Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible Timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story. Today it is day 123. It is day 1-2-3.
We are reading from 2 Samuel chapter 4. We're also reading 2 chapters out of 1 Chronicles, chapters 5 and 6. And we're also praying Psalm 26. As always, I am reading from the Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition, and I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in a Year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear.
You can also subscribe to this podcast by clicking on subscribe. Then you would be subscribed. And when everyone does that, I will no longer say that— what you— this thing at the beginning of every single day. But 123 days. My goodness, you guys, I'm so proud of you.
Keep going. Also, also, chapter 4 is relatively short in 2 Samuel, and there are some names— not as many names as in chapters 5 and 6 of 1 Chronicles— but the name is Ish-bosheth, right? Or Ish-bosheth. I've kind of fully committed to Ish-bosheth, and so I apologize if you're, you're annoyed. You look at reading your Bible and it's that you say it says Ish-bosheth, and I would say you're probably right.
But I'm committed to Ish-Bosheth, and so it's also fun to say. Just try it, try it at home, try it in your car as you're driving. Um, it is a gift to be able to be here. Again, 2 Samuel chapter 4, 1 Chronicles chapter 5 and 6, and Psalm 26.
2 Samuel chapter 4: Ish-Bosheth is assassinated. When Ish-Bosheth, Saul's son, heard that Abner had died in Hebron, his courage failed and all Israel was dismayed. Now Saul's son had two men who were captains of raiding bands; the name of the one was Baanah, and the name of the other Rechab, sons of Ramon a man of Benjamin from Beeroth; for Beeroth also is reckoned to Benjamin. The Beerothites fled to Gatame, and have been sojourners there to this day. Jonathan the son of Saul had a son who was crippled in his feet; he was 5 years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel, and his nurse took him up and fled; and as she fled in her haste he fell, and became lame.
And his name was Mephibosheth. Now the sons of Ramon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, set out; and about the heat of the day they came to the house of Mephibosheth, as he was taking his noonday rest. And behold, the doorkeeper of the house had been cleaning wheat, but she grew drowsy and slept, so Rechab and Baanah his brother slipped in. When they came into the house, as he lay on his bed in his bedchamber, they struck him, and slew him, and beheaded him. They took his head and went by the way of the Arabah all night, and brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron.
And they said to the king, "Here is the head of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul your enemy, who sought your life. The Lord has avenged my lord the king this day on Saul and on his offspring." But David answered Rakab and Baana his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, "As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life out of every adversity, when one told me, 'Behold, Saul is dead,' and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him, and slew him at Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news. How much more, when wicked men have slain a righteous man in his own house upon his bed, shall I not now require his blood at your hand, and destroy you from the earth? And David commanded his young men, and they killed them, and cut off their hands and feet, and hanged them beside the pool at Hebron. But they took the head of Ishbosheth, and buried it in the tomb of Abner at Hebron.
1 Chronicles chapter 5. Descendants of Reuben. The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel—for he was the firstborn, but because he polluted his father's couch, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel, so that he is not enrolled in the genealogy according to the birthright—though Judah became strong among his brothers and a prince was from him, yet the birthright belonged to Joseph. The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. The sons of Joel: Shemaiah his son, Gog his son, Shimei his son, Micah his son, Reaiah his son, Baal his son, Beera his son, whom Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria carried away into exile; he was a chieftain of the Reubenites.
And his kinsmen by their families, when the genealogy of their generations was reckoned, the chief, Jeiel, and Zechariah, and Bela the son of Azaz, son of Shema, son of Joel, who dwelt in Aroer, as far as Nebo and Baal-meon: he also dwelt to the east, as far as the entrance of the desert this side of the Euphrates, because their cattle had multiplied in the land of Gilead. And in the days of Saul they made war on the Haggrites, who fell by their hand: And they dwelt in their tents throughout all the region east of Gilead. Descendants of Gad. The sons of Gad dwelt over against them in the land of Bashan, as far as Salekah: Joel the chief, Shapham the second, Janai, and Shaphat of Bashan; and their kinsmen according to their fathers' houses: Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jerai, Jakan, Zia, and Eber. 7.
These were the sons of Abihail the son of Huri, son of Jeroah, son of Gilead, son of Michael, son of Jesha'i, son of Jaddo, son of Booz. Ahi the son of Abdiel, son of Guni, was the chief in their fathers' houses. And they dwelt in Gilead, in Bashan and in its towns, and in all the pasturelands of Sharon to their limits. All of these were enrolled by genealogies in the days of Jotham king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam king of Israel. The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh had valiant men who carried shield and sword, and drew the bow, expert in war, 44,760 ready for service.
They made war upon the Haggrites, Jetur, Naphish, and Nodab. And when they received help against them, the Haggrites and all who were with them were given into their hands, for they cried to God in battle, and he granted their entreaty because they trusted in him. They carried off their livestock, 50,000 of their camels, 250,000 sheep, 2,000 donkeys, and 100,000 men alive; for many fell slain, because the war was of God. And they dwelt in their place until the exile. The Half-Tribe of Manasseh.
The members of the half-tribe of Manasseh dwelt in the land; they were very numerous from Bashan to Baal-Hermon, Senir, and Mount Hermon. These were the heads of their fathers' houses: Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azrael, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jadiel, mighty warriors, famous men, heads of their fathers' houses. But they transgressed against the God of their fathers and played the harlot after the gods of the peoples of the land whom God had destroyed before them. So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, the spirit of Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria, and he carried them away, namely, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, and brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river Gozan to this day. Chapter 6: Descendants of Levi.
The sons of Levi: Gershom, Kohath, and Merari. The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. The children of Amram: Aaron, Moses, and Miriam. The sons of Aaron: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. Eleazar was the father of Phinehas, Phinehas of Abishua, Abishua of Bukki, Bukki of Uzzi, Uzzi of Zerahiah, Zerahiah of Meraioth, Meraioth of Amariah, Amariah of Ahitub, Ahitub of Zadok, Zadok of Ahimaaz, Ahimaaz of Azariah, Azariah of Johanan, and Johanan of Azariah.
It was he who served as priest in the house that Solomon built in Jerusalem. Azariah was the father of Amariah, Amariah of Ahitub, Ahitub of Zadok, Zadok of Shullum, Shullum of Hilkiah, Hilkiah of Azariah, Azariah of Seraiah, Seraiah of Jehozadak. And Jehozadak went into exile when the Lord sent Judah and Jerusalem into exile by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. And these are the names of the sons of Gershon: Libni, and Shimei.
The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. The sons of Merari: Mali, and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their fathers: of Gershon, Libni his son, Jahath his son, Zimmah his son, Joah his son, Iddo his son, Zerah his son, Jaatharai his son, The sons of Kohath: Amenadab his son, Korah his son, Assir his son, Elkanah his son, Abiasaph his son, Assir his son, Tahath his son, Uriel his son, Uziah his son, Shaul his son. The sons of Elkanah: Amasai and Ahimoth. Elkanah his son, Zophai his son, Nahath his son, Eliab his son, Jeroham his son, Elkanah his son.
The sons of Samuel: Joel his firstborn, the second Abijah. The sons of Merari: Mali, Libni his son, Shimei his son, Uzzah his son, Shemiah his son, Hegiah his son, and Asaiah his son. Musicians Appointed by David. These are the men whom David put in charge of the service of song in the house of the LORD after the ark rested there: They ministered with song before the tabernacle of the tent of meeting until Solomon had built the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, and they performed their service in due order. These are the men who served and their sons: of the sons of the Kohathites, Heman the singer, the son of Joel, son of Samuel, son of Elkanah, son of Jeroham, son of Eliel, son of Toah, son of Zuph, son of Elkanah, son of Mahath, son of Amasai, son of Elkana, son of Joel, son of Azariah, son of Zephaniah, son of Tehath, son of Assir, son of Abiasaph, son of Korah, son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, son of Israel; and his brother Asaph, who stood on his right hand, namely Asaph the son of Berechiah, son of Shimeah, son of Michael, son of Baaseiah, son of Malkijah, son of Ethni, son of Zerah, son of Adaiah, son of Ethan, son of Zimmah, son of Shimei, son of Jahath, son of Gershom, son of Levi.
On the left hand were their brethren the sons of Merari, Ethan the son of Kishi, son of Hashabiah, son of Amaziah, son of Hilkiah, son of Amzi, son of Bani, son of Shemer, son of Mali, son of Mushi, son of Merari, son of Levi. And their brethren the Levites were appointed for all the service of the tabernacle of the house of God: but Aaron and his sons made offerings upon the altar of burnt offering, and upon the altar of incense, for all the work of the most holy place, and to make atonement for Israel, according to all that Moses the servant of God had commanded. These are the sons of Aaron: Eleazar his son, Phinehas his son, Abishua his son, Bukki his son, Uzzi his son, Zerahiah his son, Meraioth his son, Amariah his son, Ahitub his son, Zadok his son, Ahimaaz his son. Settlements of the Levites. These are the dwellingplaces according to their settlements within their borders, to the sons of Aaron of the families of the Kohathites: for theirs was the lot.
To them they gave Hebron in the land of Judah, and its surrounding pasturelands. But the fields of the city and its villages they gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh. To the sons of Aaron they gave the cities of refuge: Hebron, Libnah with its pasturelands, Jattir, Eshtemoah with its pasturelands, Helin with its pasturelands, Debir with its pasturelands, Ashan with its pasturelands, and Beth-shemesh with its pasturelands. And from the tribe of Benjamin: Gibeah with its pasturelands, Elameth with its pasturelands, and Anathoth with its pasturelands. All their cities throughout their families were 13.
To the rest of the Kohathites were given by lot out of the family of the tribe, out of the half-tribe, the half of Manasseh, 10 cities. To the Gershonites according to their families were allotted 13 cities out of the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Manasseh in Bashan. To the Merarites according to their families were allotted 12 cities out of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun. So the sons of Israel gave the Levites the cities with their pasturelands; they also gave them by lot out of the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin these cities which are mentioned by name. And some of the families of the sons of Kohath had cities of their territory out of the tribe of Ephraim; they were given the cities of refuge: Shechem, with its pasturelands, in the hill country of Ephraim; Gezer, with its pasturelands; Jokmeam, with its pasturelands; Beth-horon with its pasturelands, Aijalon with its pasturelands, Gath-ramon with its pasturelands; and out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Aner with its pasturelands, Bili'am with its pasturelands, for the rest of the families of the Kohathites.
To the Gershonites were given out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan with its pasturelands, and Ashtaroth with its pasturelands; and out of the tribe of Issachar, Kedesh with its pasturelands, Deberath 1:0-3; Debirah 1:4) with its pasturelands, Ramoth (2 Samuel 5:7) 1:6), with its pasturelands, Anem (2 Kings 22:8; Numbers 13:16) with its pasturelands. Out of the tribe of Asher— Mashal (Genesis 49:11) Abdon (Numbers 27:18) with its pasturelands, Hukok (Joshua 14:12) with its pasturelands, Rehob (Judges 15:17) with its pasturelands. And out of the tribe of Naphtali— Kedesh-in-Galathea (Genesis 48:9) with its pasturelands, Hamon (Genesis 50:10) with its pasturelands, Kirjathaim (Genesis 54:19) with its pasturelands... To the rest of the Merarites were allotted out of the Tribe of Zebulun Rimmon with its pasturelands, Tabor with its pasturelands, and beyond the Jordan at Jericho, on the east side of the Jordan, out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer in the steppe with its pasturelands, Jazer with its pasturelands, Kedemoth with its pasturelands, and Mephaath with its pasturelands. And out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with its pasturelands, Mehanaim with its pasturelands, Heshbon with its pasturelands, and Jazer with its pasturelands.
Psalm 26: Plead for Justice and Declaration of Righteousness. A Psalm of David. Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the LORD without wavering. Prove me, O God, and try me; test my heart and my mind. For your mercy is before my eyes, and I walk in faithfulness to you.
4 I do not sit with false men, nor do I consort with dissemblers; I hate the company of evildoers, and I will not sit with the wicked. 5 I wash my hands in innocence, and go about your altar, O LORD, singing aloud a song of thanksgiving and telling all your wondrous deeds. 6 O LORD, I love the habitation of your house, and the place where your glory dwells. 7 Sweep me not away with sinners, nor my life with bloodthirsty men, men in whose hands are evil devices, and whose right hands are full of bribes. But as for me, I walk in my integrity; redeem me and have mercy on me.
My foot stands on level ground; in the great congregation I will bless the Lord.
Father in heaven, we give you praise and glory. We thank you so much for your word. We thank you for just the fact that you've worked in history and you continue to work in history. Lord God, you've worked with every one of these people and every one of these families and tribes, just like you work with us, every one of us listening to your word being proclaimed. All of our families, strong and weak, all of our families whole and broken, all of our families united and families divided.
Lord God, you are part of history. You're the God of history, and you're the God of eternity, and you're the God of our history, and you lead us and call us into eternity. And so we give you thanks, we give you praise, and please receive our praise today, um, on this day, this day, 123 days of listening to your word, of being shaped by your word. We thank you and praise you. In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. So, um, two quick things I want to highlight. One is from the story of David, right, in 2 Samuel chapter 4, because this is going to be pretty important for us to be attentive to.
Why? Well, not only because you can pronounce Ish-bosheth both the way I pronounce it and Ish-bosheth, but because of the fact that here is David who wants to be an honorable man. Now I mentioned this before, when we get deeper into Chronicles, we're going to see David. We're going to see a kind of, maybe I don't want to say an edited David, but we're going to just focus on the positive, the strengths, the character, not flaws, but the character strengths of David in Chronicles. Now Samuel is going to reveal David's woundedness, his flaws, his realness.
Not to say that his strengths aren't also his real thing, But what I'm trying to say is, in chapter 4 of 2 Samuel, we see how consistent David is. We see his character through and through, that David from the very beginning has been someone who doesn't necessarily take pleasure in, uh, violence. He doesn't take pleasure in punishing those who don't need to be punished according to him. Now, later on, David, he should have taken more action. He should have done more to punish those who need punishment.
But in this moment, David is taking mercy upon Ish-Bosheth, or Ish-Bosheth, but I've committed, I said it already, committed to Ish-Bosheth. David wants to take mercy on this, his enemy, right? So all, not all of Israel, but many in Israel were calling Ish-Bosheth, Ish-Bosheth, now I'm confused, Ish-Bosheth, they were calling him to be the new king. He was going to be the enemy of David. He was the enemy of David.
And yet when Rahab and Ba'anna They go into Ish-Bosheth's home, and as he's sleeping, they murder him in bed. They assassinate him in bed, and they say to David, hey, this is the deal. We just, we just destroyed the last remaining member of the family of King Saul. Almost. To be, to be continued on that one.
Almost the last surviving member, at least the only threat you have to you right now. And David responds by highlighting the fact that, listen, that is not how we do things. This is going to be a new kingdom under God, and we are not going to do things— remember at the end of Judges that everyone did what was right in their own eyes? Here is David who is making it absolutely clear that is not going to be this kingdom of Israel. We're not going to be this loose confederation of tribes who kind of take the law into their own hands.
We are going to be a united kingdom who, um, are under the law of the Lord. And that's— remember way back that Samuel had said that if you're going to be the king, you have to know the law of the Lord. You have to read the law day and night. In fact, David's going to go on to, uh, in the Psalms, talk about this. Yeah, Lord, how I love your law.
I ponder on it day and night. And here is an example of David living that way, because as these two murderers, assassins, Rechab and Baanah, come to him, he does not reward them. Well, I guess he does. He rewards their evil deed with, um, by killing them, by, by taking out justice upon them and establishing to all the people, this is not how we do things in the kingdom. That might have been how we did things when, uh, there was the loose confederation and their judges, and everyone did what was right in their own eyes.
But not anymore. Okay, moving on to 1 Chronicles. I, I think I mentioned this before, but Chronicles is going to be not only, as I said, a following— let's follow David, um, and let's, let's see, here's what, how David has lived. Let's see how David prefigures the coming Messiah, he, the coming Anointed One, the coming Christ. But also not only hope for the reestablishment of the kingdom and a reestablishment of the royal throne, but also the reestablishment of temple worship.
When, uh, 1 and 2 Chronicles were written, it's largely believed that this is after the exile. And so, uh, the people of Israel have suffered an incredible, incredible defeat. They have been exiled. They have the 10 tribes, uh, of, of Israel— we're going to get to that in in a little bit. The 10— the basically David unites all 12 tribes.
Solomon has the united 12 tribes, that United Kingdom. But then after Solomon, those 12 tribes divide to 10 tribes in the north, Israel, and 2 tribes in the south, Judah. That's what they call— the 10 in the north are called Israel from then on, and the 2 tribes in the south, Benjamin and Judah, are called Judah. And yet this Chronicles is written not only after that division, but then also after the destruction of the 10 tribes in the north and the exile and return of the 2 tribes in the south. And so what the author of Chronicles is doing is saying there is a line though.
There is a line, the line of David, Judah, right? And there's a line, the line of Levi, the line of the priesthood. So we're going to follow those families in particular because why? Because they're longing for this reestablishment of the kingdom and longing for reestablishment of Temple worship into its full. And so that's what we're gonna get.
That's the kind of the, some of the, the main gist or main thrust of main desire of the author of Chronicles. And we're going to get to that in a couple days as we get through some more names in the next couple days. But gosh, what a gift to be able to, to follow, to be able to recognize that God works in time, God works in history. The God of eternity working in history just blows my mind. And I think about that all the time, like, man, God, how in the world Are you so humble that you made us in love and you continue to keep us in existence out of love, and you continue to speak to us and guide us and protect us out of love?
What a gift. Please pray for each other, uh, because, um, the God of eternity who's entered into time, uh, wants to enter into each and every one of our lives. And so often we need, uh, grace. Well, we always need grace, but we need the prayers of each other to help walk in grace. So I'm praying for you.
Please pray for me. Please pray for each other. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.
Fr. Mike highlights the importance of David's reaction to the death of Ish-bosheth, Saul's son. Today we read 2 Samuel 4, 1 Chronicles 5-6, and Psalm 26.
For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear.
Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.