1 Chronicles 20 – 24
Verse 20:8 shows the end to the “giants” descendants of Goliath:
These were descended from the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.
As I read through the Bible and study other historical documents I often wonder if many of the “prehistoric” animals and species existed during Biblical times. What is a “leviathan” anyway? Also, how about the carvings in Angkor, Cambodia which appears to be a stegosaurus? There is evidence that there “prehistoric” species may have roamed the earth during Biblical times. If you believe “Bigfoot” and the “Loch Ness Monster” they may still exist today.
It sounds like there was a race of “giants” who lived in Philistine and were destroyed in this battle. Did David make this race of people “extinct”? Were they a “Neanderthal” tribe that survived? ***
Verse 21:7 had God upset at David doing another census:
But God was displeased with this thing, and he struck Israel.
I am so glad God is not as harsh on us these days! I often wonder if the concept of God being unchanging works here. Honestly, we as a nation are doing much more egregious things than taking a census at the wrong time that I wonder when the “other shoe” will drop. I mean if God kills 70,000 men and starts to destroy Jerusalem for a census which does no one harm, are we in jeopardy for 40 years of terminating unborn humans for convenience?
Verse 21:17 is something we all need to learn from King David:
And David said to God, “Was it not I who gave command to number the people? It is I who have sinned and done great evil. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand, O LORD my God, be against me and against my father’s house. But do not let the plague be on your people.”
David took ownership for his decision and asked God to stop punishing the people. He made the call to do a census and ignored Joab’s protest. How many times growing up have we seen others take the “fall” for something they did not do? Did any of those people get punished for something you personally did? I look at David and wish our leaders would take responsibility for their mess ups! David, unlike most leaders, has learned to swallow his pride and submit to the one true ruler of the universe!
Verses 22:7 – 8 set up who is going to build the physical temple:
7 David said to Solomon, “My son, I had it in my heart to build a house to the name of the LORD my God. 8 But the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘You have shed much blood and have waged great wars. You shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed so much blood before me on the earth.
Again David took responsibility for his actions and realized blood on his hands made him unworthy of building a holy temple. In realizing he was unworthy of such an important task, he assigned the job to his son Solomon. This again shows David was humble at his roots. If you think about David’s roots, he came to power not as a protégé but rather a servant unlike many of our current presidents. I wonder how this country would be run if a faithful servant was handed the keys to the White House.
***Now before you science types rail on my for being a narrow minded creationist ignoring scientific facts, search my blog and you will see I believe both! You just have to narrow who is the observer, factor in time dilation due to gradational forces and the universe expanding at close to the speed of light after the “Big Bang” and you have 6 days for God as the observer and 16 billion years for us!!