Study Desk

The people of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh were unfaithful to the God their ancestors had worshiped, and they started worshiping the gods of the nations that God had forced out of Canaan.

So God sent King Tiglath Pileser of Assyria to attack these Israelite tribes. The king led them away as prisoners to Assyria, and from then on, he forced them to live in Halah, Habor, Hara, and near the Gozan River.

They put Saul's armor in the temple of their gods and hung his head in the temple of their god Dagon.

and we know that you have led our army into battle, even when Saul was still our king. The Lord God has promised that you would rule our country and take care of us like a shepherd.

David met them outside and said, "If you are coming as friends to fight on my side, then stay and join us. But if you try to turn me over to my enemies, the God our ancestors worshiped will punish you, because I have done nothing wrong."

Amasai, who later became the leader of the Thirty Warriors, was one of these men who went to David. God's Spirit took control of him, and he said, "We will join you, David son of Jesse! You and your followers will always be successful, because God fights on your side." So David agreed to let them stay, and he even put them in charge of his soldiers who raided enemy villages.

and then announced to the people of Israel: While Saul was king, the sacred chest was ignored. But now it's time to bring the chest to Jerusalem. We will invite everyone in Israel to come here, including the priests and the Levites in the towns surrounded by pastureland. But we will do these things only if you agree, and if the Lord our God wants us to.

Then he led them to Baalah in Judah, which was also called Kiriath-Jearim. They went there to get the sacred chest and bring it to Jerusalem, because it belonged to the Lord God, whose throne is above the winged creatures on the lid of the chest.

The Lord God was very angry at Uzzah for doing this, and he killed Uzzah right there beside the chest.

David then got angry at God for killing Uzzah. So he named that place "Attack on Uzzah," and it's been called that ever since.

David asked God, "Should I attack the Philistines? Will you help me win?" The Lord told David, "Yes, attack them! I will give you victory."

David and his army marched to Baal-Perazim, where they attacked and defeated the Philistines. He said, "I defeated my enemies because God broke through them like a mighty flood." So he named the place "The Lord Broke Through."

David asked God what he should do, and God answered, "Don't attack them from the front. Circle around behind them where the balsam trees are.

David obeyed God and he defeated the Philistines. He even chased them all the way from Gibeon to the entrance to Gezer.

He said to them, "You are the leaders of the clans in the Levi tribe. You and your relatives must first go through the ceremony to make yourselves clean and acceptable to the Lord . Then you may carry the sacred chest that belongs to the Lord God of Israel and bring it to the place I have prepared for it.

God gave the Levites the strength they needed to carry the chest, and so they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams.

David appointed some of the Levites to serve at the sacred chest; they were to play music and sing praises to the Lord God of Israel.

The Lord is our God, bringing justice everywhere on earth.

God made an eternal promise

God did not let anyone mistreat our people. Instead he protected us by punishing rulers