The Bible by David Alley

by David Alley

Season 1

1 Chronicles 10 - Death of Saul and his Sons | Bible Podcast, David Alley, Peace Christian Church

In this video listen to 1 Chronicles Chapter 10, read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In 1 Chronicles 10 we cover for the second time, the death of King Saul. He is one of just a handful of people who commit suicide in scripture. He was afraid of capture because tThe things that happened when the enemy leader was captured were often terrible. There was often the risk of torture, humiliation and a painful drawn out death. In modern times we saw what happened when Muammar Gaddafi fell into the hands of people who despised him. In this account Saul falls on his sword, and yet it says in verse 14 that the Lord killed him. The Chronicler is writing from a later viewpoint and more from the perspective of salvation history - from what happened and why. The reason why was because he was unfaithful to God and not interested in what God’s opinion was. So this chapter has theology in it. This video also discusses the valiant men of Jabesh Gilead and their 50 kilometre incursion into enemy territory to retrieve Saul’s body. We also discuss whether it was an oak tree, or a tamarisk tree, and why different versions say different trees.

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Mar 2, 2023

11:57

1 Chronicles 9 - Genealogy and Return of Exiles | Bible Podcast, David Alley, Peace Christian Church

In this video listen to 1 Chronicles Chapter 9, read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In 1 Chronicles 9 is the last of 9 entire chapters of genealogies of the people of God and Israel right through to the exile. After this the book proceeds to narrative. The last of nine chapters which present as incredibly dull, and yet are somehow quite remarkable. Burt Coffmans wrote that “These nine chapters, composed principally of genealogical tables, must, without doubt, be among the most neglected chapters in the Bible.” That seems true, and yet if one would take the time to dig into the names, one finds a structure that reinforces the scriptures, as does steel inside concrete. There is nothing like this in all ancient writings that I’m aware of. You would never begin any modern book with anything like what we find here, but for ancient readers/listeners, with an oral culture, this would have gotten listeners ready for what was to come. Chronicles is now about to recount the story from the first king through to exile, but now in the light of after it has happened. IN the same way that the law was given, and then forty years later a re-explanation in hindsight with lessons learned and hope for the future…. Here we have a retelling in hindsight, with hope for the future. The chapter ends with the genealogy of Saul - in the leadup to the next chapter which is about King Saul, the first king of israel.

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Mar 1, 2023

12:26

1 Chronicles 8 - Genealogy of Saul | Bible Podcast, David Alley, Peace Christian Church

In this video listen to 1 Chronicles Chapter 8, read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In 1 Chronicles 8 is the eighth of 9 entire chapters of genealogies of the people of God and Israel right through to the exile. Weirdly this is the second time we have a genealogy of Benjamin - the one in 7:7-12 above is conjectured to be possibly Zebulun because it was a missing tribe an the genealogy for Benjamin here seems to match the names of people, which the previous one doesn’t. One thing all these lists reveal to us is that there is a genuine history going on here. Why would anyone make up 9 entire chapters of genealogies, including countless names and places that we know nothing of, for no reason. Simply that these represent many events and many dealings, and also how little we know about these times. It gives a very authentic feel to scripture and demonstrates why passages like this are essential. Azel is mentioned a few times here as a man with six sons…. It stands out because of the prophecy of Zechariah 14:5 You shall flee by the valley of my mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azel; yes, you shall flee, just like you fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Yahweh my God will come, and all the holy ones with you.

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Feb 28, 2023

10:38

The Bible: 1 Chronicles Chapter 7

In this video listen to 1 Chronicles Chapter 7, read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In 1 Chronicles 7 is the seventh of 9 entire chapters of genealogies of the people of God and Israel right through to the exile. We are now going through the remainder of the tribes, one by one. Sadly, poor Naphtali gets just one verse. More than one commentator thinks these genealogies are reflective of who was coming back from exile, and the bigger tribes who returned had bigger genealogies. The things written here must have had relevance to them even though so many names are not comparable to anything else. Interestingly Dan seems to be missing as a tribe - not getting any mention. And the other tribe with no mention is Zebulun. Why? Also there seem to be two lists for Benjamin - above in v 7-12 and below in chapter 8 which actually matches who Benjamins descendents were. It seems that the Benjamin above is probably Zebulun and Dan might be left out, as happens in Revelation 7 when the tribes are listed there. In Genesis 49 - Jacob says Dan is a “snake” and perhaps the snake is now left out. Or perhaps at this point there is none left of the tribe of Dan, so there is no point discussing the genealogy? These things are conjecture.

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Feb 27, 2023

15:46

1 Chronicles 6 - Descendants of Levi | Bible Podcast, David Alley, Peace Christian Church

In this video listen to 1 Chronicles Chapter 6, read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In 1 Chronicles 6 is the sixth of 9 entire chapters of genealogies of the people of God and Israel right through to the exile. This chapter has 81 verses, the chapter with the third most in the Bible, but not the third longest as some of the verses here are quite short. And we are now up to the 6th tribe to be considered - Levi, which gets the most attention in the lists, as compared to others like Naphtali which get just one verse. (1 Chron 7:13) A significant patch is devoted to the specific genealogy of Aaron. The time spent is not a waste. According to the rules as outlined in Leviticus 6:11 and in other places only a descendant of Aaron could be the High Priest, so without such a genealogy there is no priesthood. This genealogy was crucial because after the exile it enabled the continuation of the priestly service in the temple. Wikipedia has an article on the full list ofo serving High Priests at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of.... This list includes people whoo did the job who should not have done so, but is of interest. However during the days of Herod the Great, and Idumean - that is an Edomite - he deliberately destroyed the records of genealogy so that he could appoint whatever High Priest he wanted. He turned it into a political position, as bishop and pope have been at other times in history. This catastrophe, along with the destruction of Jerusalem, and the absence of an ark of the covenant mean the sacrificial system is irrecoverable. This is the purpose of God who replaced it all with Christ.

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Feb 26, 2023

19:06

The Bible: 1 Chronicles Chapter 5

In this video listen to 1 Chronicles Chapter 5, read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In 1 Chronicles 5 is the fifth of 9 entire chapters of genealogies of the people of God and Israel right through to the exile. Here the genealogy of Reuben is the third of the tribes to be listed, despite him being firstborn, Instead Joseph takes the double portion, and because he had two sons, both of his sons getting one portion each - the birthright of Joseph. This chapter mentions the Hagrites, who are the Arabians. This chapter now considers the three tribes east of the Jordan and how they ended up faithless and taken away by the Assyrians. In the process here we hear the names of many people we never heard of before. Apparently they were deported sometime during the reign of Tiglath Pileser III which was 745-727BC - 18 years, so this was before even the northern tribes were exiled in 722 BC. Different commentators gave differing dates, but either way there is something to be said for staying close to the right people. These three tribes were not close to Jerusalem in proximity or in their practices. So the enemy got to them. Stay close to Christ - and close to His people.

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Feb 25, 2023

13:20

1 Chronicles 4 - Descendants of Judah | Bible Podcast, David Alley, Peace Christian Church

In this video listen to 1 Chronicles Chapter 4, read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In 1 Chronicles 4 is the fourth of 9 entire chapters of genealogies of the people of God and Israel right through to the exile. The genealogies start going through the tribes one by one. They begin with Judah, and then next is Simeon, an interesting order, given that these were sons, number 4 and 2 in order. Reuben the first born comes in third in the next chapter. This chapter features Jabez, a man who despite having only one verse in the entire Bible, has had enumerable sermons preached about him, and the source of much Christian merchandise. The name Jabez means “he makes sorrowful.” His birth seems to have been so traumatic for his mother, that it caused his name to mean “pain.” Hence is prayer to not cause pain - he cried out to the Lord for a new identity, which the Lord graciously gave. Bithiah, an Egyptian princess is mentioned in this chapter too - a woman who left Egypt along with the Israelites. Bithiah means “daughter of God” and is a Hebrew name adopted, her prior Egyptian name is Tharmuth

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Feb 24, 2023

12:27

1 Chronicles 3 - David's Family and Mighty Men | Bible Podcast, David Alley, Peace Christian Church

In this video listen to 1 Chronicles Chapter 3, read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In 1 Chronicles 3 is the third of 9 entire chapters of genealogies of the people of God and Israel right through to the exile. We find in Chronicles that while much is repeated - it is done in a different light, but in addition there is other material that wasn’t in Kings. The Chronicler has other sources to draw from. In this chapter we get a clue to the possible dating of the Chronicles. In the genealogy of Jeconiah/Jehoiachin, we have Shealtiel, (v17) is in the line of Christ before this list differs from Matthew 1’s list diverging down a different family line. From Jeconiah (aka Jehoiachin) to Christ is 14 generations including Christ. This spans a period of 586 years roughly speaking or about 41 years each. This gives us a rough sense of generational timing. In verses 17-24 above we have gone down the generational line here from Jeconiah (aka Jehoiachin) it seems about 5 generations, so this could represent 160-200 years. The Chronicler could have lived in the period abou 400 BC which was right at the end of the OT canon. This chapter also outlines David’s 19 sons, including that Bathsheba had four living sons, and it seems Solomon is the youngest.

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Feb 23, 2023

10:36

1 Chronicles 2 - Genealogy of David | Bible Podcast, David Alley, Peace Christian Church

In this video listen to 1 Chronicles Chapter 2, read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In 1 Chronicles 2 is the second of 9 entire chapters of genealogies of the people of God and Israel right through to the exile. The book of Chronicles is going to cover a lot of material already covered in Genesis, the Judges, the Kings and more. Why is there a recovering? Because this is written about six generations after the children of Israel come back from Exile. It is a way of going over everything they know but in a new light and making sense of it all, and giving hope for the future. Who is the author? We don’t know, but we call this person the Chronicler - they lived at least six generations after the exile. So even though portions of Chronicles are taken from other biblical authors, such as Jeremiah and Moses, we don’t know who compiled it all together. Many think Ezra - who we will meet in 2 more books, but at least some of it was written later than him, because in the next chapter the generations go six past the exile’s return. Most of this chapter is found elsewhere in the Bible, but there are new sections, such as from verse 25-41 below we have new material. This tells us that the early part of scripture was not the only source the Chronicler used in putting together this material. The genealogy of this chapter mentions Rechab - a most interesting man, whose family appears in Jeremiah 35 when Jeremiah tries to get them drinking wine, and they refuse.

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Feb 22, 2023

16:37

1 Chronicles 1 - Genealogy from Adam to Saul | Bible Podcast, David Alley, Peace Christian Church

In this video listen to 1 Chronicles Chapter 1, read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer. In 1 Chronicles 1 is the first of 9 entire chapters of genealogies of the people of God and Israel right through to the exile. So with the book, A new scroll is opened - the scroll of Chronicles, which at the time of the translation into Greek doubled in size because of the addition of vowels and turned into two books. If you thought the book of Numbers was dull - try the first 9 chapters of this book, which is entirely genealogies. In comparison Numbers didn’t have as many numbers as its title makes it sound. The genealogy starts with the very first man Adam. As boring as it seems, this is a very significant thing. We are dealing with something authentic, traceable right back to God himself. No modern nation, or any nation at all can do such a thing. Ultimately we will be provided with a complete Genealogy from God to Christ - which is incredible and unique. If God is remarkable, unique, sovereign, powerful and everything we ascribe him to be, would not a genealogy from the beginning of time to his arrival be precisely what we would expect. So why do people despise such a thing, or discount its wonder?

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Feb 21, 2023

15:43

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