April 6, 2021: Day 31 – I Chronicles 27

We continue to see how the society of Israel was directed and administered.  Here we read at the beginning of the chapter about those who had charge over the military.  Notice that David just did a nominal number of counting and did not count those under 20.  Remember when God promised Abram that the nation would be more numerous than the sand and could not be counted?  As a result God would consistently frown upon an attempt at a census for the people of Israel because it could be interpreted as if the people were trying to check on God to see if God fulfilled the promise.  Remember, this was for the nation of Israel, not for us as Americans.  God did not give us those promises either as Christians nor as Americans.  There is nothing wrong, in fact it is quite helpful, to do a census.  

From the military people he moves into describing a multifaceted political state including those who oversaw the agricultural estates.  There were storehouses that were run by members of families and that was their specific responsibility.  You found those who were responsible for the work of the field, vineyards, olive and sycamore trees, oil, herds, camels, and flocks.  It was quite extensive and so every detail mattered and if a detail was left out then inevitably that detail would suffer.