Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. It is day 125. We're reading two chapters from 2 Samuel, 2 Samuel 6:7, and only one chapter from 1 Chronicles. That is 1 Chronicles 9. We're also praying Psalm 89. As always, I'm reading from the revised standard version, second Catholic Edition, actually reading the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in a Year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress. Com/bibleinayyear. You can also subscribe to this podcast by clicking on subscribe, as we all know by now. You probably have it memorized by now unless you click 30 seconds, fast forward three times, and then click on your heels and you're back in Kansas. As I said, it's day 125. We're reading 2 Samuel 6:7, 1 Chronicles 9:89. 2 Samuel 6: David brings the Ark to Jerusalem.

David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, 30,000. And David arose and went with all the people who were with him from Baaljudah to bring up from there the Ark of God, which is called by the name of the Lord of Hosts who sits enthroned on the Cherubim. And they carried the Ark of God upon a new cart and brought it out of the house of Abinnadab, which was on the hill. And Uzeh and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new cart with the Ark of God. And Ahio went before the Ark, and David and all the house of Israel were making merry before the Lord with all their might, with songs and liars, and harps, and tambourines, and castanets and cymbals. And when they came to the thrashing floor of Nakhon, Uzeh put out his hand to the Ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzeh, and God struck him there because he forth his hand to the Ark, and he died there beside the Ark of God. And David was angry because the Lord had broken forth upon Uzzah, and that place is called Perez Uzzah to this day.

And David was afraid of the Lord that day, and he said, How can the Ark of the Lord, come to me. ' So David was not willing to take the Ark of the Lord into the city of David, but David took it aside to the house of Obed Edom, the Gethite. And the Ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed Edom, the Gethite, three months. And the Lord blessed Obed Edom and all his household. And it was told King David, the Lord has blessed the household of Obed Edom and all that belongs to him because of the Ark of God. So David went and brought up the Ark of God from the house of Obed Edom to the city of David with rejoicing. And when those who bore the Ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling. And David danced before the Lord with all his might. And David was belted with a linn and ephod. So David, in all the house of Israel, brought up the Ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the horn. As the Ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal, the daughter of Saul, looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, and she despised him in her heart.

And they brought in the Ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent which David had pitched for it, and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of Hosts and distributed among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, to each a cake of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins. Then all the people departed, each to his house. And David returned to bless his household. But Michal, the daughter of Saul, came out to meet David and said, How the King of Israel honored himself today, uncovering himself today before the eyes of his servants' maids, as one of the vulgar fellows, shamelessly uncovers himself. And David said to Michal, It was before the Lord who chose me above your Father, and above 'I will call his house to appoint me as Prince over Israel, the people of the Lord, and I will make Mary before the Lord. I will make myself yet more contemplable than this, and I will be abased in your eyes.

But by the maids of whom you have spoken, by them I shall be held in honor. And Michal, the daughter of Saul, had no child to the day of her death. Chapter 7: God's Promise to David. Now, when the king dwelt in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies round about, the king said to Nathan, the prophet, See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the Ark of God dwells in a tent. And Nathan said to the king, 'Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you. ' But that same night, the word of the Lord came to Nathan, 'Go and tell my servant David, thus says the Lord, 'Would you build me a house to dwell in? ' I have not dwelt in a house since the day I brought up the sons of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling. In all the places where I have moved with all the sons of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, 'Why have you not built me a house of cedar?

' Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, ' thus says the Lord of hosts, 'I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel, and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you, and I I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them that they may dwell in their own place, and be disturbed no more, and violent men shall afflict them no more as formerly. From the time I appointed judges over my people Israel, and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son.

When he omits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men. But I will not take my merciful love from him as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your Our throne shall be established forever. In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David. David's prayer. Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and said, Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house that you have brought me thus far? And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord God. You have spoken also of your servant's house for a great while to come and have shown me future generations, O Lord God. And what more What can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Lord God, because of your promise and according to your own heart, you have wrought all this greatness to make your servant know it. Therefore, you are great, O Lord God. For there is none like you.

There is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. What other nation on earth is like your people, Israel, whom God went to redeem, to be his people, making himself a name, and doing for them great and terrible things by driving out before his people a nation and its gods? And you established for yourself your people, Israel, to be your people forever. And you, O Lord, became their God. And now, O Lord God, confirm forever the word which you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, and do as you have spoken, and your name will be magnified forever, saying, 'The Lord of hosts is God over Israel, and the house of your servant, David, will be established before you. 'For you, O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have made this revelation to your servant, saying, 'I will build you a house. Therefore, your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you. And now, O Lord God, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant. Now, therefore, may it please you to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever before you.

For you, O Lord God, have spoken, and with your blessing, shall the house of your servant be blessed forever. The first Book of Chronicles, Chapter 9. So all Israel was enrolled by genealogies, and these are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel. And Judah was taken into exile in Babylon because of their unfaithfulness. Now, the first to dwell again in their possessions in their cities were Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the temple servants. And some of the people of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh, dwelt in Jerusalem. Uthai, the son of Amihud, son of Omri, son of Imri, son of Bani, from the sons of Perez, the son of Judah, and of the Shailanites, Asiah, the first born, and his sons, of the sons of Zerah, Juel, and their kinsmen, 690. Of the Benjaminites, Saluh, the son of Mashulam, son of Hodevaya, son of Hassanuah, Ibniyah, the son of Jeroham, Ella, the son of Uzi, son of Micri, and Mishulam, the son of Sheftaya, son of Raul, son of Ibnizah, and their kinsmen, according to their generations, 956. All these were heads of fathers' houses, according to their fathers' houses. Priestly families. Of the priests, Adaya, Jehoyarib, Jakeen, and Azariah, the son of Hilcaya, son of Mushalam, son of Zadok, son of Marrioth, son of Ahitub, the chief officer of the house of God, and Adaya, the son of Jeroham, son of Pashur, son of son of Maasai, son of Adiel, son of Jazerah, son son of Mashimaleth, son of Imr, besides their kinsmen, heads of their father's houses, 1,760 very able men for the work of the service of the house of God.

Levitical families. Of the Levites, Shemaya, the son of Hashub, son of Azraqam, son of Hashibaya, of the sons of Marari, and Bakbar, Horesh, Galal, and Matanaya, the son of Micah, the son of Zikri, son of Asaph, and Obadiah, the son of Shemaya, son of Galal, son of Jaduithun, and Barakaya, the son of Assa, son of Elkanah, who dwelt in the villages of the Netophatites. The gatekeepers were Shalum, Akub, Talman, Ahiman, and their kinsmen, Shalum being the chief, stationed hithereto in the king's gate on the east side. These were the gatekeepers of the camp of the Levites. Shalum, the son of Kora, son of Abiasat, son of Kora, and his kinsmen of his father's house, the Cora Heights, were in charge of the work of the service, keepers of the thresholds of the tent, as their fathers had been in charge of the camp of the Lord, keepers of the entrance. And Phineas, the son of Eleazar, was the ruler over them in time past, and the Lord was with him. Zechariah, the son of Mishamalaya, was the gatekeeper at the entrance of the tent of meeting. All these who were chosen as gatekeepers at the thresholds were 212.

They were enrolled by genealogies in their villages. David and Samuel, the seer, established them in their office of trust. So they, and their sons, were in charge of the gate of the house of the Lord, that is, the house of the tent, as guards. The gatekeepers were on the four sides, east, west, north, and south. And their kinsmen, who were in their villages, were obliged to come in every seven days from time to time to be with these. For the four chief gatekeepers who were Levites were in charge of the chambers and in the treasures of the house of God. And they lodged round about the house of God, for upon them lay the duty of watching, and they had charge of opening it every morning. Some of them had charge of the utensils of service, for they were required to count them when they were brought in and taken out. Others of them were appointed over the furniture and over all the holy utensils, also over the fine flour, the wine, the oil, the incense, and the spices. Others of the sons of the priests prepared the mixing of the spices, And Matathiah, one of the Levites, the first born of Shalom, the Koraite, was in charge of making the flat cakes.

Also, some of the kinsmen of the Koithites had charge of the show bread to prepare it every Sabbath. Now, these are the singers, the heads of Father's Houses of the Levites, dwelling in the chambers of the temple, free from other service, for they were on duty day and night. These were the heads of Father's Houses of the Levites, according to their generations, leaders who lived in Jerusalem. The family of 'Gibian. ' In Gibeon, dwelt the father of Gibeon, G-I-L, and the name of his wife was Ma'aka, and his first born son, Abdon, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Nair, Nadab, Gidor, Ahio, Zechariah, and Mikloth. And Mikloth was the father of Shemiam, and these also dwelt opposite their kinsmen in Jerusalem with their kinsmen. Nair was the father of Kish, Kish of Saul, Saul of Jonathan, Malkashua, Abinadab, and Esbaal. And the son of Jonathan was Marybaal, and Marybaal was the father of Micah. The sons of Micah, Pithon, Melech, Tariah, and Ahaz, and Ahaz was the father of Jirah, and Jaira of Alameth, Asmiveth, and Zimri. And Zimri was the father of Moza. Moza was the father of Beniah, and Rephaya was his son. Eleasah, his son.

Eazel, his son. Eizal had six sons, and these are their names: Azra'com, Bokharu, Ishmael, Sharia, Obadiah, and Hanan. These were the sons of Eazel. Psalm 89. God's covenant with David. Emaskel of Ethan, the Esraite. I will sing of your mercies, O Lord, forever. With my mouth, I will proclaim your faithfulness to all generations. For your merciful love was established forever. Your faithfulness is firm as the heavens. You have said, I have made a covenant with my chosen one. I have sworn to David, my servant, I will establish your descendants forever and build your throne for all generations. But the heavens praise your wonders, O Lord, your faithfulness in the assembly of the Holy ones. For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord? Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord, a God, feared and the counsel of the Holy ones, great and awesome above all that are round about him? O Lord, God of hosts, Who is mighty as you are, O Lord, with your faithfulness round about you? You rule the raging of the sea. When its waves rise, you still them. You crushed Rahab like a carcass. You scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.

The heavens are yours. The earth also is yours. The world and all that is in it, you have founded them. The north and the south, you have created them. Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name. You have a mighty arm. Strong is your hand, high your right-hand. Righteous and justice are the foundation of your throne. Steadfast love and faithfulness go before you. Blessed are the people who know the festal shout, who walk, O Lord, in the light of your countenance, who exalt in your name all the day and extol your righteousness. For you are the glory of their strength. By your favor, our horn is exaltet. For our shield belongs to the Lord, our King, to the Holy one of Israel. Of old, you spoke in a vision to your faithful one and said, 'I have set the crown on one who is mighty. I have exaltet one chosen from the people. I have found David, my servant. With my Holy oil, I have anointed him, so that my hand shall ever abide with him. My arm also shall strengthen him. The enemy shall not outwit him. The wicked shall not humble him. I will crush his foes before him and strike down those who hate him.

My faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him, and in my name shall his horn be exaltet. I will set his hand on the sea, and his right-hand on the rivers. He shall cry to me, 'You are my Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation, and I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the Kings of the Earth. My merciful love, I will keep for him forever, and my covenant will stand firm for him. I will establish his line forever and his throne as the days of the heavens. If his children forsake my law and do not walk according to my ordinances, if they violate my statutes and do not keep my Commandments, then I will punish their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with scourges. But I will not remove from him my merciful love or be false to my faithfulness. I will not violate my covenant or alter the word that went forth from my lips. Once for all, I have sworn by my Holiness, I will not lie to David. His line shall endure forever, his throne as long as the sun before me. Like the moon, it shall be established forever.

It shall stand firm while the skies endure. But now you have cast off and rejected. You are full of wrath against your anointed. You have renounced the covenant with your servant. You have defiled his Crown in the dust. You have breached all his walls. You have laid his strongholds in ruins. All that passed by to spoil him, he has become the scorn of his neighbors. You have exaltet the right-hand of his foes. You have made all his enemies rejoice. Yes, You have turned back the edge of his sword, and you have not made him stand in battle. You have removed the scepter from his hand and cast his throne to the ground. You have cut short the days of his youth. You have covered him with shame. How long, O Lord, will you hide yourself forever? How long will your wrath burn like a fire? Remember, O Lord, what the measure of life is, for what vanity you have created all the sons of men. What man can live and never see death Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Lord, where is your steadfast love of old, which by your faithfulness you swore to David?

Remember, O Lord, how your servant is scorned, how I bear in my bosom the insults of the peoples, with which your enemies taunt, O Lord, with which they mock the footsteps of your anointed. Blessed be the Lord forever. Amen and amen. Father in heaven, we give you praise and glory. We thank you for hearing this prayer, this prayer of David, this prayer of a heart that has been lifted up and a heart that has been thrown down, a heart that has been exaltant in joy and a heart that has been broken in sorrow. A heart that has been triumphant in victory and a heart that has been devastated in defeat. And this is our hearts too, Lord. We come before you however our day is going, however our week is going, however the season of our life is going right now. We come before in victory and in defeat. We come before you in joy, and we come before you in grief because your love encompasses all things. Joy and grief, victory and defeat, weakness and strength. And so we come before you because you are a good, good dad. Please receive us into your heart.

Receive us into your embrace this day. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy spirit. Amen. Okay, golly. Oh, praise the Lord. This is so good. There's so much to talk about because we have things It begins to highlight in 2 Samuel, as well as in 1 Chronicles, as well as in this Psalm, Psalm 89. Let's start the Psalm 89. Psalm 89 is the way in which David gets to be really real with his prayer. At the very beginning of the prayer, the whole first half of the prayer is, God, you are faithful, you're good, you've lifted me up, you give me a strong arm, all my enemies are defeated. And then the second half of the Psalm is, And God, now I've lost everything. God, I'm defeated. God, I'm put to shame, I'm put to disgrace. And at the very end, What does he say? He says what he says at almost the end of every single psalms. He says, 'Blessed be the Lord, ' and God in all these things, 'Blessed be the Lord, forever. Amen and Amen. ' David models for us this honesty in prayer.

He comes before God in victory, and he comes before God in defeat. He comes before God in joy, and he comes before God in grief. And that doesn't mean he's ever being false. He's always being honest before the Lord. And so I just wanted to highlight that in in Psalm 89. Okay, going back to 2 Samuel 6, what do we have? We have David who says, Okay, here I am living in Jerusalem. Let us bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem now. Because remember, all the way back in Exodus, when God had commanded Moses to have the people fashion the Ark, the Ark of God. Inside the Ark of God are the Ten Commandments. Inside the Ark of God is the staff of Aaron, and inside the Ark of God is a container with the manna, the bread from heaven that's there. And so you have in the Ark of God, you have the word of God, right? The Ten Commandments. You have the sign of the priesthood in Aaron's staff, and you have the bread from heaven. Then all these things are going to be massively important. And yet, even though the Ark of God is now being brought to Jerusalem, which is great, That's where the temple is going to be built, ultimately.

How do they transport it? Now, I remember when I first heard this story in 2 Samuel 6 about Uza, this guy, Uzzah, who's with his brother, Ahio, and they're the sons of Abinnadab, and they're bringing the Ark of the Lord to Jerusalem. Before it, they're making a big to-do, right? They're rejoicing. At some point, it says, The oxen stumble, and Uzzah reaches out his hand to steady the Ark, and God kills him. I remember I heard this in high school, and I thought, How unfair is that? I never understood it until relatively recently, until the last, maybe I'll say decade, maybe a little more than a decade. Why? What is being communicated here? Well, if you remember back in Leviticus, when the Ark was being fashioned. How was the Ark to be transported? The Ark was only to be transported by the priests, and the priests would never actually even touch the Ark. They would never even lay a hand upon the Ark. In fact, it was gold-plated, Acacia would, and they would take the gold-plated poles, and they'd place them through the gold-plated rings. And that's how the priests were to carry the Ark.

Now, the people knew this. David knew this. Everyone who's transporting the Ark here, they know this. They know the commandment of God. And yet what did they do? They put it on a cart that's pulled by oxen. This is so important because the Ark is the holiest thing that they have. The Ark is the holiest thing that they have, and they're not obeying the Lord in transporting it. Here is Uza who puts out his hand to steady the Ark, knowing he's doing this, yes, maybe to protect the Ark in this moment, but also knowing he's doing this in disobedience. This is a very critical thing. Disobeying God, we can hear the story and think, Oh my gosh, how unfair that his earthly life, his physical life, was ended at this moment. But we realize, what is the price of sin? The price of sin is our eternal lives. When we choose sin, we choose to disobey God, how do we want to define sin? Here's how I define sin. I'll put it in a sentence. Sin is when I say to God, God, I know what you want, but I'm going to do what I want.

It's just disobedience. I know what you want, God. I'm going to do what I want. Here's Uza, God, I know what you want, but I'm going to do what I want. And he has physical death. And we think that's very unfair. And yet whenever we say to God, God, I know what you want, but I'm going to do what I want to do, that's spiritual death. We're choosing to spiritually die. And that's not unfair. And so this is a great example of how physical death can parallel or at least be a metaphor or analogy for spiritual death. When we say, God, I don't want you. I want to do what I want to do. That's what we're saying. That's what we're choosing ultimately here. Now, here's how the move goes on. There's so much to say here. The Ark is left at the house of Obed Edom the Gethite. And what happens is, because David's afraid. At first, he's upset. He doesn't understand. He's angry at God. He's saying, God, what the heck? I'm trying to bring this to Jerusalem, and now a guy is dead. Then he's grieved, then he's afraid. And so he says, How can the Ark of the Lord come to me?

And so he leaves it at the house of Obed Edom the Gethite. But what happens at the house of Obed Edom the Gethite? What happens is everything's blessed, which means everyone's having babies. It means there's a fruitfulness in the house of Obed Edom the Gethite. Not only with his family members, with his flocks, with the servants who live there, everyone's reproducing. They're having a lot of children. There's a lot of life because wherever God is present, there's a lot of life. And so David renews his decision to bring the Ark of the Lord back to Jerusalem. And yet this time, as they begin to transport the Ark, first, they go six paces and he sacrifices an ox and a fatling. Now, he recognizes, Okay, we're not just transporting this box. We're transporting the Ark of the Lord before ourselves. And that's when he's leaping and dancing. Okay, and then what did David do? David leapt and danced. David danced. That's my Footloose reference. This is the scene from the movie Footloose, where Kevin Bacon says, What did David He went to dinner. He danced. Take that small town preacher in the Midwest. Here is David who's leaping and dancing before the Ark of the Lord with joy.

Now, here's a couple of things to highlight. This is a part of Catholic theology. So our brothers and who are part of this Bible in a year, maybe this is something you've never heard before. But Mary, the mother of God, is often referred to in Catholic circles as the new Ark of the Covenant. We say, Well, why is that? Why in the world would that be? Well, because of this, because of all these elements. So in the Ark were what? Was the Ten Commandments, was the staff of Aaron, and were the man from heaven? Well, in the new Ark of the Covenant, Mary herself, what was present in Mary's womb in Luke Chapter 1? Well, in Luke Chapter 1, you have Jesus himself who is what? The word made flesh, the word of God, the word made flesh, the great high priest, and who is, he says in John 6, I am the true bread that came not from heaven. And so we recognize that in the womb of Mary, the new Ark of the new covenant is Jesus Christ. And it's such a parallel that we don't just say, Oh, that's interesting, but go back to 2 Samuel 6.

Why? Because when Mary goes to the hill country of Judea, what does Elizabeth say? Who am I that the mother of my lord should come to me? When David is here at the house of Obed Edom, the Gittite, where is that? That's in the hill country of Judea, you guys. This is amazing. And what does David say? Who am I that the Ark of my lord should come to me? Not only that, but later on, David leaps and dances with joy before the Ark of the covenant. What happens? When The sound of Mary's voice reaches Elizabeth's ears. She says, The infant in my womb leaped for joy. This is one of the reasons why the Catholic Church declares, Yeah, Mary's the new Ark of the new covenant, because Jesus is this fulfillment of everything in the Old Testament. This is so cool, isn't it? I think it's pretty awesome, and I think that you probably do, too, because I think we read a lot of things. So that is remarkable. Now, one last thing when it comes to 2 Samuel 7. In 2 Samuel 7, we have David who says, I want to temple for the Lord.

Here I am living in a house of cedar in a palace. And the Ark of the Lord, the holiest thing we have, where God's presence abides, is in a tent. And so he says, I'm going to do this. And Nathan says, Great, go ahead. But then later on has a vision from the Lord that says, No, no, no, no, no, gathering stuff, materials and whatnot for the building of the Ark. Because God says what? God says, I will build you a house, David. I will make of you a kingdom, David. You want to make a great name for me? Can you make a house for me? I appreciate it. I'm going to make a great name and a great house for you. And that is just it's fulfilled ultimately in the Messiah, in Jesus Christ, which we're going to get to very, very soon later on in Chronicles, how all Chronicles is pointed towards the establishment of the true Messiah and the establishment of temple worship. Now, one note about 1 Chronicles 9. There's one verse, and this one verse highlights the context that 1 Chronicles and 2 Chronicles are written in. Remember, I mentioned this when we first were introduced to Chronicles.

Chronicles is the last book in the Jewish scriptures because this is written by what we'd say, the Esre the Scribe. Now, Esra the Scribe is recounting the history of Israel after all of the persecution is experienced, after all the devastation is experienced, after all the horrible kings and division is experienced, after exile in Babylon that Israel experienced. Now, Esre the Scribe is writing a history. So this is remarkable. We're going to be reading the history of 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, while we're reading the history of 1 and 2 Chronicles. Now, why this is so important is because we're going to get the on-the-ground history. 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings are the on-the-ground history written within the livelihood that are within the lives, more or less, in recent history of Israel and the account of them getting divided, the account of them and their failures, the account of them and these awful kings we're going to keep encountering. But 1 Chronicles is written after all of that story has been written, and then even after their exile to Babylon. Now, Israel is writing the story, and he's writing the history. Keep this in mind.

If you're writing the history simply of, say, the United States, if you're living in the United States, or whatever country you're in right now, and you're writing the immediate history. Here's the last 100 years of whatever country you're in right now. We'd come up with a history. I heard someone say this, and I thought this was a great example. He said, But imagine starting tomorrow for the next 70 years, we had this horrible devastation in whatever country you or I are living in. After 70 years, we're finally going back to rebuild the country that was completely lost. We're rebuilding the nation that was decimated by this foreign power. We would write a different story. It wouldn't be necessarily a whitewash or a fictional story, but it would be a different emphasis. It would be a different story. That's a great way to understand the difference between the way in which 2 Samuel and first and 2 Kings are being written and first and 2 Chronicles are being written. One, 2 Samuel and first and 2 Kings are written on the ground, and the other, first and 2 Chronicles, are written long after the fact of devastation and saying, We're here to paint a picture of the life that you could be living.

The line that reveals this and is so critical is in 1 Chronicles 9, where it says, But Judah was carried away to Babylon because of their unfaithfulness. One of the things that Israel wants to highlight is all of this has to do with unfaithfulness. So when we come back, here we are, back in Jerusalem, here we are, back in Judah, what we have to do is we're telling the story so that you will not, again, be like our ancestors were, so that you will not be unfaithful like they were. And that's how he's setting the stage and setting the scene for first and second Chronicles. Okay, let's pray for each other. Long day, but I hope that is a blessing of a day for you all and for me. I'm praying for you. Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.