Bible in One Year Day 142 (2 Samuel 24, 1 Chronicles 29, Psalm 30)

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Day 142:  Whole and Joyful Hearts 

Agape Bible Study 
2 Samuel 24

Chapter 24: Establishing Jerusalem as the Center of Worship

2 Samuel 24:1-9 ~ The Census

The people had begun to violate Yahweh's covenant treaty with Israel. We are not told the nature of these violations only that they were serious enough for God to withdraw his protection from Israel. 2 Samuel 24:1 says that God incited David to take a census but 1 Chronicles 22:1 says it was Satan. Since an act of evil is contrary to the nature of God (Wis 1:13-14; 2:23-24), it was that God allowed Satan to incite David to take a census (as in the narrative Job 1:6-12). The events that will unfold are not only a covenant judgment against Israel for unspecified covenant violations but will result in a covenant ordeal or test of loyalty and faith for David. The events associated with the census will bring about a turning point in salvation history.

Taking a census is of Israel is an act of religious significance and required a ransom paid to Yahweh's Sanctuary for each life to avoid any incidence of plague among the people during the census (see the census in Ex 30:11-16). Calling for a secular census of Israel was considered an impious act because it infringed upon the prerogatives of Yahweh who keeps the register of those who are to live or die and who blesses Israel with many sons and daughters when Israel is faithful (Ex 32:32-33). Only God can call a census since the people of Israel belong to Him, as He did in Numbers 1:1-47. For a king to call for a census of God's people is to suggest the people have passed from Yahweh's sovereignty to that of the human king.

Joab attempts to warn David not to take the census, but when he is overruled, he fulfills his king's orders. He began the census at the town of Aroer on the Arnon River which marked the southern boundary of Israelite territory in the eastern, Transjordan side of the River (Dt 2:36; Josh 13:9, 16). On the west side of the Jordan River, the boundaries were from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south; therefore covering the entire territory of Israel. But to this count was added the Israelites living in the Phoenician cities of Tyre and Sidon as well as Hittite Kadesh, far to the north on the Orontes River, territories and peoples that David conquered and who were David's vassals.

2 Samuel 24:10-15a ~ The Epidemic

David's conscience begins to bother him and he concludes that he has done something both foolish and dangerous in calling for the census. He repents his sin before Yahweh and asks for forgiveness. God forgives David and offers him three possible forms of penance for his sin and for Israel's sin (24:13).

Question: What are David's three choices; which one does he chose?
Answer: The three forms of penance for David and Israel

1. Three years of famine
2. Invasion by a foreign army lasting three months
3. Three days of an epidemic

David choses the penance of the least duration: the three days of an epidemic.

2 Samuel 24:15b-17 ~ David's Offer of Sacrifice
The plague began in the late spring at the time of the Jewish feast of Weeks (Pentecost in Greek) which occurred during the wheat harvest (Lev 23:15-21). David is facing a covenant ordeal. It is a test in which a member of God's holy covenant must make a choice between self-interest and self-sacrifice. This is David's finest moment. Every event of his life has led up to this test. 

Question: To spare the people of Jerusalem, what does David say to Yahweh?
Answer: David offers to take the burden of sin entirely on himself. He offers up his life and the covenant God made with David's family in exchange for the lives of the people, God's "flock."

David, the Shepherd of God's people, makes this offer of sacrifice for the sake of the salvation of the people who are "the flock" of God (verse 17). God did not accept David's offer of sacrifice, but it was his willingness to make the unselfish offer that stayed God's hand of judgment and saved the people.

Question: David's offer of sacrifice prefigures what event in the New Testament? Notice the shepherd and sheep imagery in David's use of the word "flock" in verse 17. See Jn 10:11, 14-15.

Answer: His unselfish act prefigures the self-sacrifice of David's "son," Jesus of Nazareth, the "Good Shepherd," who willingly laid down His life for His sheep.

God's Altar on Mount Moriah

See the parallel passage in 1 Chronicles 21:18-28.
2 Samuel 24:18-25 ~ David purchases the threshing-floor for God's Altar

God sends the prophet Gad to David with the command to erect an altar to Yahweh on the threshing-floor belonging to a Gentile Jebusite named Araunah. The threshing-floor is located on the height of Mount Moriah above the city of Jerusalem. This will become the site of God's holy Temple in Jerusalem, and the building of the altar and the offering of sacrifices will atone for the sins of the people and bring an end to the plague.

Question: Why is a threshing-floor the perfect site for God's holy Temple? What is the symbolic significance?
Answer: A threshing-floor is where the valuable grain is separated from the worthless chaff just as the Temple will be where Divine judgment will separate the righteous from the wicked.

Question: Why does David refuse the gift of the land from the Jebusite owner and insist on paying for the property and offer fifty shekels of silver (about 15 pounds/6.8 kg of silver)?
Answer: God's altar must be built on a site which has been redeemed in just payment, not rented or given as a gift, to make it clear that God's holy altar is situated on the rightfully owned property of Israel.

Conclusion

The Judahite kings of David's "house" ruled for 415 years. It was David who brought all the twelve tribes of Israel together as a nation under the authority of his rule in the United Monarchy. The United Monarchy lasted through the reign of David's son, King Solomon. 

But in c. 930 BC Solomon's son and successor, Rehoboam, was rejected by the ten northern tribes who installed Jeroboam I of Ephraim as their king, thus breaking from the Davidic monarchy and creating two kingdoms: the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. 

The Northern Kingdom had nine different dynasties of unfaithful kings before the Assyrian conquest in 722 BC.

The Southern Kingdom continued to be ruled by both good and bad descendants of David until the Babylonian conquest of 587/6 BC, when Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed during the reign of Davidic King Zedekiah.

In 1994 fragments of a basalt stele were discovered at Tel Dan in northern Israel, and the inscription "House of David" (BYTDVD) was carved into the stele. It is the oldest non-biblical reference to the kings of Israel and Judah, as well as the first ancient reference to the royal Davidic dynasty.

David's Place in Salvation History

God has the perfect plan for the destiny of mankind. But even when man rejects God's plan, as in the case of Adam and Eve who rejected God's sovereign authority over their lives in wanting to judge for themselves what was good and what was evil, God adjusted His plan to bring about an even greater blessing to His human children through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, the Chosen One born from a woman to destroy the work of the devil in the Fall of man (Gen 3:15; 1 Jn 3:8).

So, what is the lasting significance of David's reign in God's Divine Plan? His reign is the beginning of what will be fulfilled in the eternal reign of Christ the King. God is the King of the Universe and all it holds; he has dominion over every nation on earth (Ps 96:10). However, the Israelites wanted a human king like the other nations (1 Sam 8:5). But since no human king can assume kingship except as the agent of the Divine King, God used the obstinacy of His covenant people to move forward His Divine Plan for mankind's salvation by allowing them to have an anointed human king of His choosing. King Saul was merely an interim king until God's "chosen one," David of Bethlehem, grew to maturity.

When David became king, the King of the Universe promised to establish David's "house" (2 Sam 7:8-16), that is his dynasty, in an eternal covenant. This was a turning point in the working of God's Divine Plan for humanity. St. Matthew understood this and in his genealogy of Jesus at the very beginning of his Gospel, he summarizes Gods entire plan of salvation by placing David at the middle point between Jesus and Abraham: The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham (Mt 1:1, emphasis added).

It was in David that God moved forward His Divine Plan, giving the people a human king who was to provide, through his descendant Jesus of Nazareth, the fullness of God's expression of "kingship" to His people in the Davidic son who was both human and divine. In the glorified Christ, God's Divine Kingship comes full circle in returning to the King of the Universe who continues to rule from the heavenly Sanctuary. With justice He directs the lives of all men/women and nations, calling them to their eternal destiny as royal heirs through the inheritance won for them by Christ Jesus to become, through Christian Baptism, the children of God the eternal King.

The choice of the threshing floor on Mount Moriah as the location for Yahweh's holy altar of sacrifice and the site of the covenant people's daily liturgy of sacrifice was not an arbitrary selection. In Sacred Scripture Mount Moriah is linked to the visionary experiences of Abraham and David, two ancestors of Jesus of Nazareth (Mt 1:1). 

Temple Mount as seen from the Mount of Olives 

The Temple on Mount Moriah was the place to experience a "vision of God," but the day was coming when that vision was to be manifested in the flesh. In the first century AD, when the "beloved" Son of God came to Jerusalem to face His covenant ordeal, the people beheld the vision of God in the promised Redeemer-Messiah who was both fully God and fully man. It was on this same mountain, on an elevation just below the summit where the Temple was built, that Yahweh provided another sacrifice. That sacrifice was "Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham" (Mt 1:1) who in the spring of 30 AD became the Lamb offered in the blood sacrifice of a New Covenant ordeal. But this time God did not stay the hand of the executioner as He did with Abraham and David. The vision of that sacrifice has filled the minds and hearts of sons and daughters of the human family in every succeeding generation and has become the center of liturgical worship for the New Covenant people of God until the end of time.

DAY 142

The Teachings of Jesus

CHALLENGE

“The Gospels don’t reliably convey the teachings of Jesus. The evangelists invented material based on their own views and

the needs of their communities.”

DEFENSE

The evidence shows the Gospels are reliable.

Perhaps the greatest controversy in the early Church was whether Gentiles had to be circumcized

and become Jews to be saved. This controversy is mentioned multiple times in Acts (10:1–11:18,

15:1–31, 21:25), and it dominates Paul’s epistles of Romans and Galatians. If there was ever a

controversy to tempt people to make up a saying of Jesus to settle the matter, it would be this.

Yet the circumcision controversy isn’t mentioned anywhere in the Gospels. That is a sign the

evangelists did not feel free to make up teachings and put them on Jesus’ lips.

This is also indicated by the way Mark handles the related question of whether kosher laws were

still binding. In his account of a controversy in Jesus’ day about why the disciples did not ritually

wash their hands before eating, we read of Jesus saying: “ ‘Do you not see that whatever goes

into a man from outside cannot defile him, since it enters, not his heart but his stomach, and so

passes on?’ (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, ‘What comes out of a man is what

defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, fornication, theft,

murder, adultery’ ” (Mark 7:18–21).

In a traditional Jewish view, unclean hands would defile food and make the eater ceremonially

unclean. Jesus indicates this isn’t true, for any dirt contaminating the food would pass out of the

body without bringing about true, spiritual uncleanliness. The comment “thus he declared all

foods clean” is Mark’s application of Jesus’ teaching to the different question of kosher foods.

This shows Mark did not feel free to invent a teaching of Jesus.

A final point is the fact that Paul’s teachings are nowhere quoted in the Gospels. Besides Peter,

Paul was the most influential apostle. His letters were among the earliest New Testament

writings, and if the evangelists felt free to simply attribute things to Jesus, we would expect some

of the things Paul wrote to end up on Jesus’ lips. Yet we don’t, not even in Luke, which was

written by one of Paul’s traveling companions.

Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist

Bible in One Year Day 141 (2 Samuel 23, 1 Chronicles 28, Psalm 42)

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Day 141: The Life of David 

Agape Bible Study 
2 Samuel 23

Chapter 23: David's Last Testament and the List of his Champions

2 Samuel 23:1-7 ~ David's Last Testament
David's last words are expressed in poetic form and can be divided into four parts:

• Part I: The introduction identifies David as the speaker who is God's anointed (verse 1).
• Part II: David states that what is said is a prophetic word spoken under the power of God's Spirit (verse 2) through which God has spoken (verse 3a).
• Part III: God gives David the definition of just rule, and His gift of the perpetual Davidic covenant (verses 3-5a).
• Part IV: The poem concludes by threatening those who might be disloyal to David and his "house" with Divine judgment (verses 5b-7).

Last words are attributed to David as to Jacob (Gen 49), Moses (Dt 33), and Joshua (Josh 23).
Question: In what three ways does David want to be remembered in verse 1?
Answer:

1. As a man raised to eminence/prominence
2. As the anointed of God
3. As the singer of the songs of Israel

Notice that David again refers to God as "Rock" in verse 3. This time he uses the word not as a metaphor as he did in the earlier hymn (22:3, 32 and 47) but as a title. Moses called God by the title "Rock" five times in his hymn in Deuteronomy 32:1-43 (Dt 32:4, 16, 18, 30, 31).
Question: Who did St. Paul identify as "the Rock" in 1 Corinthians 10:1-4?
Answer: Jesus. The "rock" that provided water to the Israelites on the forty year wilderness journey was the preexistent Christ who was already active in salvation history.

Question: With whom did Jesus share His title "Rock," changing the name of this man to the Aramaic word Kepha (Rock)? St. Paul called this man Cephas, the Greek transliteration of the Aramaic Kepha. How do we refer to this man? See Mt 16:16-18.
Answer: Jesus gave this title to the Apostle Simon who was from that time forward acknowledged as the leader of the Apostles as the Vicar of Jesus' Kingdom on earth and was called "Kepha" in Aramaic or "Petros"/Peter in Greek of the New Testament.

Question: What is the definition of a prophet of God?
Answer: A biblical prophet is one who spoke, acted, or wrote under the extraordinary influence of the Spirit of God to make known the divine counsels and will.

In verse 2 David states that what he writes is God's Spirit speaking through him. This defines David as a prophet of God, and it is what St. Peter calls David in Acts 2:29-30. 

Question: What does David speak of as the greatest work of God in his life?

Answer: He lists the greatest work of God in his life as the promise of an eternal covenant with the Davidic dynasty ("house") that is extended to David's descendants.

David's Mighty Warriors

The lists of the names of David's elite warriors and the narratives of some of their exploits are found in 2 Samuel 23:8-39. The lists of David's warriors fall into three parts:

1. Verses 8b-12, 17b: the illustrious "Three" are identified and their exploits are summarized.
2. Verses 18-23: Abishai (David's nephew) and Benaiah are honored above the Thirty but are not equal to the Three (verses 19, 23).
3. Verses 24-39a: A list of David's elite "Thirty" warriors.

2 Samuel 23:8-12 ~ David's Three Peerless Warriors

David recalls the exploits of his three greatest warriors:
Ishbaal the Hachmonite: the leader of the "Three."
Eleazar son of Dodo the Ahohite: his brother Elhanan is one of the Thirty (2 Sam 23:24).
Shamma son of Elah (Agee) the Hararite

2 Samuel 23:13-17 ~ An Exploit of the Three

This incident took place early in David's career as an outlaw when he was encamped at the stronghold in the southern desert of Judah (1 Sam 22:1). David learned what every leader of men needs to guard against: the wrong interpretation of language and the law of unintended consequences. A wrongly worded command or a thoughtless spoken comment can mean the loss of life. This event occurred early in David's career, and he undoubtedly learned from his mistake. The incident also demonstrates how much David's men loved him.

2 Samuel 23:18-23 ~ The Exploits of Two of David's Champions

The inspired writer differentiates between the Three and the Thirty. The Three refers to David's greatest champions who are named in 23:8-12. The exploits of two men are recounted in this passage. Abishai is the leader of the elite unit of warriors. He is David's nephew, the second of the three sons of Zeruiah and the brother of Joab, the commander of the army of Israel. Their youngest brother, Asahel was killed by Abner (2 Sam 2:17-23; 23:24). Benaiah is one of the Thirty who becomes the commander of David's bodyguard. 1 Chronicles 11:23 records that the Egyptian warrior he killed was seven and a half feet tall. In the reign of King Solomon he will become commander of the army of Israel (1 Kng 2:35). The men are great warriors among the group of David's elite fighters but they are "not equal to the Three."

2 Samuel 23:24-39 ~ A List of David's Champions
Some names we recognize:

• Asahel was the nephew of David and the brother of Joab and Abishai; if his name is included in the list it numbers 31. Perhaps his name is included because he was one of the Thirty until his death.
• Eliam was the name of Bathsheba's father (2 Sam 11:3) who is the son of Ahithophel, the chief counselor who betrayed David and supported Absalom in the civil war (2 Sam 15:12, 31; 16:20-23; 17:1-4, 23).
• Sibbecai of Hushah killed the giant Philistine Saph son of Rapha (2 Sam 21:18).
• Uriah the Hittite was the husband of Bathsheba (2 Sam 11:3).

The men come from all parts of Israel on both sides of the Jordan River. The first eleven warriors on the list are all men who come from the tribe of Judah; Asahel and Elhanan are from Bethlehem and most of the other men are from towns within a radius of Bethlehem. Other men come from central, northern and southern Judah. Of the names in verses 36-39, some men are from the Transjordan. Also notice that Igal of Zobah (Aramaean kingdom; see 2 Sam 10:6), Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Beerothite, and Uriah the Hittite are all Gentiles. 

+++
A Daily Defense 
DAY 141 “All Have Sinned”

CHALLENGE: “How can Catholics say Mary was sinless when Scripture teaches clearly that ‘all have sinned’ (Rom. 3:23)?”

DEFENSE:The passage doesn’t prove that Mary sinned.

Romans 3:23 occurs in a section where Paul is arguing that both Jews and Gentiles need salvation through Jesus Christ and that this is not achieved through the Law of Moses. This is the major thrust of Romans 1–4.

Thus he writes: “For there is no distinction; since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. . .Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one; and he will justify the circumcised on the ground of their faith and the uncircumcised through their faith” (Rom. 3:22–24, 29–30). 

When Paul says that “there is no distinction,” he means that there is no distinction between Jews and Gentiles. When he explains this statement by saying “for all have sinned,” he means sin characterizes both Jews and Gentiles. 

However, his use of the term “all” is hyperbole, for Paul does not believe that this is an exceptionless norm. Thus later in Romans, where Paul appeals to the case of Jacob and Esau and speaks of the time when “they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad” (Rom. 9:11). Paul therefore recognizes that unborn children have not yet committed personal sin, making them an exception to the “all have sinned” n orm he spoke of earlier.

Further, Paul would certainly have acknowledged the sinlessness in adult life of at least one man —Jesus! Paul elsewhere says that Jesus “knew no sin” (2 Cor. 5:21), and belief in Jesus’ sinlessness is attested in multiple passages in the New Testament (Heb. 4:15, 7:26, 9:14; 1 Peter 2:22; 1 John 3:5).

.

If Jesus, as the “Second Adam” (cf. Rom. 5:12–19, 1 Cor. 15:21–22, 45–49), is an exception to what Paul says in Romans 3:23, there may also be an exception for Mary as the “Second Eve” (CCC 411).

Romans 3:23 thus does not disprove that Mary remained sinless through a special application of God’s grace.

Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist

Bible in One Year Day 140 (2 Samuel 22, 1 Chronicles 27, Psalm 41)

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                                     Day 140:  David's Prayer of Thanksgiving 

Agape Bible Study 
2 Samuel 22 

David Praising God 

Chapter 22: Davidic Hymn of Thanksgiving

This is one of Scripture's eight songs (not counting the songs found in the Book of Psalms). Five songs are found in the Old Testament:

1. The Victory Song of Moses and Miriam (Ex 15:1-18).
2. The Song of Moses and Joshua also called the Song of Witness (Dt 32:1-43).
3. The Song of Hannah (1 Sam 2:1-10).
4. The Song of David (2 Samuel 22:2-51).
5. Isaiah's Song of Thanksgiving (Is 26:1-19).

Two in the Gospel of Luke:

6. The Song of the Virgin Mary: the Magnificat (Lk 1:46-55).
7. The Song of Zechariah: the Benedictus (Lk 1:68-78).

And the eighth is in the Book of Revelation:

8. The New Song of the Lamb (Rev 5:9-13; 15:3-4).

David's song is a canticle of praise to God for delivering him from Saul and from all his enemies, including his own son. The Divine Name is evoked fourteen times in David's poem in the Hebrew text. In the symbolic significance of numbers in Scripture, seven is the number of fullness, completion, and spiritual perfection. David's poem is an expression of double fullness and spiritual perfection. This hymn, with minor variations, is identical to Psalm 18. The introduction to the Psalm 18 is found in 22:1. 

The hymn is full of poetic devices and can be divided into two parts:

• Part I: Praises God for His actions in Favor of the King (verses 1-28)
  1. Lists the divine attributes (verses 2-4)
  2. The dangers encountered by the king (verses 5-6)
  3. Calling for God's help and thanking God for His response (verses 7-16)
  4. God rescues the king from all his enemies (verses 17-20)
  5. Divine favor abides with the king because his conduct is upright (verses 21-28)
• Part II: Celebrates the Deeds of the King guided by Yahweh (verses 29-51)
  1. He exalts God who is the giver of strength and equips David for battle (verses 29-37)
  2. God gives David victory over his enemies (verses 38-43)
  3. God gives David rule over Israel and foreign nations (verses 44-46)
  4. David's concluding praise of God (verses 47-51)

2 Samuel 22:1-51 ~ David's Song Celebrating Yahweh Delivering Him from His Enemies
David's Hymn Part I: Praises God for His actions in Favor of the King (verses 2-28)
1 David addressed the words of this song to Yahweh, when Yahweh had delivered him from the clutches of all his enemies and from the clutches of Saul.

2 Samuel 22:2-4 ~ David praises God and lists His Divine Attributes
He said: 2 "Yahweh is my rock and my fortress, my deliverer is my God. 3 I take refuge in him, my rock, my shield, my saving strength, my stronghold [the horn*], my place of [my bulwark and] refuge. My Savior, you have saved me from violence; 4 I call to Yahweh, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my foes. *The Hebrew word "horn" expresses great strength like the goring horns of a bull; for examples in the Hebrew text see 1 Sam 2:1, 10; 22:3; Job 16:15; Ps 18:2; 75:4, 5; 89:17; etc.

Using rich poetic imagery, David's hymn of praise opens with a litany of invocations acclaiming God as his personal Savior (verses 2-3).
Question: List the string of metaphors that David uses in verses 2-4 to stress God's strength.
Answer: Rock, fortress, shield, stronghold [horn], place [bulwark] and refuge.

2 Samuel 22:5-6 ~ David's cry for help from dangers that threaten his life
5 With Death's breakers closing in on me, Belial's torrents ready to swallow me, 6 Sheol's snares on every side of me, Death's traps lying ahead of me,
David recalls those times in his life when he was close to death and called to God to save him. 

Question: What is meant by God's "Abode" in verse 7? See verse 10.
Answer: God's "Abode" is, according to verse 10, God's heavenly Sanctuary.

2 Samuel 22:7-16 ~ God Appearing in Answer to David's Plea

God's theophany in coming to David's defense is manifested by terrifying natural phenomena.
Question: What images from nature does David use to describe God coming to his defense?
Answer: He uses the imagery of an earthquake, a volcanic eruption, the violence of a storm with wind, thunder, lightning, hail and fire and flood imagery.

In verse 8 David describes God's intervention on his behalf with the description in poetic imagery of God's descent from His celestial throne. He comes to do battle to support his faithful servant in what is described as a seismic event; an earthquake that upsets the whole earth (also see Ex 19:16-18; Judg 5:4-5) and the prophet Zechariah's description of the Messiah coming in divine judgment on the Day of the Lord in Zech 14:3-9).

There are several types of winged creatures, including Cherubim and Seraphim, that guard God in the heavenly Temple (Rev 4:6-8) and at times act as His vehicle of descent into the temporal world (Ez 1:4-27). Similar angelic creatures guarded the entrance to Eden (Gen 4:24) and images of them were on the lid of the Ark of the Covenant (Ex 24:17-22). They are one of several classes of angels and are mentioned as "cherubim" (cherub in the singular) ninety-two times in Scripture: ninety-one times in the Old Testament and once in the New Testament in Hebrews 9:5.

The "dense cloud' in verse 12 and the thunder and lightning of His theophany are reminiscent of the Exodus theophany (see Ex 19:16-19), the Glory Cloud that led the children of Israel on their exodus out of Egypt (Ex 13:21-22; etc.), and Moses disappearing into the "dense, dark cloud on Mount Sinai (Ex 24:16-18). In verses 9-16 God is described in anthropomorphic terms; these are images to which David can relate as he pictures Yahweh as his defending warrior God.

2 Samuel 22:17-20 ~ God rescues David

David's rescue could have been from any one or all of the dangerous encounters of his long life. The important statement is found in verse 20.

Question: What reason does David give for God rescuing him?
Answer: Because God loves him.

2 Samuel 22:21-28 ~ God rewards David's righteousness

Question: In these verses David gives the reason God loves him. What is that reason?
Answer: God loves David for his purity of heart and that he strived to keep himself blameless before God by working to avoid evil.

Question: Why did God save David; was it only out of love?
Answer: David says that his deliverance was a reward for merit in striving to live in righteousness before his God. 

 

David understands the key to a close relationship with God.
Question: What are the key attributes one must have that David lists to have a close relationship with God? How are these attributes demonstrated in one's relationship with Yahweh?
Answer: One must be faithful to God (worshipping no other gods), blameless under the Law, sincere and humble in one's repentance.

David's Hymn Part II: Celebrates the Deeds of the King guided by Yahweh (verses 29-51)

1 Samuel 22:29-32 ~ The power of God's help

David then gives a second example of deliverance. This time he is being rescued on the battlefield (verses 29-43). The hardship is the "darkness" and the deliverance is the "light." Verse 32 is David's declaration of monotheism (also see Is 44:8). The pathway of David's life would be uncertain without God's guidance like a lamp for his life's journey. Again David uses the metaphor "rock" for God.

2 Samuel 22:33-37 ~ God equips David for battle

David gives God the glory for all his victories. It was God who gave him the physical strength, the skill in battle, and the intelligence to win Israel's victories.

2 Samuel 22:38-43 ~ God gives David victory over his enemies

He tells how God gave him victory over his enemies in battle (verses 32-43), and how God allowed him to assert his authority over his people and over other nations (verses 44-46).

2 Samuel 22:44-46 ~ God gives David rule over Israel and over foreign nations

David has enemies within his own countrymen (evidenced by two civil wars in chapters 15-20) and from neighboring countries, but God has given him victory over both internal and external enemies. With God's help David has established Israel as a nation among nations.

 

2 Samuel 22:47-51 ~ David's concluding praise of God
47 Life to Yahweh! Blessed be my Rock! Exalted be the God of my salvation, 48 the God who gives me vengeance and crushes the peoples under me, 49 who takes me away from my enemies. You lift me high above those who attack me; you deliver me from the man of violence. 50 For this I will praise you, Yahweh, among the nations, and sing praise to your name. 51 He saves his king, time after time, displays faithful love for his anointed, for David and his heirs forever." 

It is because of all that God has done for him that he again acclaims the Lord as his personal Savior (verse 47; also see 22:3b). The psalm ends in verse 51 with another mention of David's name that was first mentioned in the preface to the hymn in 22:1. In the last line he recalls God's promise of an eternal covenant for David and his heirs forever.

Question: What is the most repeated metaphor for God in David's hymn?
Answer: "Rock" in verses 2, 3, 32, and 47.

Question: How can the perspective of this psalm change in the light of Jesus in the New Testament?
Answer: Jesus is the Davidic heir who achieved His glory as the king of all nations. He did this by obediently doing his Father's will. He established His kingdom on earth and in heaven and those who serve Him have carried His Gospel message of salvation to the ends of the earth, allowing the people of all nations to acknowledge Him as Lord-Savior and King of kings.

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 A Daily Defense

 

DAY 140 The Consecrated Life

CHALLENGE: “Monks and nuns are unbiblical. We don’t see them in Scripture.”

DEFENSE: Yes, we do. In both testaments we see people who take vows to specially consecrate themselves to God.

In the Old Testament, we read about Nazirites. The Hebrew term nazir means “consecrated” or “separated,” and the Nazirites were those consecrated to God by a special vow (Num. 6:2). As a result, they were not to drink wine or use any grape products (6:3–4), they were not to cut their hair but let it grow long (6:5), and they were to abstain from contact with dead bodies, even of their own relatives (6:6–12). There were also ceremonies to be performed upon the completion of the vow, which included cutting the hair (6:13–21). Many Nazirites made temporary vows, but some had perpetual ones. These included Samson and Samuel, who were Nazirites from the womb (Judg. 13:5, 1 Sam. 1:11).

Like modern monks and nuns, Nazirites were vowed to live lives of special consecration to God. The parallel is so clear that in modern (twenty-first century) Hebrew, the word for monk is nazir and the word for nun is nazirah (the feminine form of nazir). Monks and nuns thus are the Christian equivalent of Jewish Nazirites.

In the New Testament, Paul appears to have taken temporary Nazirite vows more than once (Acts 18:18, 21:23–27). He also describes a first-century order that took a perpetual vow of celibacy: “Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been the wife of one husband; and she must be well attested for her good deeds, as one who has brought up children, shown hospitality, washed the feet of the saints, relieved the afflicted, and devoted herself to doing good in every way. But refuse to enrol younger widows; for when they grow wanton against Christ they desire to marry, and so they incur condemnation for having violated their first pledge” (1 Tim. 5:9–12).

Paul is concerned that younger widows will be tempted to remarry and thus break the vow of celibacy the order required, bringing judgment upon themselves. He thus says younger widows should remarry and have children rather than join the order (vv. 14–15).

Both testaments thus affirm the principle of some taking vows of special consecration to God.

Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist

Bible in One Year Day 139 (2 Samuel 21, 1 Chronicles 26, Psalm 40)

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Day 139:  Reparation to the Gibeonites 

Agape Bible 
2 Samuel 21 

Chapter 21: Israel's Blood-guilt and Exploits against the Philistines

Avenging the Gibeonites

2 Samuel 21:1-9 ~ The Three Years of Famine
These events probably took place not long after David became king of Israel. A three year famine has struck the land. God promised to protect Israel from famine so long as the people were obedient to His laws, but if they became disobedient and violated His covenant, God told them He would remove His hand of protection and the people would be subject to the same consequences of temporal judgments due to sin in the world as their neighbors (Lev 26:14-16, 26 and Dt 28:15, 38-40).

Question: David consults Yahweh through the priestly ocular devices of the Urim and Thummim. What is he told?
Answer: Israel has incurred the collective sin of blood-guilt, a violation of the laws concerning homicide, in participating in Saul's attempt to wipe out the Gibeonites. It was a pogrom in which all Israel and Judah (David's tribe) willingly participated.

Question: Who are the Gibeonites and what is their relationship with Israel?
Answer: They were Gentile residents of Canaan from four cities of Amorites and Hivites who deceived Joshua into making a treaty with them that included a vow not to harm them. It was a vow that was sealed in an oath by the princes of the tribes of Israel. Even when they discovered that they had been deceived, it was decided that Israel was bound by the oath.

David asks the Gibeonites to tell him what action that he can take that will give them justice for what their people have suffered.

Question: What do they demand?
Answer: They refuse monetary reparations and demand the lives of seven of Saul's descendants.

Question: What is the problem with their demand? What was the law concerning a child being held accountable for a parent's sin? 

Answer: The law prohibited a child being held accountable for the crimes of his parents. What the Gibeonites have demanded is forbidden under the Law of the Sinai Covenant.

Question: Why then did David agree to the Gibeonites' demand?
Answer: Before he heard their demand, David said he would agree to whatever they asked, but that is not a good excuse. He probably agreed because their request served his interests by ridding him of all the possible heirs to Saul's throne; it was a politically expedient act. He has manipulated the law for his own benefit.

David handed over the sons and grandsons of Saul with the exception of Jonathan's son Meribbaal. It was probably these deaths that Meribbaal referred to in 2 Samuel 19:29.
Question: Why did David spare Meribbaal? See 1 Sam 20:14-17.
Answer: He spared him because of his covenant oath to Jonathan to protect his son.

2 Samuel 21:10-14 ~ Rizpah's Grief and the Burial of Saul's Murdered Family

Rizpah was Saul's concubine who bore him two sons. Merab was Saul's elder daughter and the sister of Michal (1 Sam 14:49; 18:17, 20). This event would account for the love Michal bore David turning to hatred as indicated in 2 Samuel 6:20-23.

The Gibeonites have not only murdered the descendants of Saul in a particularly brutal way but they have also denied them a proper burial contrary to Israelite practices. 

2 Samuel 21:15-22 ~ David's Campaigns against the Philistines
The incident in verses 15-17 sets the time just prior to 2 Samuel Chapter 11 when David is no longer accompanying his men into battle because of the vow he made to them. It is understood that there were four "sons of Rapha" in this episode. Originally there were five sons, the first son being Goliath who was killed by David in 1 Samuel 17:40-51. The "Goliath of Gath" named in verse 19 cannot be the same Goliath killed by David in 1 Samuel 17:40-54:

• This incident occurred not when David was just a boy but years later when David is king.
• The Israelite warrior who kills the giant is Elhanan son of Jair and not David son of Jesse.
• The location is different. David killed Goliath on a battlefield located in the Shephelah lowlands in the tribal lands of Judah, fourteen miles west of Bethlehem (1 Sam 17:1-4), but in 2 Samuel 21:19 the battlefield is at Gob in Philistine territory (2 Sam 21:19).
• 1 Chronicles 20:5 records that Elhanan son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath.

Either the second Goliath killed by Elhanan is a son of the first or, as it has been suggested by some scholars, that "Goliath" wasn't a name but a title like "designated champion;" but it is more likely that three words are missing from the text. In 1 Chronicles 20:5 the name of the Philistine killed by Elhanan is given as "Lahmi brother of Goliath of Gath;" the words "Lahmi brother of" are the only words missing from 2 Samuel 21:19, otherwise the sentence is the same as the 1 Chronicles verse. The location of Gob has not been determined but 1 Chronicles 20:4 identifies the site of the battle as the Philistine city of Gezer. The Goliath killed by David was one of five sons of Rapha, which is why David picked up five stones when he faced the Philistine in mortal combat in 1 Samuel 17:40.

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A Daily Defense

DAY 139 The Real Presence and Cannibalism

CHALLENGE: “The Real Presence can’t be true—Jesus would be commanding cannibalism! The Bible also tells us that we are not allowed to consume blood (Gen. 9:4; Lev. 17:14; Deut. 12:23).”

DEFENSE: The Real Presence does not imply cannibalism. Cannibalism involves chewing another person’s flesh, swallowing it, and extracting nutrients from it by digestion. None of that happens to Jesus’ flesh when a person receives the Eucharist. Jesus’ body and blood remain whole and undigested under the appearances of bread and wine. 

Only the appearances are altered by consumption, and when they cease to have the appearance of bread and wine, the Real Presence ceases. God may make “the body and blood of Christ enthroned gloriously in heaven” (Paul VI, Credo of the People of God) simultaneously present in the Eucharist, but they are in no way damaged. Therefore, no cannibalism occurs.

The Old Testament prohibition on consuming blood forbade its normal consumption—where blood was eaten and digested as a food. Christ’s blood is not digested, and so the Eucharist does not violate the Old Testament prohibition on blood consumption.

This prohibition was part of the dietary regulations that kept Jews culturally and religiously distinct from their pagan neighbors. Globally, many cultures use blood in cooking (e.g., blood sausages like the “black pudding” eaten today in England), and Jesus removed these dietary restrictions when he “declared all foods clean” (Mark 7:19). 

The reason the Israelites were prohibited from consuming blood was ritual: The blood represented the life of the animal, and so it belonged to God, the giver of life. Such ritual requirements are gone today, and now God gives us spiritual life through Jesus and the reception of his blood. Jesus declared: “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you” (John 6:53).

If consuming the Eucharist were cannibalism, then saying the elements are merely symbolic would not solve the problem. In that case, Jesus would be commanding us to symbolically cannibalize him. This would be as problematic as making the symbolic commission of any intrinsically evil act (e.g., sodomy, rape) part of a sacrament.

Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist

Bible in One Year Day 138 (2 Samuel 20, 1 Chronicles 25, Psalm 39)

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Day 138: The Effect of Sin on Others 

Agape Bible Study 

2 Samuel 20 

Chapter 20 ~ Sheba's Revolt

2 Samuel 20:1-3 ~ Sheba's Revolt

Every man to his tents, O Israel! The sounding of the ram's horn and the expression "Every man to his tents" was used as a call to battle (also see 1 Kng 12:16) in which the men are called to return to the houses to gather up their weapons. Most of the Israelites no longer live in tents, but it is a saying that goes back to the years of living in tents during the forty years in the wilderness. It is Sheba's intention to continue the civil war, probably in the hopes of restoring the House of Saul. This time David's own tribe of Judah remained loyal. The sad fate of the ten concubines is a result of their defilement by David's son Absalom (16:22). They will live in comfortable confinement until their deaths.

2 Samuel 20:4-13 ~ The Death of Amasa

David demotes Joab and makes Amasa, his traitorous nephew and the former commander of Absalom's army with whom he has reconciled, his commanding general. David sends him to mobilize the tribe of Judah. David gives him three days to report back to Jerusalem for his orders.

When Amasa fails to report in three days, David realizes that precious time is being lost and that he must move quickly against the rebels. David gives Abishai, Joab's younger brother, command of the army and sends him north to put down the revolt and capture Sheba. David is still angry with Joab for killing Absalom and removes him from command of the army. 

Question: Why does Joab kill his cousin Amasa?
Answer: David may want to extend his forgiveness to those who betrayed him but Joab does not. He kills Amasa for the same reason he killed Absalom, and he may have suspected Asama of treachery.

Joab kills his cousin Amasa, a traitor in his eyes, in the same deceptive manner that he used to kill Abner (2 Sam 3:27). He murdered Abner for killing his younger brother but also because he believed Abner could not be trusted (2 Sam 3:24-25, 30). 

2 Samuel 20:14-22 ~ The End of the Rebellion

David's army tracks Sheba to Abel Beth-Maacah, a double-walled city at the foot of Mount Hermon in northern Israel and about four miles northwest of the city of Dan. They put the city under siege and set about having the warriors build a ramp against the outer city wall while the rest of the army sets about to undermine the wall. The usual practice was to dig a tunnel under part of the wall, filling it with logs and setting the logs on fire to cause the earth and the wall above to collapse.

Notice that the woman of Abel Beth-Maacah asks for Joab and not his brother. The wise woman who speaks to Joab reminds us of the important role women play in the Biblical narrative, as we have seen from several examples in the story of David:

• Saul's daughter Michal who risked her life to save David from her father (1 Sam 19:11-17).
• The wise Abigail who saved her household from David's wrath (1 Sam 25:18-35).
• The wise woman from Tekoa who Joab sent to appeal to David to bring Absalom back (2 Sam 14:1-24).
• The woman from Bahurim who cleverly hid the sons of the chief priests who were sent to warn David (2 Sam 17:19-20).
• The woman of Abel Beth-Maacah who saves her town from destruction (2 Sam 20:16b-22).

She challenges Joab, asking why he wants to destroy her town. The saying she quotes to Joab: "In olden days people used to say, 'Abel and Dan are where you should enquire 19 whether a tradition established by the faithful of Israel has finally died out,'..." alludes to the ancient Israelite traditions that remain alive in the northernmost towns of Israel and should be preserved.

Question: In the exchange between Joab and the wise woman what mutual decision is reached to save the city?
Answer: The rebel leader Sheba must die.

Illustration from the Morgan Bible of Joab approaching Abel-beth-maachah and Sheba's head being thrown down

The woman convinces her people to behead Sheba and throw his head over the wall. True to his promise, Joab then leaves the city in peace. The words "blew the trumpet" and "every man to his tent" echo the words used in 20:1 that were used to report the beginning of Sheba's rebellion and now are used again to conclude the episode.

2 Samuel 20:23-26 ~ David's Officials

The list of David's royal bureaucracy is similar to the list in 8:16-18. After returning victoriously from suppressing Sheba's revolt, Joab is restored by David to command of the army and the man who was probably his second in command after his brother Abishai is given command of David's personal body guard. Adoram, the supervisor of the corvee, does not appear in the earlier list but he will play a role in Solomon's and Rehoboam's (or perhaps his son, spelled Adoniram) building projects (1 Kng 12:18; 2 Kng 4:6). Zadok and Abiathar are probably co-high priests, while Ira is either David's personal chaplain or the Sanctuary administrator since he is said to be a Jairite from the villages of Jair of the tribe of Manasseh in Gilead (Num 32:41; Dt 3:14; Josh 13:30) and not a Levitical priest. It might be that the title "priest" is being used loosely for anyone associated with the Sanctuary, like the role David's sons in 2 Samuel 8:18. He may be the same Ira the Jairite who is listed as a member of David's bodyguard (2 Sam 23:38).

David has survived the fourfold judgment he unknowingly pronounced against himself (2 Sam 12:2) and which God promised to carry out (2 Sam 12:9-12).
Question: How has God also remained loyal to His covenant with David and His covenant promises in 2 Samuel 7:11b-17?
Answer: God has remained loyal to his covenant promised to punish the wrongs of the "House of David" with temporal judgments, and He has kept His promise that He will never withdraw His favor from the "House of David" as He withdrew from the "House of Saul" (2 Samuel 7:11b-17).

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DAY 138 Non-canonical Gospels

CHALLENGE: “There is no reason we should trust Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. They were selected because they supported a particular agenda, and there were dozens of other gospels in existence at the time.”

DEFENSE:The canonical Gospels were selected because they are the earliest and most reliable accounts of Jesus’ life.

Even skeptical scholars acknowledge the four canonical Gospels were written in the first century, while others are from the second and third centuries or later. 

The four Gospels were authored either by eyewitnesses of Jesus (Matthew and John) or close associates of apostles (Mark was a companion of Peter, and Luke was a companion of Paul). They were thus in a good position to know what Jesus said and did, and their Gospels were read at Christian worship services from the beginning.

Other alleged gospels were written much later, and their authors were not in as good of a position to record the story of Jesus accurately. Because they were written later, there was no history of them being read in worship services. This helped early Christians spot them as fakes. If a proposed gospel was authentically from the first followers of Jesus, why hadn’t it been used in the Church’s worship all this time?

The later gospels are frequently based on the four canonical ones. They often don’t attempt to tell the story of Jesus’ ministry, but assume the reader already knows it. For example, some “gospels” tell stories about Jesus’ parents or about his childhood; they consist of isolated sayings attributed to him; or they claim to record speeches he gave after his Resurrection. They thus try to “fill in” things that the canonical Gospels don’t include—and they therefore testify to the unique value of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John for learning the basic story of Jesus.

The actual teachings of Jesus were transmitted by the canonical Gospels—and through the preaching of the Church—which also made it possible to spot later ones as fakes. Many later “gospels” contain teachings contrary to those in the originals. In particular, many were influenced by the Gnostic heresy of the second and third centuries. 

The canonical Gospels thus weren’t included because they supported a particular viewpoint; the later ones were excluded because they contradicted what had been passed down from the beginning.

Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist

Bible in One Year Day 137 (2 Samuel 19, 1 Chronicles 24, Psalm 38)

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Day 137:  David Mourns Absalom 

Agape Bible Study 

2 Samuel 19 

Chapter 19: David Works to Reunite Israel

2 Samuel 19:1-5 ~ David's Grief
David is paralyzed with grief and the soldiers of his army, who should have been celebrating their victory, are now feeling their king's sorrow.

Shimei curses David, 1860 woodcut (Julius Schnorr von Karolsfeld)

2 Samuel 19:6-9 ~ Joab Intervenes
Question: When Joab discovers that David is in isolation, consumed with his personal grief what does Joab do and why?

Answer: Joab is furious and accuses David of ingratitude to his loyal followers who risked their lives for him. He demands that David get up and fulfill his public duty to his men before he loses their loyalty.

Finally, to motivate David to action, Joab tells him if he does not come out and speak to his soldiers, they will all return home to their families and David's position will be worse than before the victory.

David comes out to sit at the gate to review the troops. The contrast is between Absalom energetically courting and seducing Israel at the gate to Jerusalem (15:2-6) and David passively sitting at the gate. In his grief he is unable to even muster the strength to stand and so his loyal warriors must come to him.

2 Samuel 19:10-15 ~ David Reconciles with the Rebels
David is weary of war and death and is anxious to reconcile with his enemies. David uses the language of kinship in speaking to the elders of Judah and to his nephew Amasa in verses 13-14. It is the same phrase Adam used for his relationship with Eve (Gen 2:33) and which the elders of Judah used when they made David their king (2 Sam 5:1).

2 Samuel 19:16-24 ~ David Reconciles with Shimei of Benjamin

Question: David is met by what three groups of people?
Answer:

1. The elders and men of the tribe of Judah
2. Shimei and men from the tribe of Benjamin
3. Ziba with his sons and servants

David's tribe of Judah has responded to the message David sent them with the appeal of kinship (verse 12-13). They have come to escort David back to Jerusalem as a sign of their support. Ziba, the ever the practical and able steward, is there to meet David and is prepared to ferry David and his men across the Jordan River. It was Ziba who met David as he was fleeing out of Jerusalem with donkeys and provisions in 16:1-2.

Shimei is the kinsman of Saul who had cursed David as he was fleeing from Jerusalem but is now trying save his skin by asking forgiveness for his past act of humiliating the king. His reference to the "House of Joseph" refers to the northern tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh whose ancestors were the sons of Joseph son of Jacob-Israel. He says he is the first of any of these northern tribes to welcome David back.

2 Samuel 19:25-31 ~ David Reconciles with Meribbaal

When Ziba brought David provisions as he was fleeing out of Jerusalem, David asked Ziba why his master Meribbaal had not come with him. It was at that point that Ziba told David that Meribbaal had ambitions for the throne of Israel returning to the House of Saul. At that time, David gave all Meribbaal's lands to his steward Ziba. Now that David has returned victorious to Jerusalem, Meribbaal has come to declare his allegiance.

2 Samuel 19:32-40 ~ Barzillai Declines David's Invitation

Barzillai is a wealthy, elderly man from the tribe of Gad on the eastern side of the Jordan River who came with supplies for the army when David was at the stronghold at Mahanaim (2 Sam 17:27-29). Chimham is probably Barzillai's son who will become a member of David's household in gratitude for his father's service to David in his time of need (see 1 Kng 2:7). David always remembers to reward those who are loyal to him.

2 Samuel 19:41-44 ~ The Dispute between Judah and Israel

David and his army apparently crossed the Jordan River at the same ford used by Joshua and the Israelites when they crossed into the Promised Land and camped at Gilgal (Josh 4:19). The other tribes are suspicious that David will favor his own tribe of Judah to their detriment. The tribes that claim superiority over Judah as "elder brothers" would have to be the tribes of Reuben and Simeon and perhaps the Levites. Judah was the fourth son of Jacob-Israel. The reason David has asked his own tribe to come and bring him back is because he doesn't know who he can trust at this point and his own tribe is less likely to turn against him. This accusation of favoritism will lead to another rebellion. The incident illustrates that one of David's chief obstacles in turning Israel into a nation. It is necessary to bring the people to think of themselves as citizens of the nation of Israel instead of a confederation of twelve tribes where tribal loyalty comes first.

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A Daily Defense 
DAY 137 The Divinity of Jesus

CHALLENGE: “Jesus is not God. He only claimed to be the Son of God.”

DEFENSE: By claiming to be God’s Son, Jesus claims to be God. His divinity is also indicated by other passages in Scripture.

By nature, Sons are equal to their fathers. When Jesus asserts that he is God’s Son, he indicates his equality to God the Father. The son of a man is a man, and the Son of God is God. The New Testament explicitly acknowledges this. Jesus opponents tried to kill him “because he not only broke the Sabbath but also called God his Father, making himself equal with God” (John 5:18). Note that John—the inspired author—does not say that Jesus’ opponents thought he made himself equal to God. He says Jesus did this. 

In light of this, other texts that speak of Jesus’ divinity also indicate that he was equal with God, not a lesser, created “god.” This is the case when we read: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). It also sheds light on Jesus’ acceptance of Thomas’s worship when the latter declares him “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). 

Paul says that in Jesus “the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” (Col. 2: 9), and he quotes from an early Christian hymn that says, though the preincarnate Jesus “was in the form of God, [he] did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Phil. 2:6–7).

Paul directly calls Jesus God when he writes that from the Jewish race, “according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all” (Rom. 9:5), and when he discusses how we should live while awaiting “the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13). Peter also declares Jesus God when he speaks of “the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 1:1).

Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist