1 Ch. 12: David's Warriors

1 Chronicles 12:22 "Day after day men came to help David, until he had a great army, like the army of God."

The content of this chapter is new to me, as far as I know. I don't remember reading this in depth about David's exile to Ziklag during Saul's reign in 1 Samuel 27 (entry). The thing about these men is that they are all Benjamites. Like Saul. Why would Saul's kinsmen defect to his enemy? Saul generally became a clown after his anointing. He abused his office, and was a jerk. 

So what's with these guys? They all have impressive attributes like physical strength and skills. They could handle their weapons very well. Being able to throw a stone or shoot an arrow with either hand was probably important. I'm no ancient combat expert, but the strong hand would be the first target I'd take out. These guys could switch and be just as deadly. Can you imagine the dedication that would go into perfecting a skill on your weak side? 

So powerful were these men, that amazingly, in verse 14, of the Gadites, the wussiest guy was match for a hundred, and the he-man a match for a thousand. 100 on it's own is staggering. Can you imagine the razzing? "Ah, that Macbannai, he only killed 114 Philistines."

I find verse 22 amazing. The army of God. I would not want to oppose anything that bore a comparison to such a thing. I imagine the army of God being in formation farther than the eye can see, but necessitating only one person.

Verses 23-37 describe the number of fighting men that joined David at Hebron to go against Saul. The numbers are impressive, but I don't see Saul's army anywhere. Do you think it was just as big? Even the Levites, who didn't have to enlist were so loyal they offered their services to David. 

1 Ch. 11: David Might

1 Chronicles 11:18 "So the Three broke through the Philistine lines, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem and carried it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out before the LORD."

Here's a pretty basic review of some of David's exploits, including his establishment as king, his conquering of Jerusalem, and then a roll call of his mighty men. 

David, you'll remember became king because he followed God, and the LORD was with him when Saul sent him out on military missions. David won the hearts of the people, because of this, and it caused a rift with Saul. - See 2 Samuel 5, entry.

His conquering of Jerusalem was in spite of the mockers, who shouted that David couldn't even conquer a city of the lame or blind. David goes for it anyway, and gets it all done. This exploit also led to Joab being commander-in-chief of the Israelite army.

David's mighty men were originally enumerated in 2 Samuel 23 (entry). Not much new is revealed here, except that the huge Egyptian in 2 Samuel becomes a 7.5 foot tall Egyptian in 1 Chronicles. These mighty men served as David's bodyguard, and inspired fear throughout the land, and brought terror to his enemies. They protected David, and generally caused a ruckus for him. Of course they were probably endowed with the strength of God to kill 300 men, and kill a lion in some snow and all that.