“And of the
children of Issachar, who had
understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads
of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their commandment”
(1 Chronicles 12:32).
After the death of King Saul, Israel needed to appoint
another King. In spite of the fact that everyone knew that Saul was no longer King,
even before he died and that God had anointed David instead, the choice of who
was to be the next king caused divisions among the tribes of Israel.
Some felt that the successor should come from the tribe
of Benjamin, where Saul also came from but others preferred that it be David,
as ordained by God. The matter was eventually resolved and David became the
next King of Israel.
The children of the tribe of Issachar were among the
supporters of David, the new King. But the text above gives us more information
on their unique qualities that have become very relevant in our contemporary
society;
·
They
had ‘understanding of the times’:
The Hebrew word for “understanding” is “bee-nah”. It also refers to discernment, wisdom, perception and
knowledge. It means “to have insight; to
act with prudence; to be familiar with”.
Apostle Paul prayed in 2 Tim. 2:7,
“… may the Lord give you understanding in
all things”. Meaning that it is God that gives a man understanding (Job 12:13) and that His understanding
has no limit (Ps. 147:5).
The people of Israel were instructed
to diligently teach their descendants the word of God (Deut. 6:6-7). The children of Issachar, being beneficiaries of such
instructed history, knew that God had anointed David to be king (1 Sam. 16:1, 11-13)
and that any contrary decision will be disastrous for Israel. So they
supported David, not because some others did so, but because they had “understanding”.
The children of Issachar had ‘understanding of the times’. What is it
about our own time? Why do we need an ‘understanding’?
2 Timothy
3:1-5, “But understand this, that in
the last days, there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers
of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their
parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without
self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with
conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of
godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people” (ESV).
We don’t need a soothsayer to
tell us that we are living in very dangerous times today. There is wickedness
and incomprehensible cruelty at the helm of government; political and religious
conflicts; global economic and environmental disasters; evil people designing and
producing powerful and destructive products to unleash harm on the world; and people
committing heinous crimes completely regardless of who they hurt.
Apostle Paul did not mince
words to young Pastor Timothy. He warned that difficult times would come and to
be forewarned is to be forearmed; so that no one is surprised or taken unawares
when they happen. Rev. Ray Pritchard puts it
thus; “The last days will be
fierce, violent, dangerous and frightening. Savage times will come as men cast
off all moral restraint and society begins to disintegrate”. We are
beginning to witness the horror of this prophesy.
How has 'the times' we live in affected teenagers today? We will discuss that next week. Don't miss it!!!
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