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But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness Gal 5:22 |
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Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Friday, October 13, 2023
Today's Passage : Today's Passage :Development and Growth of the Hebrew Empire Bible Verse:2 Samuel 8:9-18 (NLT) "When King Toi of Hamath heard that David had destroyed the entire army of Hadadezer, he sent his son Joram to congratulate King David for his successful campaign. Hadadezer and Toi had been enemies and were often at war. Joram presented David with many gifts of silver, gold, and bronze. King David dedicated all these gifts to the Lord, as he did with the silver and gold from the other nations he had defeated—from Edom, Moab, Ammon, Philistia, and Amalek—and from Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah. So David became even more famous when he returned from destroying 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. He placed army garrisons throughout Edom, and all the Edomites became David’s subjects. In fact, the Lord made David victorious wherever he went. So David reigned over all Israel and did what was just and right for all his people. Joab son of Zeruiah was commander of the army. Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the royal historian. Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar were the priests. Seraiah was the court secretary. Benaiah son of Jehoiada was captain of the king’s bodyguard. And David’s sons served as priestly leaders." Message:
After the dissolution of the Hittite Empire, the lands north of Israel (generally the area of modern Syria) were ruled as smallish kingdoms. Archaeological evidence from this period is practically non-existent. Excavations in Damascus are hard to perform, owing to the continuous settlement of the city, and Syria generally is so politically unstable as to discourage long-term archeological inquiry. As previously mentioned, many secular scholars doubted King David even existed, until bits of archeological evidence began to crop up in the 1990s. In other words, 2 Samuel is one of the few records of the time.
Hittite spearman
Hittite spearman
There are sketchy non-Biblical records of Hadadezer, who ruled an Aramaic nation (called “Aram-Damascus”) centered on the city of Damascus.
Hamath was an Aramaic nation north of Damascus. It was generally peaceful, but had been engaged in a war with Hadadezer. King Toi was naturally delighted to see David pacify Damascus and showed his appreciation and/or respect with voluntary tribute.
David then sent his army south, into Edom, which he conquered entirely, destroying their army in the baleful-sounding “Valley of Salt.” We learn much later, in a brief flashback from the Biblical account of Solomon (1 Kings 11:15-18), that Joab slayed “every male in Edom.” (This has also been translated, perhaps more accurately, as “every male soldier in Edom.”)
The last section of the Scripture is important (although a bit tedious—what, another mind-numbing list of weird Old Testament names?!?) because it shows David’s intention to build a civil rather than military government, such as Saul had had. Even in non-religious terms, David was possibly the greatest man of his day in the Middle East. But although he was a great military leader, the strength of his rule did not depend on military victories. His intention was to build a more stable state, and possibly live to lead it, and so he formed a well-organized and staffed government.
(Even in Israel, the discovery and interpretation of archaeological evidence more than 2000 years old is incredibly difficult. If this interests you, you can read about one recent discovery here.
Meditation : Prayer : Let me not forget my prayers as I go out into the world. Holy Spirit, be with me, and let me praise you and remember you in my every action and thought, for the entire day long. In Christ’s name I ask this, Amen |
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