THE LORD SPOKE (June 14)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Old Testament: I Chronicles 12-13

Some started coming to David already at Ziklag. He'd fled the murderous presence of Saul and found temporary safety among the Philistines. The first twenty-three who came were from Saul's own tribe (I Chron. 12:2-7) and he could ill afford to lose them. The next eleven (Gadites) came all the way from Transjordan (I Chron. 12:8-15). Another handful followed from Benjamin and Judah (I Chron. 12:16) with seven more from Manasseh (I Chron. 12:19). Day by day the number grew until David had a great army of loyal followers who recognized God's hand upon him and wanted to be a part of his success (I Chron. 12:18,22).

The numbers thereafter swelled greatly. Taken at face value, they rose to over 300,800. Given the ambiguous nature of the Hebrew word aleph, meaning "one thousand" or "chieftain" (modern Hebrew aluf = "general"), those numbers could be significantly lower but still they comprised a vast "army of God" (I Chron. 12:22). A glance at the qualities they brought to the job would be enough to excite any leader. Eisenhower on D-Day didn't have any more to work with than David did here:

• military prowess and skill in weaponry (I Chron. 12:3,8,15,18,21,24,25,33,35,36)
• brave as lions (I Chron. 12:8)
• fast as gazelles (I Chron. 12:8)
• worth one hundred to one - some more! (I Chron. 12:14)
• spiritually attuned (I Chron. 12:18,26)
• loyal (I Chron. 12:18,29)
• well-informed (I Chron. 12:32)
• well-armed (I Chron. 12:24,34,37)
• united in their thinking (I Chron. 12:38)
• well-provisioned (I Chron. 12:39-40)
• happy (I Chron. 12:40)

David's heart is revealed in what follows. He welcomes the rest of the Israelites to join and specifically invites the priests and Levites. With their spiritual leadership and his own desire to determine God's will (I Chron. 13:2), he leads the people in making the Ark of the Covenant, which represented the very presence of God, central in the life of the nation once again (I Chron. 13:3f).

This band of brothers was knit together and found, as they did in the days of Nehemiah, that "the joy of the Lord is your strength" (Neh. 8:10). It made them unstoppable. How's your joy today? Do you need once again to make God's presence the main thing driving your life?


New Testament: Galatians 3

Promise ➔ Law ➔ Faith

Abraham received the Promise. For it to take effect, all he had to do was believe. Since it was a unilateral covenant, there was nothing he should do or could do to ratify it. God flat-out promised him that He would bring it about. This promise is identified as “the gospel announced in advance” (Gal. 3:8) and it involved the Christ, the Messiah. He would be the fulfillment of the Promise and its Guarantor. And here comes the big surprise - all those who believe are Abraham’s children so that this promise extends to all the nations of the earth. Through the Promised Seed, the Messiah, the promise that was made to Abraham reaches all the way to me, a Gentile.

Promise ➔ Law ➔ Faith

So why was the Law necessary? Why was it inserted 430 years later (Gal. 3:17)? At this point, Paul gives us three answers to exactly this question: (1) It establishes the fact that justification must be by faith, not works, since it is impossible “to do everything written in the Book of the Law” (Gal. 3:10-11). (2) It was added to (specifically, did not replace!) the promise in order to reveal sin (Gal. 3:22). (3) It acts as a teacher (Greek = paidagogos; actually, more like “baby-sitter” than “professor”) to bring us to the knowledge of Christ (Gal. 3:24). Take note: the Law was in effect “until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come” (Gal. 3:19).

Promise ➔ Law ➔ Faith

Faith was operative from the start for “without faith it is impossible to please God”. Paul chides the Galatians for thinking they could attain the goal by human effort (Gal. 3:2-5). Just as Abraham believed God, so they must approach God by faith. In fact, Gentiles too may be justified by faith (Gal. 3:8). There is no other way!