Today we come to 1 Chronicles 7:1-9:1. In chapter 7, we see the record of the sons of Issachar (verses 1-12); Naphtali (verse 13); Manasseh (verses 14-19); Ephraim (verses 20-29); and Asher (verses 30-40). In chapter 8, we observe the record of Benjamin, his tribe, and his family line down to King Saul and his descendants (verses 1-40). Chapter 9, verse 1, summarizes what we have read so far in 1 Chronicles – “All Israel was listed in the genealogies recorded in the book of the kings of Israel.” Because the Lord promised to send His Messiah through Israel, genealogical records were very important to the Jews who clearly anticipated His coming.
Today in part six of Psalm 89 – verses 38-45 – we remember that Ethan the Ezrahite is the author of this Psalm, and he recognized the national sins of both Israel and Judah and God’s punishment on them – especially on their kings. “You have rejected, you have spurned, you have been very angry with your anointed one” (verse 38). We have seen how God took away the kingdoms from the Israelites. The Psalmist continues, “You have defiled his crown in the dust … you have reduced his strongholds to ruins. All who pass by have plundered him … you have made all his enemies rejoice … and put an end to his splendor” (verses 39-44). This section teaches us that God means business about the sins of His people, and it has broad application to every evil king from both kingdoms (i.e., Israel and Judah). In fact, this entire section even applies to us today. In principle, God is the Giver of all good things - to whomever He chooses to give. He can give at any time, and He can take it all away if He chooses. We dare not think, somehow, that we are exempt from God’s chastening. The people and the nation of Israel are His best example of this principle.
In Romans 13, Paul tells us that love is the basis and foundation for all law. If we love God, we will keep His law. It is axiomatic that “everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities” (verse 1). No one can resist the authorities for very long. Moreover, we notice that “there is no authority except that which God has established, and the authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted” (verses 1-2). To rebel is to bring down the authorities (i.e., “judgment”) on our own heads – a foolish thing to do. Rebellion in the face of authority is nothing short of absurd stubbornness – what God in the Old Testament called “stiff-necked” – a sin deserving God’s destruction (cf., Exodus 32:9). Here, Paul says that we have “a continuing debt to love one another,” and that if we do this, we will actually be “fulfilling the law” (verses 8-10). Finally, Paul enjoins us to “love one another” in the context of “understanding the times in which we live” (verse 11). The times are becoming characterized progressively more and more by “dark, indecent, immoral, dissentious, jealous, and sinful behavior” (verses 12-14). Apart from the salt, light, and love of believers in our world today, the world neither could nor would ever know what love looks like.
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