The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
Day 138: The Effect of Sin on Others (2025)
Sun, 18 May 2025
Fr. Mike points out how violence begets violence in the reading from 2 Samuel, and shows us how the sins we commit extend much further than ourselves. We also read about the Temple musicians in 1 Chronicles, we hear Psalm 39, written by one of those musicians, Jeduthun. Today's reading are 2 Samuel 20, 1 Chronicles 25, and Psalm 39. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.
Chapter 1: What is the focus of Day 138 in the Bible?
Discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today, it is day 138. We are reading today from 2 Samuel chapter 20, 1 Chronicles chapter 25. We are praying tonight. today, right now, from Psalm 39. As always, the Bible translation that I am reading from is the Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition. I am using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension.
And if you want to download your own Bible in a Year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year. If you want to subscribe to this podcast, you can click on subscribe and you will be subscribed. As I said, it is day 138, reading 2 Samuel chapter 20, 1 Chronicles 25, and Psalm 39. The second book of Samuel chapter 20, the rebellion of Sheba.
Now there happened to be there a worthless fellow whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjaminite. And he blew the trumpet and said, we have no portion in David and we have no inheritance in the son of Jesse, every man to his tents, O Israel. So all the men of Israel withdrew from David and followed Sheba, the son of Bichri.
Chapter 2: Who is Sheba in the story of 2 Samuel?
But the men of Judah followed their king steadfastly from the Jordan to Jerusalem. And David came to his house at Jerusalem, and the king took the ten concubines whom he had left to care for the house, and put them in a house under guard, and provided for them, but did not go into them. So they were shut up until the day of their death, living as if in widowhood.
Then the king said to Amasa, Call the men of Judah together to me within three days, and be here yourself. So Amasa went to summon Judah, but he delayed beyond the set time which had been appointed him. And David said to Abishai, Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom. Take your lord's servants and pursue him, lest he get himself fortified cities and cause us trouble.
And there went out after Abishai, Joab, and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, and all the mighty men. They went out from Jerusalem to pursue Sheba, the son of Bichri. When they were at the great stone, which is in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet him. Now Joab was wearing a soldier's garment, and over it was a belt with a sword in its sheath fastened upon his loins.
And as he went forward, it fell out. And Joab said to Amasa, Is it well with you, my brother? And Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him. But Amasa did not observe the sword which was in Joab's hand. So Joab struck him with it in the body and shed his bowels to the ground without striking a second blow, and he died.
Then Joab and Abishai his brother pursued Sheba the son of Bichri. And one of Joab's men took his stand by Amasa and said, Whoever favors Joab and whoever is for David, let him follow Joab. And Amasa lay wallowing in his blood in the highway, and anyone who came by, seeing him, stopped.
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Chapter 3: What consequences arise from David's actions?
And when the man saw that all the people stopped, he carried Amasa out of the highway into the field and threw a garment over him. When he was taken out of the highway, all the people went on after Joab to pursue Sheba, the son of Bichri. And Sheba passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel of Beth Ma'aka. And all the Bichrites assembled and followed him in.
And all the men who were with Joab came and besieged him and Abel of Beth Ma'aka and cast up a mound against the city and it stood against the rampart. And they were battering the wall to throw it down. Then a wise woman called from the city, Here, here, tell Joab, come here that I may speak to you. And he came near her, and the woman said, Are you Joab? He answered, I am.
Then she said to him, Listen to the words of your maidservant. And he answered, I am listening. Then she said, They were wont to say in old time, Let them but ask counsel at Abel. And so they settled the matter. I am one of those who are peaceable and faithful in Israel. You seek to destroy a city which is a mother in Israel. Why will you swallow up the heritage of the Lord?
Joab answered, Far be it from me, far be it, that I should swallow up or destroy. That is not true. But a man of the hill country of Ephraim, called Sheba the son of Bichri, has lifted up his hand against King David. Give up him alone, and I will withdraw from the city. And the woman said to Joab, Behold, his head shall be thrown to you over the wall.
Then the woman went to all the people in her wisdom, and they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and threw it out to Joab. So he blew the trumpet, and they dispersed from the city every man to his home. And Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king.
Now Joab was in command of all the army of Israel, and Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, was in command of the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and Adoram was in charge of the forced labor, and Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, was the recorder, and Sheba was the secretary, and Zadok and Abiathar were priests, and Ira, the Jerite, was also David's priest.
The First Book of Chronicles Chapter 25 The Temple Musicians
David and the chiefs of the service also set apart for the service certain of the sons of Asaph and of Haman and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with lyres, with harps, and with cymbals.
The list of those who did the work and of their duties was of the sons of Asaph, Zechur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asheralah, sons of Asaph under the direction of Asaph, who prophesied under the direction of the king.
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Chapter 4: How do the Temple musicians contribute to worship?
We can have a change of direction so that we can become more and more like you, our God, our father, our dad. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen. So in 1 Chronicles chapter 25, it's kind of, I think there's a really awesome connection today because what do we have?
In Chronicles 25, it talks about the temple musicians and it describes the sons of Asaph, right? And of, sorry, not just Asaph, of Asaph, of Heman, or Heman, but hard for me not to say Heman, of Heman and Jeduthun, which is great, not only because we have all the names of their sons who were part of this, What were they set apart for? They were set apart for certain kinds of service.
What was the service? The service was prophecy in song, like praise of God in song. They're the temple musicians. And so you have these three sons of Asaph and of Heman and of Jeduthun. And then we read Psalm 39, which is a Psalm of Jeduthun. So that's, I thought, wow. Wow. That's really, that's pretty cool. Pretty neat. Great connection today. But in 2 Samuel, what do we have?
In 2 Samuel, we have a rebellion against King David, right? So David has now, I mean, in the previous chapter, in chapter 19, David has been hailed as he's the king. We're unanimous in this. Yes, we want him as our king. All of Israel, they were competing to say, who can... claim David sooner, who can honor David more when he's crossing the Jordan.
And they were resentful of Judah because they got to, you know, honor David by crossing over the Jordan with him. And now there's this guy, Sheba, the son of Bichri, who is what? A Benjaminite, right? Benjamin, tribe of Benjamin, same as King Saul, former King Saul. And he claims, no, you guys leave King David. I'm the new king.
And so all these tribes of Israel who had just been fighting to be the ones to honor David, a lot of them go over to follow Sheba, the son of Bichri. And again, it just goes to show the fickleness of the human heart. This is us. This isn't just way back when. This is completely us. You know, someone promises more. Someone promises better.
Someone is, you know, the idea of like new is always better. So we've had Saul. We've had David. Let's go with Sheba, the son of Bichri. And it doesn't go well, not only because they're able to defeat Bichri pretty handily. And how they defeat him is they go to the city, Abel of Beth Ma'aka. And they're gonna, Joab is gonna tear down the whole thing. They're gonna destroy the city.
And it says this wise woman calls and says, listen, we don't, we don't have a dog in this fight. Like we don't have a horse in this race. And so if you spare us, we'll get you Sheba. We'll give you a Sheba of son of Bichri. And so that's what they do. The people of the city, rather than having their city destroyed,
They essentially kill this man who was the revolutionary, who was the upstart, who was the one who wanted to become the new king. And they win, you know, the forces of David. They win. But here's what happens. I said Joab. She calls Joab, this wise woman. Why didn't she call Amasa? Because remember, Amasa was made the head of David's army.
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Chapter 6: How does the theme of sin affect relationships?
Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation.
Discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today, it is day 138. We are reading today from 2 Samuel chapter 20, 1 Chronicles chapter 25. We are praying tonight. today, right now, from Psalm 39. As always, the Bible translation that I am reading from is the Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition. I am using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension.
And if you want to download your own Bible in a Year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year. If you want to subscribe to this podcast, you can click on subscribe and you will be subscribed. As I said, it is day 138, reading 2 Samuel chapter 20, 1 Chronicles 25, and Psalm 39. The second book of Samuel chapter 20, the rebellion of Sheba.
Now there happened to be there a worthless fellow whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjaminite. And he blew the trumpet and said, we have no portion in David and we have no inheritance in the son of Jesse, every man to his tents, O Israel. So all the men of Israel withdrew from David and followed Sheba, the son of Bichri.
But the men of Judah followed their king steadfastly from the Jordan to Jerusalem. And David came to his house at Jerusalem, and the king took the ten concubines whom he had left to care for the house, and put them in a house under guard, and provided for them, but did not go into them. So they were shut up until the day of their death, living as if in widowhood.
Then the king said to Amasa, Call the men of Judah together to me within three days, and be here yourself. So Amasa went to summon Judah, but he delayed beyond the set time which had been appointed him. And David said to Abishai, Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom. Take your lord's servants and pursue him, lest he get himself fortified cities and cause us trouble.
And there went out after Abishai, Joab, and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, and all the mighty men. They went out from Jerusalem to pursue Sheba, the son of Bichri. When they were at the great stone, which is in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet him. Now Joab was wearing a soldier's garment, and over it was a belt with a sword in its sheath fastened upon his loins.
And as he went forward, it fell out. And Joab said to Amasa, Is it well with you, my brother? And Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him. But Amasa did not observe the sword which was in Joab's hand. So Joab struck him with it in the body and shed his bowels to the ground without striking a second blow, and he died.
Then Joab and Abishai his brother pursued Sheba the son of Bichri. And one of Joab's men took his stand by Amasa and said, Whoever favors Joab and whoever is for David, let him follow Joab. And Amasa lay wallowing in his blood in the highway, and anyone who came by, seeing him, stopped.
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