10/25/2010 9:37:34 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My
Worship Time Focus: Tribal conflict
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference:
2Sam. 19:41-20:3, 14-26
Message of the verses: “41 And behold, all the men of Israel came to
the king and said to the king, "Why had our brothers the men of Judah
stolen you away, and brought the king and his household and all David’s men
with him over the Jordan?" 42 Then
all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, "Because the king is a
close relative to us. Why then are you angry about this matter? Have we eaten
at all at the king’s expense, or has anything been taken for us?" 43 But the men of Israel answered the men of
Judah and said, "We have ten parts in the king, therefore we also have
more claim on David than you. Why then did you treat us with contempt? Was it
not our advice first to bring back our king?" Yet the words of the men of
Judah were harsher than the words of the men of Israel.”
“1 ¶ Now a worthless fellow
happened to be there whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite; and
he blew the trumpet and said, "We have no portion in David, Nor do we have
inheritance in the son of Jesse; Every man to his tents, O Israel!" 2 So all the men of Israel withdrew from
following David and followed Sheba the son of Bichri; but the men of Judah
remained steadfast to their king, from the Jordan even to Jerusalem. 3 Then David came to his house at Jerusalem,
and the king took the ten women, the concubines whom he had left to keep the
house, and placed them under guard and provided them with sustenance, but did
not go in to them. So they were shut up until the day of their death, living as
widows.
“14
¶ Now he went through all the tribes of
Israel to Abel, even Beth-maacah, and all the Berites; and they were gathered
together and also went after him. 15
They came and besieged him in Abel Beth-maacah, and they cast up a siege
ramp against the city, and it stood by the rampart; and all the people who were
with Joab were wreaking destruction in order to topple the wall. 16 Then a wise woman called from the city,
"Hear, hear! Please tell Joab, ’Come here that I may speak with
you.’" 17 So he approached her, and
the woman said, "Are you Joab?" And he answered, "I am."
Then she said to him, "Listen to the words of your maidservant." And
he answered, "I am listening." 18
Then she spoke, saying, "Formerly they used to say, ’They will
surely ask advice at Abel,’ and thus they ended the dispute. 19 "I am of those who are peaceable and
faithful in Israel. You are seeking to destroy a city, even a mother in Israel.
Why would you swallow up the inheritance of the LORD?" 20 Joab replied, "Far be it, far be it from
me that I should swallow up or destroy! 21
"Such is not the case. But a man from the hill country of Ephraim,
Sheba the son of Bichri by name, has lifted up his hand against King David.
Only hand him over, and I will depart from the city." And the woman said
to Joab, "Behold, his head will be thrown to you over the wall."
22 Then the woman wisely came to all the
people. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri and threw it to
Joab. So he blew the trumpet, and they were dispersed from the city, each to
his tent. Joab also returned to the king at Jerusalem.
23 ¶ Now Joab was over the whole
army of Israel, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and
the Pelethites; 24 and Adoram was over
the forced labor, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder; 25 and Sheva was scribe, and Zadok and Abiathar
were priests; 26 and Ira the Jairite was
also a priest to David.”
Today’s
SD has a lot of verses in it as Dr. Wiersbe has divided this tenth chapter in
his commentary on 2Samuel into four different conflicts that David had to deal
with after Absalom’s rebellion had been crushed. He entitles this chapter “David’s New
Struggles.”
This
first section speaks of the conflict between the tribes and in his commentary
Dr. Wiersbe gives a short history of how the nation of Israel became divided as
it actually began with Saul when he has his army divided between Judah and
Israel (the ten northern tribes).
Matthew 12:25 is a quote from Jesus Christ and the background of this verse
is that Jesus is accused of casting out demons by the power of Satan and His
response was the following: “Any kingdom
divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against
itself will not stand.” This is exactly
what happened to the nation of Israel and this portion of Scripture is just
microcosm of what will happen after king Solomon dies and his son Rehoboam
takes over.
There
is as section in the middle of this section that explains how Joab is again in
charge of David’s army and that is to be taken up in the next SD.
Sheba
is the trouble maker in this crisis and he begins his trouble over something
very silly, which is an argument that Judah should have waited before they
brought the king over the Jordan River until the representatives of all the
tribes were there. Judah said that David
was part of their family and Israel said that they had ten parts of David
because they had ten tribes, like I said silly.
Eventually
he gets some support and begins to lead this support and there is another war
happening, actually another civil war, but this time it doesn’t last too
long. Sheba ends up being chased by the
army of David, and at this time is headed by Joab, and Sheba goes into a city
and so Joab is ready to tear down the city when a wise woman speaks to Joab and
prevents this from happening. I love how
Dr. Wiersbe puts this into perspective when he writes, “Sheba wanted to be head
of the army, but instead, his head was thrown over the wall to the army.” This is exactly what happened to Sheba as
this wise woman told Joab that there was no need in destroying their city
because she would hand over the head of Sheba to Joab. This is the third wise woman in the life of
David that made a difference; the first was Abigail, and then the woman of
Tekoa, and now this wise woman.
At
the end of this chapter in 2Samuel there is a list of David’s officers and two
new officers are added: Adoram and Ira
who served as David’s chaplain.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Dr. Wiersbe quotes from a humorous poet named
Ogden Nash who said “People could survive their natural troubles all right if
it weren’t for the trouble the make for themselves.” OUCH!
I
totally agree with this statement as I think back at the huge mistake that I
made with our investment and now the trouble that it has caused it, for Dr.
Wiersbe also writes the following: “How
painful are the consequences of forgiven sin!”
I totally have to agree with that too as I am dealing with it as are
many people.
My
Steps of Faith for Today:
1. Put
on the spiritual armor as instructed by Paul in Ephesians six.
2. Trust
the Lord for the outcome of this job, and for the outcome of the money that
Andrew owes us.
10/25/2010 11:08:24 AM
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