365 Reflections

1 Chronicles 21:1–4 (ESV) Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel. 2 So David said to Joab and the commanders of the army, “Go, number Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, and bring me a report, that I may know their number.” 3 But Joab said, “May the LORD add to his people a hundred times as many as they are! Are they not, my lord the king, all of them my lord’s servants? Why then should my lord require this? Why should it be a cause of guilt for Israel?” 4 But the king’s word prevailed against Joab. So Joab departed and went throughout all Israel and came back to Jerusalem. This chapter picks up on a particular sin of David recorded also in 2 Samuel 24. David takes a census of the nation. The account in 2 Samuel 24 says God was the instigator of the moment. Here, it is Satan. Why the difference? It's the Bible's way of saying the same thing in two ways. Yes, Satan incited David but the Lord was ultimately in charge of the entire moment.  The narrative of...

There's a familiar refrain in 1 Chronicles to anyone who has read through the Bible from cover to cover. See if you can pick it up.  1 Chronicles 20:1–3 (ESV)  In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, Joab led out the army and ravaged the country of the Ammonites and came and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. And Joab struck down Rabbah and overthrew it. 2 And David took the crown of their king from his head. He found that it weighed a talent of gold, and in it was a precious stone. And it was placed on David’s head. And he brought out the spoil of the city, a very great amount. 3 And he brought out the people who were in it and set them to labor with saws and iron picks and axes. And thus David did to all the cities of the Ammonites. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem. A learned Bible reader will recall the phrases that begin this chapter. Springtime is wartime and David sends the generals but remains in Jerusalem. What...