Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - How to Live in Exile | The Writings | 1 Chronicles 11

Episode Date: March 1, 2024

One thing that you can the people in 1 Chronicles 11 have in common is a life in exile. So, how does God want us to act during this time? In today's episode, Jeff shares the importance of staying united in Jesus throughout exile. Read the Bible with us in 2024! This year, we’re tackling a group of Old Testament books traditionally known as “The Writings”— Psalms, Chronicles, Proverbs, Daniel, Ruth and more! Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter@TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: 1 Chronicles 11

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Jeff Parrott. Nearly 1,000 years ago, one of the most famous battles in history was decided when people scattered. The year was 1066 when the legendary Battle of Hastings took place, a battle that determined a vast portion of England's history. In the end, Harold II and his English troops were famously defeated by William and his Norman forces. Well, there are many different factors at play in England's defeat. One of the elements that tends to stand out is the breakdown of England's famous shield wall. The shield wall was a strategic formation in which the unity of the group with their king was the greatest asset in battle. The

combination of united shields and weaponry was more powerful than the sum of the troops when they were scattered apart. In the Battle of Hastings, the Normans used some clever tactics, to draw the English troops out of their shield wall, their greatest strength, away from one another and away from their king. When that happened, the Norman cavalry obliterated the English troops. When they were united with their king, the English were secure. But when they scattered and left their king and left one another,

they became vulnerable and were ultimately destroyed. A friend of mine told me about this breakdown of the famous shield wall in the Battle of Hastings. Thank you, Henry. And it reminded me of why 1st Corinthians 11 is such an important message to the people of God living in exile. In a time of exile, it's tempting to get comfortable with division, to stay scattered and try to survive on our own. It's also tempting an exile to leave the king and offer our trust and loyalty to other figures. But First Chronicles 11 reminds us to stay together, stay united with God. King Jesus. Let's pray as we prepare for Scripture to encounter us in our time together.

Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of life and breath and for your word. Jesus, help us abide in you as we engage with your truth. Holy Spirit, we ask you to move in and through this time in First Chronicles 11. As we read these words, let these words read us and restore us in Jesus' name. Amen. The first three verses in First Chronicles 11 direct our attention to David's anointing as king. Let's pick up in verse one. All Israel came together to David at Hebron and said,

We are your own flesh and blood. In the past, even while Saul was king, you were the one who led Israel on their military campaigns. And the Lord your God said to you, You will shepherd my people Israel and you will become their ruler. When all the elders of Israel had come to King David at Hebron, he made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel, as the Lord had promised through Samuel. Let's start by noticing some repetition that provides emphasis in this passage. In verse 1, we read that all Israel came to David.

Verse 3 tells us that all the elders of Israel were present at his anointing. Now, this would have really stood out to God's people living in Babylonian. exile. Why? Because the idea of all Israel and their day was just that. An idea from long ago that would have seemed unlikely, if not downright, impossible while living under the authority of foreign empires. At this point in redemptive history, the Israelites are scattered both physically and psychologically. They're living apart in distinct locations with different tribal identities, and yet here, they're reading and hearing in First Chronicles 11 about a united life together, a unified identity as God's people. This is God's way of saying, don't forget that

you're meant to be together, that you're part of my family, my kingdom, my mission, together. This must have been such a mind-blowing thing to hear while living in exile to remember that all Israel came before King David, not just my tribe, not just the people that looked or talked like me or had my priorities. Amidst all of their differences, they all came to David and said to him, we are your own flesh and blood. Words like this create a staggering reorientation regarding the way that we see others in the community of faith, especially when we're inclined to remain scattered and divided. These verses, they also highlight the difference between uniformity and unity. The people of God here in First Chronicles 11, they are not uniform. They're different in so many

ways. And yet, their lack of uniformity only amplifies the beauty of their unity. They are so different from one another, yet they are united around their king and they are flesh and blood. Take some time to pause and reflect on specific people or maybe groups of people that you tend to keep in the scattered or divided category of your life? Who are you prone to exclude from your roster of the community of faith, whether it's explicitly with your words or actions, or maybe in a more covert way, with judgmental thoughts? Who do you treat as a foreigner, as an outcast,

when in reality, your flesh and blood in Christ? In exile, it's tempting to scatter, but First Chronicles 11 reminds us that were meant to be united by our loyalty and trust in the king. Now, it would be easy to keep going into the rest of this chapter, but I want to slow down and recognize the kind of king that creates this unity amongst God's diverse people. Because the reorientation here isn't just with respect to other people,

but with God himself in an ultimate way. Look at verse 2, where the Lord tells David, you will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler. Notice these two identities that the king embodies, shepherd and ruler. These are two roles that King David embodied when he ruled well. They're two roles that ultimately point us to King Jesus. And it's important that both of these portraits of the king are kept in view

because our tendency is to embrace one at the expense of the other. So some of us are inclined to see Jesus primarily or maybe exclusively as our shepherd, as our comforter who's with us in the value of the shadow of death. And that is so true and so good, yet we can't forget that he's also our ruler, who deserves our loyalty in all of life, with my time, my words, my possessions, my sexuality, my job, all of it. Others of us see Jesus as our ruler

and rightly recognize the ways that we need to repent and turn to him and live differently in his kingdom. Yet when Jesus is emphasized as ruler at the expense, of his role as our shepherd, were left without the real Jesus, who is gentle and lonely, who loves those who are weary and heavy burdened. Which are those portraits of the king do you tend to emphasize? How can that for you, at times, make you vulnerable to missing the other truths about who Jesus is? How does that perhaps fuel your tendency to divide from other people in the church?

Because Jesus is the ruling king, he deserves our full trust and and loyalty for his ultimate glory. Because Jesus is the shepherding king, we know that our loyalty to him will be for his glory and for our ultimate good. Verses four through nine tell us about David conquering Jerusalem, building it up and growing in power.

I want to just emphasize verse 9 as it relates to the themes of unity with the king and trust in the king. Says this, And David became more and more powerful because the Lord Almighty was with him. Now the word because here really matters, as it always does when we're studying the Bible. The chronicler is drawing our attention and the attention of the exiled people of God

to the fact that David's success and power only come from the presence of the Lord Almighty. It's a way of saying this, don't be fooled by power plays or offers of hope that aren't rooted in a deep dependence on God. Don't fall for a version of the good life or a promised golden age that come apart from reliance. on the presence of the Lord Almighty. God's kingdom will come God's way, in God's timing. Trust in Him together. Versus 10 through 47, explore the mighty men who join David and exemplify unity and loyalty to the king.

We won't get into the details of those verses, but it's worth noting how that entire passage on the mighty men of David emphasizes the foundational hope of God's promises. So verse 10 says that the extension of David's kingdom happens as the Lord had promised. That goes the same phrase from verse three and David's anointing. So even when these impressive figures among David's mighty men are portrayed, they aren't the main character or the anchor of hope. Only God is. There's so much in First Chronicles 11 that point ahead to the way the earliest followers of Jesus saw themselves as people united in Christ together. If you have some time and you want to explore that theme a bit more, I encourage you to spend some time studying Ephesians

maybe pick up in verse 11 through 22 as a starting place. This chapter in First Chronicles not only causes us to look beyond David to Jesus, it also helps us look to the future realization of God's kingdom and the new heavens and new earth. Commentator Martin Selman masterfully comments on the way this impacts our lives today. He writes this, It remains the church's privilege and task to break down human barriers and to work towards the final gathering of a great multitude. from every nation, tribe, people, and language, to Jesus as king of kings and lord of lords.

He's citing Revelation 7 and chapter 19 in that quote. Selman goes on to say this, only then, in the New heavens and new earth, only then will chronicles hopes for the Davidic kingship be fully and finally transformed. That's such an awesome picture of the church, the mission for the church in exile. This chapter in the historical books helps us be present and faithful together in exile, but it also helps us look beyond exile to the day when we'll be together at home forever. In exile, it's convenient to abandon the unity of faith and compromise all loyalty to King Jesus as ruler and shepherd. But First Chronicles 11 says, don't scatter. Stay together. Stay united with your

trust in King Jesus. When we're with him together, we're secure. And when we're secure in him, we're able to be the faithful, loving people he's called us to be. Amen.