Ish-bosheth knows that the end is nigh for his term as ruler
over Israel when he hears what has happened to the commander of his
armies. Two of his own men, sons of one
father, determine it might be in their best interest to get the job done and
kill him and take the evidence to David.
They badly miscalculated on this matter.
David is still in the habit of recognizing that his enemies so far are
also his brothers in the sense that they all belong to the same family, Israel,
whether they are attacking him or not. He
also recognizes that the Lord anointed Saul and his own friendship with
Ish-bosheth's brother Jonathan was strong enough that David respected the line
of Saul. The two murderers fare no
better than their victim in the end. In the
middle of this drama we meet a five year old boy, the son of Jonathan whose
nurse takes the child and flees when she hears of the deaths of the boy's
father and grandfather but in the process falls and the boy becomes lame. This isn't the last time we will meet
Mephibosheth.
Jesus confronts the Pharisees and their hypocrisy. They attempt to confront Him on why the
disciples aren't washing their hands properly and Jesus turns it into a
condemnation of their straining at gnats and swallowing elephants. They worry about washing hands in accordance with
the traditions of the elders but neglect the weightier matters such as the commandment
to honor father and mother by denying them assistance in the name of God, that
their assets are encumbered as a pledge to the Lord. It might seem righteous but it is certainly
unrighteous to neglect rather than honor father and mother. Ultimately, Jesus says that the whole issue
of hand washing is a non-starter because defilement is what comes out of a
person rather than what goes in. (I wonder
why we don't hear more about verses 20-23 when we hear from those who would
change the biblical sexual ethic today.
Jesus says that sexual immorality defiles. He didn't specifically mention homosexuality
but the Bible has already been clear on what constitutes sexual morality, a man
and woman in marriage, so isn't it axiomatic that sexual immorality would be
anything else?)
Paul and Silas react to persecution by praying and singing
hymns to God. That is a reaction I
rarely see in me or in other Christians in the western world. They weren't doing these things as some
little formula that if I pray and praise the Lord is bound to do something,
they were doing it because they were counted worthy of suffering for the Gospel
and because it was their practice to do those things. As they do, they are set free from their
bonds. The jailer would lose his life if
the prisoners escaped and he would rather do it the quick and easy way rather
than the slow and painful way the Romans would prefer and suddenly Paul tells
him not to worry, no one has left. Is he
the man of Macedonia Paul saw in the dream?
The conversion here is his entire household. The Lord used the wickedness of men to begin
the church in Philippi. It is frequently
when we suspend our worldly judgment and allow God to show us the truth about
things that we begin to be useful in ways we could never have imagined.
No comments:
Post a Comment