WWUTT 604 David's Crowning Achievements?

Though God was not going to permit David to build His temple, He did make a covenant promise with David, that on His throne

He would establish His kingdom forever, a promise that was pointing to the coming of Christ when we understand the text.

This is when we understand the text studying God's word to reach all the riches of full assurance in Christ.

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Pastor Gabe Hughes. Thank you Becky. We continue with our study of the book of 1 Chronicles up to chapter 18 today.

This is following the covenant that God made with David in chapter 17. David wanted to build a house to the

Lord's name. He wanted to build God's temple, but God would not allow him to do that.

David was a king of war. He conquered many enemies during his reign and so there was blood on his hands.

This was all in obedience to God, but it was still not going to be David's place to build the temple.

That needed to be done during a time of peace and it was going to be David's son Solomon that would be given that honor.

However, God made a covenant with David and said that on His throne, on the throne of David, the

Lord would establish His kingdom forever. We know from the Davidic covenant that this was foreshadowing concerning Christ.

This was a prophecy about the coming of Jesus who would be born in the line of David.

Jesus who is eternal and would usher in His heavenly kingdom, it would be on the throne of Christ that we would have this eternal kingdom, the fulfillment of the

Davidic covenant. So we know that's what this is ultimately pointing to. But 1 and 2

Chronicles were written during a time in which the Israelites had returned from Babylonian captivity and were reflecting on all of the things that led them to where they were at the present.

So they came back to their homeland. They came back to Jerusalem and rebuilt its walls. They rebuilt the temple after it had been destroyed by their enemies.

And now they're thinking about, OK, how did we get here? Well, they were given the promised land after the promise that God made with Abraham, God's covenant promise with Abraham.

And so they received the land that God promised Abraham's descendants would receive.

But they did not obey the Lord. They worshiped the false gods of the pagans that were around them.

The Lord was very patient with them. It took hundreds of years until finally God lifted his hand of protection from his people and they were conquered by their enemies.

And they thought while they were in exile that they were undone. This was it. They were going to be destroyed. This was how

God was going to annihilate them because of their disobedience. But through the prophets, God promised that he would not destroy them, but he would deliver them and they would be allowed to return to their homeland.

Prophets like Jeremiah and and Daniel. However, the shepherds, the false teachers,

I should say the false shepherds would not be allowed to return. They would be destroyed during that time of captivity.

And men like Isaiah and Ezekiel reference that in particular. So as the people are kind of looking back on the series of events, and they've come back to Jerusalem, they're kind of asking themselves, why were we delivered?

Why were we not destroyed when that was what we deserved? And the answer is because God is faithful to his promises.

He is faithful to the promise that he made with David. And they're still looking for this king upon whose throne the kingdom of God is going to be established forever.

When Matthew wrote his gospel, he meant for the readers of that gospel to notice that Christ is the fulfillment of that Davidic covenant.

What's the first words that we see Jesus say in the book of Matthew concerning his ministry when he met

John the Baptist at the River Jordan and was baptized and then went into the desert and he had that exchange with Satan.

There were words that were shared by Christ there that were recorded in the gospel of Matthew. But the first words that Christ preached were these repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

It was as if Christ was proclaiming, I am here. I am the coming of the promised one, the one who was going to establish the kingdom of God on the throne of David forever.

So this was Jesus announcing that he was the fulfillment of this Davidic covenant.

And so this covenant is central to first and second chronicles. It also becomes central to the rest of the story that's being told from here all the way up to the book of Matthew.

We're looking for the savior. Now, Israel didn't quite understand the savior the way that we understand him.

Now, those of us who have been redeemed by Christ and we know his word, they were looking for a literal king who was going to sit on a literal throne and deliver his literal people from their literal enemies, which at the time that Christ came would have been the

Romans. But this was not pointing to an earthly kingdom that was going to be reestablished, rather a heavenly one.

And so that is what we as Christians, that is what we are even looking forward to. Now, even though David was not going to be permitted to build the temple of God and we have this giving of the covenant there in chapter 17 from here on through the rest of first chronicles, what we have is the stage being set for Solomon to build the temple.

So God's covenant with David. And now we're kind of shifting gears and we're moving the story in the direction of David even acquiring the land where the temple is going to be constructed and all of this.

So here's where we go in chapter 18. After this, David defeated the Philistines and subdued them.

He took Gath and its villages out of the hand of the Philistines. Gath, if you'll remember, is the place where Goliath was from.

And he defeated Moab and the Moabites became servants to David and brought tribute. David also defeated

Hadadezer, king of Zobah, Hamath, as he went to set up his monument at the river Euphrates.

And David took from him a thousand chariots, 7 ,000 horsemen, 20 ,000 foot soldiers. And David hamstrung all the chariot horses, but left enough for a hundred chariots.

And when the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer, king of Zobah, David struck down 22 ,000 men of the

Syrians. Then David put garrisons in Syria and Syria of Damascus.

And the Syrians became servants to David and brought tribute. And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went.

And David took the shields of gold that were carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem.

And from Tibhath and from Kun, cities of Hadadezer, David took a large amount of bronze.

With it, Solomon made the bronze sea and the pillars and the vessels of bronze. So see, even here we have foreshadowing.

Here it is under the assumption, as the people are reading through 1st and 2nd Chronicles, that we've already gone through the first temple period.

We're remembering the things that were constructed by Solomon there in the temple. And here the chronicler is pointing out where David acquired all of that bronze that Solomon would end up using.

So then verse 9, when Tau, king of Hamath, heard that David had defeated the whole army of Hadadezer, king of Zobah, he sent his son

Haderim to King David to ask about his health and to bless him because he had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him.

For Hadadezer had often been at war with Tau, and he sent all sorts of articles of gold, of silver, and of bronze.

These also King David dedicated to the Lord together with the silver and gold that he carried off from all the nations, from Edom, Moab, and the

Ammonites, the Philistines, and Amalek. And Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, killed 18 ,000

Edomites in the Valley of Salt. Then he put garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became David's servants.

And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went. So David reigned over all Israel, and he administered justice and equity to all his people.

And Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was over the army. And Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, was recorder.

And Zadok, the son of Ahitab and Ahimelech, the son of Abiathar, were priests. And Shavsha, the secretary, and Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, was over the

Cherethites and the Pelethites. And David's sons were the chief officials in the service of the king.

So this is not only showing us how David acquired all of the wealth and the precious materials that Solomon would use in the construction of the temple, but it's also talking about how

David came about a period of peace that would allow Solomon to build the temple. David conquering his enemies and then making peace with those who would not come to war against David.

And so that's chapter 18. We're moving into the next segment of the story here where the stage is being set for the construction of the temple.

So we've got all three of the main themes of 1 and 2

Chronicles at play here. The Davidic covenant, the people of God, and the construction of the temple.

So chapter 19. Now, after this, Nahash, the king of the Ammonites, died and his son reigned in his place.

And David said, I will deal kindly with Hanun, the son of Nahash, for his father dealt kindly with me.

So David sent messengers to console him concerning his father. And David's servants came to the land of the

Ammonites to Hanun to console him. But the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun, do you think because David has sent comforters to you that he is honoring your father?

Have not his servants come to you to search and overthrow and to spy out the land?

So Hanun took David's servants and shaved them and cut off their garments in the middle at their hips and sent them away.

And they departed. When David was told concerning the men, he sent messengers to meet them, for the men were greatly ashamed.

And the king said, remain at Jericho until your beards have grown, and then you may return. We read about this story, by the way, in 2

Samuel also. When the Ammonites saw that they had become a stench to David, Hanun and the

Ammonites sent a thousand talents of silver to hire chariots and horsemen from Mesopotamia, from Aram Mayaka and from Zobah.

They had hired 32 ,000 chariots and the king of Mayaka with his army, who came and encamped before Medeba.

And the Ammonites were mustered from their cities and came to battle. When David heard of it, he sent

Joab and all the army of the mighty men. And the Ammonites came out and drew up in battle array at the entrance of the city.

And the kings who had come were by themselves in the open country. When Joab saw that the battle was set against him both in front and in the rear, he chose some of the best men of Israel and arrayed them against the

Syrians. The rest of his men he put in the charge of Abishai, his brother, and they were arrayed against the

Ammonites. And he said, if the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me.

But if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will help you. Be strong and let us use our strength for our people and for the cities of our

God. And may the Lord do what seems good to him. That is a great way to approach anything, right?

That it would all be to the glory of God. We are going to do what we know that we need to do in obedience to God and let

God be the judge as to whether or not we will be successful. Let him do what seems pleasing to him to do.

Whatever you do, do it to the glory of God and let him do what pleases him.

That should be our approach to just about anything. We're probably not going to find ourselves in battle against an enemy, as we see the mighty men of David doing here.

But no matter what it is that we set ourselves toward, whether it is a job that you have to do, it could be your regular job, whether it is serving in your family, whether it's moving.

Maybe God is moving you from here to another location, or maybe you have to make a decision that's going to lead to some sort of massive change that will happen in your life and in your family's life.

Whatever it is that you must do as you continue to live life obediently, do it unto the glory of God.

And whatever happens, whether good or bad, it's going to be to the glory of his great name.

So continue to praise the name of the Lord. And he is faithful to his promises, as we've talked about, to deliver you into his heavenly kingdom if you have faith in Jesus Christ.

Verse 14. So Joab and the people who were with him drew near before the Syrians for battle, and they fled before him.

And when the Ammonites saw that the Syrians fled, they likewise fled before Abishai, Joab's brother, and entered the city.

Then Joab came to Jerusalem. But when the Syrians saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they sent messengers and brought out the

Syrians, who were beyond the Euphrates, with Shopak, the commander of the army of Hadadezer at their head.

And when it was told to David, he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan and came to them and drew up his forces against them.

And when David set the battle in array against the Syrians, they fought with him. And the Syrians fled before Israel, and David killed of the

Syrians the men of 7 ,000 chariots and 40 ,000 foot soldiers, and put to death also

Shopak, the commander of their army. And when the servants of Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with David and became subject to him.

So the Syrians were not willing to save the Ammonites anymore. This is also showing how the kingdom of Israel was becoming mighty in all of the earth.

At the time that Solomon would reign, it would be one of the most powerful kingdoms and perhaps the most prosperous empire on the planet.

So here we are into chapter 20. In the spring of that year, the time when kings go out to battle,

Joab led out the army and ravaged the country of the Ammonites and came and besieged Rabbah.

But David remained at Jerusalem, and Joab struck down Rabbah and overthrew it. And David took the crown of their king from his head.

He found that it weighed a talent of gold, and in it was a precious stone. And it was placed on David's head.

And he brought out the spoil of the city a very great amount. And he brought out the people who were in it and set them to labor with saws and iron picks and axes.

And thus David did to all the cities of the Ammonites. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

So this concept of a king wearing a crown, you notice that after David conquered this people that he took the crown off of that king's head and he placed it on his own head.

Did David not have a crown? No, he probably didn't. The whole idea of wearing a crown is to produce kind of a halo effect.

It was to show the glory of the king as the head over all of the people that are under him.

There were other ways in which crowns were worn in Israel, even though the king did not wear one.

The priest in the temple had a crown. It wasn't quite like a crown like you would expect a king to wear, but it was a gold band that was at the base of the turban that the priest wore in the service of the temple.

So there's kind of a gold band and then like the white puffy part on top. That's what the the hat of the priest would have looked like.

And it has kind of a halo effect. It's supposed to be a display of holiness. And so this was the case with this particular king that David conquered.

This man wore a gold crown with a particular jewel in it. And then when David defeated that people and took the king's crown from him and wore it himself, it was really to mock those enemies that he had conquered.

It was to show them, hey, look, I'm greater than your king. You probably fancied your king a god.

Well, I've conquered him and now I'm wearing his crown. So that was that was probably why David took the crown and wore it himself.

It was in mockery over his enemies to show that God had given those enemies over into his hand.

You know, the Bible tells us that if we remain faithful to the Lord unto death and we conquer that we likewise will be given crowns.

We are heirs of the eternal kingdom of Jesus Christ. We will reign with him forever.

And in Revelation 2 10, Jesus says, do not fear what you are about to suffer.

So as I just mentioned, whether you go through something good or you go through something bad, give glory to the great name of the

Lord. Jesus said, don't fear what you're about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you in prison that you may be tested.

And for 10 days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of life.

That's Revelation 2 10. Next chapter 3 11. I am coming soon. Hold fast to what you have so that no one may seize your crown.

And then in chapter 4, when John has his next vision of heaven, he sees the 24 elders that are gathered around the throne.

They are clothed in white garments, showing that they have been washed clean of their sins and they're wearing golden crowns on their heads.

They have received the inheritance as recipients of the kingdom of God that has been promised to them.

And then they take their crowns, chapter 4, verse 10, and they cast them at the throne around which they are worshipping.

To show that these crowns have been given to them to give or honor and glory to God.

It is not honor and glory for themselves. But even those crowns that have been given is to give credit and praise and glory to God all the more.

And so you can expect that David was wearing this crown for that same purpose. It was to give glory to God and to show that he had prevailed over his enemies.

So we continue on here in verse four. And after this, there arose war with the

Philistines at Gezer. Then Sebuchai the Hushethite struck down Sippai, who was one of the descendants of the giants, and the

Philistines were subdued. And there was again war with the Philistines. And Elhanan, the son of Jair, struck down Lami, the brother of Goliath the

Gittite, the shaft of whose spear with light was like a weaver's beam. Yep, same Goliath we read about in Second Samuel.

And there was again war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, 24 in number.

And he also was descended from the giants. And when he taunted Israel, Jonathan, the son of Shimea, David's brother, struck him down.

These were descended from the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.

Now, notice that these giant men that are mentioned here, none of whom are Goliath. It's just saying some of them were related to Goliath, and they fought them again at Gath.

Goliath wasn't unique. He wasn't the only one. There were other great warriors among the Philistines who were likewise tall, just maybe not any that were over nine feet tall as Goliath was.

So here we see David's successes, the blessing of the Lord upon David, fulfilling the promise that God had made with David in chapter 17.

All of this is kind of flowing from that covenant promise that God had made with his servant, leading to the building of the temple and ultimately leading to the coming of Jesus Christ, King of kings and Lord of lords.

He would be born in a line of royalty descended from David. He would come not to be served, but to serve and to lay his life down as a ransom for many.

Jesus ascended back into heaven after he died, rose again. He ascended to where he is seated at the right hand of God, the father, and he is coming again to usher in his peaceful kingdom.

And when he returns the next time, it will be as a conquering king. Victory is already on his side.

So turn from your sin and worship him. And you will likewise be delivered into that glorious kingdom and be saved from God's wrath when it comes to judge the living and the dead.

Let us pray. Our Lord God, we thank you for the promises that you have given us in your word.

And if we are believers in Christ, if we have faith in Jesus, we are sealed by your spirit for that day of glory.

We have this promise that's given to us as we can look through the scriptures and see that you have been faithful to fulfill your promises.

We know that you are faithful to this promise even now, and no one will be snatched out of your hand.

Help us to endure. Give us the strength to persevere and give us a comfort in our spirits and a rejoicing in our hearts that we may give glory to you for all things.

Whether we go through something that's quite pleasurable or we go through something that is distressing, we know that you are working all things together for good for those who love

God and are called according to your purpose. In the great name of Jesus, our

Lord, we pray. Amen. Join us again tomorrow as we grow together in the study of God's word when we understand the text.