BLESSED BY THE PRESENCE OF GOD

PROCLAMATION

“The ark of God remained with the family of Obed-Edom in his house for three months, and The Lord blessed his household and everything he had.”  1 Chronicles 13:14 (NIV)

EXPLANATION
The ark of God was captured by the Philistines after a battle in which they defeated and slaughtered the Israelites. (1 Samuel 4:10-11)  After a series of bad things happening, negative occurrences, devastation, afflictions, and deaths among their people, (1 Samuel 5:1-12) the Philistines returned the ark of God to Israel. (1 Samuel 6:1-21)  The ark of God remained in the house of Abinadab in Kiriath Jearim for twenty years. (1 Samuel 7:1-2)  The thirteenth chapter of First Chronicles repeats the record of King David’s first attempt to take the ark of God from Kiriath Jearim to Jerusalem and provides a different perspective on those events. (1 Samuel 6:1-11 and 1 Chronicles 13:1-14)  The ark of God did not make it to Jerusalem, it ended up in the home of Obed-Edom. (1 Chronicles 13:12-14)

APPLICATION

There are those who say that they don’t invite The Lord God into their home because they don’t want to offend Him by the things that go on inside of their home.  It is as if we forget that The Lord God is everywhere all at the same time.  When we accept Jesus, The Christ, as our personal savior we immediately receive the indwelling of The Holy Spirit of God and all of the blessing which go along with that.  The Lord God wants to be with us, but He will not force Himself upon us.  He allows us to exercise our free will.  We must choose to let Him into our life.  He will stand at the door to our heart and knock, and He will not come in until we open the door to our heart and invite Him in. (Revelation 3:20)  However, once we receive Him, we are blessed and blessed with a more abundant life. (John 10:10)

BE A SOLDIER IN THE ARMY OF THE LORD

PROCLAMATION

“Day after day men came to help David, until he had a great army, like the army of God.”  1 Chronicles 12:22  (NIV)

EXPLANATION

When David marched on Jerusalem and captured it, (1 Chronicles 11:4-5) he had an army of men with him.  The twelfth chapter of First Chronicle identifies the men who were the leaders of the warriors that joined him and helped him in battle. (1 Chronicles 12:1-40)  There were over 300,000 fighting men in David’s army. (1 Chronicles 12:23-37)  These men all joined David to help him take the kingdom away from Saul and make David the king over all of Israel. (1 Chronicles 12:38)

APPLICATION

Everyone cannot join the army and fight for their country, but every believer has joined the army of God and we are all on the battlefield for our Lord.  Each of us has a job to do which fits our different set of skills.  There is no place in this army for cowards, God did not give us the spirit of fear. (2 Timothy 1:7)  We must be willing to march into hell and fight for a heavenly cause.  We just need to make sure that we put on the whole armor of God and be prepared to stand. (Ephesians 6:13)  We must stand up for that which is right and stand against that which is wrong.  We must do that which is good and right in the eyes of The Lord.  The battle is already won, and we have been given the victory through Jesus, The Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:57)

THE LORD GOD KEEPS HIS PROMISES

PROCLAMATION

“… While Saul was king … God said to you, ‘You will shepherd My people Israel, and you will become their ruler.’ ”  1 Chronicles 11:2 (NIV)

EXPLANATION
The Book of First Chronicles repeats the history of the southern kingdom, Judah, from a different perspective than was presented in First and Second Samuel, and in First and Second Kings.  The eleventh chapter of First Chronicles presents the beginning of the reign of David as king of Israel. (1 Chronicles 11:1-3)  It then presents David’s conquest of Jerusalem and how he converted it into the City of David. (1 Chronicles 11:4-9)  Chapter eleven ends with a description of David’s mighty men, his chiefs and mighty warriors. (1 Chronicles 11:10-47)  The Lord God promised the prophet Samuel that David, the son of Jesse, would be king over Israel. (1 Samuel 16:1-13)  It was sometime later when that promise was fulfilled.  David was first anointed king over Judah (2 Samuel 2:4) and later as king over all of Israel. (2 Samuel 5:3)

APPLICATION

The Lord God keeps all of His promises.  The Bible is full of God’s promises.  Some of them have already been fulfilled, while others have yet to come to fruition, but all of them will be kept. (Matthew 5:18 and Luke 16:17)  For those of us who are impatiently awaiting the fulfillment of His promises, we need to remember that all things will be done in His time frame and to Him a day is like one thousand of our years. (2 Peter 3:8)  Everything will happen in due season.  We just need to learn to wait on The Lord. (Psalm 27:14 and Psalm 37:34)

DISOBEDIENCE WILL NOT BE TOLERATED FOR LONG

PROCLAMATION

“Saul died because he was unfaithful to The Lord; he did not keep the word of The Lord and he even consulted a medium for guidance, and did not inquire of The Lord.  So The Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.”  1 Chronicles 10:13-14 (NIV)

EXPLANATION

The tenth chapter of The Bible Book of First Chronicles is an account of the death of King Saul.  Chronicles recounts the history of the southern kingdom, Judah, but it is written from a different perspective and with a different emphasis than that which is recorded in the Bible Books of First and Second Samuel, and First and Second Kings.  The genealogy of Saul is recorded in a previous chapter. (1 Chronicles 8:33)  This chapter is all about Saul.  Here the reign of Saul is not addressed; only the events around his death are recorded. (1 Chronicles 10:1-14)  The tenth chapter ends with the reason for the death of King Saul.

APPLICATION

All of us have sinned (Romans 3:23) and Jesus, The Christ, paid the price for all of our sins. (John 1:29 and 1 John 2:2)  However, our willful disobedience to God’s Holy Word will not go unpunished. (1 Corinthians 3:13-15)  As believers we will not lose our salvation, but we will be punished.  All we can do is pray, confess, ask to be forgiven, and then ask The Lord God to have mercy on us.

THE EARTHLY GENEALOGY OF CHRIST

PROCLAMATION

“… David reigned in Jerusalem thirty-three years, and these were the children born to him there: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon.  These four were by Bathsheba daughter of Ammiel.”  1 Chronicles 3:4-5 (NIV)

EXPLANATION

The earthly genealogy of Jesus, The Christ, is best outlined in the gospel according to Matthew. (Matthew 1:1-17)  The first nine chapters of First Chronicles presents the genealogies of the men among God’s chosen people as mentioned in the early Books of The Bible.  The first chapter of Chronicles records the names of the men in the first eight chapters of the Book of Genesis.  It begins with Adam and ends with the sons of Esau, the son of Isaac, son of Abraham.   The second chapter begins with the genealogy of Jacob (Israel) and ends with David.  The third chapter records the family of David including his sons which were not mentioned in the Books of Samuel or Kings.  King David had six sons born to him in Hebron, (1 Chronicles 3:1-4) plus four sons by Bathsheba, (1 Chronicles 3:5) and nine more sons not counting the sons by his concubines. (1 Chronicles 3:6-9)  Mary, the earthly mother of Jesus, The Christ, traced her ancestry through Nathan.  This is why He is referred to as “The Son of David”. (Matthew 1:1 and 21:9, and Romans 1:3)  The fourth chapter presents the posterity of Judah through Caleb and Shelah and the tribe of Simeon.  The fifth chapter presents the men of the tribe of Reuben, and the sixth chapter presented the tribe of Levi.  The seventh chapter presents the genealogies of the tribes of Issachar, Benjamin, Naphtali, Manasseh, Ephraim, and Asher during the period of Assyrian captivity.  The eighth chapter records the genealogy of the tribe of Benjamin with an emphasis on the heads of families including the lineages of Saul and Jonathan.   The ninth chapter has an emphasis on the tribe of Levi and their roles in the church.

APPLICATION

The genealogy of mankind today goes back to Noah and the great flood.  Most of us cannot trace our ancestry back past our great grandparents, much less back to Noah.  However, we are all linked to the first Adam and are sinners as he was. (Romans 3:23)  Those of us who believe have been saved by the grace of God through Christ Jesus. (John 3:16 and Romans 3:24-25)  As believers, our past may be unclear and sinful, but our future is clearly linked to eternal life with our Heavenly Father. (Matthew 25:46, John 10:28, Roman 6:23, Titus 3:7, and 1 John 5:13) 

THE LORD GOD CAN MAKE OUR ENEMIES BE NICE TO US

PROCLAMATION

“In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the year Awel-Marduk became king of Babylon, he released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison. … He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of honor … and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the king’s table.”  2 Kings 25:27-29 (NIV)

                     

EXPLANATION

After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon laid seize to Jerusalem, Jehoiachin king of Judah surrendered to him and he put him in prison. (2 Kings 24:10-12)  Thirty-seven years later the new king of Babylon released Jehoiachin and was nice to him.  He even gave him a regular allowance for the rest of his life. (2 Kings 25:27-30)

APPLICATION

The Lord God can move on the heart of our enemies and cause them to be nice to us for no apparent reason.  He can use our enemies to provide blessings for us.  This unmerited favor happens only by the grace of God.  When unexpected good things happen to us, we should accept them and thank God for them.

THE FALL OF JUDAH AND JERUSALEM

PROCLAMATION

“At that time the officers of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon advanced on Jerusalem and laid siege to it, and Nebuchadnezzar himself came up to the city while his officers were besieging it.  Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his attendants, his nobles, and his officials all surrendered to him.”  2 Kings 24:10-12 (NIV)

EXPLANATION

After Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt put Josiah king of Judah in chains, took him to Egypt, and made Eliakim son Josiah the king, Necho changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. (2 Kings 23:33-37)  While he was king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded the land and he made Jehoiakim his servant.  After three years he rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar and The Lord sent Ammonite, Aramean, Babylonian and Moabite raiders against him to destroy Judah. (2 Kings 24:1-4)  Jehoiakim died and his son Jehoiachin succeeded him as king of Judah. (2 Kings 24:6)  Jehoiachin also did evil in the eyes of The Lord just as his father before him had done. (2 Kings 24:9)  Nebuchadnezzar attacked and sieged Jerusalem and took Jehoiachin, his family, and all of his officers as prisoners.  Then he took all of the gold and treasures from the temple and the palace.  He also took all of officers, fighting men, skilled workers and artisans of Jerusalem with him into exile. (2 Kings 24:12-16)  Nebuchadnezzar made Jehoiachin’s uncle Mattaniah king of Judah and changed his name to Zedekiah. (2 Kings 24:17)

APPLICATION

There is a price to pay for disobeying The Lord God, for doing evil in His sight, especially the shedding of innocent blood as Manasseh king of Judah had done. (2 Kings 24:3-4)  This is true even today.  Believers are saved but we will pay a price for our sins even though we will not lose our salvation.  Suffering will draw some closer to The Lord God, but it will harden the heart of others.  A good spanking will change the behavior of some of us while others will die before they will change.  Salvation changes us and the indwelling of The Holy Spirit of God changes our behavior and our thoughts.  We fall down but we get up.  We still commit sins, but we do not enjoy them like we used to, and we feel guilty afterwards.  We are saved by the grace of God and that grace will make us want to be more like Christ.  We have the power to grow spiritually because of His grace, but we also have free will and we must choose to follow His call, to study His Word, to fellowship with the saints, and to use our time, talent, and treasure for His benefit and glory.