1 Chronicles 10:8

1 Chronicles 10:8 says, And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his sons fallen in mount Gilboa.  While the Philistines were stripping the bodies of the Israelites of everything of value, they came across the bodies of Saul and his sons.  For all his failures, Saul had been involved in the battle.  Even if we fail at times as Christians, we must always be willing to be engaged in the battle against sin and evil in the world, even if we die in the battle.  Verse nine adds, And when they had stripped him, they took his head, and his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to carry tidings unto their idols, and to the people.  After stripping Saul, the Philistines took his head and armor to be put on display in their land before their idols and people.  They saw the defeat of Saul as a defeat of God as well.  People who worship other gods still have this view today.  Verse ten continues, And they put his armour in the house of their gods, and fastened his head in the temple of Dagon.  They displayed Saul's armor in the house of their gods and fastened his head to the temple of their god Dagon.  Again, this was to show that their god was more powerful than Saul's God, but they were wrong, and so is anyone who claims some other god is more powerful than our God today if we are Christians.  Verse fourteen states, And when all Jabeshgilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul, Verse twelve adds, They arose, all the valiant men, and took away the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, and brought them to Jabesh, and buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.  When the men of Jabesh Gilead heard what had been done to Saul by the Philistines, we are told being men of valor that they took the bodies of Saul and his sons and buried them under the oak of Jabesh and fasted seven days.  If we hear of bad things being done to Christians today, we need to be people of valor and do all that we can under God's guidance and power to stop it.  Verse thirteen continues, So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the Lord, even against the word of the Lord, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it;  We are told that Saul died for his sins and for seeking guidance from an unfamiliar spirit, or a spirit not of God.  All sin will bring death a death penalty, but Jesus Christ paid the penalty for all sin for all time when He died on the cross, and through faith putting our faith in Him, we can avoid the penalty of death.  Verse fourteen concludes, And enquired not of the Lord: therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse.  We are also told that God was responsible for the death of Saul and not the Philistines.  It was actually Saul's refusal to follow God that led to his death, and if we refuse to accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, we will end up spiritually dead, forever separated from God.  God then turned the kingdom of Israel over to David, because Saul was not obedient to Him.  If God had called us for a purpose, we must look to Him for guidance in carrying it out.  Otherwise, He may give our role in His kingdom to someone else. 

1 Chronicles 10:1

1 Chronicles 10:1 says, Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa.  It seems that the Philistines were often at war with the people of Israel, and the people of Israel ran from them in fear.  As followers of Christ, we should never run away from evil in the world out of fear.  Verse two adds, And the Philistines followed hard after Saul, and after his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, the sons of Saul.  This was during Saul's reign and was when Jonathan and Saul's other sons were killed.  We aren't really given any information about Saul being king before this.  Still, if we don't run away in fear, and even though God will forever protect us spiritually, we may be defeated physically.  Verse three continues, And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him, and he was wounded of the archers.  We are told of Saul being wounded in battle.  Verse four states, Then said Saul to his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. So Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.  Saul asked his armor bearer to kill him so he wouldn't be captured and abused by the Philistines.  We are not told that he looked for God for deliverance, and this should always be our first action no matter how hopeless things might seem.  The armor bearer wouldn't do it out of fear, not of Saul but of others if they found out what he did I believe, so Saul killed himself.  We should never allow ourselves to get to the point where life seems so hopeless that we kill ourselves, but if we do, it is not an unpardonable sin in my opinion.  Verse five adds, And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise on the sword, and died.  Saul's armor bearer killed himself when he saw Saul was dead.  He may have thought he would be blamed and didn't want to face the consequences if he was.  We should never allow the death of another person to cause us to kill ourselves.  Verse six continues, So Saul died, and his three sons, and all his house died together.  We are told that Saul and all his house died together, but we know that one of Jonathan's sons lived.  Verse seven concludes, And when all the men of Israel that were in the valley saw that they fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, then they forsook their cities, and fled: and the Philistines came and dwelt in them.  When the people of Israel in the valley near Saul saw that Saul and his sons were dead, they fled, and the Philistines took over their cities.   We don't need to allow the defeat of others to cause us to abandon our faith in God and flee from those who oppose Him.  As long as we remain faithful, we are already victorious, so there is never a reason to run from evil in this world.

1 Chronicles 9:35

1 Chronicles 9:35 says, And in Gibeon dwelt the father of Gibeon, Jehiel, whose wife's name was Maachah:  Gibeon's father was said to live in the land of Gibeon.  This seems to be a strange statement that he lived in a land named for his son, but if this was written later, it might have been by then.  Matthew Henry says it could have been an error in transcription, but though a redundancy, for whatever reason it is stated this way, we just need to accept it by faith.  This is the family that Saul, the first king of Israel, would come from.  Verse thirty-six adds, And his firstborn son Abdon, then Zur, and Kish, and Baal, and Ner, and Nadab.  Verse thirty-seven continues,  And Gedor, and Ahio, and Zechariah, and Mikloth.  Verse thirty-eight concludes, And Mikloth begat Shimeam. And they also dwelt with their brethren at Jerusalem, over against their brethren.  Here, we are told that these descendants of Jehiel lived near Jerusalem.  Verse thirty-nine states, And Ner begat Kish; and Kish begat Saul; and Saul begat Jonathan, and Malchishua, and Abinadab, and Eshbaal.  We get to Saul, then follow with the sons of Jonathan and their children.  Verse forty adds, And the son of Jonathan was Meribbaal: and Meribbaal begat Micah.  Verse forty-one continues, And the sons of Micah were, Pithon, and Melech, and Tahrea, and Ahaz.  Verse forty-two says, And Ahaz begat Jarah; and Jarah begat Alemeth, and Azmaveth, and Zimri; and Zimri begat Moza;  Verse forty-three adds, And Moza begat Binea; and Rephaiah his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son.  Verse forty-four concludes, And Azel had six sons, whose names are these, Azrikam, Bocheru, and Ishmael, and Sheariah, and Obadiah, and Hanan: these were the sons of Azel.

1 Chronicles 9:27

1 Chronicles 9:27 says, And they lodged round about the house of God, because the charge was upon them, and the opening thereof every morning pertained to them.  The Levites lived near the house of God, because they were in charge of taking care of it.  As Christians, wherever we live should be God's house and we should take care of it and ensure that His word is always taught and lived by in our homes.  We need to be close to Him at all times and not just at a church building on Sundays.  Verse twenty-eight adds, And certain of them had the charge of the ministering vessels, that they should bring them in and out by tale.  They had different jobs in the tabernacle and then the temple.  The building wasn't important.  The fact that it was where God was seen as being was.  Since the Holy Spirit is with us at all times, the building that we gather in is not what is important.  The fact that we are with God is what matters.  Verse twenty-nine continues, Some of them also were appointed to oversee the vessels, and all the instruments of the sanctuary, and the fine flour, and the wine, and the oil, and the frankincense, and the spices.  These verses continue to describe different roles that the Levites had in the worship service.  Verse thirty states, And some of the sons of the priests made the ointment of the spices.  Verse thirty-one adds, And Mattithiah, one of the Levites, who was the firstborn of Shallum the Korahite, had the set office over the things that were made in the pans.  In this verse, we are given the name of one of the Levites and his particular role in the worship service.  We were not told all of the names of those who served, and whether the people of the world or even of the church as a whole, ever know our name or not, we are to serve God in whatever capacity He calls us to serve.  Verse thirty-two continues, And other of their brethren, of the sons of the Kohathites, were over the shewbread, to prepare it every sabbath.  Some were identified by who their father was but not by name.  Verse thirty-three says, And these are the singers, chief of the fathers of the Levites, who remaining in the chambers were free: for they were employed in that work day and night.  The work went on day and night and some of the people, the singers, lived in the chambers to so.  We should continually sing praises to God.  Verse thirty-four adds, These chief fathers of the Levites were chief throughout their generations; these dwelt at Jerusalem.  These were referred to as the chief fathers of the Levites throughout the generations and they lived in Jerusalem.  We need to stay near God in all that we do, whether we are among the chief people in worshipping and serving Him or not.

1 Chronicles 9:14

1 Chronicles 9:14 says, And of the Levites; Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, of the sons of Merari;  Once more the genealogy works backward. This continues in the next couple of verses.  Verse fifteen adds, And Bakbakkar, Heresh, and Galal, and Mattaniah the son of Micah, the son of Zichri, the son of Asaph;   Verse sixteen continues, And Obadiah the son of Shemaiah, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun, and Berechiah the son of Asa, the son of Elkanah, that dwelt in the villages of the Netophathites.  We have the added information in this verse that these people lived in the villages of the Netophathites.  This is a village in Judah about three miles from Jerusalem.  Verse seventeen states, And the porters were, Shallum, and Akkub, and Talmon, and Ahiman, and their brethren: Shallum was the chief;  Verse eight adds, Who hitherto waited in the king's gate eastward: they were porters in the companies of the children of Levi.   Then, we have a list of the porters, whom we are told waited in the king's gate facing east and were in the company of the children of Levi.  Verse nineteen adds, And Shallum the son of Kore, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah, and his brethren, of the house of his father, the Korahites, were over the work of the service, keepers of the gates of the tabernacle: and their fathers, being over the host of the Lord, were keepers of the entry.  The next group of sons were in charge of keeping the gates of the tabernacle, and we are told their fathers were keepers of the gates of the tabernacle.  Matthew Henry points out that since they had no temple again as yet that they had gone back to worshipping in a tabernacle.  Worshipping God should never be stopped simply because we have no building in which to worship.  Verse twenty continues, And Phinehas the son of Eleazar was the ruler over them in time past, and the Lord was with him.  Phinehas, the son od Eleazar had ruled over this group in the past, and God was with them.  The key to serving God, no matter who our parents were, is that God is with us.  Verse twenty-one states, And Zechariah the son of Meshelemiah was porter of the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.  We are told that Zechariah was the porter of the door of the tabernacle.  We all have a calling as followers of Christ, and no matter how important or unimportant it may be, we need do do it to the best of our ability.  Verse twenty-two adds, All these which were chosen to be porters in the gates were two hundred and twelve. These were reckoned by their genealogy in their villages, whom David and Samuel the seer did ordain in their set office.  There were two-hundred and twelve porters in all, based on their genealogy as had been set in order by David and Samuel, who is referred to as a seer.  We no longer have to look to our ancestors to see where we fit in the church, but need to simply rely on the calling of the Holy Spirit.  Verse twenty-three continues, So they and their children had the oversight of the gates of the house of the Lord, namely, the house of the tabernacle, by wards.  This verse repeats the fact that they had oversight of the gates of the house of the Lord.  Sometimes today, someone will want to control who can and cannot come into a church building to worship, but I believe God expects us to welcome everyone equally.  Verse twenty-four says, In four quarters were the porters, toward the east, west, north, and south.  There were porters in all four directions.  Verse twenty-five adds, And their brethren, which were in their villages, were to come after seven days from time to time with them.  They evidently served a week at a time and not all at once.  We cannot all serve in the same position at the same time, nor can we serve twenty-four hours a day, so we need to be organized in our work for God.  Verse twenty-six continues, For these Levites, the four chief porters, were in their set office, and were over the chambers and treasuries of the house of God.  The four chief porters were over the chambers and treasuries of the house of God.  We need people today to be responsible for the money brought into the church, and it needs to be used in accordance with God's leadership.

1 Chronicles 9:1

1 Chronicles 9:1 says, So all Israel were reckoned by genealogies; and, behold, they were written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah, who were carried away to Babylon for their transgression.  Matthew Henry says these genealogies so far had been given looking back at the people of Judah and Israel so the people would know who to put in various positions of service after the return from captivity in Babylon.  As Christians, we have all been captive to sin, and once we accept God's gift of salvation, He will also have a position of service for us.  Verse two adds, Now the first inhabitants that dwelt in their possessions in their cities were, the Israelites, the priests, Levites, and the Nethinims.  Now, there is a look ahead at those returning from captivity in Babylon.  Verse three continues, And in Jerusalem dwelt of the children of Judah, and of the children of Benjamin, and of the children of Ephraim, and Manasseh;  The descendants of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh were living in Jerusalem.  Verse four states, Uthai the son of Ammihud, the son of Omri, the son of Imri, the son of Bani, of the children of Pharez the son of Judah.  Then we have a list of the descendants of various sons of these men.  Verse five adds, And of the Shilonites; Asaiah the firstborn, and his sons.  Verse six continues, And of the sons of Zerah; Jeuel, and their brethren, six hundred and ninety.  Verse seven says, And of the sons of Benjamin; Sallu the son of Meshullam, the son of Hodaviah, the son of Hasenuah,  Verse eight adds, And Ibneiah the son of Jeroham, and Elah the son of Uzzi, the son of Michri, and Meshullam the son of Shephathiah, the son of Reuel, the son of Ibnijah;  Verse nine continues, And their brethren, according to their generations, nine hundred and fifty and six. All these men were chief of the fathers in the house of their fathers.  The numbers of those returning were far less than those who had once made up these tribes.  If we allow those who grow up in Christian homes to be carried away by sin, the numbers that return will most likely be less than the number who left.  Verse ten states, And of the priests; Jedaiah, and Jehoiarib, and Jachin,  Then we have the priestly tribe listed.  Verse eleven adds, And Azariah the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the ruler of the house of God;  Verse twelve continues, And Adaiah the son of Jeroham, the son of Pashur, the son of Malchijah, and Maasiai the son of Adiel, the son of Jahzerah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Meshillemith, the son of Immer;  Verse thirteen concludes, And their brethren, heads of the house of their fathers, a thousand and seven hundred and threescore; very able men for the work of the service of the house of God.  There were one thousand, seven hundred and sixty of them, and they were noted as men very able to do service in the house of God.  We as followers of Christ need to be known as people very able to do service to God.

1 Chronicles 8:29

1 Chronicles 8:29 says, And at Gibeon dwelt the father of Gibeon; whose wife's name was Maachah:  These next several verses are still a continuation of the listing of the descendants of Benjamin.  Verse thirty adds, And his firstborn son Abdon, and Zur, and Kish, and Baal, and Nadab,  Verse thirty-one continues, And Gedor, and Ahio, and Zacher.  Verse thirty-two concludes, And Mikloth begat Shimeah. And these also dwelt with their brethren in Jerusalem, over against them.  These people also lived near Jerusalem.  Verse thirty-three states, And Ner begat Kish, and Kish begat Saul, and Saul begat Jonathan, and Malchishua, and Abinadab, and Eshbaal.  Out of this tribe also came Saul, the first king of Israel, and his descendants, who didn't follow him as kings.  Just because our parents were leaders in the church doesn't mean we will be or that we have any special rights.  Verse thirty-four adds, And the son of Jonathan was Meribbaal; and Meribbaal begat Micah.  Jonathan was the only one of Saul's sons to have descendants, and that was because of David's friendship with him.  Verse thirty-five continues, And the sons of Micah were, Pithon, and Melech, and Tarea, and Ahaz.  Verse thirty-six says, And Ahaz begat Jehoadah; and Jehoadah begat Alemeth, and Azmaveth, and Zimri; and Zimri begat Moza,  Verse thirty-seven adds, And Moza begat Binea: Rapha was his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son:  Verse thirty-eight continues, And Azel had six sons, whose names are these, Azrikam, Bocheru, and Ishmael, and Sheariah, and Obadiah, and Hanan. All these were the sons of Azel.  Verse thirty-nine states, And the sons of Eshek his brother were, Ulam his firstborn, Jehush the second, and Eliphelet the third.  Verse forty adds, And the sons of Ulam were mighty men of valour, archers, and had many sons, and sons' sons, an hundred and fifty. All these are of the sons of Benjamin.  It is noted that Ulam had sons who were mighty men of valor, and they had even more sons, a hundred and fifty in all.  We need our children to be people of valor for God today, and we need to hope that the children of God multiply.  This concluded the listing of Benjamin's descendants.