“And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their commandment,” 1 Chronicles 2:32.
The chapter begins with the statement — “Now these are they that came to David to Ziklag, while he yet kept himself close because of Saul the son of Kish: and they were among the mighty men, helpers of the war,” verse 1.
The time of David’s running and hiding from the oppression of King Saul, who had been killed by the Philistines on the battlefield of Mount Gilboa, was ended!
The people of Israel have been awakened to recognise that David was the one appointd by God to be their King!
Awakening
How like the awakening that will take place amongst the nation of Israel when the Saviour returns, the false ‘king’, Antichrist, having been killed.
“And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. . . . And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one,” Zechariah 12:10, 14:9.
Dear Christian, ever remember that “the great Day of the Lord” is frequently pictured for us in the past events in the history of Israel as they are recorded in Holy Scripture.
Recognised as King
Light has dawned upon the hearts of the people of Israel. “Then all Israel gathered themselves to David unto Hebron, saying, Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh. And moreover in time past, even when Saul was king, thou wast he that leddest out and broughtest in Israel: and the LORD thy God said unto thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be ruler over my people Israel,” 1 Chronicles 11:1-2.
In chapter 12, we have the numbers that gathered and the tribes from which they came identified. The chapter starts with the these words: “Now these are they that came to David to Ziklag, while he yet kept himself close because of Saul the son of Kish: and they were among the mighty men, helpers of the war.”
“Mighty men” will be found amongst the “helpers” of God’s work and witness in the day when God’s King, the Lord Jesus Christ, is given His rightful place and is granted the honour that is due to Him.
Defeat and despondency and disorder abound while the Lord and His faithful followers are held in reproach! But all that changes when the Saviour’s knock on the door is heard and the door is opened and He is given His rightful place at the very heart of the affairs of His people!
Please consider then from our text:
I. THOSE WHO HOLD POSITIONS OF LEADERSHIP IN GOD’S WORK ARE ESPECIALLY QUALIFIED!
“The children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times.” Basically, they had ‘discernment’ to rightly perceive the spirit of the day in which they lived!
Sadly, such is not common today amongst those who, by and large, are in positions of leadership in God’s work!
These are days of deception and delusion and many are carried away with the illusions created by the devil and his agents.
God’s people, sadly, to a large degree, have forgotten that we are at war with the world and its ways!
Let us heed Paul’s word on the matter of the Christian at war.
“But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some, which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled,” 2 Corinthians 10:2-6.
It is not a ‘war’ fought with material, earthly weaponry. No, it is a spiritual war, but WAR nevertheless!
Not war but cooperation!
There are all too many who have laid aside the sword of God’s Word and entered into a bond of cooperation with those who are amongst the ranks of the enemy. Cooperation with such who are counted by the Lord as defying Him and disobeying His Word and siding with the great apostasy of today is very wrong. It is the very opposite of what the Lord demands of His people.
To share occasions of preaching with those who reject God’s call to separation from apostasy can have only one outcome!
“Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners,” 1. Corinthians 15:33.
The words “evil communications” simply mean ‘that companionship, communion, which by nature is bad will corrupt and destroy’ those who engage in such.
We cannot mingle with and hold in high regard those who disobey the Lord without becoming corrupted by their sin!
Have we forgotten the words of James?
“Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God,” James 4:4. ‘Friendliness’ with those who have ceased to walk as ‘friends’ of God, or to tolerate such ‘friendliness’ will make us an enemy of God with the most dire consequences!
Has not that ‘friendliness’ been tolerated and indeed, any who speak out against it, been targeted and maligned for their attempts to call back God’s people from such ungodly alliances?
These things indicate a sad lack of that which the children of Issachar were honoured as possessing!
II. POSSESSION OF AN ‘UNDERSTANDING OF THE TIMES’ WILL PROVIDE WISE LEADERSHIP.
Just what are ‘the times’ in which we find ourselves?
1. First of all, ministers of God should know the character of the times. How little is preached today on the spiritual and religious developments all around us. This is a day of ‘wokeness’! We are told that this word refers to ‘the quality of being alert to and concerned about social injustice and discrimination.’ That is of course, what is today considered ‘socially just’. Wokeness would have us honour the various perversions that have arisen amongst today’s degenerates. Children in the State School system are taught that lesbianism, transgenderism and sodomy are all honourable lifestyles and must not be considered as wrong and debased!
Sadly!
A fear of generating opposition by denouncing such, and becoming the object of public ridicule, has silenced all too many servants of God. Such criticism may even offend some Christians who have within the outer family circle those guilty of such wickedness.
Where that may be the case, then the words of the Lord Jesus have particular application.
“Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me,” Matthew 10:34-38.
We are to preach so as to readily and joyfully bear the cross of Christ’s reproach before the world!
2. As was the case with the prophets and apostles, God’s servants of today must ever press home upon God’s people an understanding of the times in which we live. Paul said: “But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night,” 1 Thessalonians 5:1-7.
The crying out of ‘peace and safety’ has ever been the subject of the sermons of the devil’s disciples.
It is the subject matter of the ‘Ecumenists’ today! They tell their flocks that their baptism etc, has made peace for them with God. They inform the world that it is getting better and a time of peace is breaking out.
This lie of the devil and all his other falsehoods have to be opposed most strenuously.
Are we not commanded of God to “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints,” Jude 3?
Am I wrong in believing that few in the pulpit take any real heed of this command? I am not wrong if the numerous comments made to me over recent years by good Free Presbyterians are to be believed!
III. THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTER OF A PREACHER, ESPECIALLY IN DAYS SUCH AS THESE IN WHICH WE LIVE, IS THAT OF A ‘WATCHMAN’.
“Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me,” Ezekiel 3:17.
There can be no “understanding of the times” and the issuing of a warning when needed without a ‘watchfulness’, an observing of the times in the light of Holy Scripture.
Wartime
During the Second World War, Royal Navy officers and sailors, especially those serving on submarines, were required to memorise the silhouettes of all naval vessels. This was in order to rightly recognise the enemy ship and not end up attacking and sinking one of their own!
“Rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15) is an essential duty of the minister of Christ. The words means ‘ to cut straight.’ Not to cut so as to ‘cut out’ that which we would prefer to avoid or not mention!
Sadly, that is all too frequently the ‘cutting’ practice of the ‘selective preaching’ of today’s pulpiteers!
Memorable
The Lord Jesus addresses us all with those memorable words. “Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come,” Matthew 24:42.
What are we to “watch” for? We are to vigilantly observe the events unfolding before our eyes in the times in which we live. We are then to compare them carefully and prayerfully with the details the Lord has given us in His Word of the corruptions that wicked men will press upon mankind, especially the evils that mark the approach of the last days.
That earnestness is seen in the Apostle Paul’s writings.
“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come,” 2 Timothy 3:1.
The word “know” means “understand”. Preachers must seek to impart an understanding of the prophetic warnings in the Bible!
Paul goes on: “For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away,” verses 2-5.
He tells us of the character of the last days and gives us instructions on how we react to this wickedness. “From such turn away,”
These words are written in the spirit that endued the “the children of Issachar” as they instructed Israel in what it was they ought to do!
Sleep
In Matthew 25, verse 5, we read: “While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.”
Now this is the state of the church just before the Saviour’s return for verse 6 states: “And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.”
We are therefore very certain this is the state of affairs amongst the professing people of God JUST before the Saviour comes.
Half of the professing believers are unsaved. Theirs is an ‘empty’ profession. They have ‘no oil in their lamps’.
However, please notice that ALL of the genuine believers are aroused from their sleep and began to act in fulfilment of the duties they should have been engaged in while they slept!
Please note that the will of Heaven is that we do not ‘sleep’! It is for this reason that Paul wrote, as I have already quoted, “Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober,” 1 Thessalonians 5:6.
Alcohol induces sleep as does sin and backsliding induce ‘spiritual sleep’!
God’s servants are to so preach as to keep awake and alert the flock of God. The fact that the professing church is asleep right at the end of this age is an indication of a ‘failure’ on the part of those preachers of that day!
What a need for us all to be awake to the wicked corruptions and deceptions of this day. Daily we are warned by banks and businesses of the ever increasingly sophisticated ‘scams’ that we are all threatened with. We are thankful for such. BUT how much more necessary is a watchful pulpit when we are faced with that which may rob us of, not some money or property, but our stand and walk with God, aye, even our eternal souls.
May God give us ‘Issacharites’ in these days of deception and dereliction of duty.
Rev Ivan Foster (Rtd)
Friday, 16th October 2026