Other comments on this day's readings can be found here.
Reading 1 - 1Ch 13:1-3
"David conferred with each of his officers, the commanders of
thousands and commanders of hundreds. He then said to the whole assembly of
Israel, 'If it seems good to you and if it is the will of the LORD our God, let
us send word far and wide to the rest of our brothers throughout the territories
of Israel, and also to the priests and Levites who are with them in their towns
and pasturelands, to come and join us. Let us bring the ark of our God back to
us, for we did not inquire of it during the reign of Saul' " (1Ch
13:1-3).
David should have consulted God instead of his captains about
transporting the ark. His plan was good, but his methods were not well thought
out.
Did David KNOW what to do? Did he simply choose to do
something different, but "just as good"? Did he believe that there would be a
new, spiritual priesthood -- over which he might preside -- with new rules? Was
this a sin of ignorance, or a sin of presumption?
Either way, this first attempt to bring back the ark proved
disastrous: "When they came to the threshing floor of Kidon, Uzzah reached out
his hand to steady the ark, because the oxen stumbled. The LORD'S anger burned
against Uzzah, and he struck him down because he had put his hand on the ark. So
he died there before God" (vv 9,10).
Reading 2 - Eze 26:4
"They will destroy the walls of Tyre and pull down her towers;
I will scrape away her rubble and make her a bare rock" (Eze 26:4).
"If you wish to survey the ruins of ancient Tyre, however, you
really should have a frogman's suit. History tells how the ruins of the city
really were cast into the sea, hundreds of years after Ezekiel had said they
would be. In 332 BC Alexander the Great wanted to subdue an island fortress off
the coast, near the ruins of the former city. He achieved his aim by building a
causeway out to the island, and he used the remains of ancient Tyre for
material.
"Every scrap of rubble from the ruins of Tyre was used by
Alexander, so that the site really was, as Ezekiel put it, 'made like the top of
a rock'. Moreover, as the prophet foretold, the site of the old city was never
built on again. The city of Tyre mentioned in the New Testament, and which still
exists today, stands on an entirely different site" (Alan Hayward, "God's Truth"
ch 2).
Reading 3 - Luk 23:32,33
"Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to
be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified
him, along with the criminals -- one on his right, the other on his left" (Luk
23:32,33).
The three crosses summarized:
The Thief: on the cross of rejection, a scoffer, a blasphemer, who died IN
sin.
Christ: on the cross of redemption, a sacrifice, a benefactor, who died
FOR sin.
The Thief: on the cross of reception, a seeker, a believer, who
died SAVED FROM sin.