I am always blown away with the ways that God uses me and the opportunities he provides for me. I received another opportunity on May 2nd of 2012 to teach for the second time at Calvary Chapel Kauai's Wednesday night service.
I have posted the audio below as well as my notes.
I hope you are edified.
I have posted the audio below as well as my notes.
I hope you are edified.
Recap
- David returns from the philistine army to his hometown of Ziklag and finds it burned and people taken.
- David returns from the philistine army to his hometown of Ziklag and finds it burned and people taken.
- David seeks the Lord and Goes to the Amalekites and
reclaims everyone and everything.
- Saul goes into battle against the philistines and is killed
along with his 3 sons.
- David hears of Saul's death, kills the messenger and
laments for the Death of Saul and Jonathan.
Main Teaching
David is inquiring of the Lord as to where he should go next.
David is from the line of Judah, so he wants to return to his own tribe.
But he remains faithful to God and seeks him for very specific direction.
God tells David to go to Hebron.
Some Facts on Hebron.
- 27 Miles northeast of Ziklag, surrounded by smaller villages, lots of room.
- In Genesis Abraham and His wife are buried there. It's an old town.
- When David reclaimed his people from the Amalekites,
he sent spoils of war to the towns where leaders had helped him. Hebron was one of those towns.
So David goes to Hebron with His two wives and all his men and their families.
David is appointed King over the house of Judah.
We see in verse 11 that David was king there for 7 years and 6 months.
Just like David, we too should come before Lord seeking his direction.
David is so trusting of the Lord's guidance because he loves the Lord.
Jesus did the same thing. When God came to earth as a baby, he was not lying in his manger planning out who his disciples were going to be.
He chose to start from the beginning as a normal man, relying on God the Father for direction. Jesus was praying and seeking direction from God all the time.
I think that in today's fast paced world, we often think we are too busy to ask God for direction...
And then to wait for an answer from the Lord? Who has time for that?
People that care about what God wants.
If you don't have "time" to seek God's direction, you are running your own life.
What's the limit on things that you allow God to direct. Where do you draw the line to stop seeking his guidance?
Its that simple. I encourage you to start being intentional in seeking God for everything.
Try it. You may be surprised at the results.
David finds out that the men of Jabesh-gilead are the ones that retrieved Saul's body and son's bodies and buried them.
Remember that the Philistines took Saul's body, cut off his head, stripped him of his armor and fastened his body to the wall at Beth-shan. Super disrespectful to the dead.
The men of Jabesh-gilead were brave and kind, showing loyalty to the Saul, and David asked God to bless them.
David also said that he would do good to them. At this point, David may be realizing that he would soon be King over all Israel.
Do we show loyalty to the ones in authority over us?
This is a hard question to ask. Super controversial topic. That's why I get to talk about it.
But guess what, the Bible is filled with controversial things.
David knows that Saul was placed in authority over Israel by the Lord. David respected Saul, even while Saul was trying to kill him.
I know for myself this is a hard topic. I have had my fair share of ripping into politicians and leaders.
But the closer I grow to Christ, I see how important it is to respect those that God has set over us.
And God knows every ruler is ruling, God was not surprised when Castro took the reins of Cuba.
Titus 3: 1-2
Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men.
In Acts Chapter 4, John and Peter are speaking to the people, The priests, Sadducees and the captain of the temple come and take them into custody. They are arrested and questioned, and yet they still respect the authorities.
It was only when they were told not to speak of Jesus anymore that John and Peter disobeyed.
Jesus was the Same way before all authorities when he was on trial.
All these great men never disrespected the rulers.
What makes us think that we have the right to that?
David had the right attitude. We should too.
Don't trash talk your leaders. Respect them and Pray for them.
David is inquiring of the Lord as to where he should go next.
David is from the line of Judah, so he wants to return to his own tribe.
But he remains faithful to God and seeks him for very specific direction.
God tells David to go to Hebron.
Some Facts on Hebron.
- 27 Miles northeast of Ziklag, surrounded by smaller villages, lots of room.
- In Genesis Abraham and His wife are buried there. It's an old town.
- When David reclaimed his people from the Amalekites,
he sent spoils of war to the towns where leaders had helped him. Hebron was one of those towns.
So David goes to Hebron with His two wives and all his men and their families.
David is appointed King over the house of Judah.
We see in verse 11 that David was king there for 7 years and 6 months.
Just like David, we too should come before Lord seeking his direction.
David is so trusting of the Lord's guidance because he loves the Lord.
Jesus did the same thing. When God came to earth as a baby, he was not lying in his manger planning out who his disciples were going to be.
He chose to start from the beginning as a normal man, relying on God the Father for direction. Jesus was praying and seeking direction from God all the time.
I think that in today's fast paced world, we often think we are too busy to ask God for direction...
And then to wait for an answer from the Lord? Who has time for that?
People that care about what God wants.
If you don't have "time" to seek God's direction, you are running your own life.
What's the limit on things that you allow God to direct. Where do you draw the line to stop seeking his guidance?
Its that simple. I encourage you to start being intentional in seeking God for everything.
Try it. You may be surprised at the results.
David finds out that the men of Jabesh-gilead are the ones that retrieved Saul's body and son's bodies and buried them.
Remember that the Philistines took Saul's body, cut off his head, stripped him of his armor and fastened his body to the wall at Beth-shan. Super disrespectful to the dead.
The men of Jabesh-gilead were brave and kind, showing loyalty to the Saul, and David asked God to bless them.
David also said that he would do good to them. At this point, David may be realizing that he would soon be King over all Israel.
Do we show loyalty to the ones in authority over us?
This is a hard question to ask. Super controversial topic. That's why I get to talk about it.
But guess what, the Bible is filled with controversial things.
David knows that Saul was placed in authority over Israel by the Lord. David respected Saul, even while Saul was trying to kill him.
I know for myself this is a hard topic. I have had my fair share of ripping into politicians and leaders.
But the closer I grow to Christ, I see how important it is to respect those that God has set over us.
And God knows every ruler is ruling, God was not surprised when Castro took the reins of Cuba.
Titus 3: 1-2
Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men.
In Acts Chapter 4, John and Peter are speaking to the people, The priests, Sadducees and the captain of the temple come and take them into custody. They are arrested and questioned, and yet they still respect the authorities.
It was only when they were told not to speak of Jesus anymore that John and Peter disobeyed.
Jesus was the Same way before all authorities when he was on trial.
All these great men never disrespected the rulers.
What makes us think that we have the right to that?
David had the right attitude. We should too.
Don't trash talk your leaders. Respect them and Pray for them.
Ish-Bosheth made king of Israel (8)
Abner made Ish-Bosheth king over the regions of Gilead, Ashuri and Jezreel. And he made him king of the tribes of Ephraim and Benjamin and all the land of *Israel.
Saul had 4 sons (1 Chronicles 8:33). Three of Saul’s sons died with him in the battle including Jonathan(1 Samuel 31:2).
His youngest son was Ish-Bosheth. Abner was Saul’s cousin and commander of Saul's army.
Ish-Bosheth was 40 years old when he was made King of Israel and he reigned for 2 years.
The Battle of Gibeon (12)
There are now 2 kings in Israel, David and Ish-Bosheth.
David is ruling in Judah and Ish-Bosheth in the rest of Israel.
The captains of each army wanted their king to rule the whole nation. Gibeon was Saul’s home town. It was near to the land of *Judah and about 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of Hebron.
Each captain took a group of soldiers with him to Gibeon. But neither of the kings went.
The two captains may have gone there to try to make a settlement without a war. They chose 12 men from each group to have a fight. *Israel had 12 *tribes. So perhaps the 12 men acted on behalf of the whole nation. Then whichever group won the fight, their king would rule all 12 *tribes. This is similar to what happened with David and Goliath in 1 Samuel chapter 17 (see verses 8-9). The plan did not work at Gibeon.
After they see that it's ended in a tie, David's men killed a bunch of Abner's men.
Abner made Ish-Bosheth king over the regions of Gilead, Ashuri and Jezreel. And he made him king of the tribes of Ephraim and Benjamin and all the land of *Israel.
Saul had 4 sons (1 Chronicles 8:33). Three of Saul’s sons died with him in the battle including Jonathan(1 Samuel 31:2).
His youngest son was Ish-Bosheth. Abner was Saul’s cousin and commander of Saul's army.
Ish-Bosheth was 40 years old when he was made King of Israel and he reigned for 2 years.
The Battle of Gibeon (12)
There are now 2 kings in Israel, David and Ish-Bosheth.
David is ruling in Judah and Ish-Bosheth in the rest of Israel.
The captains of each army wanted their king to rule the whole nation. Gibeon was Saul’s home town. It was near to the land of *Judah and about 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of Hebron.
Each captain took a group of soldiers with him to Gibeon. But neither of the kings went.
The two captains may have gone there to try to make a settlement without a war. They chose 12 men from each group to have a fight. *Israel had 12 *tribes. So perhaps the 12 men acted on behalf of the whole nation. Then whichever group won the fight, their king would rule all 12 *tribes. This is similar to what happened with David and Goliath in 1 Samuel chapter 17 (see verses 8-9). The plan did not work at Gibeon.
After they see that it's ended in a tie, David's men killed a bunch of Abner's men.
Asahel {as a heel} chases Abner and dies (18)
During this fight, Asahel wants to go after the Leader. So he chases Abner through the battle, Abner tried to get him to stop.
Zeruiah was David's Sister (1 Chronicles 2:12-16) Joab, Abishai and Asahel are her sons, and David's nephews.
He was the youngest of the three commanding brothers. Probably not very experienced in war.
Asahel would have received fame and honor for killing Abner.
He left the safety of his Brothers and Men and pursued to his own death.
I think that Abner just halted and held up the end of his spear. Asahel not having time to stop and was impaled.
I see in this section the need for fellowship and wisdom.
To dive into a very hard setting without prayer, guidance or others to help is pure foolishness.
Asahel was doing what he thought was best. He was pumped up in the heat of battle and acted on emotion instead of thinking it through. And it led to his death.
There are times when God raises people up to do great things.
But we should not bite off more than we can chew, trying to be the Hero by our own strength, forsaking clarity of mind for brash foolishness.
Seek the Lord in all things. Our own strength is limited, God's strength through us is limitless.
Joab and Abishai continued to chase Abner because he had just killed their youngest brother.
They came to the hill called Ammah as the sun set.
The men from the tribe of Benjamin came to Abner. They stood together as a group at the top of the hill.
Abner basically tells Joab that they need to stop fighting because they are of the same nation. He calls them Brothers.
Joab has wisdom and considers what Abner says.
Even though Abner killed his little brother, Joab still had enough wisdom to see that their fighting was foolish and detrimental to the nation of Israel.
Joab blows the trumpet signaling the end of the battle.
Each army went back their own way.
We see that God's favor is with David's men. They only lost 19 men besides Asahel.
Where as Abner lost 360 men.
Talk about good fighters.
Joab has even more motive to kill Abner then Asahel did, yet he showed great wisdom in stopping the pursuit of Abner.
So we see a contrast between these two brothers.
One that acts quickly and foolishly without thinking, and the other that reframes from being driven by emotion and seeks wisdom.
Be wise my friends.
When hard times come up in your life, remember to seek the Lord first.
He has ways of making things happen that we can't see.
I don't want to act on my own knowledge.
I have to admit that even in first studying for this teaching I was relying on what I knew, instead of what God wanted me to say.
Jesus showed great patience and wisdom in the way that he sought the Lord.
As Christians, if we are truly modeling our lives after Christ, we should have no problem seeking the Lord.
I learned a lot from this passage, I hope you did too.
Prayer
- Thanks for the Word
- Respect and pray for our authorities
- Keep Seeking God in all things
