Tuesday, January 23: 1Chronicles 20- We don't have t be defined by our past.

Every history is selective. No one can record everything. Sometimes what is left out is as interesting as what is included.

The Chronicler, maintaining a history for the beleaguered exile Israelites in Babylon omitted an interesting detail in this account of David. He wrote:

In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, Joab led out the armed forces. He laid waste the land of the Ammonites and went to Rabbah and besieged it, but David remained in Jerusalem. Joab attacked Rabbah and left it in ruins. David took the crown from the head of their king—its weight was found to be a talent of gold, and it was set with precious stones—and it was placed on David’s head. He took a great quantity of plunder from the city… (1-2).

Now compare this to 2 Samuel 11:1-4: In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem. One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home…

The account of Bathsheba is an important detail in the history of Israel, especially since she would bear David his son Solomon, who would be the next king of Israel.

We can all surmise why the Chronicler might omit this and seeing that this is God’s Word, God obviously wanted us to read this version as well as the Samuel version.

I pondered that… now I don’t know the mind of the Lord, but it did lead me to some interesting thoughts.

1-              From Samuel: none of us are perfect. Even the best and greatest among us sin. Even the greats have faults and areas of weakness.  Wow, these great faith heroes are real people like me.

2-              From Samuel: We are who we are and we need to be honest about ourselves… And we especially need to be honest about ourselves before the Lord since He knows all anyway.

3-              From the Chronicler: We don’t have to be defined by our failures. David rose from the ashes of failure to be a great king.

4-              From the Chronicler: The gift of forgiveness is powerful, our sins are washed away. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us (Psalm 103:12).

I pondered this good news and found my thankfulness for Jesus growing… the cross provides the gift of forgiveness. Alleluia.

Thank you for the Cross, Lord. Thank for the nail scared hands… Oh, Jesus, you give me new beginnings every day when I am honest with You and confess… Praise You. Amen.