Script for the May 24th episode of the “Enjoying the Bible” podcast.

Introduction

Welcome to the May 24th episode of the “Enjoying the Bible” podcast. I’m Matt Ellis and I’m the pastor of the First Baptist Church in Polk City, Florida.

Today’s reading is in 1 Chronicles 22-24. Hopefully, you’ve already spent time in God’s Word so let’s get started.

1 Chronicles 22

In yesterday’s podcast, I pointed out that the place where the plague stopped, and David built an altar and sacrificed to the Lord was on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. I also pointed out some Scripture that made it clear that this site was where Solomon would soon build the Temple. It also may have been the very site where Abraham was prepared to offer his son, Isaac, as an offering.

So, we are not surprised by the very first verse that we read in this chapter.

1 Chronicles 22:1 (CSB): “Then David said, ‘This is the house of the LORD God, and this is the altar of burnt offering for Israel.’”

Clearly, David’s words marked this place as where the Temple would be built. David’s passion for building the Temple is palpable to the reader. His fingerprints were all over the project.

We need more people like this. We need people with passion and a purpose for the Lord. People with passion, purpose, and a plan get things done. But there seems to be far too much apathy. You’ve probably noticed that apathy seems to have grown as a result of staying at home so much because of Covid. Let us pray that God would increase our own intentional passion for His kingdom and His righteousness, and let’s pray for others to develop this passion as well.

As we continue to read 1 Chronicles 22, we observe David’s oversight over the preparations for the Temple.

In verse 2, he appointed people as stonecutters for the Temple.

In verses 3-4, David collected iron for nails, he collected bronze, and he also gathered an innumerable amount of cedar logs.

In verse 5, David acknowledges that Solomon is “young and inexperienced.” So, David justified all of the preparations he was making because he wanted to make it much easier for Solomon to build. Essentially, Solomon would simply say, “Let’s start building the Temple!” and everything would already be in place to begin.

In verses 6-10, David calls for Solomon and encourages him with God’s promise.

1 Chronicles 22:6-10 (CSB): “6 Then he summoned his son Solomon and charged him to build a house for the LORD God of Israel. 7 ‘My son,’ David said to Solomon, ‘It was in my heart to build a house for the name of the LORD my God, 8 but the word of the LORD came to me: ‘You have shed much blood and waged great wars. You are not to build a house for my name because you have shed so much blood on the ground before me. 9 But a son will be born to you; he will be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his surrounding enemies, for his name will be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel during his reign. 10 He is the one who will build a house for my name. He will be my son, and I will be his father. I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’”

But David realized that there was something so much more important for Solomon to do than to build the Temple. He needed to obey the Lord’s commands. If He did, there would be success. If he didn’t, bad things would happen.

1 Chronicles 22:11-13 (CSB): “11 Now, my son, may the LORD be with you, and may you succeed in building the house of the LORD your God, as he said about you. 12 Above all, may the LORD give you insight and understanding when he puts you in charge of Israel so that you may keep the law of the LORD your God. 13 Then you will succeed if you carefully follow the statutes and ordinances the LORD commanded Moses for Israel. Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid or discouraged.”

This chapter ends with David “taking great pains” to collect silver, bronze, iron, as well as other resources for the Temple. He also assembled many workers skilled in various areas that would work to help construct the Temple. And then David “ordered all the leaders of Israel to help his son Solomon.”

David has thought of literally everything. All that Solomon needs to do is say, “Let’s start!”

One lesson I drew from this chapter is the notion that we shouldn’t only focus on what would be good for our own place and time. We should also work toward the flourishing of those who follow after us.

As Christians, we need to think about how we do everything that we do, particularly in our churches. Are we doing everything for the benefit and comfort of those who are currently showing up and will die soon enough? Or are we doing things that will help the congregation long after we are gone?

Let’s commit to being like David and get excited about what we can do for the next generations so that they may have the opportunity to know and enjoy God just as much or even more than we do.

1 Chronicles 23

Typically, a king would have to die before his son would ascend the throne. But David’s health declined so that he spent much of his time in bed and couldn’t even keep himself warm. So his love for his nation and the Temple project, and the threat of one of his sons wrongly trying to take the throne, demanded that he go ahead and make Solomon the king of Israel.

1 Chronicles 23:1 (CSB): “When David was old and full of days, he installed his son Solomon as king over Israel.”

Then, we read about how David continued to prepare things so that his son, Solomon, could have a much better chance of having a successful reign. For the rest of this chapter, David makes it clear what the Israelite leaders, priests, and Levites are to do under Solomon’s reign.

Now, we need to talk a little bit about studying and understanding the Bible. When we read the stories of the Bible, we are very rarely given a moral judgment on the events. There are certainly cases where a prophet speaks up to condemn an action. Then, we can clearly understand that the action in the story was morally wrong. But in many instances, we are left to speculate. We are left to consider what the rest of Scripture has to say about the matter to make our determination of whether something in the narrative was right or wrong.

So, when we consider that David was doing so much for his son, we are not told if it was right or wrong. Some may not think it much of a deal, but I think it is. I believe that, to an extent, it was wrong.

Why?

Because when we look at Scripture, we observe in the stories and principles that God often brings difficulties into our lives to grow us.

James 1:2-4 (CSB): “2 Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.”

James is telling us that when life gets hard, we can find happiness in what those hardships can do in our life. They give us an opportunity to grow in our ability to endure the stresses of life. They also provide us with an opportunity to grow in our trust (faith) in Jesus.

So, let’s apply this to parenting. While we like to make things easy for our children, we can definitely overdo it. If we make things too easy for them, we can keep them from growing in the good things that trials can bring. Sometimes, we can make their life so easy that we essentially make them weak.

So don’t do it. Don’t protect them from all of the consequences of their choices. Don’t give them everything they want while they are at home. Don’t pay for everything long after they have left home. If you do, you may undermine the growth that God desires to bring about in their lives that can only come through the valley of troubles.

But there’s a balance in this, right? There is a balance to be achieved in just about anything in life. You can make life too easy on your kids but you can certainly make it too hard. So love them, support them, encourage them, equip them, and everything else that is helpful. But as they grow older, give them opportunities to stand on their own two feet and stumble a few times. In doing so, you’re actually helping them.

1 Chronicles 24

In this chapter, we read that David divided the priests according to their duties. Once again, he’s working for the success of Israel. Solomon won’t have to do much of anything as he comes to power. His dad took care of everything. He’s left him no reason or excuse to fail.

Aaron’s descendants, the priests, are the only ones allowed to serve near the Ark. But the descendants of Eleazar and Ithamar were put on a rotation schedule to serve. The remaining Levites were to serve based on casting lots.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, help us to learn how we are to live as we read the narratives in Your Word. In regard to David’s activities of preparing everything for his son to take over, help us to be good parents and grandparents by knowing where the balance is. We want to help and assist our family that is coming after us but we don’t want to take away opportunities You intend to help them grow. Essentially, we’re asking You to help us not get in the way of what You’re doing, Lord. We pray this in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Closing

I hope today’s episode has helped you to understand and enjoy God’s Word so that you can apply it in the power of the Holy Spirit.

If looking over the script for this podcast would be beneficial to you, hop on over to my website at mattsmusings.net. I will provide a link in this episode’s show notes.

The “Enjoying the Bible” podcast is a ministry of the First Baptist Church in Polk City, Florida. Check us out at fbcpolkcity.com. See you tomorrow!

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