B (3:02)

And any good Jew could go read those that perspective.

A (3:07)

And you should be reading Ezra's perspective and Samuel's perspective. Like neither of these perspectives are right or wrong or good or bad, but they are both necessary in order for us to get a complete picture of David, the person, of his character, and how God ultimately sees David. So what we have in Samuel is gonna be the prophetic history. Remember the books of Judges, Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings are the former prophets. Okay, so they're the prophetic viewpoint or the prophetic perspective on historical events. Ezra is writing a priestly history. So Chronicles is not giving a prophetic history, but a priestly history. And I'm just going to read some of the content from my notes that really I think will help us understand this. At the heart of both books is the covenant. The relationship between Yahweh and Israel and how the leaders of Israel are involved for good or bad in that covenant. But what prophetic history focuses in on is the character of those leaders. Character, not morality. Okay, big word character. Kings are deemed successful not because of wars, building programs, etc. But by whether they ruled like David. That is in David's character. Key word character in humility before Yahweh. And what shows character? Nothing shows character like the humility of having to respond to sin in your life. This is why character is so much more important than morality. Okay, a moral person may never, I don't know, smoke weed or watch pornography. But someone with character may struggle with weed and struggle with pornography. But then show a characteristic of humility by confessing those sins, being honest about those things, being transparent, not lying or hiding or covering it up, but by being honest and transparent. So character, in order for the prophetic history to show this character, this humility, the writers of the prophetic history show all aspect of the leaders lives, their successes and their failures. Because it is in failure that true character is shown. Man. That could be a timeless truth right there. It's in failure that true character is on display. What does David do when he fails? According to the prophetic history? What is his response to his sin? This is important to a prophet. Repentance is the core message of the prophetic gift. Remember, John the Baptist is a prophet.

B (6:00)

And what is his message?

A (6:01)

Repent. For the kingdom of hand is at near.

B (6:04)

Okay, how people repent is at the.

A (6:08)

Core of like what prophets care about. I'll say it again. Repentance is the core of the prophetic gift or the prophetic ministry, bringing people back to the covenant, to Yahweh, through repentance. So in Samuel, the David and Bathsheba story is centrally important. It shows that David wasn't perfect, that he failed, but it also shows his character after sin, after failure, his repentant heart laying on his face before Yahweh. That right there, David's response to his sin is super important for the prophet to show or to demonstrate. And so what the prophetic history is doing through the books of Samuel, the is showing David is a relatable person. And you, the reader, can repent the same way that David has repented. But for the priest, priests have a different agenda. And I want you to listen closely. If that word agenda kind of makes you feel like you can't trust what someone has to say because they have an agenda, right? Sometimes in our current vernacular, when we talk about someone with an ulterior motive or an agenda, that person is immediately not trustworthy. But I don't want you to bring that baggage into biblical interpretation. When we say that an author has an agenda, it's no different than saying, I had an agenda when I wrote Crushing Chaos. That agenda is to help people bring order to the chaos of their lives. That's my agenda. So I don't want you to think about it as a negative agenda as much as it's an objective. It's the goal, it's a purpose. All right, so if the word agenda has ever triggered you, especially as we talk about different authors having different perspectives, I hope that's helpful.

B (8:00)

Family, the wait is over. My brand new book, Crushing Chaos is.

A (8:05)

Out now and available everywhere. Books are sold.

B (8:09)

Literally. Today I walked into a Barnes and Noble and I signed a bunch of copies at a physical location. So you can grab this book at.

A (8:19)

A physical Barnes and Noble or you can go to a Books A Million.

B (8:22)

Or Amazon or anywhere books are sold.

A (8:25)

And grab a copy. If you enjoy reading the Bible from an ancient perspective, if you understand that the beauty of scripture is actually knowing it in context, then you'll love this book. And if there's any chaos in your personal life, I think that reading the Bible from an angel ancient perspective can actually help to crush the chaos in your life.

B (8:48)

I think this book is going to be a New York Times bestseller. I really do.

A (8:51)

I think we wrote a good one. I think you should get a copy today. All right, back to the episode. The priest focus is always going to be the temple worship festivals, the Ritual. It's not the character of David that a priest cares about or that is the most important to him, but the role of David. David here in Chronicles is not the ideal king because of his character or repentance before Yahweh, but he's the ideal king because of his worship of Yahweh and his care for wanting to build Yahweh's house. That's what makes David ideal. So, not that either of these are correct, but without the other, they're incomplete. The priest needs the prophet, the prophet needs the priest. The original audience, Ezra's audience is reestablishing the rituals in worship of the temple after exile. So the David they need is the religious hero rather than the sinful yet repentant human. They need inspiration to prioritize God's house. And that's what Ezra provides. By shining a particular light on David as a character, Ezra is going to highlight the David who reorganizes worship, plans the temple, prepares for the building of that temple, brings the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem. His private life is simply not important here. It is his work for the house of Yahweh that's important for Ezra, which is the focus of Chronicles. Basically, if it's not connected to the temple, to temple worship, to rituals, to sacrifice to the house of the Lord, it's not going to make it into the Book of Chronicles because the author's agenda creates a filter. You have this unlimited amount of source material and you can't use all of it. So in selecting source material for the Book of Chronicles, Ezra tells you his agenda, AKA his filter. David and Goliath. David on the run, Civil war with ishbaal, bathsheba, absalom, etc. Solomon idolatry. The entire northern kingdom after the split, that has nothing to do with the temple and worship. Therefore it's not here in Chronicles. Though it is important to remember that Ezra is not hiding anything here. Nothing's being hidden. There's no trick up Ezra's sleeve. Samuel and Kings can be read.

B (11:32)

Someone can go read the Book of Samuel and read the Book of Kings and learn all about all of the.

A (11:39)

Sins of David and how he's got a great character and how he repents. The biblical books are designed to complete one another. They in and of themselves are not complete.

B (11:49)

This is why it's important to study.

A (11:51)

The entire Bible over the course of a year. Yes, I'm going to make a plug for the Bible department. While you're watching an episode of the Bible department, a Lot of times.

B (12:01)

And I'm guilty of this.

A (12:03)

I love the Gospels, so the majority of my sermons come from the Gospels.

B (12:07)

But my job as a pastor isn't.

A (12:10)

Just to preach my favorite books of the Bible. It's to give people a balanced meal, to make sure that the full counsel of God is available for people. And that means all 66 books. And we're watching right here in Chronicles, that Chronicles is designed to give a different perspective. Not a correct perspective, not an incorrect perspective, but a different perspective on the character of David. All right, it is super important to remember that Ezra is not hiding anything. Samuel and Kings have both been written. They exist, they have been compiled. And the people of Judah know these stories. So when people are engaging with the book of Chronicles in their proper context, they know that the stories of Samuel and Kings exist. All right. Ezra has zero ill intent.

B (13:00)

All right, That's a ton of context.

A (13:02)

Okay. But I think that's gonna just help us interpret what's going on in these chapters. All right, let's dive into chapters 19, 20, and 21. I'm really gonna fly through 19 and 20. We'll focus on 21, because that's where David's downfall is gonna occur in chapter 19. The whole point of chapter 19, you may not realize this on the surface, but the whole point of chapter 19 is to show that David has conquered the original land of the Promised Land. Okay. When God originally tells Abraham the borders for Israel, like the Promised Land, this is the land I'm going to give to you. He gives some geographical markers. And this story right here in 1st Chronicles 19 is the first time that those geographical markers that Yahweh gave to Abraham are actually fulfilled. Which means Joshua did not conquer all of the Promised Land, he conquered a portion of it. And it's not until we get to David that David actually walks in the fullness of what God had promised. And I could talk. I could give a Thomas truth about that. That if God has promised me three children and I only have one, it doesn't mean that I'm not grateful that I'm still contending for the extra two. I want everything that God has for me. And so it's easy to celebrate Joshua's victory of the Promised Land as a victory, but really it's not a victory if Joshua didn't actually take everything that God had for him. And David finally does. And that's the whole point of chapter 19. You may not realize that's the point of chapter 19, but it is. And I think I just probably Gave you an interpretive key for, for all of chapter 19, chapter 20. There's, you know, this is the David and Bathsheba story with no Bathsheba. So you're probably immediately at like, wait.

B (14:55)

A second, where's the part where he kills Uriah and takes the man's wife?

A (14:59)

Yeah, that's not there. Which then leads us to chapter 21, right where you would think you'd find the big moral failure. You're gonna find it in the next chapter. So chapter 21, it says this. Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel. Now in the modern world, when there's a census that gets taken. I think there was a census in maybe like 2020 here in America, here in the United States, maybe 20, 20, 2019. Anyway, we had a census and I remember it came to my house, came to my mailbox and I don't know, I filled in the information and put it back. And when we have a census in the modern world, it's typically for taxation and it's for the government to have records. In the ancient world, a census was for one purpose and one purpose only. To figure out how many numbers of people you had for the army. That's it. That's the whole point of a census.

B (15:54)

And this story is going to start.

A (15:56)

With Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take census of Israel. So I want to talk about two things. I want to talk about counting people and whether that's okay. And then I want to talk about sin and temptation. Okay? Because this story is going to open the door for both of those topics. So let's talk about sin and temptation. Okay? I want to actually compare what the Bible says in Samuel to what the Bible says here in Chronicles. Okay, 1 Chronicles 21, verse 1. We just read it. It says, then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel. Okay? That's how this story starts in Chronicles. But that's not how it starts in First Samuel. First Samuel 24:1 says this again. The anger of Yahweh was kindled against Israel and God. Okay? Yahweh incited David against them, saying go number Israel and Judah. Fascinating.

B (16:57)

So let's talk about the four sided.

A (17:00)

Reality of every temptation. Okay, Now I want you to see the. Oh boy, I'm about to open up a massive theological can of worms. Because you can see this in the book of Job. Who's responsible for Job's suffering?

B (17:16)

God or Satan? And you could honestly say both. And why?

A (17:21)

Why?

B (17:22)

And I, and I Hope I can.

A (17:23)

Say this really succinctly. Honestly, I could teach a 90 minute course on this. But I want to say this really succinctly.

B (17:30)

Satan is still under the control of Yahweh. So, so Satan can't just like run around doing stuff like without like Yahweh. I, I, maybe I can say it.

A (17:43)

In an even more powerful way.

B (17:45)

Like Satan is on God's payroll. Okay? Satan is an employee in God's like ecosystem. So this whole idea like, well, was.

A (17:55)

It God or was it Satan?

B (17:56)

Well, let's think about the story of Job. Satan is roaming around. He's kind of like, ah, people only serve you because you bless them. And God's like, have you thought about Job? Like God brings Job up and then Satan is like, ah, let me, let me tempt him. But for God, it's a test. Let's think about the Garden of Eden. It's God that created everything in the garden. The tree that Adam and Eve can't eat from was made by God. And then the serpent is there to provide temptation.

A (18:29)

But for God, it's not temptation, it's a test.

B (18:32)

And so for every temptation, on the flip side of temptation is a test. Temptation means that there's an adversary that.

A (18:41)

Wants you to fail.

B (18:42)

A test means that there's a God.

A (18:43)

That wants you to pass and succeed.

B (18:45)

So for every moment where there is a temptation, God is rooting for you. God is like, what about Job, man? He's, he's faithful. Try him. Satan is then going to tempt Job by creating scenarios. Satan believes that Job is going to fail, but Yahweh believes that Job can withstand the trial. So a test and a temptation are the flip sides of the same coin. It's the motive behind the person that actually makes it a test or a temptation. And by person, I mean spiritual being. It's the motive of Satan to try to get you to fail. And it's the motive of God. God's motive is that you would win.

A (19:32)

That you would succeed and you would pass.

B (19:34)

Second or third. So first, yeah, God is involved, but he his heart, God's heart posture is not for you to fail. God's heart posture is for you to choose him. Okay, so number one, God's involved. Two, Satan is involved. Three, there are circumstances that are involved. This Entire story, chapter 21 is in the midst of threats and ammonites and arameans and all kinds of just political stuff. So what is the nature of temptation? God is involved, Satan is involved, circumstances are involved. And then David's involved. So no one part of this four part system can ever be blamed. So to blame God for tempting or trial or testing is immature. To blame Satan is immature.

A (20:33)

To blame the circumstance is immature.

B (20:36)

And to then blame yourself in the.

A (20:38)

Wallowing guilt and shame is also immature.

B (20:42)

Why am I failing in a test, man?

A (20:47)

25% of the reason is because of me, man.

B (20:50)

I. I need to pray more. I need to memorize the word more. Why do I keep falling prey to.

A (20:55)

Sexual temptation or to anger or to not tithing or to whatever it is, man.

B (21:01)

Part of it's me, part of it's a circumstance. We're in a recession. Amen. It's a pandemic. Like part of it's the scenario, part of it's the enemy. Satan wants to 1000% capitalize on whatever the circumstances and whatever your personal convictions.

A (21:21)

Or lack thereof are.

B (21:23)

And then there's God. God is not going to remove you from temptation the moment temptation happens. God's not going to teleport you to Mars. He's not going to teleport you somewhere where there's no weed. He's not going to shield you from all temptation. That's not what he's going to do. And so God, Satan, the circumstance, and you are all a factor. And at some point you've got to be aware of all four.

A (21:52)

If you're going to begin to walk.

B (21:54)

In victory over temptation and win tests, improve your character to the Lord, you're going to have to know yourself really well. You are going to have to then prepare yourself for certain circumstances. You are going to have to understand the deceptive voice of the enemy, and you're going to have to be relying on the Lord. Okay, so all four of these factors.

A (22:20)

Are really, really helpful.

B (22:21)

And honestly, that could be our timeless.

A (22:23)

Truth for the day.

B (22:24)

Like I just gave you a solid.

A (22:26)

Game plan for how to defeat some cycles of sin and create victory.

B (22:31)

All right, last couple of things we.

A (22:32)

Need to kind of shore up.

B (22:34)

What's going on with counting people?

A (22:36)

Okay?

B (22:37)

The issue here is not the activity of counting people, because newsflash, we have a whole book of the Bible called Numbers, which is a census of the army. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers. The fourth book of the Bible is all about numbers. Jesus says that a good shepherd leaves 99 sheep to go after one. How would a shepherd know that they that one sheep has left? Well, you gotta count. All throughout the book of Acts, it says there's 120 people in the upper room. How do we know that someone counted? Then it says that the church grew in the book of Acts by a couple thousand. I think 3,000 on the day of Pentecost. How do we know someone counted? So counting is not a problem. Here's the problem. The problem is counting on the people that you just counted. That's the problem. God says, I would like for you.

A (23:41)

To count on me.

B (23:42)

And this is going to get into our time with truth, because we can be really legalistic when we start thinking that convictions and sin are the same thing. The actual issue here is that David got his validation and strength from the amount of people in the army and not from God.

A (24:08)

And that's the problem.

B (24:10)

Had the number not meant anything to David, God wouldn't have had a problem with it.

A (24:15)

But it did mean something to David.

B (24:17)

And what can typically happen is something means something to you, so God tells you not to do it. Like, I know people who literally say, beyonce's an idol for me, so God told me not to go to Beyonce concerts. Then that person who Beyonce is an idol for them, guess what they start to do. They assume that everyone has elevated Beyonce to the same place in their own life. So now the person who has an idolatry problem and God told them not to go see Beyonce, they then start to judge people who go see Beyonce. And they're like, see, they're not really saved. They're going to see Beyonce. No, they're obeying their conscience, as should you. And you should really mind your business, because the sin is not counting. The sin is in disobeying God. And if God told you not to count, you shouldn't count. And that's just the truth. Why is this such a big deal? Well, it's such a big deal because guess What? Psalms, chapter 20, verse 7. You want to know what David says? David says In Psalms, chapter 20, verse 7, some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. This same David who's counting men in the army in order to feel strong is the same dude who looked a Philistine in the face and said, you come against me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord God Almighty. So David has a history of not trusting in numbers, but in trusting in God. And then he went against his own faith in his own convictions.

A (26:07)

And that's a problem. And so our Thomas truth for the.

B (26:11)

Day is that this is not a.

A (26:13)

Problem to solve, but attention to manage.

B (26:15)

I can be honest. There are times where the Lord has asked me, hey, don't ask for the attendance number. But then there are times where God says to me, hey, you need to start asking for the attendance number. Well, is God schizophrenic?

A (26:32)

No.

B (26:33)

God knows my heart. There are certain seasons where I can handle the number because the number doesn't.

A (26:38)

Mean anything to me.

B (26:39)

And then there are certain seasons where I'm irresponsible if I don't know the number, which means there's a lot of us. You've got to move from religion into relationship, which means in a relationship, God can change his mind because it's a relationship. God could say one thing to you on Tuesday and a different thing to you on Thursday. And if you're set in a rule, you'll just keep doing what he said to do on Tuesday forever. But if you actually have a relationship, there was a season where my wife didn't like flowers. And then guess what? She started liking flowers. And so guess what? I started giving her flowers. But if you think that your relationship with God is just a routine or rule or religion, then you won't make.

A (27:29)

A symbiotic relationship with Him. And that's the timeless truth. And that's not just relevant for David.

B (27:35)

That's not just relevant for Joab or.

A (27:37)

For Nathan or for any of the characters in the story. That's relevant for you and for me because of the timeless truth.

B (27:44)

Tomorrow we got day 353.

A (27:48)

We're gonna be walking through 1 Chronicles, chapters 22 to 24.

B (27:53)

Some of the things about buying the threshing floor that we're actually in today's reading, we're actually going to discuss it tomorrow because it fits in with all.

A (28:01)

The stuff in chapters 22, 23, and 24.

B (28:04)

Anywho, I'll see you tomorrow. Love you so much. Peace. Thanks so much for joining us on.

A (28:12)

The Bible Department podcast. You can find us online and learn more about the show at the Bible Department and on Instagram Hebible Department. If you enjoyed this episode and want to dive deeper into the Bible, you can get free access to our library of courses@thebibledepartment.com we'll see you back here tomorrow.