Skip Heitzig - Sep 11 - 7:30 am

0:00The Bible from 30,000 feet, soaring through the scripture from Genesis to Revelation. Would you turn in your Bible to the book of First Chronicles, First Chronicles, Chapter 1. Any of you from San Francisco, raise your hand. You're from there. Any San Francisco is okay or you visit at San Francisco, how's that? We can do it. So, you know what the name of the newspaper in San Francisco is? The Chronicle, the San Francisco Chronicle. Anybody from Houston, Texas here? Really? No, Texas? We have Texans here probably, but not from Houston. Ever visited Houston? You know what the newspaper name is? Houston Chronicle. Okay, so you can see where I'm going with this. So, have you ever been to Augusta, Georgia?

1:00The newspaper there is called the Augusta Chronicle. So, when you hear the word Chronicle, typically you think of that. It's a common name for a newspaper. It's the way a reporter would lay out and stage or journal the affairs of that city in any given day or in any given week. It's a history of the community through the eyes of a reporter. That's what a Chronicle means. Originally, First and Second Chronicles were one book in the Hebrew Bible, just called The Chronicles. The Hebrew name is Divere high yamim. I don't expect you to ever remember that or to even write that down. But it means the words of the days, the words of the days or the journal of the journey of the nation. These are the words in a journal written

2:03by chroniclers of the nation of Israel. Way before there were cameras or tape recorders or CD, ROM, devices or MP3s. Way before that there were guys who sat in a palace thrown rooms called chroniclers. And they would be writing the affairs of state, what the King said, what the commands were, what the nation should do, what is happening in that nation. He recorded the events of the day. We have, before us, the Chronicles of the nation of Israel. But it's far more than just a straight reporting of events. It's an editorial. And that's what I want you to see and I want you to grasp and I'd like to explain. It is an editorial. It's not like a newspaper only chronicling the events, but it's taken from a different angle. So, First and Second Chronicles covers the same material you've already covered in

3:11certain parts. Second Samuel, First Kings, Second Kings. Some of those events are repeated here in First Chronicles, but there's a twist. It's an editorial. It's a divine editorial. It is not just the history of the nation. It's the history of the nation from a spiritual vantage point, a spiritual perspective. So, the history of Israel is really the history of God working through the nation of Israel. And this book, more than the previous books that cover the history, will show you that. Now, who is the author of the book of First and Second Chronicles? We believe it is Ezra. Ezra the priest. We'll get to his book soon enough. And why? Because the way, first and second Chronicles is written, the way it's laid out, the words chosen, the way the sentences are constructed, reads a lot like the same construction in the book of Ezra. They're very, very similar in style. And just by reading

4:17Ezra and reading the Chronicles, they both seem to have the perspective of somebody from the priesthood of Israel. And we know that Ezra was a priest. There's another tip off. The last paragraph of Second Chronicles is the same as the first paragraph with minor changes of the book of Ezra. It's as if he captures one thought and then he moves with that thought in the first book or the only book called the book of Ezra. After Second Chronicles comes that book. So, it makes sense because the topics covered in this book are topics like the temple of Israel, the priesthood, and the theocratic dynasty of the lineage of David. So that would be of interest to a priest. So we think that Ezra wrote this book. Now the book of Chronicles, first Chronicles especially, is centered around one person in

5:17particular and that is King David. In fact, David, his name is recorded more than 180 times in this book. You'll read a lot about David, David, David, David, David. You're always going back to him and to his lineage. So it's a book that centers around David. We can divide the book up into two. We can divide it into ancestry and activity. All about David, ancestry and activity. Chapters one through nine, David's rightful ancestry. And then chapters 10 through 29, David's royal activity. So ancestry first, activity second, but it's all about David. In the first nine chapters, 3,000 years are covered. I'll show you how in a minute, 3,000 years are covered in the first nine chapters. In the last part of the book beginning in chapter 10, only 30 years are covered. That's the reign of David in Israel as a united nation. First,

6:22he reigned in Hebron seven years than 30 years as the king of the united monarchy. When I talk about united monarchy in the Old Testament sense, I don't mean England and Scotland. I mean, Israel and Judah combined together. So let's begin with a few verses in chapter 1. We're going to move pretty quickly through here because can you just take a glimpse and what do you notice is you just take a glimpse of these chapters. Names. You think last week was tough with names. Where do you get a load of these names? We're only going to read a few of them. But we're looking at David's rightful ancestry. The first nine chapters, as I mentioned, cover 3,000 years of genealogical record from Adam, the first human being, to David, the second king of Israel. So chapter 1, verse 1, Adam, Seth, Inosh, verse 4, I'm doing this

7:25specifically to get you to track with certain names. Noah, that's familiar. Sham ham jafeth, all familiar. Verse 24, Sham is sort of familiar, probably to some of you. Our facts sad, probably not familiar to most of you. Shailah, verse 25, Eber, Peleg, Reu. Now that is a noteworthy verse, verse 25. In fact, you may even want to commit it to memory. You're thinking fat chance. Why would I say that? It's the shortest verse in the Old Testament. That's what makes it significant. We know it the shortest verse in the Bible, in the New Testament, Jesus' Wept. This is the second shortest verse in the Old Testament is verse 25. Eber, so you'll impress your friends, maybe. Eber, Peleg, and Reu. Serug, Nehort, Terra. Now we get to familiar ground. And Abram, who is Abraham, the sons of Abraham

8:25or Isaac and Ishmael, these are their genealogies. We're following a lineage, a genealogical record with several names. It's an obituary at this point. Chapter 2 is Jacob's sons. And we go from a guy by the name of Ram, who's also mentioned in the New Testament, genealogy of Jesus to David, the line of David. Chapter 2, verse 10. Ram, Begot, Aminadab, Aminadab, Begot, Nashone, leader of the children of Judah. Just reading some of these names, now you can see why the book of first chronicles is not high on most people's list of devotional books of the Bible. Your favorite life verse probably doesn't come out of any of these nine chapters. I bet I defy anyone here to say my favorite verse is. And if you are, you probably just made that up. Verse 11, Nashone, Begot, Salma, Salma, Begot, Boaz. Now it's

9:29getting familiar again. Boaz, Begot, Obed, Obed, Begot, Jesse, Jesse, Begot, Eliab, his first born, Abinadab, the second, Shemaia, the third, Nathanel IV, Raddye, the fifth, Ozem, the sixth, and David, the seventh. Now we're on to King David. But his brothers are mentioned first in this lineage. So just in case you wonder who didn't get picked as King, David is the guy picked, but all his other brothers who came first, none of them were chosen. Chapter 3, verse 1. Now these were the sons of David who were born to him in Hebron. Okay, you get the flavor. We're dealing with the most extensive genealogical record in all of scripture. First we go from Adam to David as we have seen. We go through Adam, Noah, Jebta, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, the tribe of Judah, the son of Jacob, then the tribe

10:34of Judah down to the line of King David. So we go from Adam to David. And it's highly selective. What you find in these nine chapters, and I don't expect you to to wait through them, I did wait through them. I did read through the whole book. I like to get familiar with it. Even the names, I just waited through it. There's certain parts I find interesting. One of them is the lineage is followed. And then when it's not germane to the main story, it drops off. And I'll tell you why it's one would be important and one would not be. If it is an important lineage, it keeps going. It wants to lead you on and point you in a genealogical direction. But you'll get like a little bit of ish meal, then it drops off. You get a little bit of ishah, then it drops off. But the other line continues in his narrow. So it's highly selective. And here's the reason. It's to trace the lineage of David from the creation to the captivity and eventually to Christ. Creation, captivity,

11:39Christ. And I'm making those distinctions because by the time you get to the New Testament genealogical records, you follow the same pattern from creation to captivity to Christ. So the genealogical records are displayed in detail. And what it shows you is in here's the grand theme. God is at work through human history to isolate a particular nation and to preserve that nation so that nation can become the receptacle of the Messiah, the Savior, the only hope of mankind. It wants to show you how that nation is preserved. Now let me throw something out at you because if you've read through Chronicles, you're thinking, Skip, I'm sorry, you always say the Bible's exciting, but this really I didn't find this exciting. In fact, in fact, and you get kind of nervous to admit it, I found it boring. I want you to know something. I just feel good about saying this too. It wasn't meant to be interesting. First Chronicles was never meant to be interesting.

12:44I'll explain that in a minute, but I just want to hold that thought. When you open the New Testament, if you think you're going to get some riveting hook, you'll be surprised because the first 17 chapters of the New Testament start out like this, a genealogical record. Here's how it starts. This or the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham, Abraham Begot Isaac, Isaac Begot Jacob, Jacob Begot Judah and his brothers, and it traces him all the way down to David. So that's not what you would call a hook, an attention getter. Like, wow, I just got to read more. And yet it's presented in the very first chapter of the New Testament, Matthew chapter one. Now in reading this in part and in hearing that, here's what I want you to keep something in mind about. All scripture is inspired by God, even this genealogical record.

13:52Even the genealogy of Jesus Christ, and Matthew, all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for instruction and righteousness that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped, all of it, including this. If you had a Jewish background, you would understand the importance of a genealogy. It was all important in ancient Israel to know your background, your genealogical record. Why? Well, if you wanted to sell land, you had to make sure so that the land wouldn't leave the tribe allotment. You had to prove a genealogy. If somebody was going to buy it or you were going to get it back later on, you had to approve, you had to prove your genealogical connection to that land by tribe. So it was important for that. Number two, if you're going to serve in the priesthood, you had to prove that you were from the tribe of Levi, right? So Ezra, if you wrote the book, when they came back from the captivity, they had to prove that they had the genealogical

14:54lineage that would belong to the priesthood before they could serve. If they couldn't prove it, they couldn't serve. There's a third reason genealogies are important. If you're going to come along and claim you're the Messiah, anybody with a Jewish background is going to ask, really, what tribe are you from? What family are you from? What lineage are you from? Where were you born? They're going to want to know all that because of the predictions laid out in Scripture that are very specific as to what line the Messiah would take. I remember years ago, man came to our church on a, it was the Thursday night Bible study at that time. I didn't know who he was. I just saw him come through the door. I'm talking to people before a service. One of my assistant comes up and says, Skip, you got to talk to this guy at the door. He says he's Jesus. I said, really? I mean like, he's Zeus or no, no, he says he's,

15:58he says he's Jesus. Okay. I didn't know what it was all about. So I met him and he claimed, indeed, he was Jesus the Messiah. So I knew I'm dealing with a wing that. I didn't take much, right? I could figure that out. This guy's, you know, he's one burrito short of a combo play. So, so, but I thought I'll give him a chance. He was very sincere. I said, do you have proof of that? He goes, yes, I do. I said, what do you have? And he pulled out some documents and says, this is the third testament. I said, oh, the third testament. I've heard of the first two, the old and the new testament. Yes, but this is the third testament. It authenticates me. I said, really, who wrote the third testament? He said, I did. I said, okay. So then I just started asking questions that normally a Jewish person would ask when somebody claims to be Messiah. Where were you born? And he goes, Pittsburgh. So then I definitely knew this is not the Messiah. Because he wasn't born in Bethlehem

17:05in Judea of the lineage of David from the tribe of Judah back to Abraham. I see Jacob. So we showed him the door politely and made it clear that he wasn't allowed back until he changed his personal theology a bit. Anyway, fun night. Now back to that statement I mentioned a moment ago. This section is not meant to be interesting. Let me expand on that. It's not meant to be interesting. It's meant to be accurate. You know what it's like? It's like a dictionary. How many of you read a dictionary through just because it's interesting? Some of you might, but I don't know if I want to get too close to you if you do. Most people don't read it through. It's a reference work. If I go to an auto part store, which I've done many times, they have to look in a book and they find the year in the part and they go through a few other things. It takes them a while, but they're really digging in and finding the accuracy of the number and then ordering the part. I'm positive that guy doesn't take that little reference book home at night and read through it. Like, wow, this is riveting.

18:10Because it's not, but it's accurate. And it's a reference. And so the genealogical records provide the accurate reference that goes all the way back to the beginning. That was important to them. So that is David's ancestry. His rightful ancestry is cataloged in chapters one through nine. Enough said. We're in chapter 10. And chapter 10 begins the second portion of the book, David's royal activity. First part was 3,000 years. This is 30 years as David reigned over the United Kingdom. Chapter 10 is the end of Saul's kingdom. And then chapter 11, the beginning of David's kingdom. I want to show you something. I want to show you that editorial bit I told you about. Show you how God gives a divine editorial and the spiritual health of a nation through these words. So let me just plant something in your mind so you can compare. You remember back in the previous books in 1 Samuel when Saul died. He died in a battle on Mount Galbowa against the

19:16Philistines. They wounded him. He knew he was going to get out of the battle alive. So he fell on his sword. He asked his armor bearer to kill him. He wouldn't do it. So he fell in a sword, committed suicide. That's how he died. Now I want you to see how the chronicleer tells it from a spiritual perspective. Chapter 10 verse 13. So Saul died for his unfaithfulness which he had committed against the Lord. That's the divine editorial because he did not keep the word of the Lord and also because he consulted a medium for guidance. But he did not inquire of the Lord, therefore he the Lord killed him. How's that for a divine editorial? And turn the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse. He's given the why behind the what? Chapter 11 begins David's kingdom. Verse 1 that all Israel came together to David at Hebron. That's down south in Judah. Saying, indeed we are your bone and flesh. Notice the unity that's there. There's unity among

20:22the tribes of Israel. Also in time past even when Saul was king you were the one who led Israel out and brought them in and the Lord your God said to you, you shall shepherd my people Israel and be ruler over my people Israel. Notice there was loyalty. So we have unity and loyalty. We're together and we recognize that you are the one who has shepherded this people. We want to be a part of it. We're going to follow you. There's an allegiance of unity and loyalty. With that thought in mind, let me read something to you from the book of Hebrews in the New Testament. In chapter 13, the writer of Hebrews says, remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forever. Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that

21:26the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them. A few verses later, I'm reading out of Hebrews 13, verse 17, obey those who rule over you and be submissive for they watch out for your souls. They shepherd your souls like David, whom they said, you have shepherded us in times past. As those who must give an account, let them do so with joy and not with grief for that would be unprofitable for you. So likewise, the Old Testament counterpart to the New Testament directive follow your leaders, and I'm not saying that that is because I'm a leader of the church. I would do it if somebody else was and I was sitting in the pew and I did that when I was. But the writer says, do it and don't make it hard for them. Don't give them grief because it's going to be unprofitable not just for them, but for you who make it hard on yourself. The people recognize that and they gave their loyalty to David as their new king here.

22:28Verse 3, therefore, all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron and David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord. They anointed David king over Israel according to the word of the Lord by Samuel. When did Samuel speak that word? privately in a house. When he went to Bethlehem and he went to the house of Jesse and he said, bring your boys out here. So they brought the elders Elyab and all those names that I read to you a moment ago who didn't make king. And finally, David, the seventh is brought in this ruddy little handsome kid out in the sheepfold and the Lord spoke to him and said, that's the guy. Annoying David, he's going to be the man. Now, why did he do that? There was already a king in Israel named Saul. Why did God dispatch Samuel to the house of Jesse to find another king? Because of Saul's unfaithfulness. The author already said God killed him. But in

23:35first Samuel chapter 13, Samuel said to King Saul these words, and now your kingdom shall not continue. For the Lord has sought for himself, you know what the next phrase is, a man after his own heart. And the Lord has commanded him to be commander over his people because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you. David is the only man in scripture with that description, a man after God's own heart. It mystifies us really because we know David, we've read the rest of the story, a man after God's own heart, committed adultery with Bathsheba, got her husband drunk, killed him off, did a lot of things against the Lord. Yet God says you're a man after my own heart.

24:35Don't think that that means perfect because it wasn't. He had flaws. Another translation puts it this way, a man after God's own mind or another translation, the Knox translation, a man to fulfill God's purposes. Now think about this for a moment in terms of your own life. Think of that phrase, a man to fulfill God's purpose or a woman to fulfill God's purpose. Think of the potential in that phrase. It's as if God is saying, I don't see David in his sin. I know his sin. But I am seeing David with the potential for David to be something other than that. A man after my heart, my mind, someone who will fulfill my purposes. Just think what God can do through you, no matter what your past is. What God can do through you. A man or woman sold out to God. It might have been D.L. Moody. There's a lot of stories about who said this originally, but

25:39there's a great statement that goes like this. The world has yet to see what God can do through one man totally devoted to him. The world has yet to see what God can do through one woman or man totally devoted to him. Be that person. Be a spiritual person. There's an old recipe from antiquity about how to cook a rabbit for a meal. The first direction, first catch the rabbit. I like that. It's so obvious. It's so simple. It's axiomatic. It's self-explanatory. How do you make rabbit soup? Well, first catch the rabbit. Now, let me give you the recipe for having spiritual influence. First be spiritual.

26:41First be spiritual. First be devoted and dedicated to God. You want to be a person who influences the next generation. Be a spiritual person. First catch the rabbit. Then you can cook it. First be spiritual. Then you can influence people's spiritual. Keep your priorities straight. Over in Milan, Italy, there's a church, a cathedral that has an arched entryway. There's three arches actually, a large arch in the center and two smaller ones on the side. There's an inscription over each archway. On one archway, it reads, all that pleases is but for a moment. On the other archway, it reads, all that troubles is but for a moment. In the center archway, the biggest archway, the grand archway, it reads, that only is important, which is eternal. What pleases and what troubles, it's over in a heartbeat. But if you want something to last, that is eternal. That's what you want to aim for.

27:45If you were to let those three truths govern you, you would be a man or woman after God's own heart. Perfect. No. Filled with flaws. Yes. But a person of potential and influence. Yes. But I'm flawed. So that's why David should encourage you. Yet God calls him a man after his own heart. Now, the rest of First Chronicles will deal with David's reign up until the transition with the next king named, the next king after David is Solomon. Wake up. And we're going to get there. But if you were to compare this book with the same stories that are written about it, about David and the surrounding events of David, from the book of Second Samuel, you will find similarities, but you'll also find differences. Let me explain. You'll find included here in First Chronicles,

28:50like in Second Samuel or First Samuel. You'll find the story of David moving the arch to Jerusalem and Eusa putting his hand out to steady the arch and he gets struck dead. That's the same. It's written here. But in this book, you read nothing about David's struggle with Saul, took place for a whole decade. You read nothing of David's sin with Bathsheba and you read nothing about Absalom's rebellion against David. That is absent from this narrative. Why is that? Not to trick you. But for the audience, the audience that who's writing the book, Ezra's writing the book, the audience that Ezra would have written to was post captivity. You know what I mean by that? After the Babylonian captivity, Jews returned back to Jerusalem. For those returning Jews, Ezra wanted to write something that would encourage them so they press on in the future. Not be mortified because of the bad stuff that

29:55happened in the past. Yes, you've had dark days, he would say, but you have a bright future. God wants to do something with this nation. This nation is going somewhere. So some of that extraneous stuff is pulled out. The history, the integrity of the history is still maintained, but it is a divine editorial. Ezra is writing it, but also keep in mind it's super intended by God. He's actually the author of the book. The Holy Spirit is the divine author. So history is one thing. His story is quite another. And God takes your history and weaves your story into his story so that again, no matter how dark your past is, your future can be bright as he gets a hold of your life. It was quoted beautifully tonight in that little script before the study that God isn't like man. He doesn't look like man looks. He doesn't see like man sees. Man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. So God chooses David and chooses to put David in the best light as a man after

31:05God's own heart. Again, this should encourage you. Let's show you another example of this divine editorial. Chapter 12. Chapter 12 people come from the different tribes of visual to align themselves and pledge loyalty and align themselves with David. Chapter 12 verse 1, these were the men who came to David at Zick Lag. Well, he was still a fugitive from Saul, the son of Kish, and they were among the mighty men, helpers in the war, armed with bows using both the right hand and the left in hurling stones, ambidextrous, and shooting arrows with the bow. They were of Benjamin Saul's brethren. So a bunch of people around the country sensed in anointing in David's life came to him. Verse 21, they helped David against the bans of Raiders for they were all mighty men of valor and they were captains in the army. From that time, verse 22, from that time they came to David day by day to help him until it was a great army like the army of God. So this grass roots movement, this ground swell

32:13of defection from Saul's army more and more aligning themselves with David until they finally coronated David as their king. Now, the next few chapters tells the ongoing animosity between Israel and this group that nags them through this period of history called the Philistines. They have settled along the coast of Israel. David has killed a giant by the name of Goliath. So Goliath is long gone. They want revenge. Chapter 14 verse 8, when the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all of Israel. All the Philistines went up to search for David and David heard of it and went out against them. Then the Philistines went and made a raid on the valley of Reffaim. And I like this verse, David inquired of God saying, shall I go up against the Philistines?

33:18David's a soldier. You would think a soldier if he sees a threat, he just goes to war. It's instinctive. It's a knee-jerk reaction. It's an immediate response. There's a threat. I'm going to counter it. But Ezra gives insight into David's spiritual life, his prayer life. He asks the Lord. Lord, should I go for it? Should I fight these guys? Should I go up against the Philistines? Next question he asks, verse 10, will you deliver them into my hand? That really is the important question. And the Lord said to him, go up for I will deliver them into your hand. So that's Ezra's little editorial comment on David's prayer life at this stage in his life. He was still pure seeking the Lord. Chapter 13 through 16, in other words after what we just read, is the moving of the ark, the ark of the covenant into Jerusalem. Remember the Philistines captured

34:20it. They returned it. Then David tried to move it. And they put it on a cart. We already read the story. Put it on a cart. I got name used, stretched out his hand because it was going to tip over, got struck him dead. David was all bombed out. And they finally got it right. Put it on poles, carried it up. This story is mentioned here. And they have a huge celebration. Chapter 17, I want you to look at. 17 is the key chapter of the book. And one of the most pivotal chapters in the Bible. Now let me jog your memory because I said the exact same thing about a chapter in 2 Samuel. It was chapter 7. 2 Samuel 7 is similar to 1 Chronicles chapter 17. It is the covenant that God makes with David. Let me give you three words that sum up the book, the whole book. Blessing, judgment, covenant. All three themes are followed in this book. Blessing, judgment,

35:24covenant. Covenant is the big neon sign word that you need to remember for first Chronicles. It's about the covenant that God made with Abraham. And now the covenant that God makes with David. God promises to David a lineage, a genealogical offspring that will last forever. And because it will last forever, it must refer to whom? Jesus Christ. He's really the same yesterday, today and forever. He's the only one that will last forever. So he promises a lineage that will last forever. Solomon, his son fulfills part of it, as you'll see, Jesus fulfills the other part, the second part of it. Solomon fulfills the immediate, the immediacy of the promise. Jesus fulfills the eternality of the promise. One is temporary, one is eternal. It is the thread, the crimson thread or the scarlet thread

36:29of redemption. So here's what happens. David's kicking back in his palace. He's got a nice palace. And he looks around and goes, man, I'm kind of embellishing it a bit. Man, I got nice digs here. This is a sweet spot. I got a sweet setup here in Jerusalem. My big screen TV going on. I have a great view of the city. Yet the arc of the covenant is out there in that little tent. I've got this beautiful palace, but God's living in a tent. I need to build God a house. He goes to Nathan, the prophet, and he goes, Nathan, God's put it in my heart to build him a nice house. He's been out in that tent long enough. We got to move him into a big palace like me. And so Nathan, kind of being a yes man says, do all that is in your heart, David. But that night, God wakes Nathan up and says Nathan,

37:30he spoke too soon, buddy. I don't need a house. I never asked for a house. I moved in a tent for years. My presence is bigger than any temple. I don't require something fancy or neat. Well, let me have you read it yourself. 1 Chronicles 17, verse 9. Moreover, I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them that they made dwell in a place of their own. That's the Abrahamic covenant. And move no more. Nor shall the sons of wickedness oppress them anymore as previously. We're kind of still waiting for all that to happen, but it's a promise. Since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, also I will subdue all your enemies furthermore, I tell you the Lord will build you a house.

38:30You're going to build me a house? I don't need a house. I'm good. I'm going to build you a house. Now, here's David thinking about building God a house literally. God counters and says, I'm going to build you a house dynastically, spiritually and literally. There's going to be a lineage that's going to come from your loins. You're going to have people raised up as kings, but there's going to be an eternal kingdom that is going to come eventually. So, here's David saying, I'm making plans for God and God saying, have I got plans for you? It's a great twist on it. Again, here's the principle. You can never outgive God. You're going to give this to the Lord. All this generosity is willing up within me, God saying, oh, wait a year, I'm going to bless you. You can't outgive him. Verse 11, it shall be when your days, God speaking to David, when your days are fulfilled, when you must go to be with your fathers, that I will set up your seed after you

39:31who will be of your sons and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build me a house. Who is that referring to? Solomon, Solomon built a temple. And notice that. And I will establish his throne, the lineage of his throne, the seed of his throne, forever. That is not Solomon. That must refer to whom? Jesus. Jesus. I will be his father. He shall be my son. I will not take my mercy away from him as I took it away from who was before you. And I will establish him in my house and in my kingdom forever. And his throne shall be established forever. Now, here's the covenant. Number one, David's going to have a son. Solomon, though David had many sons, Solomon will be a successor. He will build the temple. Second component of the covenant, the throne of David will be established forever. That's not Solomon. That's Jesus. Yes, Solomon is the son of David, but Jesus is

40:35also called the son of David. Sometimes the word son means the offspring of. You could say if your grandfather is named George, you could say I'm the son of George. If your great grandfather was named George, I'm still the son of George. That's how it worked in the chronology of Judaism. So Jesus would be the greater son of David. And he will refer to himself and be referred to by that name, the son of David. So I hope you'll indulge me. I'm going to read a little section out of, this is a book I wrote. And I'm saying this is a shameless plug. I want to put something together for you. In the generations to come, David's descendants would occupy Israel's throne. In the long term, Jesus would come as Israel's true king and deliverer, but would go unrecognized. He announced to pilot my kingdom is not of this world, John 1836, but that was then. The plan all along was for

41:39him to eventually return and set up an earthly kingdom as the king of kings and the lord of lords, Revelation 1714 and 1916. When Jesus does return, he will occupy David's throne in Jerusalem and will rule from it for 1000 years. That's the millennial kingdom. The angel Gabriel told Mary her son that her son will be great and will be called the son of the highest and the lord god will give him the throne of his father, David. Remember, that's what the angel said. And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom. There will be no end. That's Luke 132 and 33. Based on the promise that God made here in 1 Chronicles 17, the Jews understood that the one called the son of David would be the Messiah. That's why Matthew was quick to establish the connection in his gospel, beginning with these words, the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David,

42:42the son of Abraham. So all of that is happening in this chapter. David's dynasty is going to be interrupted by captivity. They're going to go into Babylonian captivity. That line will be broken with Jack and Ia and then Zedekia. But then Jesus will come. He'll come the first time to free people from sin. Then he'll come back the second time. We're still waiting for that coming and we come back the second time. He comes to rule with those who have been cleansed from sin. All that is part of the covenant that is established in part here. I'm belaboring this because I want to make a point. One of the reasons we teach the Old Testament and one of the reasons I'm so opposed to anybody saying, let's get unhits from the Old Testament is because you won't understand the New Testament. You won't have any clue. You won't know eschatology. You won't be able to

43:45understand the ministry of Jesus or the words of the prophets unless you understand this chapter and this covenant of David. The New Testament authors will play off these Old Testament promises and show that Jesus is the fulfillment of God's covenant to David. It's that obvious in the book of Acts. On the day of Pentecost Peter stands up and begins to sermon quoting Psalm 16 and he says, men in brethren, you know, Psalm 16 says, you will not leave my soul in hell or suffer your holy one, a holy one to seek corruption. That's Psalm 16. So he says, men in brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David that he is both dead and buried and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore, being a prophet and knowing that God has sworn an oath to him that of the fruit of his body according to the flesh, he would raise up the Christ to sit on the throne. Now there is Peter saying, I know first Chronicles chapter 17 and second Samuel 7. I know that promise and it's now

44:50being fulfilled. He draws upon the history of the Old. Okay. Temple worship is explained in the rest of the book. David prepares the materials, prepares the blueprint. It's all laid out. It's all mapped out because he basically says to the leaders random look Solomon is going to be the king but he has no experience at all. This is going to be helping him so far over his head but he charges Solomon to build it. So chapter 22 verse 6, boy, I love hearing that. Then he called for his son, Shlomo. That is the Hebrew pronunciation of the word that you see in front of you. Solomon, we say in English, Shlomo in Hebrew. He called for his son, Shlomo, come here and charged him to build a house for the

45:51Lord is God. You know, if you study the temple at all, you know that the temple remains today that you see in Jerusalem, they call it Herod's Temple. And if you go down far enough and you find a cornerstone or something, they think they can point to what they call Solomon's Temple. But really, even though Solomon built it, it was David's Temple. J. Verna McGee said, the only temple Solomon had was the one on the side of his head. This is David's Temple. He got all the materials. He made the blueprints. All he just said was that when I'm dead, you build it. I can't. I'm a man of blood. So David said to Solomon, verse 7, my son, as for me, it was in my mind to build a house to the name of the Lord, my God. But the word of the Lord came to me saying, you have shed much blood. You have made great wars. You shall not build a house for my name because you have shed much blood on the earth in my sight. Verse 9, behold a son, shall be born to you,

46:55who shall be a man of rest or a man of peace. And I will give him rest from all his enemies all around his name, shall be Solomon, Shlomo, where I will give peace and quietness to Israel in his days. Now, at this point, and looking at the time and the rest of the book, what comes to my mind are the words of Iniego Montoya in that classic theological movie, The Princess Bride, where they're outside the palace and he says, let me explain. No, there is Tomas. Let me sum up. So let me sum up. chapters 22 or 23 and 24 give the divisions of the priesthood. There are 24 divisions that David sets up. Their Levitical duties are given. The coathights, duties are given. Chapter 25, it's all about musicians and singers and it's beautiful. The

47:57description is they would minister in music before the Lord. It was a ministry God called them to of music before the Lord. That's chapter 25, chapter 26. It's all about gatekeepers and treasuries. A little side note I found interesting in my reading, perhaps you will too, is some of the gatekeepers were from the house of Obed Edom. You say, why on earth would you find that interesting? Because Obed Edom was the house after a user tried to stabilize the ark and God killed them. It says they left the ark of the covenant at the house of Obed Edom like in a little shed, out back. David went up to Jerusalem and said, okay, we have to figure this out. Let's read the Bible, do it the right way. Get the Levites with poles. But in the meantime it says, and God blessed the house of Obed Edom because he had the ark and his little shed in the backyard. So when it comes time to have guard gatekeepers and guards, he gets the whole group of the house of Obed Edom, all the

49:01relatives of you guys are the gatekeepers. Thanks for letting us house the ark in your shed for all those months. Just a little note. Obviously you don't find it interesting. I'm looking at you. I do. Sorry. Chapter 27, chief officers and captains of the tribes, all the military groups are listed. Chapter 28 is a meeting, a public leadership meeting to announce the temple plans. David's not going to build it. He's a man of blood. Solomon's going to carry it out. Chapter 29, David takes an offering for the temple and has an overwhelming response. Chapter 29, verse 9, then the people rejoice for they had offered willingly because with the loyal heart they offered willingly to the Lord and King David also rejoiced greatly. Verse 20, then David said to all the assembly, now bless the Lord your God. So all the assembly bless the Lord, God of their fathers,

50:02embouled their heads and prostrated themselves before the Lord and the King. This is followed by animal sacrifices by the thousands. Verse 22, they ate and drank before the Lord with great gladness on that day and they made Solomon, the son of David, King, the second time and anointed him before the Lord to be leader and Zadok to be the priest. The second time. This is sort of like the second coming of Solomon. What does this mean the second time? The first time they did it in secret if you remember we read it a few weeks ago, Adam and I, one of David's sons says, I'm the next king and he went down to one of the streams outside Jerusalem and got a little group of people and staged a revolt. He wanted to take the kingdom. David found out from Bathsheba and from Nathan the prophet and said, no wait a minute, I thought the

51:05Lord said that Solomon was the next king, David said he is the next king. So they took him down to the Gehon spring in a private ceremony and coordinated him. This now is the public coronation. That's the second time. Now let me take it down to verse 26 of chapter 29. This is the summary of David's reign. Verse 26, thus David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel and the period that he reigned over Israel was 40 years, seven years he reigned in Hebron, 33 years he reigned in Jerusalem. So he died in a good old age. Please mark that. I'm going to tell you why that's a little weird. He died at a good old age, full of days and riches and honor and Solomon as son reigned in his place. David died at age 70. Uh oh, I'm looking at that going really. Good old age. What happened to like guys like Abraham or Mathuzel 70 years old?

52:16I can't explain it except David lived a hard life man and sin will do that and fighting will do that. And he probably looked older than he actually was. He was frail. The Bible tells us in his old age, but it is remarkable that he died at age 70 and it says a good old age. Maybe that's supposed to a bad old age. Let's just leave it at that. So it says verse 29, now the acts of King David, first and last, indeed they are written in the book of Samuel the seer. It's an old name for a prophet in the book of Nathan the prophet and the book of Gad the seer with all his reign and his might and the events of that happened to him to Israel and to all the kingdoms of the lands. So the entire book of first chronicles has as its human focus, King David,

53:16has as his overarching focus the kingdom. It's about the king and the kingdom. It's a kingdom theme and the book ends on a positive note. The book ends with a peaceful reign of King David and now King Solomon. Things were good and it's probably a good place to end the book. It's sort of like a they lived happily forever after moment. It won't last that way, but it is that way for now. It's a good time and the kingdom is expanding and there's peace in the land. And I'm saying all that because I want to end on this note. What you are reading about in the establishment of the United Kingdom under David and then Solomon is a preview of coming attractions. And when I mean preview of coming attractions, I'm specifically referring to the very end of the book, the end of the Bible, the book of Revelation. I'm going to read just a couple of verses to you as we close. This is Revelation chapter 20. This is after the tribulation period, after hell on earth,

54:20after people think there's no hope, but then it says chapter 20 Revelation, then I saw an angel coming down from heaven having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of that dragon, the serpent of old, who was the devil and Satan and bound him for a thousand years, hallelujah, and cast him into the bottomless pit and shut him up, yes, and set a seal on him so that he should deceive the nations no more until the thousand years were finished. But after these things, he must be released for a little while, most troubling verse in the Bible. Then I saw thrones and they sat on them and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the Word of God who had not worshiped the beast or his image had not received his mark on their foreheads and on their hands, and they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again

55:23until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years. Now over and over again is this phrase in this section of the Bible, thousand years, thousand years, a thousand years. That's called the millennium. And sometimes people ask me because I believe in a literal millennium, some people make it figurative. Well, it's not really a literal thing. It's just sort of a figure of speech. Well, if a thousand years doesn't mean a thousand years, then what does it mean? And then you have to ask yourself, what does three days and three nights mean? Maybe that's not literal either. Every time you have a number seven or 144,000, if that's not 144,000, but it means something else, now it's up to you to tell me what it means. So I believe there will be a literal one thousand years of peace on earth called a millennium. Why? What's the point? Why the need people ask for an earthly kingdom? Why not just, you know, pass, go, do not

56:29collect 200 dollars, go directly to heaven, the eternal state. Why, why heaven on earth? Why not just go directly to the eternal state? Let me tell you why really quickly. Number one, the millennium is needed to redeem creation from the curse. A curse was placed on creation in the Garden of Eden. It's been that way since the fall. It's always been on it. It's not been removed. Then there's the tribulation period where it's the environmentalist's worst nightmare because God Himself, the creator, will trash the earth and judge people upon the earth. The one thousand year millennium is God's answer to the prayer of all the saints of all the ages who prayed this, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We need the millennium as an answer to the curse. There's the second reason. And here's to the book of First Chronicles. The millennium is needed to fulfill all of God's

57:34promises to the nation of Israel. God promised a kingdom to David, 2 Samuel 7, First Chronicle 17. He confirmed it with an oath, Psalm 89. The kingdom was predicted by the prophets virtually all the prophets announced a coming kingdom, not one of them missed it. God promised that the kingdom would be earthly as well as eternal. The millennium is that phase one fulfillment of the promise is an earthly kingdom of peace for a thousand years followed by the eternal state with the new Jerusalem. So that's phase two to the promise of Israel. That's why the capital city isn't new Santa Fe. It's new Jerusalem. It has Jewish roots, Jewish origin. So Jesus will reign from Mount Zion for a thousand years. When the thousand years is over, the renewed millennial earth will be destroyed. The Bible says, and God makes a new

58:36heaven and a new earth. And that's called the eternal state. New heaven, new earth, and a new capital city, new Jerusalem, which hovers like a planet, like a moon. In fact, it's roughly the same size, surface of the moon, that hovers around the new earth. A lot of fun to read and study about it. All of that to say, as we close, this is why evangelical Christians support the state of Israel presently in the Middle East. If you ever wonder, why are evangelicals talking about who cares about the embassy in Jerusalem and the rights of Israel? We support Israel not because Israel politically is amazing or perfect because they have a lot going wrong. We support Israel because of the covenant that God made with Abraham and the covenant that God made with David and the covenant that will be fulfilled when the Messiah comes to rule and reign for a thousand years over a millennial kingdom in Jerusalem, from Jerusalem, from Mount Zion, and then eternally in the eternal state. That's

59:39why. And that's why we are pro-Israel. And I've always loved the poem and I'll close with this. I think it was by Michael David Ewer who put it this way. I love it. How odd of God to choose the Jews. But not so odd as those who choose the Jewish God, but not the Jews. You understand that God's promise of a Messiah required the existence of a nation and the continuance of that nation. So if you could destroy that nation, you will thwart God's plan. That's the war that goes on throughout the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. That's what the holocaust is all about. That's what the babies and Bethlehem are all about. That's what happened with Pharaoh killing the Hebrew babies. It's all about that war because God required a nation to exist. And I've said we're over timeless pray.

1:00:40Father, thank you for this time that we spent together in this book talking about your covenant with your people that will be fulfilled in Jesus ultimately. It's in his name we pray. Amen. We hope you enjoyed this message from Skip Heitzich of Calvary Church. For more resources visit calvarynm.church. Thank you for joining us for this teaching from the Bible from 30,000 feet.