1 Chronicles 5:18-26 - The Fickleness Of Man’s Trust In The Lord
Trust in The Lord
If you are like me, those words immediately make you think of Proverbs 3:5-6. In fact, I can’t seem to stop at trust in the Lord, but I finish it out with the rest of Proverbs 3:5-6.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”
Proverbs 3:5-6
Since learning this verse early in my faith journey, I have loved the message and encouragement of these words, but I especially love the promise. If I trust in God rather than myself, if I acknowledge Him in all that I do, He promised to direct my paths. That is an incredible promise, and I have learned God truly is faithful to His word.
I also learned that we are fickle even when we have experienced God’s faithfulness in our lives. Man’s fickleness in relying and trusting in God shines forth in the story of the sons of Rueben, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in 1 Chronicles 5:18-26.
Maybe I would have missed it, if I had not been trudging through reading 1 Chronicles and its dense lists of genealogies. Honestly, I had to make myself stay focused and read through the multitude of names in 1 Chronicles 1-5. And yes, I made that stop at Jabez’s prayer made so well known to us by Bruce Wilkinson over two decades ago. I had the honor and privilege of meeting Bruce on November 11, 2010 at a writer’s conference. I remember the date, because he signed his book for me and dated it. My friends and I visited with him and took a picture with him. He was such an encourager, speaking words of life to each of us.
The Main Lesson I Learned
I loved the prayer of Jabez in 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 and the lessons Bruce brought out of that brief break in the genealogies up to that point. However, the main lesson I learned from him still affecting my Bible study today, was to read and pay attention. Don’t skim and miss the treasures buried in God’s word. That was on my mind, when I read past Jabez’s prayer and on through the next fifty verses of ancient names.
When the half-tribe of Manasseh showed up on the scene in 1 Chronicles 5:18, the lists paused and a war story began. The story included the sons of Rueben, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, a total of 44,700 men and 60 valiant men skilled in war and went to war against the Hagrites (descendants from Abraham and Hagar). The story doesn’t include many details, but 1 Chronicles 5:20 is where I really began to pay attention.
“And they were helped against them, and the Hagrites were delivered into their hand,
and all who were with them, for they cried out to God in the battle.
He heeded their voice because they put their trust in Him.”
1 Chronicles 5:20
Interestingly, this is the first time I found the specific terminology trust in the Lord in the Bible. I will have to tell you that surprised me because I know that trusting in God started with people before the sons of Reuben, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. The language most often used prior to that connected with obedience to the Lord. For example:
“But if you indeed obey His voice and do all that I speak,
then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.”
Exodus 23:22
Trust and Obedience Connect
When I look at Exodus 23:22 and 1 Chronicles 5:20, I see obedience and trust connected. Obedience came out of trust. When we trust God, we obey God. Obedience to God reveals trust in Him. In 2 Samuel 22:3, David sang these words of praise when God delivered him from his enemies:
“The God of my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation,
my stronghold and my refuge; My Savior, You save me from violence.”
2 Samuel 22:3
In 1 Chronicles 5, God delivered His people in a huge way. They walked away with the Hagrite’s livestock: fifty-two thousand camels, two-hundred and fifty thousand sheep, two thousand donkeys, and one hundred thousand Hagrite men fell dead during that war. Sounds like they cleaned house, all “because the war was God’s.” (2 Chronicles 5:22)
The reality is God is faithful to deliver his people who trust and obey Him and that theme runs throughout all of Scripture. However, there is another theme running throughout Scripture which points out the fickleness of man no matter the degree of God’s faithfulness that men experience.
First Chronicles 5:23-24 tells us that the half-tribe of Manasseh increased in numbers, in might, in fame, and as leaders. So not only did God deliver them from their enemies and give them all that belonged to their enemies, He increased them in every way.
After that level of faithfulness, the men of the half-tribe of Manasseh did not keep their initial heart for God as their primary motivation in life.
“And they were unfaithful to the God of their fathers, and played the harlot after the gods of the
peoples of the land, whom God had destroyed before them.”
1 Chronicles 5:25
Fickleness of Man
This story just made me stop and think about how fickle we are. We want God to be there for us when we need Him. Nevertheless, no matter the degree of His faithfulness we experienced, when He delivers, and we aren’t in need any longer, we so easily turn our hearts to other things. It happened with the Israelites over and over. There is a warning passage in the New Testament that says,
“You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness,
being led away with the error of the wicked;”
2 Peter 3:17
Peter wrote those words and I am sure they were so personal to him. He understood how important his warning was because He lived it. He was bound and determined that he would not fail Jesus in His hour of trial, but Peter fell from his own steadfastness, rejecting that he even knew Jesus. I think Peter was genuine when he said he would stand with Jesus until death, but in the moment he faced the possibility of his own harm, he bowed out.
Notice these two instances are different. The Old Testament story shows us that the good life got in their way of staying true to God. While the New Testament story of Peter’s rejection of knowing Jesus was more fear based. Peter was afraid of the bad that would come upon him.
I believe the same is true today for us as Christ-followers. First, Jesus is, was, and always will be faithful, but you and I, we are fickle. Strong in our faith, one minute, and wavering the next. The good life can get in our way as much as fear of bad experiences or the experiences themselves can get in our way.
Help For Our Fickleness
The good news is, we have the Holy Spirit to convict us when we falter, to empower us in our weaknesses, and to steady us when we waver in faith. However, remaining aware of our propensity to get sidetracked and turn our affections to other things other than God, reminds us the importance of daily seeking the Holy Spirit to keep us where we need to be and where He wants us.
I love the practice of posting and memorizing Scriptures that help me in a specific area of my faith journey. So today, I want to challenge you to memorize 2 Samuel 22:31 as a reminder of His faithfulness and to help you keep your trust in Him whether going through good times of abundance or difficult seasons of life.
“As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the Lord is proven;
He is a shield to all who trust in Him.”
2 Samuel 22:31
Write 2 Samuel 22:31on several index cards and post them in all the places you are sure to see as a way of helping you memorize it. When I am working on memorization, I carry an index card with the Scripture everywhere I go. Putting God’s word in our hearts is always a way to help us remain faithful in all things we face in life.
