In 1 Chronicles chapter 10 and
verse 13 through to 11 and verse 3 we read the following. 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
inquire of it, and inquired not of the Lord. Therefore he slew
him. and turned the kingdom unto David
the son of Jesse. Then all Israel gathered themselves
to David, unto Hebron, saying, Behold, we are thy bone and thy
flesh. And moreover, in time past, even
when Saul was king, thou wast he that leadest out and broughtest
in Israel. And the LORD thy God said unto
thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be ruler
over my people Israel. Therefore came all the elders
of Israel to the king to Hebron, and David made a covenant with
them in Hebron before the LORD. And they anointed David king
over Israel according to the word of the LORD by Samuel. This book of the Chronicles,
the first book of the Chronicles, opens with a genealogy beginning
with Adam. This genealogy runs for really
much of the first nine chapters and whilst at times it can make
for laborious reading if we don't know the names or the people
mentioned, It is in fact a vital part of the scriptures. It gives
us the line of descent from Adam through the patriarchs such as
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Through Jacob's children, the
12 children of Jacob, the Israelites. Through them, right down to the
son of Jesse, King David. It takes in the reign of Saul,
David's predecessor, as the king of Israel. That king who transgressed
against his Lord, who rebelled against the word of the Lord,
kept it not, inquired of a familiar spirit, and who kindled the Lord's
anger against him that the Lord slew him, and turned the kingdom
unto King David. And having taken in Saul's reign,
it presents us here in chapter 11 with the reign of David. And the rest of the book is very
much centered upon David, upon his people, and upon their worship
of God. The ark of the Lord, the ark
of the covenant in the midst, and their worship of God as led
by their king. In all this it is greatly typical
of Christ of whom David is a figure. And as with the Gospels, recorded
later in the Scriptures, which present the birth of Christ to
us, and prove his lineage by presenting the genealogy right
back to the beginning of Scripture, and show us that Christ is the
one, the seed of David who was promised to come. So this book
of Chronicles here presents us, opens unto us a genealogy leading
right from the very first man, Adam, right down to that chosen
King of God, King David. The genealogy runs according
to that election of God, that line, that crimson line as it
were, which leads through the descendants of Adam, through
his chosen people, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, right down to David. There are those whose names are
recorded and those whose names are not recorded specifically
to this end to demonstrate that this is the line through which
God's chosen would be born. From Adam via Seth, to Noah,
to Shem, to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, and Levi, and to David. Not only is this genealogy and
the others like it, those recorded in the Gospels vital to show
the royal lineage of God's King. first David as the type and then
Christ as the anti-type. But they also present to us the
reality and the fact that God created this world and when he
created it he put a man on it called Adam who rebelled against
his maker and by him sin and death entered and passed down
unto all generations. That man Adam was not some mythical
figure and he is not recorded in the scriptures in some mythical
name as a name that's just plucked up in the far past with no connection
to the present. But Adam is the direct ancestor
of all who follow him. He had children. They are named. They had children. They are named. They had children. They are named. And so on and so forth, down
through the ages, through Noah, down to Abraham, through Israel,
right down to David, from David all the way to Christ. The generations
are recorded these are real people who really lived and walked on
this world and you can take any age and generation and work backward
right back to the beginning of time and the first man. Adam
is not disconnected from those who follow and he is not some
mythical or symbolic symbolically named figure of a man but he
is a real man with real descendants leading down to the present from
this it is clear that the world has been in existence from the
age of Adam right down through David to the present for but
several thousand years generally considered to be around 6,000
years this is plain from the generations and the ages It gives
the lie to that foolish notion preached today in all quarters
called evolution. It gives the lie to the idea
that this world has been around for millions of years. Because the age is from Adam
unto Christ and to our age cannot be more than around 6,000 years. And he was a real man with real
descendants. And why does God make his connection
with David and later on the Lord Jesus Christ so plain? He does
it to show that Christ came at the appointed time according
to the prophecy of scripture. that he came born in the royal
line, that he was prophesied that he would be born in, that
he was the one true Messiah. But it's recorded also to show
us that what the first man brought in, what Adam brought in, sin
and death, should really be taken away by
what the second man, the last Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ brought
in. righteousness and everlasting life. He was born a descendant
of Adam. A man as Adam's a man. But a
man unlike any other. For this man was God himself.
God made man. A man without sin. A man full
of righteousness. A man who could come, made a
man, in order to take away the sins of men. yet without sin
himself, that he should be able to die as a substitute, taking
upon him the sins of others, but never having to die for his
own sin. This is a book, 1 Chronicles,
that presents unto us God's King David. What a king David was. What a king. sent at the time appointed for
him, sent to Israel when they needed him most, sent to deliver
them from the reign of Saul who proceeded. The lineage leading down to David's
reign and the lineage to Christ and the genealogies recorded
throughout. Show God's line leading to His
Son. His line of election. His line
of choice. The line we see in this genealogy
goes via Seth and via Shem. Esau's dismissed. Ishmael's dismissed. And here in chapter 10, Saul
is dismissed in favour of the one God chose. David is my king. David shall reign. David shall
deliver Israel. David shall honour the Lord. And Israel knew it. Israel knew
it, for it says in chapter 11, Then all Israel gathered themselves
to David under Hebron, saying, Behold, we are thy bone and thy
flesh. And moreover, in time past, even
when Saul was king, thou wast he that leadest out and broughtest
in Israel. And the Lord thy God said unto
thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be ruler
over my people Israel. Therefore came all the elders
of Israel to the king to Hebron, and David made a covenant with
them in Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king
over Israel according to the word of the Lord by Samuel. We
are thy bone and thy flesh. And even when Saul was king,
thou wast he that ledest out and broughtest in Israel. And
the Lord has said unto thee, thou shalt feed my people Israel,
and thou shalt be ruler over my people Israel. Oh what affection
they had for their king. What a remarkable statement this
is by this company. What remarkable love and admiration
they had for David. They cry out that they are his
bone and his flesh. They're one with him. He's their
king. He leads them. He feeds them. He rules them. Believer, can you say this of
Christ? Can you say this of Christ? If you know Christ, of whom David's
but a figure, to be your King and your Saviour, can you say
this of Him? we are thy bone and thy flesh
and moreover in time past when another was our king thou
wast he who led us out and brought us in and thou shalt feed thy people
and thou shalt be ruler over thy people are you his bone and His flesh. This people were one with their
King. What He is, they are. They're one with Him. Where He
went, they would follow. What He said, they would do.
They'd seen something different in David from any who had preceded. They'd seen the contrast between
the rule of Saul and the character of David. In
David they saw one who loved God and walked with God and led
the people unto God and delivered the people by God's power. where Saul had simply brought
them into captivity and trouble and ruin and even under Saul's
reign they had seen that David was the one that brought them
the victory. He was the one who led them out
and brought them in. We are thy bone and thy flesh,
they were one with Him. Are you one with Christ? Because
this people, a picture of God's elected chosen people, His Israel,
His spiritual Israel, those whom He chose to save in Christ, those
whom He sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, into this world
to die for. This people, as a figure of that
people, as a figure of the election of grace, God's chosen children,
are one with their King. They're united to him in a way
that none can ever be united. They're one with him. You cannot
consider yourself to be one with someone any more than to say
that we are thy bone and thy flesh. We're not just with thee. We're not just your followers.
We're not just your people. We're not just devoted to you. we don't simply love you but
we are one we are thy bone and thy flesh we are just as if we
are part of your body the church in the new testament
is called the body of christ he is their head and they are
members of his body, his arms and his legs, his bone and flesh. They could not be more united. What he is they are. They are
righteous because he is righteous. They live, they have life because
he lives. Their sins are forgiven because
in Him they have no sin, for He is without sin. They will
not die because He will never die. They will live forever because
He will live forever. They rule as princes, as kings,
because He rules. as the King of Kings. They are as priests in His temple,
in the church, with a common priesthood because He is their
Great High Priest. They are as adopted sons and
children of God because He is the Son of God. and they are
his bone and his flesh. All that he is they are. They
own none of it to themselves. They are not righteous because
they have wrought righteousness. They do not live with everlasting
life because they have attained unto it by their works or their
will. They do not walk in the right
path because they decided to. They have no position in the
house of God in Zion because of their decision or their merit. But all that they have is in
Christ. All that they have is because
of Christ. They are one with Him. Are you one with Him? Can you
say this of Christ? That you are His bone and His
flesh, you are one with your Saviour. He led you out. He brought you in. He feeds you. He rules you. He's your Lord
and your Saviour. He's your King. He's your all
in all. You are His bone and His flesh,
are you? Because you either are or you
aren't. You are either His or you're
another's. You're either his bone and flesh,
or you're the bone and flesh of another and you serve another.
You either follow this king, or you follow another king of
whom Saul was the figure. You're either chosen and elected
unto salvation by God, one with Christ, one of his people, or
you're one of another people. The rest of chapter 11 in 1st
Chronicles names David's mighty men, names those who were with
him, those who followed him, those who loved him, those who
stood with him when Saul sought to slay him. They were nothings in themselves,
They were a band of outlaws, weak and foolish, a whole collection
of disparate people. To the eyes of the world they
were nothing. Yet to David they were his mighty
men. And they have the honor of having
their names recorded in scripture for all time. They were chosen
and named elect. Where is your name written? Is
your name written? Has God taken your name and given
it to David to Christ? Will Christ write down in a book
like this book your name? Is your name written in Christ
the Lamb's book? The Lamb's book of life? in which
the names of his mighty men are recorded. If it is, it's because
God took that name and he wrote it there. And he said unto Christ,
this is one of your men for whom you shall die. whom you will
lead forth, whom you will lead out of this world and bring in
to Zion, whom you will lead out of condemnation and bring in
to everlasting life. whom you will lead out of the
condemnation of their sins and bring in to the righteousness
of God, whom you will lead out from this world and bring in
to the heavenly heights of glory, where they will live and reign
with you before me forevermore. God gave him names and God wrote
those names on his heart and he sent his son to a place called
Golgotha for that people to lead them out and to bring them in. And that people when they were
led by faith to Golgotha to see what Christ their King did for
them could say of him We are thy bone and thy flesh. We are thy people. Are you one
of his or are you not? You're either a follower of Christ
in the figure David. You either follow this king or
you follow another king. you are either one who followed
Saul like those of old who followed Saul or you were like those who
followed David one or the other Saul here is presented to us
as a figure of that ruler that power who reigned over the world
before the coming of Christ There is a prince who has gone forth
in this world to reign over it and reign over its people before
Christ should deliver his people from their grip. That prince
is referred to as the prince of the power of air, the prince
of darkness, Satan, the devil, the great red dragon, the serpent
who entered the Garden of Eden and crept alongside Adam and
his wife Eve and deceived the woman and by the woman deceived
the man and led them into sin and ruin. and by whom he took
over this world and put his hand of grip onto the power and reign
of this world, that he should reign over the hearts of men
and women, the descendants of Adam. The descendants of Adam,
like those whose names are recorded in the first chapters of this
book of Chronicles. He came to reign over them and
to reign over their hearts and their affections and to whisper
each and every day in their ears. Go this way. Follow not God and
his ways. But eat of this tree, not that
tree. Eat this fruit, not that fruit. Take this fruit and thou wilt
be wise like unto God's. Thou wilt be all powerful. Follow
me. and he whispers through the ages
and the generations to this very day, in your own ears, and he
says, follow not your mothers and fathers, follow not the things
of God, follow not the Lord Jesus Christ, but take this fruit,
go this way, do what you will, seek your own glory, He dazzles
us with the pleasures and temptations and riches which he promises
us. He says, you come my way and I will make you great in
this world. I will have men and women to
fall down at your feet. I will give you riches you cannot
believe. And he dazzles us and betrays
us and leads us astray. And we all, each and every one
of us have followed in his footsteps. we've followed this prince, this
king of whom Saul was a figure and we've inquired of the familiar
spirit which comes by Satan and his ways and we've turned away
from the word of the Lord and we've kept it not And the Lord
in anger has said of us, if that is where you remain then you
like Saul will be slain. For this kingdom I have taken
from Satan's hands and I have given it unto my son Christ. Of whom David here is the figure. Yes there's a prince, a king,
a power whom all men have followed to their destruction, one who
leads us into sin and destruction, one who sets us against God with
a force and an enmity which bubbles up from our hearts within. We
will not bow the knee to the Lord Jesus Christ. We will not
bow the knee to God. We will not serve Him. We will
serve ourselves. And by doing so we serve the
one who's deceived us. Satan. This other king. You serve one king or another. You serve Saul or David. Satan
or Christ. You may say in your heart, you
may say, well, I haven't really chosen. It's not so much that
I've chosen Saul over David or Satan over Christ. I just haven't
really come to Christ yet. But in not coming to Christ,
you continue to serve Satan. There's no middle ground. There's
no point at which you walk where you've yet to make a decision.
Your rejection of Christ and his gospel in your heart is a
decision to follow and to serve your master Satan who leads you
steadily forth unto destruction. But thanks be unto God he did
not leave his people under the rule of Saul and his wickedness
and his rebellion and his unwise ways for if he had then the people
would have been ruined but God took the kingdom from Saul and
turned it unto David the son of Jesse and he sets David over
Israel as king and that people who knew the rule of David even
before he had become king that people who knew that God had
chosen him and knew his character and knew his deliverance from
captivity, could say of him, Thou wast he, even when Saul
was king, Thou wast he who led out and brought in Israel. You're the one, Saul never did
us any good, but even when he was king, you were watching over
us. Even when we followed Saul as
our king you were the one that protected us, you were the one
that delivered us from our enemies, you were the one that led us
right, you led us out and brought us in Israel. You're the one
that God has said shall feed his people and you're the one
that God has said shall rule over his people. Can you say that of Christ? can
you look at your life perhaps look back or perhaps look at
the present now and say that even while satan was your king
even when you were in darkness even when you were blind to the
truth christ was the one that led out and brought in Israel
he was the one that saved his people he was your saver even
though you knew it not even though you knew it not he
was the one that came into this world when the world knew him
not when the world rejected him and he went to the cross for
his people He went when they knew Him not when they served
another king and He delivered them from their sins though they
never asked Him to. He led them out and then He brought
them in. He was the one that watched over
His people throughout the generations in all their life before they
came to a knowledge of His salvation. If you know Christ today, there
was a time in your life when you served Saul as it were Satan.
and in your darkness Christ was watching over you he knew you
and he watched over you and he kept you alive and he kept you
from danger and though you heaped up corruption and danger by your
own ways he would not destroy you because he knew there was
a day coming and a time coming when he would open your eyes
by his spirit by his gospel and say here's my son Here is the
Lord Jesus Christ, here is your King and here is what I have
done for you. I laid down my life for you and
delivered you from your sins, I've shed my blood to wash you
clean. When you were in darkness following
your soul, your King, I led you out and I have brought you in. Maybe you're still in darkness,
your eyes are still shut, you still don't serve David, you
still cannot say of him that you are his bone and his flesh. But maybe... The Lord by grace
will open your eyes to see and to hear his voice and to know
that in that day, even now, when you have worshipped another king,
that all the time Christ's love was set upon you and he was working
his purposes out. Pray that it be so. Pray that
you're not left in darkness and blindness and head to destruction
with Saul, whom the Lord slew for his rejection of God's Word. Do you reject the Word of God? Do you shut your ears to it?
Do you dismiss it and treat it apathetically and carelessly?
Saul did and Saul was slain of God for it. But thanks be unto God that there
are many who have done the same whom God has looked on in grace
and said unto, that even though thou hast rebelled against me,
even though thou hast turned against my word and kept it not,
even though thou hast sought familiar spirits and gone off
after all sorts of wickedness, even though your hard heart burns
against me, you are mine. and i have sent my son for you
to die for you to redeem you and you will hear his voice and
believe he says that unto you you will believe and you will
confess when you look upon him and when he's lifted up before
you before all israel when you're gathered under him in Hebron,
you will say, we are thy bone and thy flesh, and thou wast
he, even when Saul was my king, who led us out and brought us
in. And the Lord has said unto thee
that thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt rule over
them. Have you been led out? Has God
led you out of this world and its ways and its deceptions and
the promises and lies of Satan in the world? Have you been brought
into Zion's kingdom and the reign of David, the reign of Christ
over his people? You're either in one place or
the other. If you've been led out and brought
in, you don't remain where you were. How many people take Jesus'
name and profess to follow Him whilst they're still in this
world following the ways and beguilements of Satan? What fools,
they want all the world promises and all that Christ promises
and it cannot be. You will be led out before you
are brought in. Have you, in reality, just who
is your king? Do you claim to worship Christ
whilst you worship Satan? Do you claim to follow David
whilst you follow Saul? Or is Christ your all and all? For if he is, then you will know
that He is the One who feeds His people Israel and He is the
One who rules over His people Israel. You'll know His feeding
by His Gospel. You'll know His food and His
water of everlasting life. You'll know His rule, His sovereign
reign, His rights over you. You will gladly declare that
He is God. The Lord he is God, Christ is
my King and my Lord. He does whatsoever he pleaseth. He hath done all things well. You'll know the power in his
gospel on which you feed. oh what food there is in his
gospel delivered from that mercy seat from between the cherubims
from above the ark in the holiest of holies how this gospel comes
forth with food everlasting His rule and His feeding are
united. You cannot be fed except He rules
over you. And if He rules over you, then
you will be fed. Because the gospel, that which
feeds, is also the power of God, that by which He rules. We're
fed because He rules by His gospel. And that gospel is founded upon a covenant, a
promise which God made father to son, son to father, Father
and Son to the Spirit, the Spirit to the Father and the Son. A
covenant made before this world was ever made, before Adam was
ever created, before Satan, that prince of darkness, ever entered
this world and deceived man. A covenant which was made in
which God said, I will save these people. I will save this people
I will save him and him and him and her and her and her by name. You my son will go to save them
to deliver them your blood will be shed and they will be yours
they will be your bone and your flesh. That gospel stands because of
the covenant which Christ made to save a people. and that gospel
stands because that covenant declares that God in Christ would
save that people, that number by name. Nothing was left to
chance, nothing was left to them to add. We are not saved because
we receive the gospel, we receive the gospel because God made a
covenant to save us. Therefore came all the elders
of Israel to the king to Hebron, and David made a covenant with
them in Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king
over Israel according to the word of the Lord by Samuel. There is a covenant. And David
could say on his deathbed, the Lord hath made with me an everlasting
covenant which is ordered in all things and sure. I am his
because of the covenant and my people are mine because of the
covenant. That covenant promised a sacrifice. blood would be shed that blood
would be sprinkled upon the upon the mercy seat above the ark
in the holy of holies this is why chronicles goes on to describe
the worship of god the ark what happened to the ark and all the
regards of its worship because this is the gospel, the covenant,
the rule, the food upon which David's reign was founded. Is your name written by God in
that covenant? Did he take your name and write
it down in a book which he gave to his son and said unto him,
go and save this child. This sinner, this rebel, give
yourself for them that they who are dead should live. Be nailed to a cross have your flesh pierced, shed
your blood, that they should live forever, that they who are
full of sin should in you be made to be full of the righteousness
of God. These, my son, are thy bone and
thy flesh, they are one with you, one with your bone one with
your flesh not just bone not just flesh but one one by the
gospel yours they are one with you and they are one with you
because in the covenant you will go to the cross to win them for
yourself by shedding your life upon the tree. Did he do that
for you? If he's lifted up, can you gather
with all Israel? And can you say by faith, as
Christ is lifted up to your gaze, with a surety, with a certainty,
unto him, behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh. And moreover,
in time past, even when Saul was our king, thou wast he who
led out and brought in Israel. And the Lord thy God said unto
thee, thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou, thou alone,
shalt be ruler over my people Israel. Praise God. Amen.