First Chronicles 26:28

The Bible says in First Chronicles 26:28-32, “And all that Samuel the seer, and Saul the son of Kish, and Abner the son of Ner, and Joab the son of Zeruiah, had dedicated; and whosoever had dedicated any thing, it was under the hand of Shelomith, and of his brethren.[29] Of the Izharites, Chenaniah and his sons were for the outward business over Israel, for officers and judges.[30] And of the Hebronites, Hashabiah and his brethren, men of valour, a thousand and seven hundred, were officers among them of Israel on this side Jordan westward in all the business of the LORD, and in the service of the king.[31] Among the Hebronites was Jerijah the chief, even among the Hebronites, according to the generations of his fathers. In the fortieth year of the reign of David they were sought for, and there were found among them mighty men of valour at Jazer of Gilead.[32] And his brethren, men of valour, were two thousand and seven hundred chief fathers, whom king David made rulers over the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, for every matter pertaining to God, and affairs of the king.” King Saul is mentioned in verse twenty-eight, and King David is mentioned in verse thirty-one. King Saul was rejected by God because of his rebellion against the will of the Lord. King David was chosen by God because of David’s love for the Lord. These verses show that both kings did things for the benefit of the Jewish religion in Jerusalem. A nation needs religion and belief in God to help that nation survive the changes in human government. People come and go, but God is always there. Put Jesus first. Make a place for God and the worship of God in your nation. Do not cast Him out, or else you do so to your own loss, and the loss will be great.

The Bible says in First Chronicles 27:1-5, “Now the children of Israel after their number, to wit, the chief fathers and captains of thousands and hundreds, and their officers that served the king in any matter of the courses, which came in and went out month by month throughout all the months of the year, of every course were twenty and four thousand.[2] Over the first course for the first month was Jashobeam the son of Zabdiel: and in his course were twenty and four thousand.[3] Of the children of Perez was the chief of all the captains of the host for the first month.[4] And over the course of the second month was Dodai an Ahohite, and of his course was Mikloth also the ruler: in his course likewise were twenty and four thousand.[5] The third captain of the host for the third month was Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, a chief priest: and in his course were twenty and four thousand.” These verses tell us how the government got the workers that were needed. There seem to be some advantages over the system that we have. In our system people go to Washington, DC, and then they live there for the rest of their lives. How well has that worked? One problem with that is the people who go to DC become removed from the rest of the country, but they are supposed to be serving the rest of the country. How well can they serve the rest of the country if they do not know the rest of the country? The Israelites needed twenty-four thousand workers, but every month they changed those with another twenty-four thousand. That way no one gets locked into working for the government, and the people who do work for the government know what is going on out there in the country because they have been recently living it themselves. The same problem exists with career politicians.

More names are listed up to verse twenty-two, and then the Bible says in First Chronicles 27:23-24, “But David took not the number of them from twenty years old and under: because the LORD had said he would increase Israel like to the stars of the heavens.[24] Joab the son of Zeruiah began to number, but he finished not, because there fell wrath for it against Israel; neither was the number put in the account of the chronicles of king David.” This is the incident where David sent Joab to number all the people of Israel. There must be a lesson here. One lesson is that God does not want His children to concentrate on numbers. He wants us to serve Him no matter what. Success is being faithful to the Lord. It is not how many numbers you have. God wants everyone to be saved through faith in Christ. We are not very successful when people are still going to hell. How well are you obeying the Great Commission. That is the measure of success, not numbers.

The Bible says in First Chronicles 27:25-34, “And over the king's treasures was Azmaveth the son of Adiel: and over the storehouses in the fields, in the cities, and in the villages, and in the castles, was Jehonathan the son of Uzziah:[26] And over them that did the work of the field for tillage of the ground was Ezri the son of Chelub:[27] And over the vineyards was Shimei the Ramathite: over the increase of the vineyards for the wine cellars was Zabdi the Shiphmite:[28] And over the olive trees and the sycomore trees that were in the low plains was Baal-hanan the Gederite: and over the cellars of oil was Joash:[29] And over the herds that fed in Sharon was Shitrai the Sharonite: and over the herds that were in the valleys was Shaphat the son of Adlai:[30] Over the camels also was Obil the Ishmaelite: and over the asses was Jehdeiah the Meronothite:[31] And over the flocks was Jaziz the Hagerite. All these were the rulers of the substance which was king David's.[32] Also Jonathan David's uncle was a counseller, a wise man, and a scribe: and Jehiel the son of Hachmoni was with the king's sons:[33] And Ahithophel was the king's counseller: and Hushai the Archite was the king's companion:[34] And after Ahithophel was Jehoiada the son of Benaiah, and Abiathar: and the general of the king's army was Joab.” In this list of names of some of the people who helped David when he was king, notice that it says in verse thirty-two, “Also Jonathan David's uncle was a counseller, a wise man, and a scribe…” Scribes are very important for giving us the Bible that we hold in our hands. There are sixty-six books of the Bible. Once those books were written, it was the work of the scribes to create more copies. God originally gave the sixty-six books through the prophets and apostles and others. For example, Moses was used of God to write the first five books of the Bible. It says in Second Peter 1:20-21, “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.[21] For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” It also says in Second Timothy 3:16, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” Once those original scriptures were written down by those original writers, until the printing press was invented, how did we get copies that still existed for every generation: the scribes. There had to have been thousands of scribes over the centuries. Most of them we do not know the names nor the times that they worked nor how many copies each of them made. What we do know is that God used the scribes just as much as He used the original writers in order to give us His perfect Word. Why would God give a perfectly inspired writing and then not preserve it? That would accomplish nothing. Also, Jesus said in Luke 21:33, “Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.” In order for that to be true, the Lord had to have used the scribes in much the same way that He used the original writers. All of them together gave us the Word of God without error. That also means that the Word of God was present for every generation. There were no copies hidden away to be found centuries later that were better than existing copies. If copies were hidden away like that, then that means that God did not want those hidden copies to be used. The copies that were available for everyone in every generation are the copies that God wanted to be used and that God preserved. In other words, older copies may not be the ones to use for translation. That is one of the reasons that the King James Version of the Bible is a very good translation to use. It was translated from Greek and Hebrew texts that were available at that time. Texts that were not extant at that time are not the ones to use. It is a question of which copies of texts should be used for translation work. Scrolls and manuscripts hidden away for centuries are not good choices.

The Bible says in First Chronicles 28:1-5, “And David assembled all the princes of Israel, the princes of the tribes, and the captains of the companies that ministered to the king by course, and the captains over the thousands, and captains over the hundreds, and the stewards over all the substance and possession of the king, and of his sons, with the officers, and with the mighty men, and with all the valiant men, unto Jerusalem.[2] Then David the king stood up upon his feet, and said, Hear me, my brethren, and my people: As for me, I had in mine heart to build an house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and for the footstool of our God, and had made ready for the building:[3] But God said unto me, Thou shalt not build an house for my name, because thou hast been a man of war, and hast shed blood.[4] Howbeit the LORD God of Israel chose me before all the house of my father to be king over Israel for ever: for he hath chosen Judah to be the ruler; and of the house of Judah, the house of my father; and among the sons of my father he liked me to make me king over all Israel:[5] And of all my sons, (for the LORD hath given me many sons,) he hath chosen Solomon my son to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the LORD over Israel.” David is near the end of his life, but he is still serving the Lord. David has obviously been listening to the Lord’s leading, and David knows the Lord’s will. There are some big things coming up, and David knows what God wants. Many materials had been collected for the temple, and Solomon was going to build it, not David. Notice David’s attitude towards his sons as stated in verse five: “for the LORD hath given me many sons.” David knew that whatever he had, God had given to him. God had a will for each of those sons, and David knew that God’s will for Solomon was to be the next king. Find God’s will, and then do it. Find out which way God is going, and go with Him.

The Bible says in First Chronicles 28:6-8, “And he said unto me, Solomon thy son, he shall build my house and my courts: for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father.[7] Moreover I will establish his kingdom for ever, if he be constant to do my commandments and my judgments, as at this day.[8] Now therefore in the sight of all Israel the congregation of the LORD, and in the audience of our God, keep and seek for all the commandments of the LORD your God: that ye may possess this good land, and leave it for an inheritance for your children after you for ever.” In verse seven David said that God told him about Solomon, “Moreover I will establish his kingdom for ever, if he be constant to do my commandments and my judgments…” There are two points that can be made from this phrase. The first has to do with the word “if.” God wants us to serve Him, and He can bring consequences if we do not. There is such a thing as reaping what we sow. We need to have a healthy amount of fear of God’s holiness and judgement, even as believers. Christians are warned in the New Testament in First Peter 1:17, “And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:” A second point to make is that knowing how much God can bring judgment if He wants to, we are really dependent upon His mercy to us. Mercy is when God does not bring the judgment that we deserve. Thankfully, Jesus is merciful every day. Rely upon First John 1:9 and you will walk in fellowship with Jesus every day: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” The same important spiritual principle is stated in First Corinthians 11:32-33, “But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.[33] Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another.”

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