God’s Word for You
1 Chronicles 18:7-11 Dedicated
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Wednesday, February 7, 2024
7 David took the gold shields that were carried by the subjects of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem. 8 David took a vast quantity of bronze from Hadadezer’s cities Tibhath and Cun. Solomon made the bronze sea with it, and also the pillars and the bronze vessels. 9 When King Tou of Hamath heard that David had defeated the whole army of King Hadadezer of Zobah, 10 he sent his son Hadoram to King David, to ask for peace with him and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him. Hadadezer had often been at war with Tou. He sent all sorts of articles of gold, of silver, and of bronze. 11 King David dedicated these things to the LORD, together with the silver and gold that he had carried off from all the nations, from Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and Amalek.
In verse 11, it is possible that “Edom” could be “Aram,” since the Hebrew D and R look very similar. Both were enemies of Israel at this time, and both places were subjugated by David, so there is not much difference in the text, whichever is meant here.
Following the defeat of his enemies, the Lord gave to David “a vast quantity” of bronze, silver and gold from each of the nations around him: Moab and Ammon to the east, Edom (and the Amalekites) to the south, the Philistines to the west, and Zobah and Damascus to the north. Our author immediately tells us (verse 8) that Solomon used the bronze in the construction of the temple furnishings: the bronze sea, the pillars, and the bronze vessels. A first-time reader of Chronicles who is unfamiliar with the temple furnishings will have to wait a while to find out about the pillars (2 Chronicles 3:15-17), but most Bible readers will recognize that the bronze sea was the water reservoir kept near the temple. It had an ingenious system of spigots operating on pivots and using gravity for pressure to release water in a controlled and usable stream. Among other bronze vessels was the bronze altar. The one Moses had built that was still in use in Gibeon was three cubits (four and a half feet) tall and five cubits (seven and a half feet) square. We will discuss the dimensions of the temple furnishings in 2 Chronicles chapters 3 and 4.
The point of bringing up the temple and its furnishing here is to compare David’s acquisition of gold, silver and bronze with the experience of the Israelites as they left Egypt. At that time, Israel “plundered the Egyptians” (Exodus 12:36). The Egyptians gave to the Hebrews anything that they asked for as they left to return to Canaan. It was this plunder that was used to build the furnishings for the tabernacle at Mount Sinai the following year (1445 BC), which is described in detail in Exodus 26, 27 and 30. Some of the additional gold was used in the rebellious sin of the golden calf (Exodus 32), but that was never used for anything to do with right worship or the tabernacle. “Moses took the calf they had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it” (Exodus 32:20).
Cun (modern Beretian) was on the eastern side of the mountains of Lebanon. Tibhath seems to have been even further west on the edge of the desert where Paul spent three years (Galatians 1:17-18).
Who was Tou of Hamath? We have almost no knowledge of this king, but in 2010 Professor Itanar Singer proposed that this Tou (his name is Toi in the parallel account in 2 Samuel in some translations) as the ancient Great Hittite Empire decayed but continued onward as the late Hittite Kingdom, known as P/Walas(a)tin. A king named Taitas might be the same as this King Tou.
An especially significant part of this account is that Tou sent his son Hadoram “to ask for peace with him and to bless him.” When other nations were falling to David’s sword and his victories were mounting, and especially after David defeated Hamath’s rival, Zobah, it was good policy for Tou to make peace under the concept expressed in the Latin proverb “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” (amicus meus, inimicus inimici mei). Christians, however, should remember who our best Friend truly is, and that one enemy or another may each remain enemies of Christ. James said: “Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God” (James 4:4). The one who believes in God and trusts in him is God’s friend (James 2:23). His faith is credited to him as righteousness.
David dedicated all of the plunder to the Lord. He did not use it for his own pleasure, or for his own designs. The wealth he collected in his wars was kept for the building of the temple that he now knew would not be his to build.
He did not pout. He planned.
He did not sulk. He made sacrifices.
He did not whither. He worshiped.
He was an example to be followed, and his example pointed to our Almighty God.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.