2 Samuel 19:11-20:13
David's
mess was far from over and his thinking and judgment were far from clear.
2 Samuel
19:11-43
Vs. 11-15
The problem here is that most of Absalom's strong supporters were of Judah.
David urged Judah to invite him back to Jerusalem as the king. As a special
political incentive, he told Amasa, Joab's cousin and the leader of Absalom's
army, that he would become the commander of his army. I wonder at the wisdom of
having someone as your commander who was just trying to kill you. No telling
what Joab thought about that, but Joab had disobeyed David and killed Absalom.
Vs. 16-23
It is interesting to me that both Shimei and Ziba are mentioned together here.
Again, Ziba is “only” there to serve and win David's heart, right? Shimei gets
off easy, for now.
Vs. 24-30
So finally, Mephibosheth (M) shows up. Notice that he hadn't taken care of
himself since the king departed until
the day he came back. What does that mean? Mephibosheth was in mourning
for David. Not taking care of yourself was how you mourned and fasted. It
wasn't how you went about making yourself king. The text/the Spirit is giving
us proof that M was innocent. Read M's explanation of what happened. He was
telling the truth and that rat, Ziba, lied about everything. Why? Because Ziba
wanted to have Saul’s estate for himself, the way it had been before David
helped M.
So what
was David's response to bring fairness and justice to this situation? How did
David show true loyalty to the son of his best friend, the guy who willingly
gave David the crown and strengthened him in the Lord?
V. 29
David impatiently cut off Mephibosheth in mid-sentence and told him to shut up.
That is the import of his response. David was tired and rude to M. David had
been tricked and trapped again. So the compromised, frustrated king got a
fantastic idea: He split the property (that was the issue) between Ziba (the
liar) and M (the victim).
V. 30 Once
again, just as in the case with Uriah, David is shown up by a humbler, more
spiritual man. M told David that Ziba could have it all. He was just happy that
David had come home safely. I'm just sad when I read this.
Mephibosheth
was like Jonathan, a good, honest, spiritual man. He was five years old when
his father died, but something good happened in those five years. To think, not
only was Jonathan a great man and spiritual leader, but he also turned out to
be a better father than David and he only had five years to pull it off.
For me,
what David did here to M was a disgrace. David the liar, the murderer, could
not bring himself to do the right thing and judge another liar, especially
since Ziba had helped him and David had received his gift. Receiving the gift
put David under obligation. And then David had rashly believed Ziba and judged
M before witnesses and given everything to Ziba. David was a ruined man.
Vs. 31-40
This is a lengthy section of David repaying Barzillai for helping David. David
gives Barzillai’s son, or grandson, a permanent place at his table. There may
have been other favors attached to this.
Vs. 41-43
This is where communication skills could have helped. Apparently David thought
everything would go back to normal quickly, but I don't think he realized the
depth of his neglect, not speaking to Absalom and letting him (with his 50 men
a-running) win the hearts of Israel. God still had more chastening to do to
really break David. God allowed some hot-heads to create dissension. Earlier in
David’s reign he knew how to smooth things.
2 Samuel
20:1-13
Vs. 1-2
Here was yet another Benjaminite causing problems and another mini-civil war.
Apparently this happened in David’s presence as they were coming up from Gilgal
to Jerusalem. Just for trivia, notice where this guy was from (v. 21) and then
look at Judges 8:1 & 12:1. What was going on in the hills of Ephraim?
V. 3
Because of the way Absalom had dishonored them, David would no longer be a
husband to these women. This would be a permanent, visible reminder and scar. I
don’t think David suffered, but these women surely did. People were still
paying for David’s sin. I keep thinking of the line in Psalm 51:4 where David
says to God, Against you, you only, have
I sinned. Hmmm.
Vs. 4-10
David ordered Amasa to call the army of Judah together to keep the rebellion of
Sheba from growing. When Amasa didn’t have the assembly done by the appointed
time, David sent Abishai, Joab’s brother. This didn’t mean Amasa was a bad guy,
but apparently he wasn’t a skilled leader.
Vs. 9-13
This was cold-blooded murder. How do we know? Later David will tell Solomon it
was murder, and he made Solomon promise to execute Joab in a way that would pay
for this murder. The political situation was too fragile (for David's human
thinking) to punish Joab. With this "stroke" Joab killed his cousin
and kept his position of power as commander of the army. The description is
vicious and violent. Obviously, Joab was his own man and did things his way. I
think he knew he didn’t have anything to fear from the compromised David.
Notice that immediately after this murder, Joab assumed his old position as
commander of the army.
Vs. 11-13
Amasa had already been given a promise by David and was seen as a loyal man.
What happened here, it seems, is that when the men looked at Amasa's body, it
brought up thoughts of treachery and double dealing. Maybe, they thought, David
was going back on his word. So one of Joab’s men dragged the body off of the
road and threw a blanket over it. Now everyone was unified again so they could
go after the bad guy.
As
disciples working in the harvest, there is no room for politics and hypocrisy.
It is better to be honest, say our peace and if the situation persists, ask the
Lord to put us in a place where we can do honest work for Him. Salary and
position are not reasons to stay in a dysfunctional situation. David still
could have done all of this the right way, but he didn’t. He should have taken
care of Joab himself.
John 21
Vs. 1-14
Jesus had commanded them to meet Him in Galilee, and seven of the eleven were
there waiting at some appointed place. Wherever it was, it was a lonely place
and there were no crowds.
V. 3 Some
suggest that Peter had gone back to his trade, but it clearly looks like he was
just passing the time, trying to catch breakfast.
V. 4 They
didn't recognize Jesus, because he had either changed His appearance or had
given them some mental block.
V. 7 John
was spiritually perceptive. He didn’t recognize the man, but he remembered the
situation, and knew that this unidentified man was the Lord. That is pretty big
faith.
Vs. 9-14
There is a slight miracle noted here, probably something the Lord did to
encourage Peter. Not only did Peter drag the net ashore alone, but it is noted
that the net didn't break.
V. 12 It
is interesting that Jesus made them have to deny their sight and go with their
hearts regarding His identity. I wonder if at some point He went back to the
old form they knew.
Vs. 15-19
I think this portion here is the primary reason John and the Spirit included
this story. It is all about Jesus' restoration of Peter.
Notice
that Peter is brought to confess his love for Jesus three times, just like he
denied Jesus three times.
Notice,
too, that Peter's love for Jesus was to be expressed in service. He was not to
become the executive head of anything. He was to be like Jesus, a servant. In
making disciples, the key element is serving people, being with them, teaching
them to follow Christ in the harvest. Disciple making is not an executive
position.
V. 19 This
is a very interesting assurance for Peter and for all of us. As we are
following Christ, He actually designs our death so that by it, we will glorify
God.
Peter had
publicly denied Jesus; Jesus restored him publicly. Loving Christ means
following Him, sharing His love to make disciples. Peter had been broken and
was now humble enough to lead and make disciples. He followed.
Vs. 20-23
Apparently, this is written here to dispel some false information regarding
John never dying. John was probably an old man when he wrote this, possibly 50
or more years after the resurrection.
Vs. 24-25
This Gospel is traditionally thought to be the last of the Gospels, written
after the deaths of Peter and Paul and well after the destruction of Jerusalem.
John was an old man, possibly the last of the apostles, living in Ephesus as he
wrote this, and then in exile on Patmos when he wrote the book of Revelation.
Psalm 120
Psalms
120-134 are called "Songs of Ascents," and were to be sung by the pilgrims
coming to Jerusalem one of those three times of the year when all of the men
were to appear before the Lord at the feasts. This one is anonymous. Some of
them are from David and one is from Solomon. These were probably sung to
"tune" the hearts of the worshipers to be longing for God and to be
confessing their own sins as they walked to Jerusalem and came before Him.
Vs. 1-2
This is an interesting song to be singing, walking up to Jerusalem to tune your
heart to God. But maybe not. Here the psalmist is crying out to God for help.
Vs. 3-7
Maybe this is what it was like for Hannah, Samuel’s mother, each year that she
went up to worship, being hurt and antagonized by the other wife.
It is hard
to worship when you have enemies, so maybe this psalm makes a lot of sense. We
are told to forgive, but often it is not a matter of our forgiving, but
resisting the enemy’s influence. Somehow our love for God and our understanding
of Him and this world has to be bigger than our enemy, or the enemy controls
us.
On second
thought, this is a brilliant song to sing on the way to worship, asking God to
free one’s heart from these enemies and to receive the peace of God.
Proverbs 16:16-17
I don't
think anyone who has lived for Christ in the harvest and seen fruit regrets not
being wealthy; in fact, there are other blessings they would value more. Those
other blessings are the "riches" that confirm the hand of God on
their lives. On the other hand, there are masses of Christians who have forged
comfortable lives, with little or no fruit, who would gladly go back and
redirect their lives and choose other values to follow.
V. 17 sounds like what Paul warned Timothy
about in I Timothy 6:9, But those who desire to be rich fall into
temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge
people into ruin and destruction.
Better to
be “rich” in the harvest with our Lord.
If you’re reading along and don’t have a One Year
Bible, click on this link http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/every-day-in-the-word/. If that doesn't
work, go to http://www.esvbible.org/devotions/
and click on “Every
Day in the Word.”
I'm writing these comments to and for those who are
following a One Year Bible and interested in growing deeper as a disciple,
following Jesus in the harvest. My hope is to see the growth of a discipleship
culture in the church. Groups of 3-4 disciples, meeting weekly, encouraging
each other to follow Christ and work to reach out and make disciples who make
disciples. The Bible itself is the most universal manual we have and key to our
growth and service in Christ. Nothing keeps us more focused on why we are here
or what we are to be doing. My comments are only meant to provide some
explanation of the events or to show the flow of God's plan of redemption. My
comments are in no way exhaustive, but are designed to keep us focused on
Christ and our role in His harvest. My hope is that the people in these groups
will grow in Christ and be willing, after a year, to find 3 others to meet with
and encourage in their growth as disciples, disciples making disciples in the
harvest.
If you would like a complete description of this model
of being and making disciples you can find it in my book: Simply
Disciples*Making Disciples. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011WJIDQA?*Version*=1&*entries*=0
If you would like a more descriptive commentary that is
still readable and concise, I'd recommend the Bible Knowledge Commentary. It's
keyed to the NIV, so the result is the commentators are constantly telling you
what the Greek or Hebrew is. That never hurts.
I am not endorsing any particular One Year Bible; in
fact, I read something you don't, die revidierte Lutherbibel 1984.
Anyone reading along with us is welcome to do so and is
encouraged to take their own notes and make their own observations. If the
comments made do not agree with your particular tradition or understanding,
that's OK. Nothing I've written is meant to criticize any point of view, but
only to express the truth of what God has written to us, as I understand it.
Send comments or feedback to dgkachikis@gmail.com.
If you would like documents containing an entire month
of the Reading Notes, go to https://sites.google.com/site/dlkachikis/reading-notes. You can download
these to use on your computer or to print.
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