“And of the children
of Issachar, which were men that 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 Chron. 12:32).
After the death of King
Saul, there was a need to appoint another King over Israel. The people of
Israel were aware that King Saul had been rejected even before he died and that
David had been anointed in his place. But inspite of this reality, the choice
of the next king caused a deep division among the tribes of Israel. While some
felt that the next king should come from the tribe of Benjamin, the same tribe
as Saul, others preferred that it be David.
The matter was
eventually resolved and David became the next King of Israel. The children of
Issachar played an important role in the resolution. Indeed, they were among the supporters of David, the new King but the text above
gives us more information on the unique qualities of this tribe that has become
very relevant in our contemporary society;
They had ‘understanding’:
The word “understanding” also refers to discernment,
wisdom, perception and knowledge. It means “to have insight; to act with
prudence; to be familiar with”. The apostle Paul prayed in 2 Tim. 2:7,
“… may the Lord give you understanding in all things”. It is God
that gives a man understanding (Job 12:13) and His understanding has no limit
(Psalms 147:5). The children of Issachar had a peculiar kind of ‘understanding’.
The Bible records that their ancestors were instructed to
diligently teach the word of God to their descendants (Deuteronomy 6:6-7). So,
the children of Issachar were very familiar with the word of God. They knew
therefore, that God had anointed David to be king (1 Samuel 16:1, 11-13)
and any contrary decision will be disobedience to the will of God, which will
be disastrous for Israel. So they supported David, not because they saw others doing so, but because they had “understanding”.
God is the source of all useful and
sustainable understanding. He can use our parents, elders, teachers, pastors, etc to give us understanding, but He is the
source. Understanding is a gift from God. It is not something that we can form within ourselves.
Psalms 119:144, "The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting: Give me understanding, and I shall live".
God’s
understanding is infinite. We can never comprehend the vastness of His
understanding. Therefore, He is the very best One to go to for understanding.
He gives us understanding when we ask Him for it, but we cannot get it on our
own or buy it through a college education. Spiritual understanding requires the
Holy Spirit, not the intellect, in order to have it and to understand it. God is so
far superior to everyone else.
When we have understanding, as
believers, we begin to experience the fullness of our God-given life and to
know God’s way and God’s best. It is the lack of understanding that embroils us
in sin and the resulting wrong philosophies and opinions of the world. We need
to understand the examples of right and wrong actions that God gives to us
through the testimonies of the Bible. True understanding will always line up
with God’s Word.
Deuteronomy 4:5-6, “Behold, I have
taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that
ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. Keep therefore and
do them; for this is your wisdom and your
understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes,
and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding
people”.
Understanding means to depart from
evil. A person that is not ready to depart from what he is doing wrong, even
when it is pointed out to him is a person who does not have understanding.
Obedience to God therefore, is necessary for a person to get understanding. The
more we obey God, the greater understanding we have of the things of God and
His Word.
Job 28:28, “And unto man he said,
Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart
from evil is understanding”.
Understanding is increased by
studying and meditating on the word of God. We gain understanding by meditating
on the success and failures that God tells us in the Bible. God has chosen the
details of the accounts to share with us; so that we gain the understanding He
wants us to have.
Psalms 119:130, “The entrance of thy words giveth light; it
giveth understanding unto the simple”.
Proverbs is a good book of the Bible
to study to gain understanding. It is important that we hear and listen to
counsel that others give. Sometimes it is the poor counsel that others have
followed or the mistakes that others have made that give us direction by knowing
what not to do, and therefore we know what to do.
That is why it is important for
children to listen to their parent’s instruction if they are to get
understanding. A child with a rebellious spirit signifies a person who does not
listen to their parent’s instructions and this attitude, prevents them from
having understanding. When you get understanding at a young age, it will
benefit you for the rest of your life. When a child learns to hear
intelligently, the instruction of his parents, he is learning a pattern for his
life of listening to those who have more experience than he does (Proverbs
22:17).
Understanding is not something we
get once and then have for the rest of our life. We need to actively retain it
(Proverbs 4:5). Getting wisdom and understanding is our responsibility. It is
also our responsibility not to forget wisdom and understanding or to neglect
them. Wisdom and understanding are not something one can buy. A child needs to
listen to his Godly father and mother to know about wisdom and understanding.
·
Have a desire to gain wisdom and
understanding.
·
Listen intelligently to people who
have wisdom and understanding.
·
Follow wise counsel.
·
Have a passionate hatred for sin and
evil: pride, arrogance, foolishness wickedness, etc (Proverbs 9:4-6).
· It is not enough to tell people what
is right and wrong. They need to understand why something is wrong and what the
present and eternal consequences of doing it are. Then they will have
understanding and will choose much more readily to do what is right (Proverbs
15:32).
· We can get understanding when
others correct us. We should listen to them, and not think that what they are saying does not apply to us. We can learn a lot when our parents and others rebuke us. There will be times in life when people will misjudge us and scold us but even then it is important to listen to them in order to discern whether it is a wise rebuke or a foolish one. In either case, the rebuke can help you to get greater understanding.
Proverbs 16:16 How much better is it to
get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver!
Discipline and correction are a
necessary part of education. When these are removed or avoided, the education
does not succeed. A person with understanding needs to
be reproved when he is wrong so that he will understand what is right. Reproof
is an essential part of learning.
Daniel and his friends had a unique kind of understanding from God.
Daniel 1:17, "As for these four
children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and
Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams".
Daniel 1:20, "And in all matters of
wisdom and understanding, that the king inquired of them, he
found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers
that were in all his realm".
God gave Daniel understanding while
Daniel was spending time with the Lord in prayer.
Daniel 10:1, "In the third year of
Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called
Belteshazzar; and the thing was true, but the time
appointed was long: and he understood the thing, and had
understanding of the vision '. It was while Daniel was praying that God gave him
understanding of the vision.
Education is good but it has a very limited capacity to give us understanding. We can get understanding from our God and in His word. We get enlightenment when God opens our eyes of understanding. Understanding the will of God will help not to be unwise and do what seems best
to us rather than first finding out His will and doing what He
wants us to do.
The children of Issachar can be distinguished today because they had that special attribute - understanding. It helped them in many ways, chief of which was to stand firm in their decisions in obedience to God and according to His will. Let us therefore, seek
for understanding. Spiritual truths are much more significant than what they
appear to the natural mind. Therefore it is important that we take time to
meditate on the Scripture and ask God to show us the hidden truths that He wants us
to see.
(With excerpts from http://www.biblicalresearchreports.com)
