Now as we come to Ch.12 in our study of 1 Chronicles
I want to remind you that the writer –probably Ezra is
writing to the saints who have returned back to
The writer
is seeking to encourage his readers to walk with God. The remnant
A)Underlying
theme of 1,2 Kings was Disobedience leads to Defeat!
B)
Where as the Theme of 1, 2 Chronicles. Is
Faith leads to Victory.
C) SO
he wants to show us – how those who were faithful were victorious – God worked
1) 1
Chronicles – He deals with David
D) He has moved quickly to get us to David’s life and
reign here in Ch.12
1)
Spend the next 17 Chapters looking at David – from a largely
Positive view point
E) He
wants his readers to catch David’s heart and be inspired by his faith and obedience
1) To
show what God does in a life that honors Him
F) He
wants them to catch this – be inspired by this.
1) So
there is a lot that He is going to leave out from David’s life – { A lot of the
negative.
After David as we move into 2 Chronicles – He deals with
the Kings of
A)Many
of which walked with God and honored God and sought to please God
B) God
blessed them – God sent Revival
1)
Again illustrating Faith and faithfulness leads to Victory and blessing.
C) Here
in Ch.12 He is Chronicling God’s faithfulness to David – Seen in the men He brought to David
1) God
assembled a great group of men to serve under David – { Kingdom prospered
D) Now He
is going to back up here a little and take us back to David’s pre king days
1) He
starts with the men that came to David at Ziglag
Now the writer doesn’t tell us this here – but in
A)After
being chased around the country side by Saul for at least 10 yrs maybe more.
B) David is tired – He is thru – He is frustrated
1) IN
an act of not so much rebellion – but frustration David made friends with
Achish King of Philistines
C)
Achish allowed David and his men to reside in
a place called Ziglag { Place of refuge
{
1)
During that time Saul quit Chasing him. { WOW!
It was during this time in David’s life that he sort of
became a MERCENARY
A)He
and his men went out and raided the neighbor nations – Amalakites
Geshurites/ Girzites
B) They
weren’t Philistines but they were allies with them –
1) But
they were enemies of
C) IN
order to cover his tracts – David and his men wouldn’t leave anyone alive.
So David
would come back from a slaughter and Achish would ask – where did you raid
today
A)
David would lie and tell him he invaded some area of
B)So
David is in this bad place – Get worse – when Achish
is going to war against Saul.
1)He
wants David to join his army and fight with the Philistines –
C)
David is about ready to do just that – When some of the Philistines Generals
Protest –
1) Not
going to battle with David - He will
turn on us
D) So David
and his men are sent home –Spared from fighting with their brothers
E)When
they get back to Ziglag – Burned – families have been carried away captive.
A)David’s men are distraught – Some of these mighty men
that we talked about last week
A) Are weeping
like babies – Dads – Thinking lost their wives and Children
B) At
that point someone turns to David and says this is your fault – If we hadn’t
been with the Philistines we would have been here.
C)
Someone else suggested – Let’s Stone David –
Let’s Kill him
That was the turning point – Told that David at that
moment turned to the Lord
A)He
strengthened himself in the Lord
B)
Somehow he was able to re gather the men and they pursued the Amalakites and
rescued their families { Everyone brought back safely
C)
Amazing time in the Life of David
D)
Afterward one of the first things that happens is some of Saul’s brothers – men
from Benjamin
1) Come
to align themselves to David
E) Small band of 30 – This is what the Chronicler
reveals for us now.
1)
Showing the faithfulness of God to
Now these were the
men who came to David at Ziglag while he was still a fugitive from Saul the son
of Kish; and they were among the mighty men, helpers in the war, 2 armed with bows,
using both the right hand and the left in hurling stones and shooting arrows
with the bow. They were of Benjamin, Saul's brethren.
Now as we go thru this Chapter we are not going to read every name –
A)But
what I want to focus on is THE TYPE of men
the Lord was drawing to David.
B) Here
is what we learn about these men from Benjamin – they were effective men /
talented
1) Ambidextrous – Able to shoot the bow and throw
with their right and left hands
C)
These were men who were very capable.
1)
Effective in battle – gifted in warfare
After them men from Gad – These joined David at an even
earlier time –when he was in wilderness Stronghold
8 Some Gadites joined David at the stronghold in the wilderness, mighty
men of valor, men trained for battle, who could handle shield and spear, whose
faces were like the faces of lions, and were as swift as gazelles on the
mountains:
A)Here is what we learn about this group of men
1) Mighty men of Valor. – Not just mighty in the
sense of being strong – but – also courageous. Men of Valor
2) Trained: When it came to battle these guys knew what
they were doing – Skilled in warfare.
Having
men who are courageous of heart is good – but if those men are trained even
better.
3) Talented: They were
men who were not just equipped with a sword and a Spear – but they knew how to
handle it. – They knew how to use them.
4) Ferocious guys: –
Face like a Lion - King of the Jungle –
who is the King ? …… Mad about it
These guys
were ferocious in that way: gnarly guys who – scary to look at.
5) Sure footed: – Run
like gazelles on the MTs
Swift /
stamina -
This group would have any football coach Salivating
Where can I find some guys like that.
14 These were from
the sons of Gad, captains of the army; the least was over a hundred, and the
greatest was over a thousand. 15 These are the
ones who crossed the
Next up v.16 More from Benjamin
16 Then some of the sons of Benjamin and Judah came to
David at the stronghold.
Here is
what we learn about these guys is that they were loyal. Committed hearts
17 And David went out to meet them, and answered and said to them,
"If you have come peaceably to me to help me, my heart will be united with
you; but if to betray me to my enemies {I will cut off your heads and wipe out your families} That is what we would
expect him to say. But that is not what
David says
, since there is no wrong in my hands, may the God of our fathers look
and bring judgment."
Here is what He is saying: God will be my defense.
The scripture promises that,
“No weapon that is formed against you will prosper”. For this is the heritage
of the children of the Lord.
I have found that if you are
wrongfully accused, or someone comes against you wrongfully, because of your
commitment to the Lord, the Lord will take care of you.
The Lord will be your defense.
I have also found, that if I seek to defend myself, He’ll let me.
In other words, if I trust
in Him, He’ll take care of the situation. But, if I trust in myself, then He’ll
let me flounder on my own.
David wisely says I will let the Lord deal w/ You!
18 Then the Spirit came upon Amasai, chief of the captains, and he said:
"We are yours, O David;
We are on your side, O son of Jesse!
Peace, peace to you,
And peace to your helpers!
For your God helps you."
So David received them, and made them captains of the troop.
How this must have blessed David’s heart – Felt abandoned
– lied about by Saul
A)God’s faithfulness – surrounding David with men
who were loyal committed.
B) Men
who believed in Him!
C) The
Chronicler is wanting these people who have spent yrs in exile{ Perhaps felt
abandoned / displaced 1) he wants them
to grab a hold of the faithfulness of God in David’s life.
D) Be encouraged – God didn’t abandon David – he
hasn’t abandoned you.
E)There
is something supernatural happening here God is bringing men to David in Unity
–
1) Men
from all over the nation men from every tribe men with a United Heart
Next up is men from Manasseh –
19 And some from Manasseh
defected to David when he was going with the Philistines to battle against
Saul; {These guys were ready to fight with David &
Philistines against Saul but they did not
help them, for the lords of the Philistines sent him away by agreement, saying,
“He may defect to his master Saul and endanger our heads." 20 When he went
to Ziglag, those of Manasseh who defected to him were ……..21 and they helped
David against the bands of raiders, for they were all mighty men of valor, and
they were captains in the army. 22 For at that time they came to David day by
day to help him, until it was a great army, like the army of God.
Here we see of this group again – mighty men of valor –
leaders captains of the army –
Note
v.22 Here is so often the way that God does things – Day by day they came until
it was a great army like the army of God.
Day by Day – Little by little. – It wasn’t all at once –
it wasn’t an overnight thing. Day by Day –
A) That
is the way God grows things – Day by Day – One day at a time – one month – one
year
1) Need to see the progress – Persevere
B) Now
here is what happens – because we have seen some overnight success stories
1) We
think that is the way it is supposed to be if God is really in it.
C) Church speaking – for every Church that maybe went
from 0-500 / 500 to 1000 over night
1) I
can show you a 100 that grew just like this – Day by Day – a few pp at a time
E) That
is the normal way that God does something
1) So
don’t quit – don’t give up { We have to learn to persevere – Prayer 2 pp Ok /
Study 3pp hang in there
F) It
was day by Day – but the Lord was assembling an Army like the army of God
1) Day by Day the Lord is seeking to assemble us into
that type of force for him.
So all of those that we just mentioned were assembled to
David – before he was King.
A)Now
the Chronicler is going to give us a list of those who were assembled after
David was king.
B)Again
take note – He is high lighting the faithfulness of God in David’s life.
C) Here
we are going to see some big numbers
1) Not 20 here/ 30 there like before – but now they
come in the thousands { After the Valley period
2)Again
I want to highlight their description
V.23 Now
these were the numbers of the divisions that were equipped for war, and came to
David at Hebron to turn over the kingdom of Saul to him, according to the word
of the LORD: 24 of the sons of Judah bearing shield and spear, six thousand
eight hundred armed for war;
25 of the sons of Simeon, mighty men of valor fit for war, seven
thousand one hundred;
Simeon
7100 – Mighty men of Valor – Courageous men
Fit for war!
26 of the sons of Levi four thousand six hundred; 27 Jehoiada, the
leader of the Aaronites, and with him three thousand seven hundred; 28 Zadok, a
young man, a valiant warrior, and from his father's house twenty-two captains;
4600
from Levi – Priestly tribe /Out of that 4600 – 3700 direct descendants from
Aaron High priest
Men of
War – Priest – getting their hands dirty going into
29 of the sons of Benjamin, relatives of Saul, three
thousand (until then the greatest part of them had remained loyal to the house
of Saul);
V.30 of the sons of Ephraim twenty thousand eight hundred, mighty men of
valor, famous men throughout their father's house;
Ephraim
steps up big – 28,000 mighty men of valor – note they were famous for their
Courage –
Their Valor
/ courage / was known throughout the Land –
These are the kind of men that God was bringing to David
at this time.
31 of the half-tribe of Manasseh eighteen thousand, who were designated
by name to come and make David king;
18,000 from Manasseh who were appointed
– that means they were the best – hand picked by someone
“Lets
send our boys to David – Hand picked – designated by name”
32 of the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know
what Israel ought to do, their chiefs were two hundred; and all their brethren
were at their command;
Small
group from Issachar only 200 – but notice what it says about them – they were men who had an understanding of the times
They were men who were discerning
A)Oh
how the Church today needs men who understand the times we are living
B) Paul
said – Being good Soldiers not getting entangled in the affairs of this life.
C) Men
who understand the times – the days are
short – Men who realize – Urgency
1) Keen
to Prophecy
33 of Zebulon there were fifty thousand who went out to battle, experts
in war with all weapons of war, stouthearted men who could keep ranks;
Zebulon: 50,000/ Note several things about these men
1)Experts
in war ! These guys were experts in their field
2)
Experts with weapons { Knew their stuff
3)
Stout hearted – The idea behind the word stouthearted is that these were men of a single
or whole heart in their devotion to King David. This is reflected in several
other translations:
They were not of double
heart (KJV)
To help David with undivided
loyalty (NIV)
Helped David with an
undivided heart (NASB)
Completely loyal to David
(NLT)
These weren’t wishy washy men – not doubled minded - Men with stick to it ability
4) Men
who could keep ranks
that
is, they stayed tight in their formations even under the heat of battle.
Their
single devotion to their king made them able to stay together as a single unit.
“Too many like to break the ranks, and do
God’s work independently.
Fifty
men who act together will do greater execution than five hundred acting apart.
. . .
“Unity
is strength; and in their efforts to overthrow the
34 of Naphtali one thousand captains, and with them thirty-seven
thousand with shield and spear;
1000
Leaders and 37,000 Equipped men
35 of the Danites who could keep battle formation, twenty-eight thousand
six hundred;
28,600
– Disciplined men = able to keep formation
36 of Asher, those who could go out to war, able to keep battle
formation, forty thousand;
37 of the Reubenites
and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, from the other side of the
Jordan, one hundred and twenty thousand armed for battle with every kind of
weapon of war.
120,000
Well armed – Arsenal – What do you want
38 All these men of
war, who could keep ranks, came to Hebron with a loyal heart, to make David
king over all Israel; and all the rest of Israel were of one mind to make David
king. 39 And they were there with David three days, eating and drinking, for
their brethren had prepared for them. 40 Moreover those who were near to them,
from as far away as Issachar and Zebulon and Naphtali, were bringing food on
donkeys and camels, on mules and oxen — provisions of flour and cakes of figs
and cakes of raisins, wine and oil and oxen and sheep abundantly, for there was
joy in Israel.
Final thing I want to point out is that they were Loyal
and United
A)There
was a tremendous Unity that was happening as pp were gathered to David.
B) This
is what this remnant needed to see – if they were going to be successful in
rebuilding
C) This
is what we need in our Fellowship
C) God
works when his people are unified.
Psalm 133
Behold , how good and how pleasant it is
For brethren to dwell together in unity!
Pleasing
to the Lord
V2 It is like the precious oil upon the head,
Running down on the beard,
The beard of Aaron,
Running down on the edge of his garments.
Oil
symbolic of the Holy Spirit
When
the Disciples were gathered in unity upper room the HS fell – Pentecost
There
is a sweet anointing that happens when God’s people are united
V3 It is like the dew of Hermon,
Descending upon the mountains of
It is
refreshing! –
God works in Powerful ways when His people are unified.
1) Walls of
2)
3)
Guys we
MUST BE UNIFIED!
So as we close tonight – Be encouraged – in the same way that the Lord
supplied David’s need – He promises to supply yours
He will
give you what you need for the task ahead in his time thru his provision –
Trust Him { Faith
Also
Note: God is still seeking to raise up mighty men
Pray: Stir up faith
Help us
to be people that keep rank
Lord I want to be mighty for
you!
Lord
unify us –
Pp who understand
the times