Latest Commentaries

1 Chronicles 12:23-29 opens the muster at Hebron with the numbers of the divisions equipped for war who came to turn the kingdom of Saul to David according to the word of the LORD—Judah, Simeon, and Levi with Jehoiada and young Zadok, and three thousand from Benjamin, most of whom had kept allegiance to the house of Saul.

1 Chronicles 12:19-22 tells how captains of thousands from Manasseh defected to David at Ziklag after the lords of the Philistines sent him away from the battle against Saul, how they helped him against the band of raiders, and how men kept coming day by day until there was a great army like the army of God.

1 Chronicles 12:16-18 records the coming of men from Benjamin and Judah to David's stronghold, David's plainspoken test of their loyalty, and the Spirit's answer through Amasai, chief of the thirty, who pledges peace to David and his helpers because God Himself is David's helper.

1 Chronicles 12:14-15 grades the Gadite captains—the least equal to a hundred and the greatest to a thousand—and records their most famous exploit: crossing the Jordan in the first month when it was overflowing all its banks and putting to flight all those in the valleys, east and west.

1 Chronicles 12:8-13 describes the Gadites who came over to David at the stronghold in the wilderness—mighty men of valor trained for war, with faces like the faces of lions and speed like the gazelles on the mountains—and names their eleven captains in ranked order, from Ezer the first to Machbannai the eleventh.

1 Chronicles 12:3-7 names the Benjamite company that joined David at Ziklag—Ahiezer and Joash of Gibeah, Saul's own city, with warriors from Anathoth, Gibeon, Gederah, and Gedor, including Ishmaiah, a mighty man over the thirty, and men of the Korahites.

1 Chronicles 12:1-2 introduces the first warriors who came to David at Ziklag while he was still restricted because of Saul the son of Kish—mighty men who helped him in war, ambidextrous archers and slingers from Benjamin, Saul's own kinsmen.

1 Chronicles 13:13-14 closes the chapter at the house of Obed-edom the Gittite, where David took the ark aside instead of bringing it to the city of David, and where it remained three months while the LORD blessed the family of Obed-edom with all that he had.

Ezekiel 39:25-29 shows that the LORD will restore the fortunes of Jacob (the Israelites), by bringing the people of Israel from all nations back into the Promised Land. He will have mercy on them, and pours out His Spirit, ending the hiding of His face. They will be forgiven of their sins and live peacefully in the land of Israel, never to be threatened or attacked again. God's return of Israel to its land will be known to all the peoples of the world. The nations will understand that the LORD is the God of Israel and will not exile them again. He will not turn His favor from them, but will pour out His Spirit upon His people.

Ezekiel 39:21-24 records the LORD's declarations of how the world will see all that He has done when this prophecy is fulfilled. Every country on earth will see how the LORD defeated Israel's enemies. Israel too will understand that the LORD is their God, and that their exile has ended. God will no longer hide His face from Israel or allow their enemies to subjugate them. Their sins and covenant-violations were dealt with through this exile, but it will be over completely after this battle. God's glory will be known worldwide.

Ezekiel 39:17-20 shows that the LORD will summon bird and beasts to His "sacrificial feast" on the mountains of Israel. Animals of all kinds will eat the flesh of the dead men who came to invade Israel. God uses sacrificial language, describing the corpses of the enemy as though they were lambs, goats, and cattle made to be offerings on an altar. The birds and beasts will eat and drink of the dead, to the shame of the defeated, who were once strong princes of the world, and now are food for vultures and wolves.

Ezekiel 39:11-16 describes how Israel buries Gog's army. Such is the size of the defeated enemy, that it takes seven full months to bury their remains. God declares a designated site for the army's burial, a valley, which will be called Hamon-gog (the multitude of Gog). It will become a special job for certain Israelites to gather the dead and make sure every bone is found and buried. This will make the land pure and clean. 

Ezekiel 39:9-10 describes the size of the army of Israel's enemies by numbering how long it will take to burn its tools of war. Gog (Israel's enemy) will be defeated and all the weapons it brought will be used as firewood for seven years. There will be no reason to chop down trees or gather brush for burning; the weapons of the defeated enemy will be so plentiful that it will take seven years to exhaust its supply.

Ezekiel 39:7-8 states that the LORD will make His name known to both Israel and the rest of the nations of the world. No one will speak ill of God's name anymore when that day comes, when the enemies of Israel (personified as Gog) are defeated completely. The entire earth will know and fear God. The LORD assures that this day is approaching and will happen.

Ezekiel 39:1-6 continues the prophecy: The LORD strikes Gog's bow, gives his army to birds and beasts, and sends fire on Magog and the coastlands. The defeat of the army invading Israel is total. The LORD destroys the homeland of the enemy as well as its armies.

1 Chronicles 11:26-47 lists the mighty men of the armies, from Asahel the brother of Joab and Elhanan of Bethlehem through Uriah the Hittite to Adina the Reubenite and the warriors beyond the Jordan—a roster spanning every region of Israel and reaching foreigners, all united to make David king.

1 Chronicles 11:20-25 honors Abshai the brother of Joab, chief of the thirty, who swung his spear against three hundred, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, who struck down two sons of Ariel of Moab, killed a lion in a pit on a snowy day, felled an Egyptian giant with his own spear, and was set over David's guard.

1 Chronicles 11:15-19 tells how three of the thirty chief men broke through the Philistine camp to draw water from the well of Bethlehem for David, and how David refused to drink it and poured it out to the LORD as an offering, honoring the blood of the men who risked their lives.

1 Chronicles 11:10-14 introduces the heads of David's mighty men who gave him strong support to make him king according to the word of the LORD, beginning with Jashobeam the Hachmonite, who killed three hundred with his spear, and Eleazar the son of Dodo, who defended the barley field at Pasdammim.

1 Chronicles 11:4-9 recounts the capture of Jerusalem: David and all Israel come to Jebus, David takes the stronghold of Zion, Joab the son of Zeruiah goes up first and becomes chief, David dwells in the stronghold and builds the city, and David becomes greater and greater because the LORD of hosts is with him.