who was apparently loyal to David.  After two attacks by the Philistine armies, each of which David defeated decisively, David decides to finish moving the Ark to Jerusalem. Once the Ark is established in Jerusalem, David instituted regular worship before the Ark in Jerusalem and at the Tabernacle in Gibeon.  By doing this David unified the people of Israel in their worship of God.  Unifying the people of Israel had the effect of consolidating David’s power.

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

Daily Bible Study

May 13, 2020 Bible Study God Is In Control 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 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.

Daily Bible Study

May 13, 2019 Bible Study — Good Intentions Are Not Enough

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 13-162.

As I read the account here of David’s decision to move the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem I realized that this was both a political move and an act of faith. By moving the Ark to Jerusalem David brought the focus of Israelite religious activity to his capital. However, he also led the people to make worshiping God a more central part of their lives. While David had good intentions in moving the Ark of the Covenant, he did not do so according to God’s instructions for moving the Ark. As a result, one of David’s friends died. We must realize that good intentions is not enough. If we do not act according to God’s instructions and commands, things will go wrong and bad things will result. When that happens we often react as David did and get angry with God when bad things happen. However, David did not turn away from God in his anger. Instead, he took the time to learn what he had done wrong. Then he made plans and completed moving the Ark to the prepared location, doing things the right way.

Daily Bible Study

May 13, 2018 Bible Study — Asking God For Guidance, Even When We “Know” What We Should Do

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 how much of this I will be writing about. However, first I will comment on the obvious that just about everyone who comments on this passage comments on. When David first attempted to move the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, he put on quite a big celebration. He had a new cart built to transport the Ark and gathered all of the leaders of Israel. This was probably a bigger celebration than his coronation, considering that it appears that he was acknowledged as king by the various groups of Israelites over a period of time. Then, just before they got to Jerusalem, one of the Levites guiding the cart the Ark was on touched it and was killed immediately and impressively. This would have been viewed as a bad sign about David’s kingship by everyone, including David. So, David immediately arranged for the Ark to stay at that location.

    Shortly after the abortive attempt to move the Ark to Jerusalem, the Philistines mustered their armies to remind the Israelites who was in charge in the area. David decisively defeated them in the first battle and the Philistines withdrew. A short time later the Philistines returned and once again David defeated them, although he used different tactics this second time. What makes these two battles significant is that they were evidence that God had not abandoned David. During this same time period, David asked his advisers to figure out what had gone wrong. He spent some time turning Jerusalem into not just the place he ruled from but into a capital city. He had some land in the city consecrated for the worship of God. Then David once again attempted to move the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. This time he was successful.

    When David began his preparations for the second attempt to bring the Ark to Jerusalem he said something very significant. He told the religious leaders that the reason things went wrong the first time was because they (including himself) had not asked God how they should go about moving the Ark. I want to point out that David learned this lesson from his two battles with the Philistines. Just as with his plans for moving the Ark the first time, David thought he knew what tactics to use against the Philistines. But he asked God what tactics he should use anyway. When he first went to move the Ark, he skipped that step. That is an important lesson for us. We need to ask God for guidance and direction, even, maybe even especially, when we “know” what to do.

Daily Bible Study

May 13, 2017 Bible Study — God Holds Us To a Higher Standard

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.

    The writer creates an interesting juxtaposition in today’s passage. The passage begins with the account of David’s initial attempt to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem with its tragic ending. We are told that this represented a renewed interest in the Ark. King Saul had paid little, if any, attention to the Ark throughout his reign. By deciding to move the Ark to Jerusalem, David was declaring that he was going to make worshiping God in Jerusalem a centerpiece of his reign. But David did not do this by royal fiat. First he consulted with the “assembly of Israel”, something which appears to have been a representative body of all of the people of Israel. We have no idea how this body was selected, but it is clearly not ALL of the people of Israel because after gaining their agreement David summoned all Israel to celebrate moving the Ark. (Wow, I just realized I have a lot more to write about this passage than I initially thought).

    Having gathered the people to celebrate moving the Ark and to worship the Lord, David had the Ark placed on an ox cart for the move. When they have almost gotten to Jerusalem, the cart carrying the Ark tips and Uzzah reaches out to keep the Ark from falling. Uzzah is struck down immediately upon touching the Ark. David is angry and afraid after this happens, so he gives the Ark into the care of Obed-edom of Gath. It is at this point where the writer tells us that the Philistines attacked David as soon as they learned he had been made king over Israel. The writer wants to make sure that we connect David transporting the Ark on a cart with when the Philistines returned the Ark after capturing it in battle just before Samuel became judge over Israel. After defeating the Philistines twice, David realizes what he had done wrong. The Ark was not just a piece of luggage to be transported by cart. It was to be carried by Levites.

    The point of this juxtaposition of the Philistines with David’s two attempts to bring the Ark to Jerusalem is to show that while God will honor those who are making a preliminary effort to honor Him, He will hold those who have fully dedicated themselves to Him to a higher standard. When the Philistines put the Ark on an ox cart to send it back to the Israelites, they were making a primitive effort to honor God while saying they wanted nothing to do with Him. Whereas the Israelites, including Uzzah, were proclaiming their full devotion to God. They should have known better. When people make a clumsy attempt to honor God for the first time, God will honor them for their attempt, no matter how flawed or lacking. On the other hand, when we have been worshiping God for an extended period of time, He expects us to learn how to do it right. This does not mean that there is a rigid formula for worshiping God. What it means is that God will accept the worship of someone who has just learned of Him who adapts an idolatrous worship practice, but He expects those who have known Him for years to abandon such practices as we come to know Him better.

Daily Bible Study

May 13, 2016 Bible Study — It Is Not Enough To Mean Well

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

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

    When David decided to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, he expected that it would result in nothing but good for him and his people. However, while the Ark was being transported, someone touched it in a manner other than what had been laid out by God. That man was instantly struck dead. This frightened and angered David, how could God do such a thing when David was trying to honor Him? However, we see that over time David realized that the death was caused by his, and his men’s (including the man who was killed), mistakes. They had not followed God’s instructions. David discovered that having good intentions is not enough. We need to not only have good intentions, we need to also do the right thing.

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    I love the psalm/song which David wrote to celebrate when he finally brought the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem. He calls on us to praise God and rejoice. The phrase which stands out to me today is this: “Each day proclaim the good news that He saves…Tell everyone about the amazing things He does.” To whom have I proclaimed the good news about God today?