Sat.’s Devo - God’s Salvation

Read: 1 Chronicles 9:1-10:14: Acts 27:21-44; Psalm 8:1-9; Proverbs 18:23-24 Israel was exiled to foreign lands because it was what God had promised would happen if they were unfaithful to Him and worshipped other gods. The exiles of Judah had gone to Babylon and when the 70 years was over, they were allowed to come back to their land. The first to return were the priests, Levites, Temple servants and other Israelites. They were from the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim and Manasseh. They came to settle in Jerusalem. Of all the people who returned, these were noted: 1,760 priests 956 families from Judah 212 gatekeepers Since they knew how to do their tasks, it makes me think that they had continued their duties as much as they could in the lands they had been taken to. The gatekeepers guarded the treasury rooms that were in on the four sides of the temple. They did this when the temple was a tent in the wilderness and when it was a Temple in Jerusalem. They would spend the night guarding the rooms and open the gates every morning. They were also in charge of keeping up all the supplies of flour, wine, oil and spices that the priests would need. King Saul’s family tree was given and how he died. King Saul was killed on the battlefield fighting the Philistines. He was struck by one of the Philistine archers and wounded. He told his armor bearer to kill him but when he wouldn’t, Saul killed himself. His armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, so he killed himself. The Philistines stripped Saul’s body of its armor and took off his head. They fastened his head to the temple of Dagon. This all happened to Saul because he disobeyed the Lord. Three of Saul’s sons died in the same battle but his last son, Esh-baal lived. His name means “fire of Baal.” In Acts, Paul was in the ship sailing for Rome. The commander hadn’t listened to Paul’s advice to not sail so they had met storm and disaster after disaster. They hadn’t eaten for some time because they were so busy fighting the storm. When it looked like they were coming to a shore, they put down anchors but some of the men were planning to abandon the ship and escape in a lifeboat. Paul warned them that an angel had appeared to him that night and told him that they would all make it if they all stayed in the boat. This time the listened to Paul, cut the lifeboat free and waited out the storm. At dawn, Paul urged everyone to eat and prayed a blessing to thank God for their safety. Soon they saw the shore and realized they could make it by running the boat in the sand. They cut the anchors and let the waves take the boat to shore. The soldiers wanted to kill the prisoners but since they wanted to spare Paul, they decided not to kill the other prisoners because he would be able to testify to what they had done. They all swam to shore and everyone was safe. Lord, thank you for your plan that prevails against all the power of Satan.