July 18: 1 Chronicles 26:12 – 27; Psalm 14; Proverbs 19:17; Romans 4:13-5:4



Overview

            1 Chronicles: The gatekeepers also cast lots for the gates they were to guard according to their chiefs. Zechariah, a shrewd counselor got the north gate. The numbers at each gate are not the same.
            The Levites also had charge of the treasuries of the temple. They and their resposiblites are listed. The treasuries include plunder from David’s victories that he dedicated to the Lord as well as from Saul, Samuel, Abner, and Joab.
            1,700 men had oversight of the area west of the Jordan and 2,700 were over the east side. Each month 24,000 heads of households, commanders and officers served for one month. The chief head for each month is listed. After this, the heads of each tribe are listed. David didn’t count anyone below 20 years of age because the Lord had promised that they would be as numerous as the starts. Joab began the count but didn’t finish. This is when God’s wrath came on Israel for David’s census. David’s closest officials are listed.
            Psalm:  Fools believe there is no God. They are excellent at sinning. The Lord sees that they don’t understand or seek him. They are all corrupt and go their own way. The ones that persecute God’s people have no understanding and do not call upon the Lord. They are in terror because God takes care of those they shame, the righteous and the poor. David looks to the future when God brings salvation for Israel and restores them so that Israel is glad and rejoices.
            Proverbs: When helping out poor people, we are doing it for the Lord and he will repay for the good deeds.
            Romans: Abraham had a promise to be heir to the world but it was not because he followed the law, it was because of his faith. If only those who obey the law inherit the promise, then faith is worthless because the law bring wrath. Without the law, there are no lawbreakers.
            The promise rests on faith through grace and that applies to both the ones who obey the law and those who only have faith like Abraham. He is the father of all who have faith because it is written that he will be the father of many nations. God made the promise and he gives life to dead people and brings into existence all things. Abraham didn’t have any reason for hope because he was 100 years old and Sarah was barren when he was promised to be the father of many nations, but still believed. He didn’t waver in his faith knowing God could do it and that gave glory to God. That is why is faith is counted as righteousness. It is written that it was counted to him so that when we believe in God who raised Jesus from the dead, who was given for our sins and raised for our justification, it will be counted righteousness to us also.
            Because we are justified by faith we have peace with God through Jesus. We have access to God’s grace and stand firm in it when we have faith. We rejoice in our hope in God. That makes us able to have joy in suffering because that builds our endurance, character, and hope that doesn’t cause any shame. It is because God has poured out his Spirit in our hearts.

What Stood Out

            1 Chronicles: “They cast lots also for his son Zechariah, a shrewd counselor, and his lot came out for the north” (1 Chron 26:14).
            Psalm: “Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people, let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad” (Ps 14:7).
            Proverbs: “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed” (Prov 19:17).
            Romans: “For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith” (Rom 4:13).

Insight

            1 Chronicles: It seem like the Lord throws in a quick little comment about someone when listing all these people to see if we are awake. In 1 Chronicles 26:14, He tells us that Zechariah is a shrewd counselor. So it appears that this gatekeeper for the temple is more than a man who stands at the gate to protect the temple. He is s a good example for us all. Being a shrewd counselor implies that gatekeeping was not his only job. Many people were assigned to different jobs because this was primarily an agrarian society. Even Joab, the commander of the army had grain fields as did Absalom, David’s son. So Zechariah’s ministry was at the gate but he also served as a counselor and most likely had fields and flocks of his own as even the Levites had pasture land assigned to them.
            The point of this is that as a counselor, which seems more important than being a gatekeeper, he performed a ministry that may have seemed of lesser importance. In our churches, there are many ministries that people do because they want to serve the Lord. It isn’t assigned by lot, but they are volunteers. Who knows if the ushers and greeters at a church are not also CEOs or influential in a worldly occupation. Like Zechariah, we are called to tasks inside the church that must be filled but are not as prestigious as our work outside of the church. This is serving others as the Jesus wanted and demonstrated.
            Psalm: This Psalm must be a future prophecy as much as it was a present reality for David. While David saw evil men around him, his reign never saw a time when the fortunes of Israel needed restoring. The ending verse is very messianic. It is clear that the Spirit is showing David a future when Israel is restored. This hasn’t happened yet. The nation of Israel in the time of Christ believed the Messiah would restore their headship and subject Rome to them. Many thought Jesus would do that. They were right about Jesus but the timing was wrong. When Jesus comes back, we’ll see the fortunes of Israel restored and we’ll see Jesus ruling from Zion.
            All those people who cause terror for the righteous will be under his iron rule. They won’t be able to eat up the Lord’s people any more. Christians are all looking forward to this time and so are Jews who still believe in God, not the fools who ignore him. However, most of those Jews don’t realize that it will be Jesus, the one their ancestor turned over to the Romans to be crucified, he will be their ruler from Zion.
            Proverbs: There are always poor people around us. Some are that way because of their lifestyles and addictions. We have a hard time discerning who really needs help and who are trying to manipulate our feelings so they can spend it on their sinful pleasures. This verse helps. We don’t need to give to everyone, but when we do, we should understand that it is the Lord’s resources and that he will repay us. If we make a mistake and give to someone who will not use it wisely, the Lord will take care of it.
            Romans: At the heart of Paul’s argument that righteousness come from faith and not by obeying the Law is God’s promise to Abraham and that Abraham believed that promise. The promise to Abraham was outlandish. It was impossible. It was foolish by human standards. Abraham didn’t have any proof that God could make that promise happen. The facts were all lined up against God’s promise that Abraham would have a son and he would become the father of many nations. He was almost 100 years old. Sarah had been barren all her life and at 90 years old, there was no way she would be able to have a child, much less a healthy one. No one in his right mind would believe that promise. But Genesis 15:6 says he believed the Lord.
            How many thousand years later, we told all sorts of things that fools want us to believe. The say we should believe that that universe somehow created itself. That hydrogen and helium were basically the only elements. We are supposed to believe that the early stars fused these into other elements and eventually cooled, died and spit these new elements back into space where new stars were formed along with rocky planets[1]We are told these inert elements just somehow happened to form life and that life continued to evolve and then somewhere along the line, people evolved. Now some people tell us that life didn’t just happen but it was seeded across the universe by super intelligent aliens. Of course, the never tell where these aliens come from.
            Now, let me ask you which is it harder to believe. That the universe was created in this way and that life just magically appeared, or that God exists and he put it all together (Rom 1:20). Which is harder to believe, the big bang or that Abraham would have a son and become the father of many nations? Abraham didn’t see the promise completely fulfilled but he did see his son Isaac. We see all of God’s promise to Abraham coming true even today. Now, if it is easier to believe God’s promise, then we should also believe what he is saying through Paul. God came in the person of Jesus Christ to die for our sins and we have peace with God when we believe God. We are counted as righteous and are justified when we believe God. Oh, and God said he made the universe in six days. If you believe in Jesus but don’t believe God’s account of creation, then I can’t understand why you believe he raise Jesus from the dead. The scientist who insist in various big bang theories say it is impossible to raise someone for the dead. I don’t think you can believe them in one area and not the other. I think you are fooling yourself if you believe God in one area and not both.

Application

             I believe God and therefore I also believe I need to serve in the local church and to be generous to the poor. I believe fools don’t believe in God and God will judge them for leading people away from him. I believe that Jesus is coming back to rule the earth in person and restore the kingdom to Israel. I believe I have peace with God though Jesus and that means he has given me his righteousness. I’m justified and have the Holy Spirit living in me giving me hope even when things get tough.


[1]Ethan Siegel, "Why did the Universe start off with Hydrogen, Helium, and not much else?" Starts With A Bang, July 05, 2013, accessed July 18, 2017, http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/2013/07/05/why-did-the-universe-start-off-with-hydrogen-helium-and-not-much-else/.

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