Today in 1 Chronicles 26:20-27:34, we continue with another list of “the Levites who served in charge of the treasuries of the house of God and for the dedicated things” (verse 20). This list also includes other officials who were in charge of things “dedicated by Samuel, Saul, and David,” as well as “plundered things taken in battle” (verses 26-28). In chapter 27, the chronicler gives us a list of Israel’s army divisions – “commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds who served the king in all that concerned the army; each division consisted of twenty-four-thousand men” (verse 1). They served month by month. In verses 16-22, we see the organization of officers over each of the tribes of Israel. This list omits officer assignments for the tribes of Gad and Asher, probably because the families of those tribes had joined some of the other neighboring tribes in the land. We are told here that “David did not take men twenty years old or younger because the LORD had promised to make Israel as numerous as the stars in the sky” (verse 23). We also see the census that David ordered Joab to take (cf., parallel passage in 2 Samuel 24), but “because wrath came on Israel on account of this numbering, Joab stopped counting” (verses 23-24). Finally, in verses 25-34, we see a list of David’s advisers and officials in charge of his civil affairs. This section of Scripture helps us to understand David’s excellent administrative capacities in establishing a viable and proper kingdom.
Today, our readings in Proverbs 19:13-22 included general truths on various topics, including family relationships, property and wealth, laziness, obedience, kindness, and discipline. The Bible calls us to live honorable lives characterized by care, discernment, order, peace, practicality, reason, discipline, and wisdom. The writer wants us to know that a life filled with lies, hot-tempers, contempt, hunger due to laziness, constant quarreling, and repetitious bickering is already a ruined life – nothing at all like God created or intended for daily life to be. Nevertheless, we know that millions of people live like this every day. Why? Foolishness, contempt, ignorance, laziness, and disobedience creep into life like rust on an iron skillet, and unless they are scrubbed away daily from the human soul with the detergent of God’s holy Word, they become as predictable and destructive as a leaky roof in a downpour. Houses and wealth are nice, but they cannot keep a family from arguing, brawling, cursing, screaming at each other, and falling apart in the end. Nothing can compare to a “prudent wife from the LORD” (verse 14). Obedience is tantamount to life itself (verse 16), but anything less leads ultimately to “death.” There is “hope” in discipline, but undisciplined people always wonder but never seem to know why their lives are filled with so much chaos. The solution? “Listen to advice and accept discipline, and in the end, you will be wise” (verse 20). "It’s as simple as that," as my granddaughter would say.
In 1 Corinthians 4 we read that “it is required of those who have been given a trust to prove [themselves] faithful” (verse 2). Paul tells us that a “clear conscience does not make us innocent” (verse 4), and that we ought to be careful about rendering judgment – we are to “judge nothing before the appointed time – waiting until the Lord comes” (verse 5). Only God is capable of judging accurately and without biases. Paul cautions us against the sin of pride (verse 6), and he reminds us, “What do you have that you did not receive?” (verse 7). This truth eradicates all boasting – for everything we have – we received from our Creator. We can lay no claim whatsoever to self-reliance or self-sufficiency. We are absolutely dependent upon God for our next breath – and for everything else. In verses 10-13, Paul supplies us with a real manifesto on how Christians are supposed to live – following the same attitude and pattern that Christ left for us. Paul also warns the Corinthian believers about their arrogance. Here, he is setting them up for what’s coming in chapter 5 – his concerns about their second major problem – immorality.
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