David's final words are, fittingly, a psalm. He speaks of good governance, ruling justly,
and the benefit to both the ruler and the ruled of such governance. David had the benefit of knowing that the
Lord had made an everlasting covenant with him and his family and he could then
worry less about things like consolidating power and keeping it because he knew
it came from the Lord and not from any particular talents of his own. At the end we find David again at the cave of
Adullam where it all began when the men who were "in distress, and
everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him." Now, at the end he has his men around him and
all he wants is water but will not drink water that might have cost a man his
life, he is not worthy to drink such sacrifice.
We come to the table and receive bread and wine from the one whose
sandals we are not worthy to unfasten for the sacrifice He made on our
behalf.
Jesus foretells the tribulation His followers will
experience in the end of days. There
will be false messiahs and there will be those who are deceived by those false
messiahs. There have been men like this
since the time of the apostles and continuing to this day though typically they
are small-scale and their fame and reach does not extend to all the world. There are others though like Joseph Smith who
claim to have received revelation from an angel that has deceived millions
along certainly with the cult surrounding Mohammed known as Islam. We must be aware and be in the Word in order
to stand firm in the truth and not be deceived.
If we don't know the Word then we are much more easily led astray. Jesus stands alone as the One who lay down
His life willingly as a sacrifice for sin.
He did not receive revelation He is revelation. We as His followers must emulate His example
by the power of the Holy Spirit within us and as we do we are to expect
persecution just as He was persecuted.
This Agrippa was the brother of Drusilla, the wife of
Felix. Before Paul can be sent to Rome
Agrippa and Bernice come to town and Festus tells them of the dilemma he has
inherited from Felix regarding Paul. He
affirms that he can't make heads or tails out of the situation and was pleased
that Paul appealed to Caesar. Agrippa,
with a Jewish heritage, is intrigued and wants to hear what Paul has to
say. Agrippa and Bernice are brother and
sister. Bernice had several failed
marriages and the rumor was that these two were carrying on an incestuous
relationship with one another. What a
mess. At any rate, Paul will have an
opportunity to persuade this client king of the Roman emperor of his innocence
in the matter on the morrow.
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