promised land

Remember and Rejoice

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1 Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name;
    make known his deeds among the peoples!
2 Sing to him, sing praises to him;
    tell of all his wondrous works!
3 Glory in his holy name;
    let the hearts of those who seek the

Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name;
    make known his deeds among the peoples!
2 Sing to him, sing praises to him;
    tell of all his wondrous works!
3 Glory in his holy name;
    let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!
4 Seek the LORD and his strength;
    seek his presence continually!
5 Remember the wondrous works that he has done,
    his miracles, and the judgments he uttered,
6 O offspring of Abraham, his servant,
    children of Jacob, his chosen ones!

7 He is the LORD our God;
    his judgments are in all the earth.
8 He remembers his covenant forever,
    the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,
9 the covenant that he made with Abraham,
    his sworn promise to Isaac,
10 which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute,
    to Israel as an everlasting covenant,
11 saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan
    as your portion for an inheritance.”

12 When they were few in number,
    of little account, and sojourners in it,
13 wandering from nation to nation,
    from one kingdom to another people,
14 he allowed no one to oppress them;
    he rebuked kings on their account,
15 saying, “Touch not my anointed ones,
    do my prophets no harm!”

16 When he summoned a famine on the land
    and broke all supply of bread,
17 he had sent a man ahead of them,
    Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
18 His feet were hurt with fetters;
    his neck was put in a collar of iron;
19 until what he had said came to pass,
    the word of the LORD tested him.
20 The king sent and released him;
    the ruler of the peoples set him free;
21 he made him lord of his house
    and ruler of all his possessions,
22 to bind his princes at his pleasure
    and to teach his elders wisdom.

23 Then Israel came to Egypt;
    Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.
24 And the LORD made his people very fruitful
    and made them stronger than their foes.
25 He turned their hearts to hate his people,
    to deal craftily with his servants.

26 He sent Moses, his servant,
    and Aaron, whom he had chosen.
27 They performed his signs among them
    and miracles in the land of Ham.
28 He sent darkness, and made the land dark;
    they did not rebel against his words.
29 He turned their waters into blood
    and caused their fish to die.
30 Their land swarmed with frogs,
    even in the chambers of their kings.
31 He spoke, and there came swarms of flies,
    and gnats throughout their country.
32 He gave them hail for rain,
    and fiery lightning bolts through their land.
33 He struck down their vines and fig trees,
    and shattered the trees of their country.
34 He spoke, and the locusts came,
    young locusts without number,
35 which devoured all the vegetation in their land
    and ate up the fruit of their ground.
36 He struck down all the firstborn in their land,
    the firstfruits of all their strength.

37 Then he brought out Israel with silver and gold,
    and there was none among his tribes who stumbled.
38 Egypt was glad when they departed,
    for dread of them had fallen upon it.

39 He spread a cloud for a covering,
    and fire to give light by night.
40 They asked, and he brought quail,
    and gave them bread from heaven in abundance.
41 He opened the rock, and water gushed out;
    it flowed through the desert like a river.
42 For he remembered his holy promise,
    and Abraham, his servant.

43 So he brought his people out with joy,
    his chosen ones with singing.
44 And he gave them the lands of the nations,
    and they took possession of the fruit of the peoples’ toil,
45 that they might keep his statutes
    and observe his laws.
Praise the LORD! – Psalm 105:1-45 ESV

According to this unnamed psalmist, Yahweh was worthy of praise because of His faithful commitment to the people of Israel. This entire psalm is a call for the Israelites to acknowledge the trustworthiness and greatness of their covenant-keeping God. In the opening lines of his song, the psalmist repeatedly charges his fellow Israelites to recall and recount God’s wondrous works on their behalf.

Let the whole world know what he has done. – Psalm 105: 1 NLT

 Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds. – Psalm 105:2 NLT

Remember the wonders he has performed,
    his miracles, and the rulings he has given… – Psalm 105:5 NLT

If the Israelites needed a reason to celebrate Yahweh’s goodness and greatness, their rich and storied history was filled with examples. But for the psalmist, the most remarkable illustration of Yahweh’s faithfulness was the covenant He made with Abraham, the patriarch and progenitor of the Hebrew people.  Centuries earlier, God had called this pagan idol worshiper to abandon his clan, homeland, and false gods for a new lifelong relationship with Him.

“Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” – Genesis 12:1-3 NLT

What made this promise even more remarkable was that Abraham was already an old man, married to an equally old and barren wife. But despite the poor odds for success, Abraham obeyed and followed Yahweh to the land of Canaan. The psalmist adds a line to his song that celebrates God’s faithfulness to fulfill His covenant commitment to Abraham.

He always stands by his covenant—
    the commitment he made to a thousand generations.
This is the covenant he made with Abraham
    and the oath he swore to Isaac.
He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree,
    and to the people of Israel as a never-ending covenant:
“I will give you the land of Canaan
    as your special possession.” – Psalm 105:8-11 NLT

While no timeline is given to establish the dating of this psalm, it was obviously written long after the Israelites had entered and taken possession of the land of Canaan. Centuries had passed, and the Israelites had enjoyed a long tenure as occupants of the “land of promise.” It had taken hundreds of years for God to fulfill His covenant commitment to Abraham, but every facet of His original promise had occurred just as He said it would. With each passing generation, God reaffirmed His intention to keep His word. After the death of Abraham, God reiterated His covenant promise to Abraham’s son, Isaac.

“Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” – Genesis 26:3-5 NLT

When Isaac eventually died, God passed on His covenant promises to Isaac’s son, Jacob, whom God later renamed Israel.

“I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Be fruitful and multiply. You will become a great nation, even many nations. Kings will be among your descendants! And I will give you the land I once gave to Abraham and Isaac. Yes, I will give it to you and your descendants after you.” – Genesis 35:11-12 NLT

But despite God’s promises, Jacob’s small family was anything but a great nation, and they lived as relative nomads in the land that was supposed to be their inheritance.

…they were few in number,
    a tiny group of strangers in Canaan.
They wandered from nation to nation,
    from one kingdom to another.
Yet he did not let anyone oppress them.
    He warned kings on their behalf:
“Do not touch my chosen people,
    and do not hurt my prophets.” – Psalm 105:12-15 NLT

But God was not done, and the psalmist recalls the next phase of God’s promise-keeping plan for His chosen people. Verses 16-22 recount the astonishing story of Joseph, the son of Jacob, who was sold into slavery by his own brothers. Jealous of Joseph’s favored-son status, his brothers plotted to get rid of him by selling him to slave traders and then telling their father that he had been killed by a wild animal. They lived with this lie for years while their brother experienced a roller-coaster existence in the land of Egypt.

They bruised his feet with fetters
    and placed his neck in an iron collar.
Until the time came to fulfill his dreams,
    the Lord tested Joseph’s character.
Then Pharaoh sent for him and set him free;
    the ruler of the nation opened his prison door.
Joseph was put in charge of all the king’s household;
    he became ruler over all the king’s possessions. – Psalm 105:18-21 NLT

This was all part of God’s plan for the descendants of Abraham. He had sent Joseph ahead to prepare for the next phase of His covenant-fulfilling strategy, which was in keeping with another promise He made to Abraham.

“You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, where they will be oppressed as slaves for 400 years. But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and in the end they will come away with great wealth. (As for you, you will die in peace and be buried at a ripe old age.) After four generations your descendants will return here to this land… – Genesis 15:13-16 NLT

The psalmist knew the story well and recounted how Jacob and his family migrated to Egypt to escape a famine in the land of Canaan.

Then Israel arrived in Egypt;
    Jacob lived as a foreigner in the land of Ham.
And the LORD multiplied the people of Israel
    until they became too mighty for their enemies.
Then he turned the Egyptians against the Israelites,
    and they plotted against the LORD’s servants. – Psalm 105:23-25 NLT

The Book of Genesis affirms that Jacob’s family was anything but a great nation when they arrived in Egypt.

…there were seventy members of Jacob’s family in the land of Egypt. – Genesis 46:27 NLT

But as the psalmist recounts, the Israelites grew in number, just as God had said they would. In fact, their numbers increased so significantly that they became a threat to the Egyptians. In four centuries, the Israelites had multiplied and prospered under God’s sovereign hand, causing the Pharaoh to enact a series of edicts that enslaved and oppressed God’s people. But verses 26-36 recount how Yahweh raised up a deliverer to rescue His people from slavery and lead them back to the land of Canaan.

Through a series of devastating plagues, Yahweh punished Pharaoh and the people of Egypt for their refusal to set His people free. But eventually, God persuaded the pride-filled Pharaoh to release the Israelites and allow them to return to the land of promise.

Moses served as their official God-appointed tour guide and leader, but it was really Yahweh who directed their path and provided for all their needs along the way.

The LORD spread a cloud above them as a covering
    and gave them a great fire to light the darkness.
They asked for meat, and he sent them quail;
    he satisfied their hunger with manna—bread from heaven.
He split open a rock, and water gushed out
    to form a river through the dry wasteland. – Psalm 105:39-41 NLT

The psalmist leaves little doubt that Yahweh was behind every part of their ancestors’ wilderness experience. Yahweh had led them and fed them. He provided for all their needs and traveled alongside them in the form of a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night (Exodus 13:21). Their 40-year journey from Egypt to Canaan had been filled with God’s presence and marked by His power. Despite their grumbling, complaining, disobedience, and disloyalty, the Israelites learned that their God was faithful and trustworthy. He never abandoned them along the way. Instead, He showered them with mercy and grace, repeatedly rescuing and redeeming them from one self-inflicted disaster after another.

According to the psalmist, Yahweh, “remembered his sacred promise to his servant Abraham. So he brought his people out of Egypt with joy, his chosen ones with rejoicing” (Psalm 105:42-43 NLT). But Yahweh didn’t stop there; He led them to and into the land of promise, providing them with victories over their enemies and ownership of their inheritance. 

He gave his people the lands of pagan nations,
    and they harvested crops that others had planted.
All this happened so they would follow his decrees
    and obey his instructions. – Psalm 105:44-45 NLT

With all that as background, the psalmist calls on the descendants of Abraham to “Praise the LORD!” (Psalm 105:45 NLT). This was a call to celebrate God’s goodness and greatness and remember His faithfulness and covenant-keeping nature. The danger each generation of believers faces is forgetting God’s faithfulness. Even Moses knew that the generation that entered the land of Canaan would be tempted to forget all that Yahweh had done, so he provided them with a sobering warning.

“Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the Lord your God and disobey his commands, regulations, and decrees that I am giving you today. For when you have become full and prosperous and have built fine homes to live in, and when your flocks and herds have become very large and your silver and gold have multiplied along with everything else, be careful! Do not become proud at that time and forget the Lord your God, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt. Do not forget that he led you through the great and terrifying wilderness with its poisonous snakes and scorpions, where it was so hot and dry. He gave you water from the rock! He fed you with manna in the wilderness, a food unknown to your ancestors. He did this to humble you and test you for your own good. He did all this so you would never say to yourself, ‘I have achieved this wealth with my own strength and energy.’ Remember the Lord your God. He is the one who gives you power to be successful, in order to fulfill the covenant he confirmed to your ancestors with an oath.” – Deuteronomy 8:11-18 NLT

Remember and rejoice. Praise the LORD for who He is and all that He has done. But never forget that “The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning (Lamentations 3:22-23 NLT).

Father, You are a good and trustworthy God who has proven Yourself faithful and true for generations. We have no cause to doubt You, but we do. We have no reason to question Your goodness and greatness, but we do so anyway. Yet, You respond with mercy and grace. You shower us with undeserved blessings and continue to fulfill all Your covenant promises. You never go back on Your word, and never give up on Your people. We have every reason to praise You but we are quick to forget and prone to complain. Our forgetfulness leads to ungratefulness. Our dissatisfaction results in disobedience. Help us see you more clearly, remember You regularly, and praise You more frequently. For You are worthy of our praise. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Salvation is Near to Those Who Fear Him

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.

1 LORD, you were favorable to your land;
    you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
2 You forgave the iniquity of your people;
    you covered all their sin. Selah
3 You withdrew all your wrath;
    you turned from your hot anger.

4 Restore us again, O God of our salvation,
    and put away your indignation toward us!
5 Will you be angry with us forever?
    Will you prolong your anger to all generations?
6 Will you not revive us again,
    that your people may rejoice in you?
7 Show us your steadfast love, O LORD,
    and grant us your salvation.

8 Let me hear what God the LORD will speak,
    for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints;
    but let them not turn back to folly.
9 Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him,
    that glory may dwell in our land.

10 Steadfast love and faithfulness meet;
    righteousness and peace kiss each other.
11 Faithfulness springs up from the ground,
    and righteousness looks down from the sky.
12 Yes, the LORD will give what is good,
    and our land will yield its increase.
13 Righteousness will go before him
    and make his footsteps a way. – Psalm 85:1-13 ESV

The opening lines of this psalm appear to be speaking of God’s deliverance of a remnant of Israelites from their captivity in Babylon. After 70 years in exile, God sovereignly orchestrated their return under Ezra and Nehemiah.

This plan for their restoration had been in place from the very beginning and was announced to the exiled Israelites in a letter written by the prophet Jeremiah.

This is what the Lord says: “You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again. For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,” says the Lord. “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.” – Jeremiah 29:10-14 NLT

God kept His word and brought His chosen people home to the land of promise. But their homecoming was anything but joyful. They returned to find Jerusalem in ruins, the Temple completely demolished, and their former homes destroyed. In their absence, other people groups had taken over the land and did everything in their power to stop any plans for resettlement.

When the first wave of Israelites returned to Canaan, word was sent back to Nehemiah in Babylon describing the sorry state of affairs.

“Things are not going well for those who returned to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, and the gates have been destroyed by fire.” – Nehemiah 1:3 NLT

Under the leadership of Zerubbabel, the remnant of Israelites who returned to the land of promise attempted to rebuild the Temple but were met with fierce opposition.

…the local residents tried to discourage and frighten the people of Judah to keep them from their work. They bribed agents to work against them and to frustrate their plans. – Ezra 4:4-5 NLT

This organized resistance was relentless and long-term. Years later, a contingent of Israel’s enemies wrote a letter to King Artaxerxes, attempting to portray the Israelites as insurrectionists and a threat to his kingdom.

“The king should know that the Jews who came here to Jerusalem from Babylon are rebuilding this rebellious and evil city. They have already laid the foundation and will soon finish its walls. And the king should know that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are completed, it will be much to your disadvantage, for the Jews will then refuse to pay their tribute, customs, and tolls to you.”

“Since we are your loyal subjects and do not want to see the king dishonored in this way, we have sent the king this information. We suggest that a search be made in your ancestors’ records, where you will discover what a rebellious city this has been in the past. In fact, it was destroyed because of its long and troublesome history of revolt against the kings and countries who controlled it. We declare to the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are completed, the province west of the Euphrates River will be lost to you.” – Ezra 4:12-16 NLT

The psalmist sees this persistent opposition as a sign of God’s displeasure and calls on Yahweh to relent from His anger and restore His people to favor once again. 

Now restore us again, O God of our salvation.
    Put aside your anger against us once more.
Will you be angry with us always?
    Will you prolong your wrath to all generations? – Psalm 85:4-5 NLT

His assumption was that God remained angry over Israel’s past disobedience and was using their enemies to punish them. So, he pleads with Yahweh to pour out His ḥeseḏ, His unfailing love. This Hebrew word is most often translated as “mercy” and reflects a need for God’s undeserved favor. The psalmist knew the Israelites had done nothing to deserve God’s love and forgiveness. Their days in exile were not marked by repentance or faithful worship of God. Yahweh had returned them to the land in keeping with His promise and as proof of His faithfulness.

But the psalmist understood that their return to the land would be incomplete and unproductive if their relationship with Yahweh remained unrestored. A rebuilt city, restored Temple, and a revitalized local economy would mean nothing without a revived relationship with God. The psalmist knew that spiritual revival would be an important part of Israel’s renewal.

I listen carefully to what God the Lord is saying,
    for he speaks peace to his faithful people.
    But let them not return to their foolish ways.
Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him,
    so our land will be filled with his glory. – Psalm 85:8-9 NLT

Their return to the land could not be marked by the same spiritual apathy and apostasy that led to their fall. Things would need to be different this time around. They had experienced a location change, but God expected heart change. Yahweh desired His people to serve Him willingly and faithfully, not out of coercion or compulsion, but out of love.

Long before the Israelites entered the land of Canaan, God had given them His expectations concerning their behavior. If they obeyed Him, they would experience His blessings.

“If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully keep all his commands that I am giving you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the world. You will experience all these blessings if you obey the Lord your God:

Your towns and your fields
    will be blessed.
Your children and your crops
    will be blessed.
The offspring of your herds and flocks
    will be blessed.
Your fruit baskets and breadboards
    will be blessed.
Wherever you go and whatever you do,
    you will be blessed.

“The Lord will conquer your enemies when they attack you. They will attack you from one direction, but they will scatter from you in seven!

“The Lord will guarantee a blessing on everything you do and will fill your storehouses with grain. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.” – Deuteronomy 28:1-8 NLT

And the psalmist reveals that he understood that this relationship between God and His covenant people remained unchanged. If the people wanted to experience God’s unfailing love and enjoy the fruits of a relationship with Him, they would need to be faithful. Love, peace, truth, and righteousness were theirs if only they would keep their covenant commitments to Yahweh.

Unfailing love and truth have met together.
    Righteousness and peace have kissed!
Truth springs up from the earth,
    and righteousness smiles down from heaven.
Yes, the LORD pours down his blessings.
    Our land will yield its bountiful harvest.
Righteousness goes as a herald before him,
    preparing the way for his steps. – Psalm 85:10-13 NLT

But God’s blessings would accompany obedience. Rebuilding the city and the Temple would not be enough. The Israelites would need to rebuild their relationship with Yahweh and make Him a non-negotiable priority for their lives.

Father, it’s always been about a relationship with You. Our behavior is important and our actions do matter, but You have always focused on the heart. The things we do for You mean nothing if we do them for the wrong reasons or with a hardened heart. Show me how to make You the top priority in my life, not the things You do for me. I want to be faithful whether things are going well or not. I want to remain committed even when my circumstances don’t make sense and my hope begins to waver. Show me how to fear You so that I might remain faithful to You. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Our Gracious God

/ kdmiller55 / 2 Comments

To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. A Testimony. Of Asaph, a Psalm.

1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
    you who lead Joseph like a flock.
You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth.
2     Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh,
stir up your might
    and come to save us!

3 Restore us, O God;
    let your face shine, that we may be saved!

4 O LORD God of hosts,
    how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers?
5 You have fed them with the bread of tears
    and given them tears to drink in full measure.
6 You make us an object of contention for our neighbors,
    and our enemies laugh among themselves.

7 Restore us, O God of hosts;
    let your face shine, that we may be saved!

8 You brought a vine out of Egypt;
    you drove out the nations and planted it.
9 You cleared the ground for it;
    it took deep root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shade,
    the mighty cedars with its branches.
11 It sent out its branches to the sea
    and its shoots to the River.
12 Why then have you broken down its walls,
    so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?
13 The boar from the forest ravages it,
    and all that move in the field feed on it.

14 Turn again, O God of hosts!
    Look down from heaven, and see;
have regard for this vine,
15     the stock that your right hand planted,
    and for the son whom you made strong for yourself.
16 They have burned it with fire; they have cut it down;
    may they perish at the rebuke of your face!
17 But let your hand be on the man of your right hand,
    the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself!
18 Then we shall not turn back from you;
    give us life, and we will call upon your name!

19 Restore us, O LORD God of hosts!
    Let your face shine, that we may be saved! – Psalm 80:1-19 ESV

Like the psalm that precedes it, this is a national psalm of lament, but it is difficult to determine the exact context surrounding its message. Some scholars believe Asaph is addressing the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel in 722 BC. But if Asaph was a resident of the southern kingdom of Judah, his prayer in verse 3 would appear to place the timing of this psalm after the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC.

Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh,
stir up your might
    and come to save us! – Psalm 80:3 ESV

Asaph seems to indicate that something has happened to the people of Judah, the residents of the southern kingdom. In verses 5 and 6, he describes the extent of their suffering, which he attributes to God’s divine punishment.

You have fed us with sorrow
    and made us drink tears by the bucketful.
You have made us the scorn of neighboring nations.
    Our enemies treat us as a joke. – Psalm 80:5-6 NLT

Asaph’s reference to Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh is intended as a not-so-subtle reminder that the nation of Israel used to be a unified whole. There had been a time under the reigns of David and Solomon when the 12 tribes of Israel were unified and dominated the political landscape of Canaan. Ephraim was the primary tribe in the north, the Benjamites lived in the south, and the tribe of Manasseh was located east of the Jordan River in the Transjordan. So it makes more sense to see this psalm lamenting Israel’s abysmal condition after the northern and southern kingdoms had fallen to the Assyrians and Babylonians.

It is interesting to note that Asaph opens his psalm with a reference to Joseph, the son of Jacob, who had been sold into slavery by his brothers. Under God’s sovereign hand, this young man ended up in Egypt and rose to the second-highest position in the land. His miraculous and meteoric rise to prominence was God-ordained and for the sole purpose of providing a place of refuge for his family when a famine struck the land of Canaan.

Asaph opens his psalm by addressing Yahweh as the “Shepherd of Israel” (Psalm 80:1 ESV), who leads Joseph like a flock. Joseph’s two sons, born to him in Egypt, were adopted by his father Jacob, and their descendants became heirs of the land of promise. Ephraim and Manasseh, two of the tribes mentioned in verse 2, were the descendants of Joseph’s two sons and, at one time, enjoyed a place within the unified nation of Israel alongside the tribe of Benjamin.

But sin had disrupted Israel’s peace and prosperity. King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, behaved like a fool by fostering idolatry and apostasy in the kingdom. His actions resulted in God splitting the kingdom in half. From that point, the downward spiritual spiral continued in the north, south, and east, as all the tribes exhibited a penchant for unfaithfulness and a stubborn refusal to repent and return to Yahweh.

So, Asaph calls on God to step in and fix the problem.

Show us your mighty power.
    Come to rescue us! – Psalm 80:3 NLT

Asaph attributes their fate to God’s displeasure with them, but he never acknowledges their complicity and guilt. At no point does Asaph attempt to confess the sins of his fellow Israelites. Instead, he questions why God remains so angry and unwilling to answer their prayers for deliverance.

Asaph attempts to remind God of His past acts of kindness by chronicling how He had delivered the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt and established them in the land of Canaan.

You brought us from Egypt like a grapevine;
    you drove away the pagan nations and transplanted us into your land.
You cleared the ground for us,
    and we took root and filled the land.
Our shade covered the mountains;
    our branches covered the mighty cedars.
We spread our branches west to the Mediterranean Sea;
    our shoots spread east to the Euphrates River. – Psalm 80:8-11 NLT

Those were the good old days, when the Israelites enjoyed the blessings of God. They had been fruitful and filled the land of Canaan. Under the leadership of David and Solomon, their numbers grew and their kingdom spread, making them a force to be reckoned with in the region. But all that had changed. The conditions in Israel were markedly different when Asaph penned this psalm because sin had brought the judgment of God.

Yet, Asaph never mentions their sin. He fails to acknowledge their complicity in their own demise, choosing instead to blame God.

But now, why have you broken down our walls
    so that all who pass by may steal our fruit?
The wild boar from the forest devours it,
    and the wild animals feed on it. – Psalm 80:12-13 NLT

While God had brought judgment upon the people of Israel, it had been as a result of their rebellion against Him. Asaph obsesses over the consequences they suffered and demands remediation, but he refuses to confess their guilt. He begs God to intervene and appears to try to shame God into action.

Take care of this grapevine
    that you yourself have planted,
    this son you have raised for yourself. – Psalm 80:14-15 NLT

Asaph freely admits that God had chosen Israel to be His treasured possession, but he couldn’t understand why they were suffering so greatly. It made no sense. As the nation that bore His name, the Israelites should have been prospering and enjoying all the benefits of their privileged position. But, according to Asaph, they were like a vineyard that had been “chopped up and burned by” (Psalm 80:16 NLT) by their enemies.

So, Asaph asks God to reverse the trend and restore His people to greatness.

May you give support to the one you have chosen,
to the one whom you raised up for yourself. – Psalm 80:17 NET

In response to God’s miraculous deliverance, Asaph promises the renewed allegiance of the people of Israel.

Then we will never abandon you again.
    Revive us so we can call on your name once more. – Psalm  80:17 NLT

By referring to God’s name, Asaph appeals to God’s reputation. He knows that Yahweh holds His name in high regard and will not allow it to be tarnished by those privileged to bear it. He had warned the Israelites that their behavior reflected on His character.

“You must worship no other gods, for the Lord, whose very name is Jealous, is a God who is jealous about his relationship with you.” – Exodus 34:14 NLT

He would not allow them to drag His name through the mud by their repeated acts of apostasy and idolatry, and that is the reason for their current state of deprivation and despair. All 12 tribes were guilty of worshiping other gods and had angered Yahweh with their refusal to heed His warnings and repent of their sins. But Asaph longs to see God redeem and restore them.

Turn us again to yourself, O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies.
    Make your face shine down upon us.
    Only then will we be saved. – Psalm 80:19 NLT

He was right. God was the only solution to their problem. Their cities lay in ruins, and their economy was devastated. They had no king or army and no hope of improving their fortunes unless God stepped in. Asaph’s reliance upon God was commendable, but he failed to recognize the corporate need for repentance. The prophets made it clear that redemption and restoration were available but required repentance.

Seek the Lord while you can find him.
    Call on him now while he is near.
Let the wicked change their ways
    and banish the very thought of doing wrong.
Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them.
    Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously. – Isaiah 55:6-7 NLT

God would later inspire Jeremiah to deliver the following message to the Israelites living in exile in Babylon. He wanted them to know that their captivity had an expiration date, but to enjoy His deliverance, they must exhibit repentant hearts.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,” says the Lord. “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.” – Jeremiah 29:11-14 NLT

Asaph was right to call on God, but neglected to call the people to repentance. God had promised to hear their prayers and restore their fortunes, but He required that they look for him “wholeheartedly.” God demanded their sold-out devotion to Him alone, instead of their usual brand of half-hearted, going-through-the-motions, on-again-off-again worship.

Yet, despite their failure to repent and return to Him in wholehearted devotion, God eventually released them from their exile in Babylon and restored them to the land of Canaan. Their covenant-keeping God graciously ended their captivity and arranged for a remnant to return to Jerusalem under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah. Yahweh proved to be faithful even when His people refused to keep their end of the covenant agreement. And, according to the Book of Ezekiel, God is far from done with His chosen people. The day is coming when He will perform a miracle of transformation that will ensure their unwavering devotion to Him.

“For I will gather you up from all the nations and bring you home again to your land.

“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.

“And you will live in Israel, the land I gave your ancestors long ago. You will be my people, and I will be your God. I will cleanse you of your filthy behavior.” – Ezekiel 36:24-29 NLT

Father, You truly are amazing. Your love never fails. You always keep Your word. Your grace is always undeserved. Your mercy never runs out. Your patience is inexhaustible. And Your plan for Your people is unstoppable. Despite us, You continually pour out Your blessings through Jesus Christ. You have made a way where there was no way. You do the impossible and accomplish the improbable. And we don’t deserve it. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Obedience Is Never Easy

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8 Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows: 9 Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates, the judges, the governors, the officials, the Persians, the men of Erech, the Babylonians, the men of Susa, that is, the Elamites, 10 and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Osnappar deported and settled in the cities of Samaria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River. 11 (This is a copy of the letter that they sent.) “To Artaxerxes the king: Your servants, the men of the province Beyond the River, send greeting. And now 12 be it known to the king that the Jews who came up from you to us have gone to Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are finishing the walls and repairing the foundations. 13 Now be it known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute, custom, or toll, and the royal revenue will be impaired. 14 Now because we eat the salt of the palace and it is not fitting for us to witness the king’s dishonor, therefore we send and inform the king, 15 in order that search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers. You will find in the book of the records and learn that this city is a rebellious city, hurtful to kings and provinces, and that sedition was stirred up in it from of old. That was why this city was laid waste. 16 We make known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls finished, you will then have no possession in the province Beyond the River.” – Ezra 4:8-16 ESV

This incident was inserted into the text to illustrate the long-term nature of the assault against Judah’s repatriation. The letter mentioned was likely sent around 446 B.C. when Artaxerxes ruled the Persian Empire (464 to 424 B.C.). He was the successor to Xerxes (Ahasuerus) and the fifth in line to the crown passed down from Cyrus. Nearly 92 years had passed when the disgruntled Samaritans wrote their letter to Artaxerxes decrying the ongoing efforts of the Judaens to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. By this time in the narrative, the Temple would have already been completed and the rebuilding efforts would have shifted the city’s walls.

In the book that bears his name, Nehemiah shares how he heard about the disheveled condition of Jerusalem’s walls and the demoralized state of the people.

In late autumn, in the month of Kislev, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign, I was at the fortress of Susa. Hanani, one of my brothers, came to visit me with some other men who had just arrived from Judah. I asked them about the Jews who had returned there from captivity and about how things were going in Jerusalem.

They said to me, “Things are not going well for those who returned to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, and the gates have been destroyed by fire.” – Nehemiah 1:1-3 NLT

All of this points to the fact that the people of Judah endured nearly 100 years of relentless persecution and attack from “the people of the land.” From the moment they arrived in Judah, God’s people faced intense opposition from the hodge-podge of transplanted people groups who were determined to maintain their hold on the land.

Sometime during the reign of Artaxerxes, three prominent dissidents decided to draft a letter of protest, outlining their concerns and grievances to the king. These men enlisted the support of other local leaders which included “Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates, the judges, the governors, the officials, the Persians, the men of Erech, the Babylonians, the men of Susa, that is, the Elamites” (Ezra 4:9 ESV). Evidently, all of these men signed their names to the letter in a show of solidarity. The letter begins with a reminder to Artaxerxes that they had been placed in the land by order of Osnappar (Ashurbanipal), the former Assyrian ruler. They wanted Artaxerxes to honor their rights as the legal occupants of the land. In essence, they asserted that Cyrus had been wrong to award the city of Jerusalem to the returning Jewish exiles because it was not his to give.

But the main focus of the letter was to convince the Persian king that the Jews were a rebellious and unruly people who would never submit to outside control. If he allowed them to complete the construction of Jerusalem’s walls, they would revolt and refuse to pay tribute to their Persian overlords.

“The king should know that the Jews who came here to Jerusalem from Babylon are rebuilding this rebellious and evil city. They have already laid the foundation and will soon finish its walls. And the king should know that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are completed, it will be much to your disadvantage, for the Jews will then refuse to pay their tribute, customs, and tolls to you.” – Ezra 4:12-13 NLT

The Jews mentioned in this letter would have been those who returned in 458 B.C. under the leadership of Ezra. As chapter seven makes clear, Ezra had been commissioned by Artaxerxes himself to rebuild the Temple.

“I, Artaxerxes the king, hereby send this decree to all the treasurers in the province west of the Euphrates River: ‘You are to give Ezra, the priest and teacher of the law of the God of heaven, whatever he requests of you. You are to give him up to 7,500 pounds of silver, 500 bushels of wheat, 550 gallons of wine, 550 gallons of olive oil, and an unlimited supply of salt. Be careful to provide whatever the God of heaven demands for his Temple, for why should we risk bringing God’s anger against the realm of the king and his sons?” – Ezra 7:21-23 NLT

With the Temple completed, the Jews had turned their attention to the walls of the city, prompting the local residents to fire off their inflammatory missive to the king. They wanted him to know that his earlier edict granting the Jews permission to rebuild the Temple was going to come back to haunt him. The Jews had not been satisfied with restoring their sacred worship center; now, they wanted to restore the entire city, including its walls and battlements.

This letter attempted to portray the Jews in as negative a light as possible. It describes them as rebellious and threatening the Persian’s hold on the land. If Artaxerxes allowed the Jews to rebuild the walls of the city, they would do what they always did, foment rebellion and foster a spirit of stubborn independence in the region.

“We declare to the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are completed, the province west of the Euphrates River will be lost to you.” – Ezra 4:16 NLT

They asserted that a thorough search of the royal records would provide more than enough evidence of Judah’s seditious past.

“We suggest that a search be made in your ancestors’ records, where you will discover what a rebellious city this has been in the past. In fact, it was destroyed because of its long and troublesome history of revolt against the kings and countries who controlled it.” – Ezra 4:15 NLT

“The historical justification for the claim that Jerusalem is a chronically rebellious city will have consisted in such events as Hezekiah’s withholding of tribute from Assyria (2 Kings 18:7, ca. 724 B.C.) and Zedekiah’s abortive bid for freedom from the Babylonians, which led to the cataclysm of 587 (2 Kings 24:20ff). The Assyrian and Babylonian annals were evidently available to the Persian kings. And it is clear that a nerve is touched.” – J. G. McConville, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther. Daily Study Bible series

The authors of the letter were desperate to portray the Judahites as dangerous insurrectionists and revolutionaries. Their use of overwrought and inflammatory rhetoric was meant to convince Artaxerxes to send in troops to put a stop to the rebuilding efforts. Little did they know that they were opposing God Almighty. God had ordained the rebuilding of the Temple and Jerusalem and was behind the decree issued by Cyrus that made it all possible. God had also prompted Artaxerxes to issue his own edict providing Ezra with permission to rebuild the Temple. Yet God knew that the rebuilding and repopulating of Judah would not take place without a fight. There would be resistance. The enemy would stand opposed. And, even as the rest of chapter four will reveal, there would be setbacks. But God’s will would prevail.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

The Sacrifice Before the Sacrifice

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1 When the seventh month came, and the children of Israel were in the towns, the people gathered as one man to Jerusalem. 2 Then arose Jeshua the son of Jozadak, with his fellow priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel with his kinsmen, and they built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God. 3 They set the altar in its place, for fear was on them because of the peoples of the lands, and they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, burnt offerings morning and evening. 4 And they kept the Feast of Booths, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number according to the rule, as each day required, 5 and after that the regular burnt offerings, the offerings at the new moon and at all the appointed feasts of the Lord, and the offerings of everyone who made a freewill offering to the Lord. 6 From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord. But the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid. 7 So they gave money to the masons and the carpenters, and food, drink, and oil to the Sidonians and the Tyrians to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, according to the grant that they had from Cyrus king of Persia.

8 Now in the second year after their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak made a beginning, together with the rest of their kinsmen, the priests and the Levites and all who had come to Jerusalem from the captivity. They appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to supervise the work of the house of the Lord. 9 And Jeshua with his sons and his brothers, and Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together supervised the workmen in the house of God, along with the sons of Henadad and the Levites, their sons and brothers.

10 And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments came forward with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord, according to the directions of David king of Israel. 11 And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord,

“For he is good,
    for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel.”

And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. 12 But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ houses, old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy, 13 so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people’s weeping, for the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard far away. – Ezra 3:1-13 ESV

The text does not indicate when the exiles began to arrive in Jerusalem. Cyrus’ decree was issued in 538 B.C., so it is likely that the first wave of returnees did not arrive until later the following year. The reference to the “seventh month” indicates that the events of this chapter occurred during the month of Tishri (around late September or early October). According to the Jewish sacred calendar, the month of Tishri was especially important because it featured three different annual feasts: The Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Booths. The Jews also had a civil calendar that featured the Feast of Trumpets on the first day of the New Year.

Verse six states, “From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord” (Ezra 3:6 ESV). This indicates that not long after they arrived in Judah, the Jews began to reinstitute the prescribed feasts and festivals with their accompanying sacrifices. The Book of Numbers outlines God’s requirements for celebrating the Feast of Booths. 

“On the first day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work. It is a day for you to blow the trumpets, and you shall offer a burnt offering, for a pleasing aroma to the Lord: one bull from the herd, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without blemish; also their grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, three tenths of an ephah for the bull, two tenths for the ram, and one tenth for each of the seven lambs; with one male goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for you; besides the burnt offering of the new moon, and its grain offering, and the regular burnt offering and its grain offering, and their drink offering, according to the rule for them, for a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the Lord.” – Numbers 29:1-6 ESV

These recently relocated Jews were going to discover that they had their work cut out for them. They would soon discover that their new lives would be difficult and fraught with suffering, setbacks, and intense opposition. But they began their efforts in the right way; offering sacrifices to God that were in keeping with His commands. They had no Temple but they could worship Yahweh by celebrating His prescribed feasts and offering atonement for their sins. These initial efforts were led by Jeshua, the high priest, and Zerubbabel, the grandson of King Jehoiachin.

During their captivity, the Jews had been forced to abandon many of their sacred traditions. With the destruction of the Temple and the looting of the sacred items used in their sacrificial system, they were left without a way to fulfill God’s law or a means of atonement for sin. So, as one of their first official acts, Jeshua and Zerubbabel reestablished the Law as the basis for their relationship with God. Now that they were back in the land, they were obligated to live according to God’s righteous standards. Their ancestors’ failure to keep God’s commands had resulted in the fall of Judah and the Babylonian captivity. They were not interested in repeating the mistakes of the earlier generation.

But living godly lives in a godless world would not be easy. Attempting to conduct their lives according to God’s will while surrounded by those who opposed them was guaranteed to be difficult and, sometimes, impossible. The people of God had been allowed to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple, but when they arrived they found their land occupied by foreigners, people who had been relocated to Israel when the Babylonians conquered the Israelites and took them captive. These people had migrated down into the south and taken up residence in Judah while the Israelites were in exile in Babylon. So when the people of God returned to Jerusalem, they found themselves surrounded by enemies who were opposed to their presence and would do anything to prevent their relocation and rebuilding efforts.

But the first thing the people of God did was build an altar to offer sacrifices to Him. In the face of their enemies and despite their own fears, the people proved to be obedient, building the altar and reinstituting the sacrificial system Moses had established years before. Along with the feasts and festivals, the Jews reinstituted the daily sacrifices. All of this took place before beginning their efforts to build the Temple. They knew they had to get their hearts right before they went about building God’s house. They also knew that the Temple had to be their highest priority. It was the house or earthly dwelling place of their God and He had to come first. Getting their spiritual lives in order was paramount. They knew a rebuilt city with strong walls was useless without the presence and power of God to protect them.

They had learned that painful lesson from experience. So, they began to build, and when the foundation for the Temple was laid, the people celebrated. Some rejoiced the significance of this important accomplishment. But others wept because they knew that the new Temple would never match the glory of the old one. This mixture of joy and sadness is reflected in the text.

…the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people’s weeping, for the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard far away. – Ezra 3:13 ESV

Some were singing the praises of God, declaring, “he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel” (Ezra 3:11 ESV). But some of the older members of their congregation wept bitterly as they recalled the glory of Solomon’s Temple. For them, the celebration brought back memories of Judah’s glory days. They remembered how things used to be before the Babylonians invaded and the city of Jerusalem was destroyed. The glorious Temple had been ransacked and reduced to rubble. Now, as they surveyed the disheveled state of Jerusalem and considered the scope of the work ahead of them, they wept.

But they were faithful to do what God had called them to do. They faced their fears, stood up against their enemies, and they built. It would take them four years to finish the Temple and, after its completion, they were faced with rebuilding the city itself, including its perimeter walls. This would be a gargantuan task, and they did it all under constant pressure and attack from the opposition. God never told them it would be easy. But they would soon discover that He was in their midst and would guide and sustain their efforts. He was there and He cared.

Godly living is not easy and it was never meant to be. It takes effort, courage, obedience, and faith. The presence of opposition is not an indication of God’s absence, but a reminder that we need His power. Our weakness is a great opportunity for Him to reveal His strength. We just need to be faithful and do our part. He will do His.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

A Divine Decree

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1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:

2 “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3 Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem. 4 And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.” – Ezra 1:1-4 ESV

The book opens in the first year of Cyrus’ reign as the king of Persia, 538 B.C., and the people of Israel have been in exile in Babylon for 70 years. It is unclear when the book was written or who the author was. Tradition places Ezra as its author, but his name is not mentioned until chapter seven.

Now after this, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah, son of Shallum, son of Zadok, son of Ahitub, son of Amariah, son of Azariah, son of Meraioth, son of Zerahiah, son of Uzzi, son of Bukki, son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the chief priest—this Ezra went up from Babylonia. He was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses that the Lord, the God of Israel, had given, and the king granted him all that he asked, for the hand of the Lord his God was on him. – Ezra 7:1-6 ESV

This has led some scholars to divide the book into two halves, the first featuring chapters 1-6 and the second, chapters 7-10. They suggest that this composite book was written by two authors and then compiled by a “chronicler” at a much later date. Those who hold to Ezra as the sole author of the book that bears his name put the date of its writing at around 446 B.C., nearly 100 years after the events recorded in the opening chapter. This later date is based on the mention of a decree issued by King Artaxerxes in chapter 4.

“I made a decree, and search has been made, and it has been found that this city from of old has risen against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made in it. And mighty kings have been over Jerusalem, who ruled over the whole province Beyond the River, to whom tribute, custom, and toll were paid. Therefore make a decree that these men be made to cease, and that this city be not rebuilt, until a decree is made by me.” – Ezra 4:19-21 ESV

This later decree by King Artaxerxes stands in stark contrast to the one made by his predecessor and recorded in chapter one. King Cyrus had made a royal proclamation authorizing the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem, which had been destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C., just 48 years earlier. Cyrus claims to have received direct orders from the God of the Israelites.

“The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has appointed me to build him a Temple at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.” – Ezra 1:2 NLT

Cyrus’ decree was implemented and a remnant of the people of God made the long journey back to Judah to begin rebuilding Jerusalem and the Temple. However, upon their arrival, they encountered opposition from those who had occupied the land in their absence. A diverse amalgam of disparate people groups had made the land their own and greeted the arrival of the Israelites with less than open arms. The Israelite’s ongoing efforts to regain their ancestral homeland and rebuild their holy site eventually resulted in a letter of protest to the new king, threatening civil unrest or worse, if the project was put on hold. Artaxerxes succumbed to their demands and issued his decree.

As the book opens, things are looking up. Unlike his successor, Cyrus extends mercy to the long-suffering Israelites, outlining a government-sanctioned program for their repatriation of Judah.

“The message is addressed to the post-exilic community of Jews who wonder if there is any hope of political and religious restoration. Its central thrust is that there indeed is hope but that hope must be incarnated in the rebuilding of the Temple, the cultus, and the priesthood. Only as the remnant people became the theocratic nation, founded on and faithful to the covenant Yahweh made with their fathers, could they revive the Davidic house and anticipate the resumption of their mediatorial role among the nations of the earth. Ezra and Nehemiah are therefore burdened to clarify (1) the Person and works of God, (2) Israel’s own identity and function as a covenant people, and (3) the nature of that covenant in postexilic times.” – Eugene H. Merrill, “A Theology of Ezra-Nehemiah and Esther,” in A Biblical Theology of the Old Testament, p. 190

God is about to lift His hand of judgment and restore the people to the land and back into His favor. The amazing thing is how God chooses to bring this all about. When He punished the people 70 years earlier, He had used Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, to accomplish His will. This Babylonian king was like a puppet in the hand of Almighty God – accomplishing His will and fulfilling His plans for the people of Judah. Now, 70 years later, Cyrus, the king of the Medo-Persian Empire which had defeated Babylon, becomes the next pawn in the hands of God. This powerful leader has his heart stirred by the Spirit of God and issues a decree allowing the Jews to return to the land of Israel. Not only that, he recognized that God had given him the responsibility of rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem.

God used Babylon to defeat Judah, demolish Jerusalem, and destroy the Temple. Now He was going to use Persia to return the people to the land, restore Jerusalem, and rebuild the Temple. What an amazing God. This powerful pagan king will be an instrument in the hands of God to accomplish His will and fulfill His promises to the people of God. What a wonderful reminder that God is in control.

So Cyrus issued his decree, commanding those who chose not to return to financially support the remnant who would be making the trip back to Jerusalem. As will become evident, Cyrus would also return all the items plundered from the Temple during the days of Nebuchadnezzar. Thousands of bowls, basins, incense burners, and other articles will be placed in the hands of God’s people, so they might be restored to their original purpose: the worship of God. All of these items had at one time been dedicated to the worship of God through the sacrificial system. Now they were going to be restored to their original intent. They had been set aside for a time due to the sins of the people, but now they were being restored. The same thing could be said of the people of God. They had one time been set apart for the glory of God, but sin led to their being set aside. They were God’s chosen people, His instruments, dedicated to His use and designed to bring Him glory among the other nations of the world. But they had been set aside for 70 long years. Now they were being restored. They were being given a second chance by God. What incredible grace. What amazing love. What an unforgettable reminder of how much God loves us and desires to restore us to fellowship with Him when we stray. God had told the people that if they failed to serve Him faithfully, He would be forced to punish them, and He did. But He had also promised to restore them, and now He was. Just as He said He would.

In the future, when you experience all these blessings and curses I have listed for you, and when you are living among the nations to which the Lord your God has exiled you, take to heart all these instructions. If at that time you and your children return to the Lord your God, and if you obey with all your heart and all your soul all the commands I have given you today, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes. He will have mercy on you and gather you back from all the nations where he has scattered you. Even though you are banished to the ends of the earth, the Lord your God will gather you from there and bring you back again. The Lord your God will return you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will possess that land again. Then he will make you even more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors! – Deuteronomy 30:1-5 NLT

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

A Never-Ending Battle With Sin

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1 After this David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and he took Gath and its villages out of the hand of the Philistines.

2 And he defeated Moab, and the Moabites became servants to David and brought tribute.

3 David also defeated Hadadezer king of Zobah-Hamath, as he went to set up his monument at the river Euphrates. 4 And David took from him 1,000 chariots, 7,000 horsemen, and 20,000 foot soldiers. And David hamstrung all the chariot horses, but left enough for 100 chariots. 5 And when the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David struck down 22,000 men of the Syrians. 6 Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus, and the Syrians became servants to David and brought tribute. And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went. 7 And David took the shields of gold that were carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. 8 And from Tibhath and from Cun, cities of Hadadezer, David took a large amount of bronze. With it Solomon made the bronze sea and the pillars and the vessels of bronze.

9 When Tou king of Hamath heard that David had defeated the whole army of Hadadezer, king of Zobah, 10 he sent his son Hadoram to King David, to ask about his health and to bless him because he had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him; for Hadadezer had often been at war with Tou. And he sent all sorts of articles of gold, of silver, and of bronze. 11 These also King David dedicated to the Lord, together with the silver and gold that he had carried off from all the nations, from Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and Amalek.

12 And Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, killed 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. 13 Then he put garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became David’s servants. And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went.

14 So David reigned over all Israel, and he administered justice and equity to all his people. 15 And Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; 16 and Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were priests; and Shavsha was secretary; 17 and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David’s sons were the chief officials in the service of the king. – 1 Chronicles 18:1-17 ESV

Chapter 14 ends with the words: “And David did as God commanded him, and they struck down the Philistine army from Gibeon to Gezer.” (1 Chronicles 14:16 ESV). Chapter 18 begins with the words: “After this David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and he took Gath and its villages out of the hand of the Philistines” (1 Chronicles 18:1 ESV). Many commentators believe that chapters 15 and 16 are parenthetical and not chronological in nature. They deal with more religious-oriented aspects of David’s reign, while chapters 14 and 18 deal with his military conquests.

Chapter 15 describes David’s efforts to bring the Ark of the Covenant into the city of Jerusalem. Chapter 17 covers God’s giving of His covenant to David. This chapter opens with the words: “Now when David lived in his house…” (1 Chronicles 17:1 ESV). The companion passage in 2 Samuel adds an interesting detail.

Now when the king lived in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies…” – 2 Samuel 7:1 ESV

It is that second half of the sentence that leads most Old Testament scholars to believe the covenant was given to David late in his reign after he had ceased from war with the enemies of Israel. Therefore, like chapters 15 and 16, chapter 17 is out of chronological order. These chapters were placed where they are in the story because they provide a spiritual context to David’s reign. They reveal his zeal for and dedication to the Lord, a key motivating force in his military efforts. They also shed light on the real source behind David’s military success: God. That point is made clear in chapter 18.

And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went. – 1 Chronicles 18:13 ESV

Chapter 18 picks up where chapter 14 left off. David, as God’s hand-picked king, was finishing what Joshua and the people of Israel should have done when they entered the Promised Land years earlier. God had given them very specific commands regarding their conquest and occupation of the land of Canaan.

“Moses my servant is dead. Therefore, the time has come for you to lead these people, the Israelites, across the Jordan River into the land I am giving them. I promise you what I promised Moses: ‘Wherever you set foot, you will be on land I have given you—from the Negev wilderness in the south to the Lebanon mountains in the north, from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, including all the land of the Hittites.’ No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you. – Joshua 1:2-5 NLT

God had told Moses what the people were to do when they entered the land He had promised to Abraham and his descendants, and Moses had passed the words of God on to the people.

“In those towns that the Lord your God is giving you as a special possession, destroy every living thing. You must completely destroy the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, just as the Lord your God has commanded you. This will prevent the people of the land from teaching you to imitate their detestable customs in the worship of their gods, which would cause you to sin deeply against the Lord your God.” – Deuteronomy 20:16-18 NLT

But the people of God had disobeyed and failed to purge the land of its inhabitants. They had been half-hearted in their efforts and allowed the majority of the nations that occupied the land of Canaan to remain. And, just as God had predicted, the people of the land ended up infecting the people of God with their idolatry, immorality, and “detestable customs.” This is what led to the period of the judges. In fact, the opening chapters of the book of Judges reveal exactly what had happened.

 The Lord was with the people of Judah, and they took possession of the hill country. But they failed to drive out the people living in the plains, who had iron chariots. – Judges 1:19 ESV

The tribe of Benjamin, however, failed to drive out the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem. So to this day the Jebusites live in Jerusalem among the people of Benjamin. – Judges 1:21 ESV

The tribe of Manasseh failed to drive out the people living in Beth-shan, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo, and all their surrounding settlements…  – Judges 1:27 ESV

The tribe of Ephraim failed to drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer, so the Canaanites continued to live there among them. – Judges 1:29 ESV

The tribe of Zebulun failed to drive out the residents of Kitron and Nahalol, so the Canaanites continued to live among them. – Judges 1:30 ESV

This pattern of repeated nonfeasance got so bad that God ended up sending an angel to deliver some extremely bad news:

“I brought you out of Egypt into this land that I swore to give your ancestors, and I said I would never break my covenant with you. For your part, you were not to make any covenants with the people living in this land; instead, you were to destroy their altars. But you disobeyed my command. Why did you do this? So now I declare that I will no longer drive out the people living in your land. They will be thorns in your sides, and their gods will be a constant temptation to you.” – Judges 2:1-3 NLT

Because they refused to do as He commanded, God removed His divine protection. By the time David became king, the situation had grown far worse. Without God’s divine assistance, the Israelites found themselves unable to “weed out” the thorns that surrounded them. These remnant nations proved to be a real threat to Israel’s future as a nation, not just physically but spiritually. Their armies constantly harassed the people of Israel but it was their false gods that did the greatest damage. Idolatry ended up being Israel’s Achilles heal.

So, as the king and commander-in-chief of Israel’s armies, David determined to finish what Joshua had begun. He was going to carry out God’s command and purge the land of these nations and their false gods.

David defeated the Philistines, Moabites, Syrians, Edomites, Amalekites, Ammonites, and the armies of Zobah. However, the author makes it clear that David’s military successes were not his own doing. God was giving David victories over his enemies. The very fact that David was forced to fight so many battles reflects just how unsuccessful the Israelites had been in their efforts to rid the land of its inhabitants. Their disobedience had allowed these nations to not only survive but to thrive. They had grown in numbers and strength and were no longer merely an irritant to the people of Israel, but a real threat to their existence. But David was doing everything in his power and with God’s help to subdue and destroy them.

To our modern, more enlightened sensibilities, the content of this chapter can be shocking, even appalling. God’s order for the complete annihilation of the inhabitants of the land of Canaan seems to portray Him as callous and blood-thirsty, with a seemingly capricious outlook on human life. How can the loving, creator-God call for the destruction of entire people groups, including men, women, and innocent children? This question has caused many to doubt the veracity of the Old Testament. It has led others to reject the very idea of God Himself. Richard Dawkins, a proudly professing atheist and staunch opponent of Christianity has described the God of the Bible as, “a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully” (Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion).  He goes on to state, “The tragi-farce of God’s maniacal jealousy against alternative gods recurs continually through the Old Testament.”

For someone like Dawkins, the issue has less to do with the destruction of the people of Canaan, than it does with his desire for proof that the God of the Bible is the fanciful creation of man’s imagination. He simply uses the Old Testament record of God’s call for the destruction of the inhabitants of Canaan as proof that this so-called “God” of the Israelites, even if He did exist, would not be worth following. But he misses the whole point of the story and the true nature of mankind’s tragic situation.

The Bible makes it painfully clear that all men (women and children included) are sinners and stand before God as guilty and worthy of death. Their sins are not viewed as innocent mistakes or simply character flaws but as acts of open rebellion against a holy God. Humanity rejected the rule and reign of God, choosing the path of autonomy and self-rule. This anarchy had to be dealt with and, because God’s holiness consists of justice, He was obligated by His own nature to deal righteously with the sins of men. He could not simply overlook mankind’s rebellion because He recognized that sin, like an infectious disease, is contagious and capable of spreading from one person to another. Like cancer cells in the human body, sin metastasizes and spreads, destroying everything in its path. Sin is non-discriminatory and merciless.

God’s call for the destruction of the inhabitants of the land was based on His understanding of the true danger of indwelling sin. Left unchecked, the sinful dispositions of the unbelieving Canaanites would gradually infect and influence the people of God. According to the Old Testament record, that is exactly what happened. Over time, the people of Israel found themselves abandoning their set-apart status as God’s chosen people and blending in with the surrounding culture. They became just like the nations around them as the cancer of sin spread among them and destroyed their once-healthy relationship with God.

The same thing happens to believers today as we allow the sins of the world to contaminate our lives. Rather than doing radical surgery and removing the sin that so easily entangles us (Hebrews 12:1), we embrace it, welcoming it with open arms. We end up loving the world and the things of the world (1 John 12:15). We become friends with the world, failing to recognize that the world hates us and is out to destroy us (John 15:18-19).

The removal of the sinful influences in our lives is difficult and oftentimes painful. It may require us to abandon those longstanding relationships that are a negative influence on our lives and a threat to our spiritual health. As God’s chosen people, we are expected to live set-apart lives that clearly differentiate our status as His children. This demands that we pull away from those individuals whose influence in our lives is unhealthy and potentially destructive. This may sound radical and even unloving, but it is for our own good.

God doesn’t forbid our association with the world. He doesn’t expect us to live in seclusion, isolating ourselves from the surrounding culture. We are called to be salt and light, agents of influence and change in a sin-darkened world. But we must take sin seriously. We must never compromise our convictions or grow complacent about our calling. David knew just how dangerous sin could be, both externally and internally, and he was willing to do whatever it took to remove both. In Psalm 139, he offers a compelling and heartfelt prayer to God.

O God, if only you would destroy the wicked!
    Get out of my life, you murderers!
They blaspheme you;
    your enemies misuse your name.
O Lord, shouldn’t I hate those who hate you?
    Shouldn’t I despise those who oppose you?
Yes, I hate them with total hatred,
    for your enemies are my enemies.

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Point out anything in me that offends you,
    and lead me along the path of everlasting life. – Psalm 139:19-24 NLT

But as those living on this side of the cross, we must balance the words of David with those of Jesus. He came to offer a better way. He provided a new weapon in the war against sin: The gospel. That is why He could tell His followers that the key to conquering sin is love.

“But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you…Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.” – Luke 6:27-28, 35-36 NLT

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

They Had Their Work Cut Out For Them

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1 The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel (for he was the firstborn, but because he defiled his father’s couch, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel, so that he could not be enrolled as the oldest son; 2 though Judah became strong among his brothers and a chief came from him, yet the birthright belonged to Joseph), 3 the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. 4 The sons of Joel: Shemaiah his son, Gog his son, Shimei his son, 5 Micah his son, Reaiah his son, Baal his son, 6 Beerah his son, whom Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria carried away into exile; he was a chief of the Reubenites. 7 And his kinsmen by their clans, when the genealogy of their generations was recorded: the chief, Jeiel, and Zechariah, 8 and Bela the son of Azaz, son of Shema, son of Joel, who lived in Aroer, as far as Nebo and Baal-meon. 9 He also lived to the east as far as the entrance of the desert this side of the Euphrates, because their livestock had multiplied in the land of Gilead. 10 And in the days of Saul they waged war against the Hagrites, who fell into their hand. And they lived in their tents throughout all the region east of Gilead.

11 The sons of Gad lived over against them in the land of Bashan as far as Salecah: 12 Joel the chief, Shapham the second, Janai, and Shaphat in Bashan. 13 And their kinsmen according to their fathers’ houses: Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jacan, Zia and Eber, seven. 14 These were the sons of Abihail the son of Huri, son of Jaroah, son of Gilead, son of Michael, son of Jeshishai, son of Jahdo, son of Buz. 15 Ahi the son of Abdiel, son of Guni, was chief in their fathers’ houses, 16 and they lived in Gilead, in Bashan and in its towns, and in all the pasturelands of Sharon to their limits. 17 All of these were recorded in genealogies in the days of Jotham king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam king of Israel.

18 The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had valiant men who carried shield and sword, and drew the bow, expert in war, 44,760, able to go to war. 19 They waged war against the Hagrites, Jetur, Naphish, and Nodab. 20 And when they prevailed over them, the Hagrites and all who were with them were given into their hands, for they cried out to God in the battle, and he granted their urgent plea because they trusted in him. 21 They carried off their livestock: 50,000 of their camels, 250,000 sheep, 2,000 donkeys, and 100,000 men alive. 22 For many fell, because the war was of God. And they lived in their place until the exile.

23 The members of the half-tribe of Manasseh lived in the land. They were very numerous from Bashan to Baal-hermon, Senir, and Mount Hermon. 24 These were the heads of their fathers’ houses: Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jahdiel, mighty warriors, famous men, heads of their fathers’ houses.’ 25 But they broke faith with the God of their fathers, and whored after the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God had destroyed before them. 26 So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, the spirit of Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and he took them into exile, namely, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river Gozan, to this day. – 1 Chronicles 5:1-26 ESV

This chapter covers the descendants of the three tribes of Israel that settled on the east side of the Jordan River, outside the designated borders of the promised land. The region in which they settled is often referred to as the Transjordan. Prior to beginning the conquest and occupation of the land of Canaan as God had commanded, the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh asked for permission to settle east of the Jordan on fertile land that was perfect for raising their many flock and herds.

The tribes of Reuben and Gad owned vast numbers of livestock. So when they saw that the lands of Jazer and Gilead were ideally suited for their flocks and herds, they came to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the other leaders of the community. They said, “Notice the towns of Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sibmah, Nebo, and Beon. The Lord has conquered this whole area for the community of Israel, and it is ideally suited for all our livestock. If we have found favor with you, please let us have this land as our property instead of giving us land across the Jordan River.” – Numbers 32:1-5 NLT

Angered by the self-centered nature of their request, Moses gave them an emphatic “No!” as his answer.

“The Lord was angry with Israel and made them wander in the wilderness for forty years until the entire generation that sinned in the Lord’s sight had died. But here you are, a brood of sinners, doing exactly the same thing! You are making the Lord even angrier with Israel. If you turn away from him like this and he abandons them again in the wilderness, you will be responsible for destroying this entire nation!” – Numbers 32:13-15 NLT

Moses feared that if he gave in to their request, they would get comfortable and refuse to assist their brothers in conquering the land of Canaan. This would leave the remainder of the tribes at a distinct disadvantage. However, the elders of the three tribes assured Moses that they would play their part in the conquest of Canaan.

“We simply want to build pens for our livestock and fortified towns for our wives and children. Then we will arm ourselves and lead our fellow Israelites into battle until we have brought them safely to their land. Meanwhile, our families will stay in the fortified towns we build here, so they will be safe from any attacks by the local people. We will not return to our homes until all the people of Israel have received their portions of land. But we do not claim any of the land on the other side of the Jordan. We would rather live here on the east side and accept this as our grant of land.” – Numbers 32:16-19 NLT

While these three tribes refused their inheritance in the land of promise, the chronicler included them in his genealogical listing, along with the rest of the tribes of Israel. Their decision to settle outside the borders of the promised land did not forfeit their right to be called the children of God. It also did not protect them from facing God’s judgment and being conquered by foreign invaders. They too ended up as slaves but not to the Babylonians.

…these tribes were unfaithful to the God of their ancestors. They worshiped the gods of the nations that God had destroyed. So the God of Israel caused King Pul of Assyria (also known as Tiglath-pileser) to invade the land and take away the people of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh as captives. The Assyrians exiled them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the Gozan River, where they remain to this day. – 1 Chronicles 5:25-26 NLT

The inference is that these tribes never returned to the land of promise. Unlike the remaining tribes, the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh ended up becoming slaves to the Assyrians. Their defeat and deportation took place hundreds of years before the fall of the kingdom of Judah. There is no biblical record of any of the descendants of these tribes returning to the promised land. This closing statement in chapter 5 is meant to remind the returning Israelites of the unique nature of their restoration to the land by God. They were no more deserving than the other three tribes, but God had allowed them to escape their captivity in Babylon and experience the joy of returning to their homeland.

The tribe of Reuben receives special attention because of the actions of their patriarch. He is listed as “the firstborn of Israel” (1 Chronicles 5:1) because he was the oldest son of Jacob. But Reuben had forfeited his rights as the eldest son because “he dishonored his father by sleeping with one of his father’s concubines” and, as a result, “his birthright was given to the sons of his brother Joseph” (1 Chronicles 5:1 NLT). While the chronicler provides little in the way of details, it’s likely his audience was very familiar with the sordid story. The Book of Genesis fills in the gaps.

Then Jacob traveled on and camped beyond Migdal-eder. While he was living there, Reuben had intercourse with Bilhah, his father’s concubine, and Jacob soon heard about it. – Genesis 35:21-22 NLT

Even before the law was given by God, Reuben’s behavior was deemed unacceptable by the prevailing social standards. It seems that his actions were motivated by more than sexual desire. By sleeping with his father’s concubine, Reuben was issuing a direct challenge to his father’s authority and attempting to assert his right to serve as the head of the family. But his act of indiscretion brought down the wrath of his father and the loss of his rights as the firstborn son.

“Reuben, you are my firstborn, my strength,
    the child of my vigorous youth.
    You are first in rank and first in power.
But you are as unruly as a flood,
    and you will be first no longer.
For you went to bed with my wife;
    you defiled my marriage couch.” – Genesis 49:3-4 NLT

The chronicler provides the ramifications of this “curse” issued by Jacob.

For this reason, Reuben is not listed in the genealogical records as the firstborn son. The descendants of Judah became the most powerful tribe and provided a ruler for the nation, but the birthright belonged to Joseph. – 1 Chronicles 5:1-2 NLT

“…because of his sin (v. 1) God passed him over. God blessed Joseph with the double portion of the birthright. He did this by elevating Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, to equality among Jacob’s other sons, Joseph’s brothers.” – Thomas L. Constable, Notes on 1 Chronicles

Despite his egregious sin, Reuben’s tribe was allowed to settle in the region of Gilead and enjoy the bounty of the land and victories over their enemies.

The tribe of Gad also settled east of the Jordan, sharing the land of Gilead with the Reubenites and expanding their territory into Bashan. They too enjoyed God’s blessings in the form of military success and agricultural abundance.

While these three tribes settled in land outside the borders of the promised land, they were not immune from conflict. They too were seen as foreign invaders by the land’s current occupants and were forced to wage war with their enemies. The chronicler points out that “There were 44,760 capable warriors in the armies of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. They were all skilled in combat and armed with shields, swords, and bows. They waged war against the Hagrites, the Jeturites, the Naphishites, and the Nodabites” (1 Chronicles 5:18-19 NLT). Their occupation of land outside the borders of the designated inheritance did not relieve them of the need to do battle with the enemies of God. The constant conflict they faced led them to trust in the Lord for His assistance. While they could boast of having a large and well-trained army, they knew they were powerless without God’s help. 

The chronicler points out one such occasion when they turned to Yahweh for help.

They cried out to God during the battle, and he answered their prayer because they trusted in him. So the Hagrites and all their allies were defeated. – 1 Chronicles 5:20 NLT

God knew no boundaries. He was not the God of the promised land; He was the God of the people of Israel, and that included the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh. Little did these three tribes know that they had settled in land that was always meant to be part of the inheritance God had promised Abraham.

So the Lord made a covenant with Abram that day and said, “I have given this land to your descendants, all the way from the border of Egypt to the great Euphrates River— the land now occupied by the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.” – Genesis 15:18-21 NLT

God later confirmed this promise with Moses.

“I will fix your boundaries from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, and from the eastern wilderness to the Euphrates River.” – Exodus 23:31 NLT

God had always planned for the land of Israel to extend all the way to the Euphrates River. But at no point in Israel’s history have their borders included this vast tract of land now occupied by Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq. Even during the reigns of David and Solomon, when the borders of Israel expanded greatly, they never included these vast regions. But the day will come when God will complete what He began and fulfill all that He promised to Abraham.

In the meantime, the newly arrived remnant of God’s chosen people needed to be reminded that their ancestors had conquered large portions of Canaan and it was still their rightful possession. But like the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, they would have to trust God if they wanted to enjoy the full scope of their promised inheritance. They were back in the land but the battle was far from over. There was work to be done and they would need to rely upon God if they wanted to see their borders expanded, their homes and towns restored, and their nation renewed.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Oh, the Tangled Webs We Weave

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1 Now when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made a raid against the Negeb and against Ziklag. They had overcome Ziklag and burned it with fire 2 and taken captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great. They killed no one, but carried them off and went their way. 3 And when David and his men came to the city, they found it burned with fire, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. 4 Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep. 5 David’s two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. 6 And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God. – 1 Samuel 30:1-6  ESV

In his epic poem, Marmion, Sir Walter Scott first penned the now-famous words: “Oh! What a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.” No other story reflects the veracity of those words quite like the one recorded in 1 Samuel 30. In this chapter, David and his men return to their home base at Ziklag after having been sent home by King Achish. Undoubtedly, David felt relieved after having narrowly escaped going to war against his own people as an ally of the Philistines. For over a year, David had managed to convince the Philistine king that he and his men had been occupying their time in Ziklag by attacking the enemies of the Philistines. In reality, they had been raiding the enemies of Israel.

David never should have been in Philistia in the first place. He had received no direction from God to take his two wives along with all his men and their families and seek refuge among the dreaded Philistines. But he had, and now his life of deception came back to haunt him as he encountered a less-than-happy reception on his return home.

David and his men discovered that their town had been raided by Amalekites while they were away. Believing that their wives and children would be safe, David and his men had mustered for battle, under the pretense of aiding the Philistines in their war against the Israelites. It is doubtful that David would have raised his sword against Saul or his kindred. More likely, he and his men would have turned against the Philistines as soon as the battle started, but his presence on the battlefield would have exposed him to the wrath of Saul, his mortal enemy.

David’s rejection by the Philistines had been a godsend. He was given a divine reprieve by God and allowed to go home without having to risk his life and reputation in a battle between Israel and the Philistines. But what he found when he arrived home was devastating. Ziklag had been burned to the ground and every person in it had been taken captive by the Amalekites, including David’s two wives. But David was not the only one to suffer loss. Each of his men returned to find their families had been taken captive and they blamed David. It was all his fault.

It’s likely that these loyal servants of David had questioned the wisdom of his plan to hide among the Philistines. When David mustered them to join the Philistines in a battle against their own people, these same men must have grumbled and complained about David’s poor decision-making. But upon returning home and finding their loved ones missing, their frustration reached a breaking point. We’re told that “they wept until they could weep no more” (1 Samuel 30:4 NLT). Then their sadness turned to anger.

David was now in great danger because all his men were very bitter about losing their sons and daughters, and they began to talk of stoning him. – 1 Samuel 30:6 NLT

David had been in difficult circumstances before, but nothing quite like this. His two wives were gone, and his men wanted to stone him. Things could not have gotten much worse, and all of it was David’s doing. He had been the architect behind this fiasco. It had been his decision to seek refuge among the Philistines. It had been his idea to use his base in Ziklag to launch raids against the enemies of Israel. He may have fooled King Achish, but he obviously had not fooled the Amalekites. When they saw David and his men march off to battle, they took the opportunity to raid and sack Ziglag. This was payback for all the deadly raids conducted by David’s men in Amalekite territory. Chapter 27 records how David and his 600 fighting men had left a wake of destruction and death as they raided the villages of their enemies, including the Amalekites.

Now David and his men went up and made raids against the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites, for these were the inhabitants of the land from of old, as far as Shur, to the land of Egypt. And David would strike the land and would leave neither man nor woman alive, but would take away the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels, and the garments, and come back to Achish. – 1 Samuel 27:8-9 ESV

In attacking the Geshurites, Girzites, and Amalekites, David had been carrying out the will of God. He was doing the very thing God had commanded the Israelites to do when He gave them the land of Canaan. Upon their entrance into the land God had promised as their inheritance, they were to completely destroy all the existing inhabitants. But why? Because God knew that if they failed to do so, the Israelites would succumb to the influence of these pagan nations. The inhabitants of Canaan were not only idolatrous and immoral but they were powerful. Their continued presence in the land would become a constant threat to Israel’s physical safety and spiritual purity. God’s command to eradicate them was to keep the Israelites from becoming like them. However, the Israelites failed to do what God commanded them to do.

But while David’s attacks against the Amalekites had been in line with God’s earlier command to cleanse the land of its pagan occupants, there is no indication that God commanded David to carry out his raids from the safety of his headquarters in Ziklag. David was attempting to do God’s will his own way. He had been trying to remain faithful to God while, at the same time, failing to trust God to keep him safe in the land of Judah. Like Abraham seeking relief from the famine by seeking refuge in Egypt, David discovered that making plans apart from God’s input always produces unsatisfactory and uncomfortable consequences.

Facing the loss of his two wives and the wrath of his 600 men, David could have allowed his emotions to get the best of him and marched off in an anger-infused search for the Amalekites. As a man of action, David must have been tempted to assuage his men’s anger by ordering an attack against their enemies but instead, it states that “David found strength in the Lord his God (1 Samuel 30:6 NLT).

This is a key moment in David’s life. During one of the most difficult moments of his life, David turned to God. The Hebrew word translated “strength” is chazaq and it carries the idea of encouragement or finding courage. Devastated by the news of his wives’ capture and facing a mutiny among his men, David found courage by turning to God. He had made a mess of his life, but he knew he could turn to God for strength, support, and the boldness he would need to handle the situation. With his men seeking to stone him, David sought solace and strength in God, and he would learn a valuable, life-changing lesson from this experience. This watershed moment in David’s life would have a lasting impact and instill in him a growing dependence upon God. Years later, that same Hebrew word, chazaq, would appear in some of David’s psalms.

Wait for the Lord;
    be strong [chazaq], and let your heart take courage;
    wait for the Lord! – Psalm 27:14 ESV

Be strong [chazaq], and let your heart take courage,
    all you who wait for the Lord! – Psalm 31:24 ESV

We can weave some very tangled webs in our lives. Like David, we have the unique capacity to get ourselves in all kinds of predicaments, through disobedience to God’s will or our stubborn insistence on self-sufficiency. It is so easy to leave God out of our decision-making and then wonder how things got so screwed up. But in those moments of confusion and weakness, we must follow David’s example. Rather than making matters worse by taking matters into our own hands, we must turn to God. We must recognize Him as our sole source of strength, comfort, encouragement, and courage.

David could have easily followed up one bad decision with another one. He could have begun scheming and planning, trying to figure out how to get himself out of the jam he had created. But instead, he turned to God. He found strength in the Lord his God. Despite all David’s mistakes and miscues, he knew he could depend upon God. David was confident that God would come through and prove Himself faithful yet again. Only God could untangle the web that David had weaved. David had chosen to rely upon deceit and deception rather than divine guidance and, yet, God would graciously clean up his mess and provide him with the courage he needed to face his fears and fight the battles ahead.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

You and Your King

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14 ”If you will fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well. 15 But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king. 16 Now therefore stand still and see this great thing that the Lord will do before your eyes. 17 Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call upon the Lord, that he may send thunder and rain. And you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking for yourselves a king.” 18 So Samuel called upon the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day, and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.

19 And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.” 20 And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. 21 And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. 22 For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself. 23 Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way. 24 Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you. 25 But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.” – 1 Samuel 12:14-25 ESV

While the people of Israel played no part in the selection of Saul as their king, Samuel seems intent on blaming them for the whole affair. When introducing Saul to the people for the first time, Samuel added the disclaimer, “…behold the king whom you have chosen” (1 Samuel 12:13 ESV). Throughout the remainder of his speech, Samuel never mentions Saul as God’s choice for king. Samuel obviously recognized God’s sovereign hand in the whole affair, but he refuses to describe Saul as the king of God’s choosing. Instead, he portrays Saul as the people’s choice.

“…here is the king you have chosen.” – 1 Samuel 12:13 NLT

“…you and your king…” – 1 Samuel 12:14 NLT

“…if you continue to sin, you and your king will be swept away.” – 1 Samuel 12:25 NLT

God had orchestrated every aspect of Saul’s selection process, but Samuel is disclosing that the man God chose was in keeping with the people’s original demand.

“…Give us a king to judge us like all the other nations have.” – 1 Samuel 8:5 NLT

They didn’t ask for a godly king; they specifically requested a king who would resemble the powerful potentates that ruled over their adversaries. It wasn’t that the Israelites were opposed to having a wise and righteous king, it’s that they were more interested in his military capabilities than his character character. Surrounded by countless nations equipped with powerful armies and led by ruthlessly aggressive kings, the Israelites were looking for a leader who could help them compete on the world stage. During the period of the judges, the Israelites endured a repetitive cycle of raids, wars, and demoralizing defeats at the hands of their enemies. While God used His hand-picked judges to deliver Israel from these very same enemies, there never seemed to be an end to the suffering and degradation. The bullies ruled the playground and the Israelites were sick of always being on the losing end. So, they decided a king was the solution to their problem.

But what they failed to realize was that their suffering was their own fault. God had warned them that their disobedience would bring His discipline and the book of Judges explains the divine purpose behind it all.

Now these are the nations that the Lord left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan. It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before. These are the nations: the five lords of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath. They were for the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the Lord. – Judges 3:1-4 ESV

God had used those nations to test the faithfulness of His people. The original test was to see if the Israelites would remain set apart from the surrounding nations. Would they stay faithful to their covenant commitment and refrain from intermarrying with the pagan nations and worshiping their false gods? But sadly, Israel couldn’t keep from compromising their convictions and turning their backs on God.

They abandoned the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. Whenever they marched out, the hand of the Lord was against them for harm, as the Lord had warned, and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress. – Judges 2:13-15 ESV

Their problem wasn’t that they lacked a king, it was that they were devoid of faithfulness. They just couldn’t bring themselves to remain solely dedicated to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Their spiritual fidelity had proven to be suspect and they suffered as a result. The whole reason God allowed the Israelites to be plundered and persecuted was so that they might recognize their sin, repent, and return to Him. But any change of heart the Israelites displayed was always short-lived and followed by another round of unfaithfulness and idolatry.

That’s why Samuel warns the Israelites that their new king will do them no good if they fail to remain faithful to God.

“Now if you fear and worship the Lord and listen to his voice, and if you do not rebel against the Lord’s commands, then both you and your king will show that you recognize the Lord as your God. But if you rebel against the Lord’s commands and refuse to listen to him, then his hand will be as heavy upon you as it was upon your ancestors.” – 1 Samuel 12:14-15 NLT

They had their human king, but unless they began to treat God with the dignity and honor He deserved, they would find themselves suffering the same fate as their ancestors. Having an earthly king was not going to solve their problem. He could lead them into battle, but unless he led them to worship God alone, victory would be fleeting and the future would be bleak.

To back up Samuel’s words of warning, God provided a sign. The annual wheat harvest in Israel took place at a time when rain was scarce, allowing the farmers to gather their crops uninterrupted by seasonal storms. But on this occasion, God flipped the script and orchestrated an unexpected deluge of rain that halted the harvest and highlighted the weight of their sin.

“You know that it does not rain at this time of the year during the wheat harvest. I will ask the Lord to send thunder and rain today. Then you will realize how wicked you have been in asking the Lord for a king!” – 1 Samuel 12:17 NLT

The sign had its intended effect, leaving the people in an abject state of fear and causing them to cry out, “Pray to the Lord your God for us, or we will die…For now we have added to our sins by asking for a king!” (1 Samuel 12:19 NLT).

Having got their attention, Samuel affirms their guilt but assuages their fears, telling them, “You have certainly done wrong, but make sure now that you worship the Lord with all your heart, and don’t turn your back on him. Don’t go back to worshiping worthless idols that cannot help or rescue you—they are totally useless!” (1 Samuel 12:20-21 NLT).

They thought a king was the solution to their problem but they were wrong. God had always been their King, but they refused to submit to His reign over their lives. Their problem was spiritual, not political. It had always been about idolatry and infidelity, not aristocracy and royalty.

With Saul’s inauguration, a new era had begun, but the Israelites faced the same old fate if they refused to acknowledge God as their King. The people of Israel feared their enemies more than they feared God. They had yet to understand that they had been the cause of their own suffering. The Ammonites and Philistines had never been the problem; they were nothing more than a test to see if the Israelites would remain faithful to God. The real danger these nations posed was not of a military nature but of a spiritual one. The primary weapons of mass destruction they wielded were their false gods and the Israelites had been devastated by their influence.

So, in a state of compassion and with the heart of a true shepherd, Samuel promises to keep the people of Israel in his prayers and to continue to serve as their spiritual advisor in the days ahead.

“As for me, I will certainly not sin against the Lord by ending my prayers for you. And I will continue to teach you what is good and right. But be sure to fear the Lord and faithfully serve him. Think of all the wonderful things he has done for you. But if you continue to sin, you and your king will be swept away.” – 1 Samuel 12:23-25 NLT

The success of Saul’s reign was directly tied to their faithfulness. As long as he and the people remained committed to obeying the will of God, they would find success. Their future would be secure as long as they remembered who was really in charge. Samuel’s charge to the people echoes the words that Joshua spoke the the nation of Israel right before his death.

“And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” – Joshua 24:15 ESV

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.