Tuesday 26th November
Read 2 Samuel 24:5-9
“After crossing the Jordan, they camped near Aroer, south of the town in the gorge, and then went through Gad and on to Jazer. 6 They went to Gilead and the region of Tahtim Hodshi, and on to Dan Jaan and around towards Sidon. 7 Then they went towards the fortress of Tyre and all the towns of the Hivites and Canaanites. Finally, they went on to Beersheba in the Negev of Judah.
8 After they had gone through the entire land, they came back to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.
9 Joab reported the number of the fighting men to the king: in Israel there were eight hundred thousand able-bodied men who could handle a sword, and in Judah five hundred thousand.” (NIVUK)
An anti-clockwise semi-circle around Israel and Judah revealed a considerable force of fighting men. Maybe not the 1.3 million in our translation, as the Hebrew is ambiguous, but still significant. Many words are used describing the journey and the outcome and one can’t help wonder why the author spends the time telling us. Perhaps the very strength and breadth of Israel is important. What one boasts in reveals much about one’s character and priorities.
“This is what the Lord says:
‘Let not the wise boast of their wisdom
or the strong boast of their strength
or the rich boast of their riches,
24 but let the one who boasts boast about this:
that they have the understanding to know me,
that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness,
justice and righteousness on earth,
for in these I delight,’
declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 9:23-24) (NIVUK)
