Intro: We are now in the book of 1st
Chronicles
We are reviewing the History of the Kings
A)After
Solomon’s death the nation divided two Kingdoms –
B)Difference from 1,2 Kings: Those books deal more
directly with Kings of
1)What
was happening in
C)
Glossed over the Kings of
D)In
1,2 Chronicles the Primary the focus in is Judah – the Kings of
1) More
interested in the Messianic line –
E)
Gives greater detail into the reigns of the Kings of Judah and sort of glosses over the Kings of
What is the importance for us
in looking at the History of these Kingdoms
4 fold answer:
1st It is good to
us to look at from a national standpoint –
A)As we work our way thru
this we will see parallels to our nation – Both good and bad – from this we
will see direction on how to pray.
2nd It is good for
us as an individual because every single one of us in one way or another is
building a Kingdom and setting forth a legacy –
We can learn from
these Kings of what to do and what not to do – What things to focus on and what
to avoid – so that our Legacy is one that pleases the Lord
3rd –
It is good for us as a Church: We are building – The Kingdoms represented here
in many ways – correlate to / are a picture of the spiritual life and
Challenges of a Church.
4th 1,2 Chronicles also gives us a bit of a case
study in Revival –
A)There are several revivals
take place –
B) So we learn about what is
involved in Revival – how it happens how it takes place and what is involved.
C) So those are some of the
benefits we will find in studying these two books –
Last week we covered 9 Chapters – How ? Rd them and you
will understand.
A)But
we went from
B)
Tonight we are going to pick up in Ch.10 where one chapter is dedicated to the
life of Saul
1) Only
one – why this one? RD 10:1-3
Now the Philistines fought against
Saul’s life was a
A)Here
at the end of his life/ Saul is in such rebellion that the Lord isn’t even speaking to him.
B) So
he went and sought counsel from the Witch at Endor – that is how far he is from
God at this pt.
C) Saul
goes blindly into
4 Then Saul said to
his armor bearer, "Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest
these uncircumcised men come and abuse me." But his armor bearer would
not, for he was greatly afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword and fell on it. 5
And when his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and
died.
When
Saul is wounded he begs his armor bear to Kill him – thinking better than being
tortured by the Philistines –
But the
Armor bearer isn’t going to strike the Lord’s anointed – So Saul kills himself
– Armor bearer follows suit RD V.6-10
Now we are not told this in 1 Samuel –the Lord reserves
to tell us this here – Saul’s head cut off and taken to the temple of the God
Dagon
A)Remember
B) Next day – Dagon off his throne fallen on it’s face
before the
1)
Comical – they set Dagon back on his throne!
C) Next
day: Come to the
1)This
time head and hands have fallen off.
D) One
of these God’s has to go! They get rid of the
E) Well
the Philistines are still into Dagon – this time thinking – Victory for Dagon – head of Saul
1) What
they don’t understand is that God was Chastening Saul – God had left him
God had removed his hand of Protection from Saul
A)So he
and his sons were Killed / Saul is beheaded and their Bodies are hung on the
walls of Bet Shean
B) We
visited that City – Amazing excavation
11 And when all Jabesh Gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to
Saul, 12 all the valiant men arose and took the body of Saul and the bodies of
his sons; and they brought them to Jabesh, and buried their bones under the
tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.
Now Back when Saul was first emerging as a national
leader.
A) And
the King of the Ammonites declared – Make a covenant – lets us cut out right
eyes … not destroy
B)
Jabesh G asked for time! – 7 days
C) Saul
heard of the Situation and rallied all of
1) They
didn’t forget that Kindness & so
they came to fetch the bodies of Saul & his sons { Buried them
13 So Saul died for
his unfaithfulness which he had committed against the LORD, because he did not
keep the word of the LORD, and also because he consulted a medium for guidance.
14 But he did not inquire of the LORD; therefore He killed him, and turned the
kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.
This serves the purpose of the writer: This is the sober
epitaph of Saul.
A)He
died for his Unfaithfulness
B)
Interesting thing about Saul is sin was not ONE
GIANT MISHAP –
1)No
His sin was in increments
C) He
had a good beginning – He did some good things – like helping Jabesh G
D) But
Saul is a man who in increments turned away from the Lord
Saul was in Gilgal – and he offered Sacrifices when he
was told to wait on the Lord – for the Prophet
A)He
was told to not spare any of the Amalakites or their cattle – Spares Agag –
choice cattle
B)
Might not seem like big things to us – but it was these little acts of
disobedience that hardened his heart to the Lord
C)
Samuel confronts – why do I hear ……..
1)
excuse for Sacrifice
D)
Samuel hacks Agag to pieces –
1)
Turns away Saul tears his robe – “ this day your
Kingdom is torn given to another”
E) But
it wasn’t that Saul failed in one Huge thing
1) But
slowly step by step he became desensitized to sin
His Heart became rebellious
We need to take note of that because the same thing can
happen to us.
A)One
little compromise leads to another, another, slowly heart is becoming
desensitized
B)
Harder to discern the voice of the Lord
1) Many
small steps until a person wakes up one say thinking – How did I end up here?
C)
Saul’s rebellion leads to consulting a witch – Sad
1) I
think at any point along the way – repented God forgive – Different end for
Saul { Many more Chapters
So one Chapter is given to depict Saul’s life. A life
marked by struggle and defeat
A)He
ends up headless / His body fastened to a wall
CHAPTER
11
Then all
So David at 37 ˝ yrs old becomes the King of the nation.
A)He
was 30 when he took the throne in
B)But
after 7yrs of that – they come to David and beg him to be their King { Kissing up to him now
C) So
it ends up being 20 plus yrs from the time that David was anointed by Samuel.
1) He
was between 15-17
D) More
than 20yrs pass ! –
That is important for us to note because 20yrs before
David was chosen for the Job – He was anointed for the Job by God’s Prophet
A)He
was CHOSEN – but he wasn’t PREPARED
B) So
David was going to go thru the Crucible!
C)
Reading Billy Graham’s book on Leadership
“ Leadership is a set of life experiences melded by intense heat.”
D) It
is like metal going thru the fire so that when it finally emerges from the fire
– it has been reshaped to a useful form
E)
Being put thru the Crucible is being put thru the fire – thru the press – thru
the sifting process
That is what David’s life would become for 20yrs after he
was Chosen & anointed.
A)David
burst on the scene in Dramatic fashion – Kills Goliath – { despite doubt and
scorn
B) He
was seen as a Leader in the making – God’s hand was on him –
1)
Victories – Saul 1,000 / David 10,000
C)
David forges a great friendship with Jonathan
D) Saul
is getting Jealous – { throw spears
David has to flee the city.
A)He
goes to Samuel –
But the
Lord moves him from Samuel
B) Goes
to Jonathan – God takes Jonathan out of his life.
C) He
ends up all alone in the
It is interesting David is separated from His family from
his counselor –from his best friend
A)There
are times in our life when no counselor or human instrument is allowed –
B)
Because God wants to get us alone – He wants to be our counselor
C) And
step by step God took away every crutch in David’s life –
1)
David would have to be dependent on only God
D) You have to wonder during that time – if David ever
doubted his calling
1) What
was Samuel smoking when he came to my house that day.
E) But
David’s time in the desert was his time for preparation – God always has desert
times
Here is what is interesting – David is dwelling in Caves
and people start to gather to him
A)Interesting
group
B) That
is not the crowd you want to start your ministry with! – No Leadership manuals
1)
Instead of financial backers you get the ones
who need help paying their bills
C)
Instead of those who are ready to help others
– you get the group – stressed out and burdened by life
D) And
to top it off you get the crowd that is bitter and resentful. Full of ISSUES
I can’t help but think that the Lord surrounds David with
this group at a time when he is going thru the lowest point in his life
A)God
brings this group into David’s life to force David to
NOT get focused on his own problems
B) He
has too many needy people around him to become self consumed
1) Here
are a whole bunch of pp who are maybe worse off than he is
C)
Forced David to step back and ask – How can I help these people?
So the Lord strips David of his crutches and puts him in
a place to begin leading the most unusual and in need band of people ever
assembled.
A)But
this will be David’s preparation -
B)
Teaching them to fight – listening to their problems.
C) It
would be during this time that David would begin to write songs – in the cave –
Cave songs
D)
Psalm 27 – The Lord is my light ……
One thing I have desired
Ps
34:11 Come, you children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
E) See David during this time growing – teaching
instructing and leading –
1) Time
of Preperation – Yrs later he would not have traded for all the gold in the
world
F) His
life formed in the fire – Some of his closet companions / life companions
assembled at that time
G)David’s
Prep is complete – Finally made King in
1) He
reigned 33 yrs in
RD V.4-5
David take Jerusalem
A)
From the time that God brought the Israelites into the promised land, the city of
B)
In spite of the fact that the whole land was given to them they had never been
able to possess it all
C) Zion
- The most strategic and the most stately city in the whole land was occupied
firmly by their enemy
Josh:15:63 As for the Jebusites the inhabitants of
D)
1) So The Jebusites were far too
strong for them.... Eventually the Israelites started to peacefully coexist
with them
Taking
the city of
A)The
city was so strong that the Jebusites claimed that the blind and the lame could
defend it
B)
But When David became king over
1) The victory that had been impossible for
C)
The problem was they didn’t have the right King Same
is true in our lives at times!
1)
Long standing problems – linger – don’t have the right King!
D)So
too One of the first evidences of Jesus becoming king of our lives will be that
deep rooted habits of sin that ruled us and defeated
us
1) WILL BE defeated by the power and
authority of our King, Jesus
E) The
sin that ruled over us, like the Jebusites dominated
1)
The sin that DEFIED our best efforts to remove them
D) The sins that were
DESTROYING us & DOMINATING us/
1)
They are put under the feet of Jesus when He becomes King of our lives
E) See when Jesus comes into our lives it is to set up
His Kingdom!
He
starts His rule by giving us the first taste of deliverance & victory over the power of deep rooted sin.{He
Breaks stronghold of Satan
RD V.6-9
Joab
captured the city – climbing the water shaft – Spring at Gihon – we saw this –
100 ft high
Now at this point the author introduces us to David’s
mighty men.
A)This
is what these guys who at one time were in debt distressed and discontent
became from David’s influence
B) They
were transformed by spending time with David.
C)
Great picture of how we can be transformed when spending time with – He who is
greater than David
1)
JESUS
RD V10-11
1ST UP IS JOSHA BEUM { Great name} –
A) Here
he is Josha beum the Hackmonite – You don’t want to mess with a guy –
Hackmonite
B) He
lifted up his spear against 300
C)
Amazing – Killed 300 men in one battle with
his spear – that is hard to comprehend –
1) Hand
to hand combat
D) No
one teased him about his name after that.
1) Yes
Sir / No sir Josha beum
RD V. 12-14
In
A) Great picture for us -
The Bible is called the Sword of the Spirit in
B) You must be in the Word consistently
1) Hand Stuck to the word
D) Eleazar is a
great picture of the person who is giving themselves continually to studying
the word of God –
1) His hand stuck to the
sword –
RD V.15-19
So
here we find David in this hot cave – he is thirsty – Longing for some water
from the well in Bethlehem { Thinking out loud – oh I wish …..
A) Problem :
B)So David is kind of
thinking out loud – Longing Oh for a
drink
1) Suddenly these 3 guys are
missing - Now this is something that
makes up the mindset of a mighty man of God
C) They heard what the king
was thinking – they heard what was on his heart
1) Do you hear the heart
beat of your king ?
D) It
is one thing to obey the commands of Christ – and that is good – but what is
even better is to hear the heart beat of Christ
1) What is his heart ! What
is he doing –
D) These 3 guys hear David’s
heart beat and go to the enemy camp and broke thru – to get water for their
king !
Note this: It doesn’t tell
us how they Broke thru – just that they did
1) Why – God is not into
formula’s
D) Build
formula’s is our tendency – You seek the Lord – Honesty and he will
reveal
Now
A) I can See David asking –
where is Shammah / Adino / Eleazar? Don’t know sir –
B) 3 men in the distance –
It is them – Beat up / dirty / bloody
C) Where have you guys been – what happened to
you – Pull out the skin – Water from the well in Beth. Sir
C) David is blown away here
– and does something at first glance seems odd – but in reality is beautiful –
Pours it out to the Lord – Offering –
David
was so honored by the self-sacrifice of these three mighty men he felt that the
water was too good for him –
A).
He believed that the great sacrifice of these men could only be honored by
giving the water to the Lord.
B) He was saying to these men, this
water means more to me then something good to drink,
1)
this water represents love loyalty, sacrifice and faith. The best thing to do with those kinds of
things is to offer them back to the Lord.
RD V.20-21
Next is Abishai -
A) The interesting thing about Abishai is that he
did some really good stuff, and he did some really bad stuff.
B)
Suicide mission w/ David into Saul’s camp – took Saul’s spear and jug of water.
1)
He lead a third of David’s troops during Absalom’s rebellion
2)
He led troops in battle against the Syrians & Amorites
3)
He took on & killed 1,000 Edomites in the
C)
And of course the last great thing that
he had done was to take on kill the giant who had David on the ropes.
But
he was also the guy who was always
prodding David to kill Saul;
A)
he was the guy who along with his
brother Joab killed Abner, after David had made a truce with him.
B) He was the guy who wanted to Kill Shimei because he
had cursed the king.
1) He did some good stuff, but he was also full
of bad advice and he had a short fuse.
C)
Abishai’s life is comforting to me – because it reminds us that warriors are going to make mistakes,
1)
warriors will sometimes have real
lapses in judgment,
2)
warriors might not be the most
compassionate people in the camp,
3)
warriors may turn off as many people as
they help. Abishai certainly
did.
D)
These kind
of warriors require a lot of grace, but they will do stuff that no one else can
do.
1) I am sure I have been that way before –
E) Greatest mistakes that we make in the body of
Christ is we forget that we are all sinners – {Hold each other to impossible
standards at times
Well after Abishai is Benaiah RD V.22-
A)
Benaih killed two lion like men – fierce guys – intimidating men
B)
And then after that – He killed a Lion snowy day
After He kills the Lion – He kills this
Egyptian – Spectacular man RD V.23-25
Huge
/ impressive / mighty warrior – { World class Stud
A)
I want you to notice what Benaiah was armed with – His Staff
B)
Now this is interesting to me –
1)
So Benaiah goes up against this guy who is the epitome of the world
representation of the greatness of the World –
C)
And he takes him out armed only with his Staff
Staff – is the symbol of the Pilgrim – Lesson
A)
How do you overcome the world? You remember that you are a Pilgrim – Keep eyes
on eternity
B)
Times that I have blown it or become distracted in what God has called me to
have been the times I have lost sight of Eternity
C)
Pilgrims and Sojourners
V.26
Also the mighty warriors were…………
A)These remarkable men were
the foundation of the greatness of David’s reign.
B)They did not come to David
as great men but God used his leadership to transform them from men who were in distress, in debt and discontented,
who met David back at Adullam Cave (1 Samuel 22:1-2).
Note v.41 Uriah is in that group {
A)Uriah’s
name is the last one in
B) Uriah
in the midst of this reminds us that our lives can affect pp in two ways
1) Give
to and make them Better
C) Our
take from – make them worse!