Ironworks

“And Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel. And David said to Joab and to the princes of the people, Go, number Israel from Beer-sheba even to Dan; and bring me word, that I may know the sum of them.” 1 Chron 21:1-2 This week marks the end of our series over sins of pride. I felt it necessary to speak about one example of pride in our Bibles to show how our pride affects others. 1 Chronicles 21 gives us the account of when Satan influenced David to number Israel. From the account, we read we can safely ascertain that pride was the chief influence.  David had plenty of experience that would help him to steer clear of the temptation of pride. In 1 Samuel 31, the Philistines killed King Saul, but 1 Chron 10:14 indicates that it was Jehovah who slew Saul. How and why did God slay Saul? He made the determination to remove His anointing and hedge of protection because Saul had trespassed against Him (cf 10:13). On another occasion, David had been witness to ...

    Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because the Lord loved Israel forever, therefore made he thee king, to do judgment and justice. 1 Kings 10: 9 "Your reputation precedes you." This is a common phrase when we meet someone for the first time. It is often said out of respect or to simply compliment a stranger.  When the Queen of Sheba came to visit King Solomon, she came due to what she had heard of his reputation. The word had traveled down from Israel in Ethiopia in Eastern Africa that Solomon was very wise. It was of such great interest that the Queen of Sheba just had to go and investigate this wise king. When this distant queen arrived and witnessed what she heard, she declared,  “ It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and thy wisdom” (cf. 1 Kings 10:6).  We can learn from the wisdom of King Solomon. The Queen recognized that there was something remarkable in Israel, and, w...