1 Chronicles 11
McGeeCHAPTERS 11 AND 12THEME: David’s ReignWe have now come to the third major division of 1 Chronicles. The first nine chapters recorded the remarkable genealogies. The second division, only one chapter, was on the reign of King Saul. From God’s viewpoint Saul did not make anywhere near the splash that many of the people in his day thought he had. He did not impress God. The Lord records his death and the reason for it but gives us nothing about the accomplishments of Saul. Now we come to the section which deals with the reign of King David. First we will see David’s mighty men (chs. 11-12), then David and the ark (chs. 13-16), David and the temple (ch. 17), David’s wars (chs. 18-20), David’s sin in numbering the people (ch. 21), and David’s preparation and organization for building the temple in chapters 22-29. The remainder of this book is about David and David’s reign. In fact, the genealogy that is given in the first chapters brings us up to David, and beyond into the family of David. The next book, 2 Chronicles, will follow the story of the line of David. There is practically no attention given to the northern kingdom after it rebelled and withdrew from the reign of David’s family. It is also well to note as we go along how God puts the emphasis on certain things in David’s life and plays down others. You will notice that I called chapter 21 “David’s Sin.” It has nothing to do with his sin with Bathsheba, which is the sin which immediately comes to the minds of men when they speak of David. Rather, God records his sin in numbering the people. In God’s sight this was the greatest sin. I believe there is a tremendous lesson for us in this. Many Christians consider certain things as sin, and other things they don’t consider sin at all. I believe that when we get into God’s presence we will find that we have had some false notions in this connection. What they thought was a great sin may not have been one and, what they thought was slight and unimportant, God put down as sin. In David’s life everyone could point the finger at him relative to his sin with Bathsheba. And God punished him for that sinit was a terrible sin. But God forgave him of that because he came in confession to the Lord. Although this matter of numbering the people may seem insignificant to us, we shall see that it was rather important as far as God was concernedand we’ll see why. This should cause all of us to get a different perspective of what sin really is. We need to recognize sin not only in the sense of actsthings to do and not to dobut also sins of the thoughts and intents. We need to study the Word of God in order to understand God’s perspective of sin.
1 Chronicles 11:1
You will recall back in Samuel, which covered this period of history, we were told that for seven years David reigned over the two tribes in the south, Judah and Benjamin, and his capital was Hebron. That is all passed over in Chronicles. Why? Because God looks at Israel as one nation of twelve tribes. From God’s perspective, David really became king when he became the king over all of Israel and all twelve of the tribes of Israel accepted him, and said, “We are thy bone and thy flesh.”
1 Chronicles 11:2
They were acknowledging the hand of God in this. David did not become king until the people accepted him as being God’s choice, which was seven years after he began to reign over Judah and Benjamin.
1 Chronicles 11:3
Now he is made king over all twelve tribes. From God’s viewpoint, this is when David began his reign.
1 Chronicles 11:4
David had inspected that land. I think that he had been over that land with a fine-toothed comb and probably knew it better than the spies that had been sent in by Joshua. He knew a great deal about it, and Jerusalem was the city that he had chosen to become the capital. It was the place where the temple was to be built. It was David’s choice, and it was the Lord’s choice. A great deal is said in the Word of God about the city of Jerusalem. Of course it is not the city of Jerusalem as we see it today. Many of you have visited Jerusalem or seen pictures of it. Excavations in recent years have revealed that the wall in early times went the opposite direction from the way it goes today. The city of David was down below, and they always looked up to the temple. Later on, when the walls were moved, and built up on Mount Zion and higher up, one looked down to the temple area. It is this way today. A great deal of the city of Jerusalem is above the temple area. The temple area is located on Mount Moriah, which goes like a ridge right through Jerusalem today. And over there, outside the wall, on that ridge is where Golgotha is located, the place of the skull where Jesus was crucified. This is the place David chose.
1 Chronicles 11:5
David took the castle of Zion, and it was there that he built his palace. Mount Zion was very precious to David.
1 Chronicles 11:6
Joab is the number one man in the service of David. He was an adviser to David, and he was the number one man who led the army. He belonged to the mighty men of David. You will recall that we were told something about his exploits when he first came to David, incidents of how he led the army and how he fought for David. This man became the captain. You might say that he was the one in charge of the Pentagon in David’s day. He had command of all the brassthe army and navy, and whatever else they might have had. He had charge of it all.
1 Chronicles 11:7
The “city of David” is actually the Mount Zion area. Apparently it was here that David’s palace was constructed. David loved Mount Zion.
1 Chronicles 11:8
Joab was not only in charge of David’s military, he was in charge of the urban renewal program.
1 Chronicles 11:9
David brought Israel up to the place where it was a great kingdom and had tremendous influence throughout the world. David laid the foundation on which Solomon was able to bring a witness to the world of that day.
1 Chronicles 11:15
DAVID’S MIGHTY MENDavid’s mighty men are those who came to him during the time of his rejection. Now that he has been elevated to the place of kingship, these men are elevated also. There is a corollary here that we cannot pass by. Today the Lord Jesus Christ is calling out a people to His name; they are His “mighty men.” And these are the days of Christ’s rejection. His own people said, “We will not have this man rule over us.” He has not assumed His position on the throne as King of kings and Lord of lords. David also was a rejected man, although he had been anointed king of Israel. Saul was still reigningGod gave him every opportunity to make good, but he did not. During those years, David was fleeing for his life; it was the period of his rejection.
And there came to him from every side men who put themselves under his command. They became David’s mighty men. In our day, Christ is rejected by the world. I don’t have to labor to make that point. If we can’t see that, we can’t see anything. You and I live in a world where the Lord Jesus Christ is rejected.
But during this period He is calling out a people to His name. He is our Savior, our Lord and Master today, so we will have to wait until He comes to the place of Kingship. Then, we are told, we are to reign with Him. Since our Lord is rejected, I don’t know why in the world some believers attempt to become the most popular people in town. They cannot be. The Lord Jesus said that since the world hated Him, it would hate us also. If you are popular with the world today, it is time to take a long look at yourself. The late Dr. Bob Schuller used to say, “I judge a man not by the friends he has but by the enemies he has. If you have the right kind of enemies, you are all right.” My friend, if you are a true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, then the devil’s crowd will be your enemies. We are living in the period of Christ’s rejection, and He is calling out His mighty men. The three men who were singled out as being the mightiest were the men who brought water from the well of Bethlehem to David. This is a tremendous story. David had been brought up in Bethlehem. That was his hometown. There was a well at the entrance there and, many a time after he had been out with his sheep, he had come back thirsty and had stopped at that well to get a drink. Now the Philistines have him holed up and he cannot get to that well. He said, “I sure would like to have a drink from that well.” It was just a wish, not a command. These three men broke through the lines of the Philistines and got the water and brought it to David. The interesting thing is that he would not drink it, but he poured it out as a drink offering to God. There are some analogies we can make from this. Jesus was born at Bethlehem, and He is that Water from Bethlehem; He is the Water of Life. There are many of the mighty men of Jesus Christ who down through the centuries have taken this Water to a thirsty world. I think of Livingstone, Judson, Henry Martin, and other wonderful missionaries of the past. Then there are all the missionaries today. I have visited them in Mexico, South America, Africa, Asia, and Europe. These are the ones who have left everything to penetrate barriers in order to get the Word of God to a thirsty world. The Lord takes note of them, my friend. They are listed among the mighty men. Notice how David’s men responded when he merely expressed a wishhe would never have given such a command. Yet our Lord has commanded us to take the Water of Life to the whole world. And what have we done with it? Are you obeying His orders? Notice what David did with the water that was brought to him at such tremendous risk. David was unselfishno wonder his men loved him. They were willing to suffer for him because he was willing to suffer with them. He wouldn’t take that drink because his men didn’t have water, and he chose to take his place with them. Psa_22:14 tells us that when the Lord Jesus died on the cross He said, “I am poured out like water….” He poured His life out like water on the ground. He took His place down here as one of us"…unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given …" (Isa_9:6). He took our hell that we might share His heaven. And, my friend, if we are to be rewarded by Him, we are to make a sacrifice for Him. There is another incident in this chapter that I have always appreciated.
1 Chronicles 11:22
I love that. He slew a lion. Did you notice when he did it? He did it on a snowy day. Our Lord took note of that. I also think the Lord takes note of faithful people who will come to church rain or shine. Now in chapter 12 there is only one incident which I would like to call to your attention. There were some men of the tribe of Gad who came to David during the time of his rejection. This is what is recorded of them: