Tag Archives: Jebusite

Jan 31 2014

David Becomes King

In 1 Chronicles 11, all of the elders of Israel come to Hebron to meet with David following the death of Saul, and David is anointed king “according to the word of the Lord by Samuel” (1 Samuel 16:6-13). Then in verse 4, it immediately picks up with David and his troops going to “Jebus,” which is Jeusalem – which is occupied by the Jebusites. We are first told that the land of the Jebusites is Jerusalem back in Joshua 15:8, where the boundaries for the tribe of Judah are laid out in detail, as the Promised Land gets divided among the tribes. It is during this successful campaign upon what will become “the City of David,” that “Joab the son of Zeruiah” becomes commander of David’s army. This is because he took David up on his offer to make chief of the one who strikes first at the Jebusites.

Valley_of_Rephaim_0114Beginning in verse 10, the chronicler introduces David’s “mighty men,” which we will read more about in chapter 12. There is some debate about the number (some count 37 as being named here). But generally, it seems that the main group of his mighty men were referred to as “the thirty,” and at same point, this number becomes a name for them despite the actual number (just as the apostles were referred to as “the twelve”). However, although there were those in the thirty that were regarded as “chiefs,” and greater than the others, there were three that were very special. Of the three, the foremost was Jashobeam, who is listed again in 1 Chronicles 27 as leader of a military division. It is supposed that as members of “the thirty” died, they were replaced with others, which made this an evolving list.

In verses 15-19, as the Philistines were camped in the Valley of Rephaim, their garrison was at Bethlehem. David remarked that he would love to have water from the well at Bethlehem. When three of the mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines and brought back the water to David, he poured it out as an offering to the Lord – refusing to drink something obtained by such bravery by his men.

(This year’s reading plan for Luke, Acts, and 1 and 2 Chronicles averages just 15 verses per day – 5 days per week!)
Schedule for this week
Read or listen to audio of today’s selection from Luke here
Read or listen to audio of today’s selection from 1 Chronicles here

/Bob’s boy
___________________
some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Please note: I did not design the reading plan that I am following in my blog.  All of my comments in this blog, however, are solely my responsibility.  When reading ANY commentary, you should ALWAYS refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word. Reading schedules, as well as a link to the site where you can get the reading plan that I’m currently following for yourself can be found on the “Bible Reading Schedules” page of my website at http://graceofourlord.com.  

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May 21 2012

2 Samuel 5 – David Anointed King of Israel

Ophel (City of David), Jerusalem, Israel. The ...

Ophel (City of David), Jerusalem, Israel. The Kidron Valley and Mount of Olives are in the background. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The kingdom has become unified, and David has now become king of all Israel, just as God intended.  Now he wants Jerusalem, but the Jebusites are in the way, and they do not think David and his army are a threat (verse 6).  But his army is victorious, 1 Chronicles 11:6-9 tell us that it was this battle that resulted in Joab becoming his commander.  David took the stronghold at Zion, and it became the City of David.

Then David went up against the Philistines, whom he heard were after him (verse 20).  He defeated them at Baal-perazim (verse 20), and they left their idols there.  This is a bit ironic, as it was the Philistines who had captured the ark of the covenant in 1 Samuel 4:1-11.  It is in  1 Chronicles 14:12 that we learn that David had these idols burned.

Verse 11 tells us that “Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, also carpenters and masons who built David a house.”  It is unsure whether this is the same king Hiram of Tyre that in 1 Kings 5:1–18 provided David’s son, Solomon with the cedars to build the temple – or maybe his son.  But David and his kingdom have become greater and greater (verse 10).

Read or listen to audio of ESV version of this selection from this link.

/Bob’s boy
___________________
some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Please note: I did not design the reading plan that I am following in my blog.  All of my comments in this blog, however, are solely my responsibility.  When reading ANY commentary, you should ALWAYS refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word. Reading schedules, as well as a link to the site where you can get the reading plan that I’m currently following for yourself can be found on the “Bible Reading Schedules” page of my website at http://graceofourlord.com.  For questions and help, please see the “FAQ” and “Summaries” pages there.

Apr 9 2012

Joshua 9 – The Gibeonite Deception

As verse one says “the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, heard of this, they gathered together as one to fight against Joshua and Israel.”  The word “this” refers to the complete destruction of Ai.  Word of Jericho’s fall would have already reached them; and as verses 9-10 tell us, all had already heard of the defeat of King Sihon of Heshbon (Num 21:21-26) and Og of Basham (Num 21:31-35).  Indeed, they had been given more than 40 years to dread the Israelites, as verse 9 also acknowledges all that God did for them in Egypt.  But the Gibeonites had a different strategy.

Gibeon, view north of El Jib; the Gibeonites tricked
Joshua to make a treaty with them.

The Lord warned that leaving Canaanites to dwell among the people would be a mistake, and specifically commanded them to make no covenant with any of them. They were commanded not to do this more than once, as in Deuteronomy 7:1-5, where they are told that the Canaanites  “would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods.”  Once again, Joshua failed to consult with God when he made the covenant with the Gibeonites.  Their deception (verses 4-6) was well planned and convincing, however, and Joshua and the elders believed they truly were from another land far away.  They would spend the rest of their days serving the Israelites, but the damage was done, and the vow would not be rescinded.  The Gibeonite cities of Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim were not attacked.

(Side note: The city of Gibeon was positively identified with el-Jib by archaeologist James Pritchard for the Museum of the University of Pennsylvania, whose excavations found numerous inscribed jar handles there over 50 years ago. More information on that, as well as a recent discovery there can be found in this article at Ferrell’s Travel Blog)

Read or listen to audio of ESV version of this selection from this link.

/Robert
___________________
some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Please note: I did not design the reading plan that I am following in my blog.  All of my comments in this blog, however, are solely my responsibility.  When reading ANY commentary, you should ALWAYS refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word. Reading schedules, as well as a link to the site where you can get the reading plan that I’m currently following for yourself can be found on the “Bible Reading Schedules” page of my website at http://graceofourlord.com.  For questions and help, please see the “FAQ” and “Summaries” pages there.