Teaching Notes

TH1052: I CHRONICLES

In our last study the primary focus was the various genealogies, and specifically the genealogy of the Messiah. Tonight we have one more chapter of genealogies, then a chapter on king Saul, and finally we will be looking at the life of David, which covers the rest of this book, chapters 11 through 29, ending with the death of king David.

I CHRONICLES 9

VERSE 1

1. The focus here is Judah, the Southern Kingdom, the lineage of the Messiah. Remember that the Northern Kingdom of Samaria had some 8 dynasties or families that sat on the throne, while the Southern Kingdom of Judah only had 1 dynasty or family on the throne, and that was David's. And it is from his lineage that the Messiah would come from. And we also see the reason for their captivity, their bondage, they were unfaithful to the Lord. They had turned away from Him. Thus, the Babylonians made 3 invasions into the Southern Kingdom of Judah, the first in 606 BC, then again in 597 BC, and finally in 586 BC the Babylonians had enough of the revolts and they leveled the city of Jerusalem and destroyed the temple. They also took away the rest of the people captive to Babylon, leaving only the weak, the sick to take care of the land.

VERSES 2-27

1. The return to Israel from their captivity began in 536 BC and not many wanted to return home, for they became very comfortable in Babylon. The first to return were the religious leadership.

2. (READ VERSES 22-27)

These men were in charge of opening and closing the gates of the temple and they were to make sure that only those who belonged in the temple area were allowed in, and keeping out those that did not belong there. In a sense the pastor is like a gate keeper. You see, my responsibility is not only to feed and led you but to watch over you and warn you. Wolves will try to get in and if I have just fed you, all I have done is fattened you up for the kill. I am to warn you of the dangers that are out there and to make sure wolves don't enter the flock to kill or hurt you. As a gate keeper I am not protecting silver or gold, not that kind of treasure, but something that is far more important to God, YOU! God has entrusted to me this flock, and I ask that you would pray for me, that God would give me the wisdom needed to watch over and minister to you. That is what Paul told the Ephesian elders to do. He said in Acts 20:27-30, "For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves."

VERSES 28-34

1. Here we see some of the representatives of those working in the temple. The area I would like to focus on once again is the area of worship. These singers or worship people had no other responsibilities other than being in the temple and singing worship songs to the Lord. Day and night music, worship could be heard. Their only responsibility was to make sure the temple was filled with praise unto the Lord.

2. In our own lives, if our heart is filled with praise, we will surely be focused on the Lord. A heart that is not filled with worship is distant from God, for if you truly know Him, and are focused on Him, you can't help but worship Him. In Psalm 22:3 we read, "But You are holy, who inhabit the praises of Israel."

VERSES 35-44

1. In these verses we see the genealogy of Saul and some of his descendants. But remember, Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin, not the tribe of Judah from which the Messiah would come. Thus, his genealogy and his life will just be touched on here, for the focus will be David and his descendants, the Messianic line.

I CHRONICLES 10

VERSES 1-7

1. Saul comes against the Philistines at Mount Gilboa, on the southeast side of the plain of Esdraelon. It is here that Saul's sons are killed in battle and Saul is severely wounded by an arrow. Saul, king of Israel, knew he could not escape in his condition and he did not want to be tortured or killed at the hands of the Philistines, so he asks his armor bearer to kill him, but he refuses. Thus, Saul attempts to kill himself by falling on his sword, but he is still alive, although barely. Onto the scene comes this young Amalekite and Saul asks this young man to kill him, which he has no problem doing. This young man, knowing the war between Saul and David, brings David the good news that Saul is dead and he is the one that killed him, thinking by saying these things he would get on the good side of David, well, not exactly. In II Samuel 1:14-16 we read, So David said to him, "How was it you were not afraid to put forth your hand to destroy the Lord's anointed?" Then David called one of the young men and said, "Go near, and execute him!" And he struck him so that he died. So David said to him, "Your blood is on your own head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, 'I have killed the Lord's anointed.'"

VERSES 8-12

1. When the Philistines come upon the body of Saul and his sons, they take the bodies of Saul and his sons to display as trophies, you might say, of their victory. But when the men of Jabesh-Gilead hear of what happened, they cross over the Jordan River and take back the bodies of Saul and his sons and they give them a descent burial.

2. The reason the people of Jabesh-Gilead loved Saul so much is because he delivered them from the hands of Nahash, the Ammonite, (I Samuel 11). You see, Nahash told them if they wanted to surrender to him, then they would have to agree to have their right eye put out, not only a sign of humiliation, but also it would make them ineffective in battle. So the elders of Jabesh wanted 7 days to think this over and then they would let Nahash know their answer. When Saul hears this he went ballistic and he got the people of Israel to come together and they defeated the Ammonites under his command. It was this incident that caused the people to be drawn to Saul and they made him king. And it was because of this that the people of Jabesh-Gilead went for the bodies of Saul and his sons. They were repaying the kindness that Saul had shown them.

VERSES 13-14

1. Saul was a man of great potential and yet he fell far short of what God wanted him to be. In these verses we see 3 reasons why he failed:

A. UNFAITHFUL TO GOD - God instructed Saul to wipe out the Amalekites and he only does half the job. He was more interested in himself than obeying what God had told him to do.

B. DISREGARDED GOD'S WORD - God had said in His word that the priests alone were to offer the sacrifices unto Him. But Saul found himself in trouble with the Philistines, they were preparing for war, and fear was growing in Israel. People were hiding in rocks and caves and fleeing for their lives. And Saul was inpatient waiting for the prophet Samuel to come and on the seventh day he could not wait any longer and Saul offered his own sacrifice to the Lord.

In I Samuel 13:10-14 we read of this incident, "Now it happened, as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering, that Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him. And Samuel said, "What have you done?" And Saul said, "When I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at Michmash, "then I said, 'The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the LORD.' Therefore I felt compelled, and offered a burnt offering." And Samuel said to Saul, "You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which He commanded you. For now the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. "But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you."

C. FAILED TO SEEK GOD PROPERLY- After the death of Samuel, Saul had no one to inquire of the Lord for him, and God was not speaking to him. And again the Philistines gathered for war and Saul was scared, so he goes to the witch of Endor to seek council in what he should do. And it says of this encounter in I Samuel 28:18-19, "Because you did not obey the voice of the LORD nor execute His fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore the LORD has done this thing to you this day. "Moreover the LORD will also deliver Israel with you into the hand of the Philistines. And tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The LORD will also deliver the army of Israel into the hand of the Philistines."

2. We have seen 9 chapters on the genealogies, 1 chapter on the life of Saul, and the rest of the book will cover the life of David. You see, David's life, his dynasty was divinely ordained by God, and Saul's was not. The people wanted a king, not God, and yet God said that He would bless Saul if Saul obeyed Him, which he did not. Thus, Saul's dynasty lasted some 40 years, 1051 BC to 1011 BC, and David's lasted some 425 years, 1011 BC to 586 BC.

I CHRONICLES 11

VERSES 1-3

1. Remember that David, for 7 1/2 years is king in Hebron, while for 2 years the rest of the nation followed after king Saul's son, Ishbosheth. But now we see that the entire nation wants David to be their king.

2. It is interesting to note that even when Saul was king, the people recognized David as their leader. He as the one leading them in battle. They saw the hand of God on Davids life even before he was king. If you remember, Samuel anointed David as king when he was around 12 years old, and yet it was years before he would sit on the throne. And yet over all those years, even as a shepherd, God was training David to be king.

3. Don't ever think that where God has placed you now, is a waste of time. God is preparing you, molding and shaping you for the work he has called you to do, whatever that may be. If God has called you, He will equip you for the work. It is as Paul said in Philippians 1:6, "being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ."

VERSE 4

1. Jebus was in the promised land and yet the Jebusites still inhabited it. If you remember during the first 7 years Joshua and the children of Israel secured the land from the enemy. And yet there were still pockets of enemy resistance within the land. As Joshua divided the land to the various tribes and then the various families, he told them to drive out the enemy, for if they did not, they would be a snare to them. And they found out the hard way, how true the words of Joshua were. They must have been tired of fighting and as long as they had a piece of land to live on, they would allow the enemy to have their own.

And God warned them way back in Deuteronomy 8:10-17, long before they entered the land, not to get comfortable. He said, "When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you. "Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, "lest; when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; "and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; "when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; "who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; "who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end; "then you say in your heart, 'My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.'

2. As Christians we can get tired of fighting the flesh, and instead of driving out those areas in our life, we allow them to remain. And they only become a snare to us, a hindrance in our walk with the Lord. As a Christian don't ever stop marching forward, for if you do, you will only slide backwards. Learn from Caleb, an old man and what he was able to do. At the age of 85 he goes to Joshua and doesn't ask for an area of land were the enemy is weak, but where the enemy is the strongest. He asks for the area where the Anakim, the giants were, and he defeats them because his faith was in the promises of God. Walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh!

VERSES 5-9

1. David wants this city of Jebus for himself, but this was not an easy city to defeat. You see, it sat on a hill and it was thus, very easy to pick off the enemy as they started to come up to the city. In fact, the Jebusites felt very secure within the walls of their city, but David is able to defeat them and thus the city of Jebus becomes the city of David or Jerusalem.

2. Joab, David's nephew was relieved from his duty as the commander of David's army because of his rebellious actions. But now Joab is the only one who is able to climb up this 45 foot shaft, from which the Jebusites brought their water into the city, and fight off the enemy until he was able to open the doors of the city. Because of this David once again makes him the commander, for he truly was a great military leader.

VERSES 10-11

1. Here we see David's mighty men, a bunch of malcontents the were turned into men David trusted in battle. In II Samuel chapter 23 we are told that the name of this first man was Adino, and he defeated the enemy by lifting up his spear 800 times, until the enemy was defeated. It says in I Chronicles 300 times, but this is most likely a copyist error. Paul said in I Timothy 2:8, "I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting." The first thing a mighty man of God must be, is a man of prayer.

VERSES 12-14

1. Here we see Eleazar defeat the Philistines with his sword, and by the time the battle was over his sword cleaved to his hand. It became a natural extension of his hand. Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:17 to take up "the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God." The word of God should be so natural in our life that it just flows from our lives. The second thing a mighty man of God must be is a man of the word.

2. For some reason God leaves out Shammah in this section, another mighty man of David's who fought for a piece of ground that was not important to anyone except the king, and because of that he defeated the enemy.

VERSES 15-19

1. I want you to notice that David never commanded his men to get him this water, but they overheard David just talking out loud, and upon hearing his desire, they risked their lives to get David this water to drink. As his men returned with the water, David could not drink it but poured it out. He told his men that only the Lord deserves that kind of devotion, not me nor anyone else. We, as Christians should be willing to give to the Lord that which is most important to us, as David did.

2. Secondly, the only way David's men could have heard of his desire is that they had to be close to him. They had to listen to what he was saying. They had to pay attention to him. You see, as mighty men and women of God we should not only carry out the commands of God, but also His desires. But to do that you have to know His heart, which means you have to be close to Him.

VERSES 20-21

1. Abishai, David's nephew, was a mighty man of God but he did not attain the honor that was given to Adino, Eleazar and Shammah.

VERSE 22

1. In I Peter 5:8 we are told to "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." Benaiah gives us an example of what we as Christians are to do on a daily basis, and not just when we feel like it. He goes and kills a lion on a snowy day. Now it does not snow often in Israel and when it does it usually goes away quickly. Benaiah could have waited for conditions to get better, but he didn't. We, as Christians, many times just don't feel like going against the enemy. But by this example God is telling us that we are to be prepared at all times. The enemy doesn't give up or take a vacation just because we are not in the mood to fight, and we must be alert as any soldier is that is involved in battle.

VERSES 23-25

1. He also defeated an Egyptian, a powerful man standing some 7 1/2 feet tall. Egypt is a type of the world and it does look awesome and terrifying to us many times. But we must remember what John tells us in I John 4:4. He said "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." Benaiah killed him with his staff, which was a symbol of a pilgrim. How important that is for us to remember. When we become part of this world, we become entangled within its web. But as pilgrims we are just passing through. Yes the flesh can be defeated, but only through Christ as His Spirit gives us the strength to overcome it.

VERSES 26-47

1. In these verses we see more of David's men, he had over 400, but only a few were his mighty men. Why? Because they were men faithful in prayer, faithful in the word, faithful in service, faithful in worship and faithful in perseverance. God wants each of us to be mighty men and women of God, for His glory.

I CHRONICLES 12

VERSES 1-2

1. David at this point in his life has been on the run from king Saul for almost 10 years and he feels the situation he find himself in is hopeless. And so David goes down to Ziklag, a Philistine city, to live, as he flees to the enemy for safety from Saul. The king of Gath, Achish, is asked by David for a city to dwell in and not one close to the royal city. And so Achish gives David and his men the city of Ziklag to live in. And they remained in this city for some 16 months.

2. Some of the men of Benjamin, Saul's tribe, defect to David's side. And these guys were skilled with the bow and the sling, able to use either hand to defeat their enemy. We read in Judges 20:16 of men that came from Benjamin who were also skilled as these men. It says "Among all this people were seven hundred select men who were left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair's breadth and not miss."

VERSES 3-15

1. In these verses we see more of those who sided with David and had turned from following Saul.

VERSES 16-22

1. We continue to see the defectors from Saul's army join sides with David. They realized that God was no longer with Saul, but He was with David.

2. During David's 16 month stay in Ziklag he would go out and destroy small enemy cities, while Achish thought David was out raiding the cities of Israel. But then a problem arose, for the armies of the Philistines were getting ready to invade Israel, and Achish asks David to join them, and he could not refuse. But God stepped in and as the military leaders saw David they refused to let him join them, for fear of him siding once again with Saul and fighting against them.

As David and his men headed home to Ziklag they saw their city going up in smoke. The Amalekites destroyed their city and took captive their families. David was once again in trouble, for even his own men were beginning to turn against him. But instead of sulking over the situation he found himself in, he brought his problem to the Lord. And God tells David that they will not only defeat the Amalekites but they will also get their loved ones back. And that is exactly what happened.

3. Also remember that it is this battle against the Philistines that Saul and his sons, Johnathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua are killed.

VERSES 23-40

1. For 7 1/2 years David reigned in Hebron, but now the nation is coming to him, requesting that he would be their king and lead them. Saul has died and the nation needed someone to help bring them together, and David was that man. At the age of around 12 David was anointed king by the prophet Samuel, and now years later that promise became a reality. David went through years of training, years of preparation, and now God is causing men to be drawn to him as their leader. David did not have to fight for the throne, God gave it to him. And as they made David king, there was great joy in Israel!

2. That is an important lesson for all of us to learn. If God has called you into a ministry, you don't have to go kicking down the door to obtain it. In God's timing He will open that door and all you will have to do is step in. Notice what Jesus says in Revelation 3:8. He says "I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name." Doors of ministry are not opened by us, for we only have a little strength. They are opened and they are closed by the Lord. No one can stop what He is going to do, except us, if we do not step through that open door - that door of opportunity!