I have been reading through the Chronicles lately. Yeah, I know... But as I have been working, more like plowing, through the lists of names and chronologies, and David's mighty men, I was struck with some verses in 1 Chronicles 12.
And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their commandment. Of Zebulun, such as went forth to battle, expert in war, with all instruments of war, fifty thousand, which could keep rank: they were not of double heart.
1 Chronicles 12:32-33
Notice those words, understanding of the times, to
know what Israel ought to do.I especially love the next verse, they were not of double heart.
These men, simply leaders of their people, no mention of names, but they new the times in which they lived. Their hearts were not duplicitous.
Obviously (but perhaps not to some) the context is that of establishing David as king after the death of Saul. David did not just assume the support of the people. They had loved Saul, been loyal to Saul, had followed him even at great peril to their own lives. They had established Saul as king. Now, here is David. Some had run immediately to crown him. Saul's descendants had been obviously less forth coming. But we find it took nearly eight years before all of Israel rallied around David.
But these men, these ones who understood the times and had hearts ready for submission saw in David the leader that needed to rule, the one that God had ordained.
Where am I going with this? I see so many times the need for our people today to be ones who "understand the times" in which we live. We have our systems of loyalty and yet we have become more stubborn in areas that perhaps God is ready to move on or allow for a new direction.
I look at people following man and they become disillusioned with the person instead of beholding where they are in time and events of life. Pastors rise for the occasion and if we are not careful we begin to grow more enamored with the charisma or the personality of that man instead of allowing the greatness of God to work through him.
We can grow enamored with a stand on some issue because it meant something different in the 60's and 70's but today that position is mute because either the medium has changed or the association surrounding it has changed. However, we will still refuse to have any connotation or context associating our lives to it because of a previous need to stand firm against something that resembled it in the past.
I know I am speaking in vague terms, but of course, I have things in my mind that I see as being a totally different issue today than it was 20-30 years ago. If we don't start understanding the times in which we live and get our hearts in tune with the current trends and directions our people are facing, we are going to continue to prove to our audiences that the Bible is irrelevant and insufficient to deal with 21st Century living. How sad that is!Saul is dead! David is ready to assume the throne. Let's move on already. Come out of hiding, accept the vision and leadership God has given us and let's go face the enemy in power and with God's present, ordained, and appropriate strategies. Remember, David was a man after God's own heart. He was not going to lead them contrary to God's vision and leading, but it would be different than how Saul led them. Have understanding appropriate for the day in which you live.
Understanding the times and like we find in Esther, "for such a time as this."
It's time for some things to change in order to reveal the changeless truth of God's Word to a different world from the one we went to sleep in last night and the one we woke up to today.
