Gary Gleans

We are used to the Bible presenting its characters with all of their defects clearly reveled.  The book of First Chronicles is clearly and exception to this tendency.  Here we have much of the story of David as recounted in Samuel and Kings, but this time it is presented without making mention of David’s major failures and challenges.  The reason for this may simply be found in the fact that this account was recorded about the time that the children of Israel were returning from Exile under the leadership of Nehemiah and Ezra.  The fact of disobedience and the results of idolatry had been clearly experienced by these original readers.  They needed a history that inspired hope for the future not an explanation of the exile of the past.  David’s failures and heartaches had been clearly recorded already; there was little need to repeat them all here.  Ezra is more than likely the author of this book and He wants to make sure his readers understand the ri...

Transition can be a good thing or a bad thing but it is always a little bit scary.  The book of 2 Kings recounts the story of several transitions that take place in the history of the nation of Israel.  We see God transition from one prophet to another and then we see the nations of Israel and Judah transitioning from liberty to captivity due to their rebellion against God.  There is a strong contrast between the first part of the book where God demonstrates His power through the ministry of Elisha and the second part of the book where God demonstrates His wrath against the rebellion of the idolatrous kings of Israel.  People often talk about a life of sin as being liberating; nothing could be further from the truth.  It is very clear that sinfulness leads to captivity and that true liberty can only be found in obedience to the Lord.  God is the only truly free Being in the universe and He longs to share that freedom with us. Satan is a slave to sin and wa...

When we fail to pay attention to the warnings of God we are setting ourselves up for disaster.  God had used Moses to warn the nation of Israel about the consequences of co-habiting with the nations of Cannon and the inevitable idolatry that would follow.  God had used Samuel to warn the people of the consequences of looking to human leadership in the form of a king instead of submitting to God as their King.  Israel’s failure to heed these warnings and the ensuing consequences is on full display in the book of Kings.  The book starts out on a high note with the transition from David to Solomon and the construction and dedication of the temple.  However, by the end of Solomon’s reign idolatry begins to take over and with very few exceptions idolatry is the mark of the rulers in Israel.  The book ends with Elijah’s confrontation of Ahab and the multiple prophets of Baal.  God is faithful throughout the history of the nation to discipline His children a...

David’s life and reign is an example of how sin ruins lives and destroys potential.  If we were to compare the sins of Saul with the sins of David; we would surely come to the conclusion that David’s sins were far more serious.  However, the greatest difference between the two was how they responded to their sin when confronted.  When Samuel confronted Saul, he was full of excuses and tried to justify himself.  When Nathan confronted David, he was full of repentance and humbled himself before the Lord.  David’s life is also an example that sin, even though forgiven, still has consequences.  David repented of his sin and God forgave him but David’s life from that point forward was not the same.  He suffered great heartache and shame but he did continue to trust and worship the Lord through all of the twists and trials of his life.  The life of David should motivate us to avoid sin in our lives; but it should also encourage us to repent when we fal...

First Samuel records the transition from the period of the judges who ruled over Israel to a monarchy.  It’s a book that describes the lives of several different leaders and illustrates the benefits of good leadership as well as the dangers of poor leadership.  We can also see the impact of being negligent with our families on a nation as well as our reputation.  When leaders trust the Lord and live in obedience to Him; the nation is blessed and there is great growth in the land.  By the same token, when leaders become proud, neglect or manipulate their children and rebel against the Lord; the nation is thrown into chaos and the leader suffers greatly as well.  I find it ironic that the worst leader in this book was Saul and yet his children are the most admirable.  Jonathan had the character to have been a great king, but lost that opportunity because of Saul’s disobedience and poor leadership.  Samuel and David were great leaders but neglected their...