Reading for Today:

• 1 Chronicles 26:1 Chapter 26 1 For the courses of the doorkeepers: of the Korahites, Meshelemiah the son of Kore, of the sons of Asaph. –27:34
• Psalms 78:56-66 56 Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God, And kept not his testimonies; 57 But turned back, and dealt treacherously like their fathers: They were turned aside like a deceitful bow. 58 For they provoked him to anger with their high places, And moved him to jealousy with their graven images. 59 When God heard `this', he was wroth, And greatly abhorred Israel; 60 So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, The tent which he placed among men; 61 And delivered his strength into captivity, And his glory into the adversary's hand. 62 He gave his people over also unto the sword, And was wroth with his inheritance. 63 Fire devoured their young men; And their virgins had no marriage-song. 64 Their priests fell by the sword; And their widows made no lamentation. 65 Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep, Like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine. 66 And he smote his adversaries backward: He put them to a perpetual reproach.
• Proverbs 20:4-5 4 The sluggard will not plow by reason of the winter; Therefore he shall beg in harvest, and have nothing. 5 Counsel in the heart of man is `like' deep water; But a man of understanding will draw it out.
• Acts 10:1-23 Chapter 10 1 Now `there was' a certain man in Caesarea, Cornelius by name, a centurion of the band called the Italian `band', 2 a devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, who gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God always. 3 He saw in a vision openly, as it were about the ninth hour of the day, an angel of God coming in unto him, and saying to him, Cornelius. 4 And he, fastening his eyes upon him, and being affrighted, said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are gone up for a memorial before God. 5 And now send men to Joppa, and fetch one Simon, who is surnamed Peter: 6 he lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side. 7 And when the angel that spake unto him was departed, he called two of his household-servants, and a devout soldier of them that waited on him continually; 8 and having rehearsed all things unto them, he sent them to Joppa. 9 Now on the morrow, as they were on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour: 10 and he became hungry, and desired to eat: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance; 11 and he beholdeth the heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending, as it were a great sheet, let down by four corners upon the earth: 12 wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts and creeping things of the earth and birds of the heaven. 13 And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill and eat. 14 But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common and unclean. 15 And a voice `came' unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, make not thou common. 16 And this was done thrice: and straightway the vessel was received up into heaven. 17 Now while Peter was much perplexed in himself what the vision which he had seen might mean, behold, the men that were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon's house, stood before the gate, 18 and called and asked whether Simon, who was surnamed Peter, were lodging there. 19 And while Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men seek thee. 20 But arise, and get thee down, and go with them, nothing doubting: for I have sent them. 21 And Peter went down to the men, and said, Behold, I am he whom ye seek: what is the cause wherefore ye are come? 22 And they said, Cornelius a centurion, a righteous man and one that feareth God, and well reported of by all the nation of the Jews, was warned `of God' by a holy angel to send for thee into his house, and to hear words from thee. 23 So he called them in and lodged them. And on the morrow he arose and went forth with them, and certain of the brethren from Joppa accompanied him.

Notes:

1 Chronicles 26:1–19 The temple gatekeepers or guards had other duties, such as checking out equipment and utensils; storing, ordering, and maintaining food for the priests and sacrifices; caring for the temple furniture; mixing the incense daily burned; and accounting for gifts brought. Their “duties” (v. 12) are given in 1 Chronicles 9:17 17 And the porters: Shallum, and Akkub, and Talmon, and Ahiman, and their brethren (Shallum was the chief), –27.

1 Chronicles 26:20 treasuries. The Levites watched over the store of valuables given to the Lord. This is a general reference to all the precious things committed to their trust, including contributions from David and the people, as well as war spoils given by triumphant soldiers (vv. 26, 27).

1 Chronicles 26:29–32 officials and judges. There were 6,000 magistrates exercising judicial functions throughout the land.

1 Chronicles 27:1–15 This section enumerates the standing army of Israel (288,000 men), which had responsibility to guard the nation and temple. They were divided into 12 divisions, each of which served for one month during the year. When full war occurred, a larger force could be called into action.

Psalm 78:60 tabernacle of Shiloh. Shiloh was an early location of Yahweh worship in the Promised Land. The capture and removal of the ark from Shiloh by the Philistines symbolized God’s judgment.

Proverbs 20:5 5 Counsel in the heart of man is `like' deep water; But a man of understanding will draw it out. deep water. The wise man has keen discernment reaching to the deepest intentions of the heart to grasp wise counsel (18:4; Heb. 4:12).

DAY 1: Who was Cornelius, and why was he so important?

In Acts 10:1 Chapter 10 1 Now `there was' a certain man in Caesarea, Cornelius by name, a centurion of the band called the Italian `band', , it states that Cornelius was a centurion—one of 60 officers in a Roman legion, each of whom commanded 100 men. He was of the “Italian Regiment” or “Italian Cohort.” Ten cohorts of 600 men each made up a legion.

Cornelius was a “devout man and one who feared God” (v. 2). This is a technical term used by Jews to refer to Gentiles who had abandoned their pagan religion in favor of worshiping the Lord God. Such a person, while following the ethics of the Old Testament, had not become a full proselyte to Judaism through circumcision. Cornelius was a Gentile who was about to receive the saving knowledge of God in Christ. Cornelius was told in a vision that his prayers, devotion, faith, and goodness were like a fragrant offering rising up to God, “a memorial” (v. 4). He was even given specific directions on how to reach Peter.

The next day “Peter went up on the housetop to pray” (v. 9). All kinds of worship occurred on the flat roofs of Jewish homes (2 Kin. 23:12; Jer. 19:13; 32:29). In a trance Peter sees a great sheet descending from heaven, and “in it were all kinds of four-footed animals,” both clean and unclean animals (v. 12). To keep the Israelites separate from their idolatrous neighbors, God set specific dietary restrictions regarding the consumption of such animals (Lev. 11:25,26). But a voice speaks to him and says, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat” (v. 13). With the coming of the New Covenant and the calling of the church, God ended the dietary restrictions ( Mark 7:19 19 because it goeth not into his heart, but into his belly, and goeth out into the draught? `This he said', making all meats clean. ).“What God has cleansed you must not call common” (v. 15).More than just abolishing the Old Testament dietary restrictions, God made unity possible in the church of both Jews, symbolized by the clean animals, and Gentiles, symbolized by the unclean animals, through the comprehensive sacrificial death of Christ (Eph. 2:14).

The vision and the confirmation by the Holy Spirit (v. 19) made it crystal clear to Peter that the gospel was for all people. The proof is that when the men from Cornelius arrived, he “invited them in” (v. 23). Self-respecting Jews did not invite any Gentiles into their home, especially soldiers of the hated Roman army.

From The MacArthur Daily Bible Copyright © 2003. Used by permission of Thomas Nelson Bibles, a division of Thomas Nelson, Inc, Nashville, TN 37214, www.thomasnelson.com.

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