CONSEQUENCES (1 Kings 1-2)

Today's post is by Becca Whitham

If I were to choose a theme for these chapters, it would be “Consequences”.  There are a number of

them, but let’s focus on David’s sons, Adonijah and Solomon.

Adonijah hasn’t come up against consequences.  According to 1 Kings 1:6, he’s been acting like the crown prince for a while—preparing chariots and horsemen with fifty men to run before him—and David hasn’t stirred himself to say, “Um…what do you think you’re doing?” 

Before writing off Adonijah as a spoiled boy trying to steal the throne, he had every right to assume he was next in line since he was the eldest of David’s surviving sons.  In fact, it’s not clear whether David conferred the honor of succession on Solomon privately or publicly.  If the promise was private, Adonijah might have acted in the best interest of Israel by setting himself up as ruler so the kingdom didn’t fall apart because David was weak and approaching death.

However, whether from pure motives or selfish ones, Adonijah’s actions were wrong but went unchecked. I find it ironic that David’s final words to Solomon list out the enemies he needed to watch in order to secure the throne, but David failed to mention Adonijah—the biggest threat of all.

After David died and Solomon was king, Adonijah still thought he could have the throne.  There were no pure motives this time.  The request for Abishag was a power play.  She was King David’s property, one of his royal concubines.  And, though I hate to make this comparison, if Adonijah married Abishag, it was as much a sign of royal succession as when David called for Solomon to ride his royal mule.  Unlike the rest of David’s concubines, Abishag was in the unique position of being a virgin, so the request to marry her didn’t go against Mosaic Law, but it certainly went against Adonijah’s promise of loyalty to Solomon. 

Let’s skip to Solomon, Bathsheba’s son.  Bathsheba learned a great

deal about consequences (see 2 Sam. 11-12).  Though pure conjecture on my part, I think at least some of the difference between Adonijah and Solomon can be attributed to the mothers who raised them. And I think Bathsheba taught Solomon about consequences of actions.  A few of those painful lessons and a boy learns to look past what seems okay now to the end result.

When Adonijah came to Bathsheba and requested she ask her son for Abishag, she wasn’t ignorant of the implications.  I think she presented it anyway because she trusted Solomon to have both the intelligence to see through it and the fortitude to act accordingly.  A good king gets rid of all threats to his authority.  A good king doesn’t allow pretenders.  A good king follows through on consequences of disobedience no matter how painful.

So, too, will the King of Kings.  Adonijah’s presumption to rule cost him his life.  What will it take for us to submit to the rightful ruler of our hearts?

He Should Have Said No (2 Samuel 24)

Today I reach the end of 2 Samuel. It contains, among other things, one of my favorite verses: I'm not going to offer God, my God, sacrifices that are no sacrifice. 

But . . . wow. Words I wasn't expecting, something I should have noticed long ago.

Close to the end of David's reign, he instructed Joab to number the men of fighting age in Israel and Judah. Joab--hardly the man I would expect to get spiritual--warned David against the course.  But David persisted. God decided to punish Israel, and gave David three options, leading to the showdown at the threshing floor where David insisted on paying for the land and materials to build an altar. God stopped the plague before it destroyed Jerusalem.

Okay. David was supposed to know better. Even Joab knew better.

Here is the kicker. Chapter 24 begins this way:

Once again God's anger blazed against Israel. He tested David by telling him, "Go and take a census of Israel and Judah." (2 Samuel 24:1, MSG)

Did you catch it? God told David take the census. Wait a minute. I had to check that out in a couple of other versions with a more precise translation.

King James says, "And again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah." The NIV puts it this way: "Again, the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying 'Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.'"

The unnecessary, prideful, self-reliant, not-God-pleasing census happened at God's specific direction. It reminds me a little bit of God telling Abraham to sacrifice his son--only He didn't step in to stop David from the foolishness.

The Bible does say God was angry with Israel. Why isn't spelled out, but I can guess. They broke the covenant in some significant way, most probably with idol worship. God's anger wasn't directed at David himself; he was a tool in God's hands.

What about the verse that says God doesn't tempt anyone? (James 1:13)  Did God send someone to David with the command to take the census? Or did perhaps the desire grew in David's heart, and he for once thought God wanted the census, without checking out his plan further?

I can easily see David falling prey to the desire that James describes,  "each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire." How many fighting men do we have, in all? Wasn't that a natural, nationalistic, patriotic, kingly thing for David to want to know?

God Himself had Moses number Israel at least twice. We're not told why it was wrong this time, but I can venture a guess. Knowing the size of the available army suggests a dependence on the strength of the army, and not on God. God could save Israel with an army of one--think about David and Goliath.

Whether God whispered the words into David's mind or simply opened the door, all the versions agree: God was nudging him in that direction.

Here is David's chance for an Abraham-like dialogue with God. Are you sure, God? You know I trust You to deliver us, whether by many or a few. Where was the daily review of God's ways that he wrote about in chapter 22? Did he think this was a new trick?

Whatever David's thought process, he  jumped into it, insisted on it, in fact. And all of Israel suffered as a result.

Mostly, I am puzzled by God. Okay, I don't pretend to understand God. Who does? But why did God lead David this way? Why didn't God tell David that He wanted to punish Israel, and give him the choice of three punishments in the first place? He told Abraham he was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. He told Moses he wanted to kill the entire nation and start over. Why didn't He give David the same opportunity to intercede for his people?

I'm not sure where to go with this. I start with this truth, plainly spoken in scripture: God doesn't tempt us to sin.

Second truth: God, however, did make sin a possibility by giving us free choice.

Measuring what I know of God from the Bible and comparing it to my experience, I can easily see David imagining God wanted him to do this.

My basic take-away truth? When I feel God may be taking me in a direction that seems to contrary to what scripture teaches--not an out and out sin, like adultery, but say, vacationing at a nudist colony. (If I have any nudist followers, please forgive me.)  Don't rush into it. Take the time to check it again. Ask trusted advisors. In David's case, even Joab knew it was a bad idea. David didn't get around to asking his spiritual guide, Gad, until later. Until it was too late.

And it may not be a bad idea to wait until things become clearer.

And as a final, over-riding thought?  God cannot be put in a box.

The Secret to David's Success (2 Samuel 22)

Wow, I could camp out in 2 Samuel 22 for a week.  There are tons of suggestions on finding the "right

direction," for instance, which intrigue me.

But I want to focus on the secret to David's success, why he was a man after God's own heart, in spite of his many failings. This is a longer passage than I usually quote, but this is too good to pass up:

Indeed, I've kept alert to God's ways;

I haven't taken God for granted.

Every day I review the way he works,

I try not to miss a trick.

I feel put back together

and I'm watching my step.

God rewrote the text of my life

when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes.

2 Samuel 22:21-25

"I haven't taken God for granted." That says it all. David was passionate, sold-out for God. He knew from the rock-bottom foundation of his heart that everything he was, every would be, was meant to be--all was grounded in God and His goodness.  That with God nothing was impossible, but by himself, he was helpless. 

How do I know this? For one thing, he said so. For another, he showed it. He didn't go to war without God's okay. When he did, he was fearless--killing a giant with a slingshot? C'mon. Foolish. But not to David and his God. He offered extravagant, abundant sacrifices, of song and dance, animals and grain. 

David made his relationship with God a daily priority.  "Every day I review the way he works." He meditated, he reviewed what he knew, he prayed. I expect he asked forgiveness on a daily basis as well, with the notable exception of his sin with Uriah and Bathsheba. 

And no matter how well he knew God--he wanted more. I try not to miss a trick. He reviewed what he

knew about God, compared it to the law and to his experience. His relationship wasn't static; it was constantly growing. He also didn't want to miss out when God started something new. He was there, on top of it.

As a result, God rewrote the text of his life.

Lord, let me have that kind of passion for You. 

The Last Defense (2 Samuel 20)

David returns as king--but this time the celebrations are tarnished, and not everyone is happy he is back. I won't go into all the details--old Joab kills his competition for head of the army, for example--but I want to spare a moment to talk about David's concubines.

Excavation of David's palace

David seems unbelievably cruel. He left ten unnamed women in charge of the palace while he ran away. Absalom was quick to take advantage of the situation, upon the advice of Ahithophel. He pitched a tent on the roof of the palace and publicly slept with his father's concubines. He meant it to disgrace his father and to strengthen his hold over the people.

David must have guessed something like that would happen. Why did he leave them so defenseless? And then, after the inevitable happened, he treated those women as if it was their fault:

When David arrived home in Jerusalem, the king took the ten concubines he had left to watch the palace and placed them in seclusion, under guard. He provided for their needs but didn't visit them. They were virtual prisoners until they died, widows as long as they lived. 2 Samuel 20:2-3, MSG

Those women had been traumatized. They probably longed for David's comfort, his familiar embrace, encouraging words--perhaps even one of his songs.

Instead, he made them prisoners and never visited them again. Well provided for and protected, but prisoners, none the less. Even worse, their position didn't change after he died. They lived in seclusion until their deaths.

David always seemed to go a little squirrely about women--the stories of Michal and Bathsheba, and now  the concubines. I doubt those nameless ten had a choice about becoming concubines. I can't imagine many Jewish women happily becoming a king's concubine and not wife ten or twelve. Something about them brought them to David's attention, and he had to have them. He trusted them enough to leave the palace in their care.

And just as quickly his attention waned and he discarded them. They were painful reminders of what

rejection

happened with Absalom, of his disgrace, his rebellion, and David's deep grief for his son. The physical attraction the concubines held couldn't compete with the deep feelings of revulsion after David's return.

I feel like I'm rambling. I'm not a man, but from what I understand of a man's psyche, David's behavior is an example of male reactions at their worst.

I don't know if any of the women wanted to leave the security of the palace. I don't know if they had dreams of a husband after David's death, or of a life outside the walls of the harem. What offends me that they didn't have a choice.

So, the so-what part of the story is harder than usual. A few thoughts:

• No believer is perfect and always makes the right decisions.
• Our choices affect those around us.
• Our suffering may be the result of someone else's free will.
• David acknowledged his fiscal responsibility even after his feelings changed.
• Although not stated here, even when people reject us, God still loves us.

Absalom, My Son (2 Samuel 18)

How . . . interesting . . . that God should turn my thoughts to my daughter, Jolene,** on this, the 100th post at My Daily Nibble.

On Saturday, I felt truly, absolutely miserable. I couldn't stop coughing. I'm congested, badly, and my ear drum burst on Friday. I came to my room early to relax and when I found the recent remake of Steel Magnolias, I looked forward to watching it.

I know the daughter dies in the movie. Even when she needed a kidney transplant, I watched with interest.

No, I didn't fall apart until she fell in a coma, and her mother rubbed her feet. I stared at the screen, at the fictional mother, and screamed. "At least you got to say goodbye! Oh, Jolene, Jolene."

To 

To put it mildly, I can feel David's pain when he learned about Absalom's death.

Oh my son, Absalom, my dear, dear son Absalom! Why not me rather than you, my death and not yours, O Absalom, my dear, dear son!

Oh, Jolene, my Jolene! Why not me rather than you? Oh Jolene, my Jolene!

Jolene drove me crazy. Her borderline personality disorder made her very difficult to live with, and whenever I want to feel guilty (which is fairly often), I remind myself of how difficult it was, and how I didn't know what to do.

But . . . Jolene, my Jolene! My daughter!

A love for a child surpasses all others. A child who has a difficult life and dies prematurely--tragic.

God sent his Son. Knowing he would die. And in those awful few hours on the cross, turned His back on His Son, cutting off the fellowship they had known since the foundation of the world.

God loves me that much.

I cry with David.

I stand amazed by God's love.


**For anyone who doesn't know, my daughter Jolene committed suicide in 2008.**

DAVID ON THE RUN (2 Samuel 14-15)

A part of my heart breaks as I read of David's struggles with Absalom, and how far David fell.

God brought about the discipline He promised David because of his sin with Bathsheba: Trouble would arise out of his own family.

Absalom set himself up as king--in Hebron, no less, the town which first recognized David as king over

Judah. The town which should have been in David's corner instead crowned his son.

Why Absalom thought he should be king is beyond me.  He was third-born, after Ahinoam and Kileab. Not to mention the fact that he killed his brother Amnon, after he raped their sister. None of that would have mattered, of course, if God wanted Absalom to be king. He did nothing that David himself didn't do, but David had a heart after God and apparently Absalom didn't.

David obviously loved Absalom and saw him with a father's rose-colored glasses. But unlike his father, Absalom didn't wait for God's timing. David waited for seven years after Saul's death before he became king over all Israel. Absalom wrenched it out his father's hands while he was still alive.

David, however, still, always, aware of his dependence on God, refused to take the ark of the covenant with him. It didn't belong to him, but to God, and God's people. God wasn't a thing to be carted around at his convenience.

Today's reading ends in mid-story, before David was restored as king. I couldn't help but notice that David left Jerusalem by way of the Mount of Olives. At the very place where centuries later Jesus would spend hours in prayer, weeping, seeking a different way for our salvation--David ascended, head covered and barefooted, weeping.

God was kind to David. He didn't climb alone. The "whole army" went with him, crying as they went. I wonder if that brought David any comfort.

And God gave David the means to defeat Absalom in the person of Ahithophel.

Thoughts for us today?

• We reap what we sow.
• There is a right way and a wrong way to face adversity,
• God does not abandon us even when He disciplines us.
• God is at work even when we don't see it.
• Tears are okay.
• We can lean on others when we are grieving.

God bless, everyone!

CONFLICT RESOLUTION OR REVOLUTION (2 Samuel 12-13)

Today's devotional is written by Cleo Lampas.

            In this culture in which we live, it is fashionable for friends and family to conduct an intervention for a wayward loved one. As the group gathers around the person who is addicted, promiscuous or erring, each individual confronts the behavior by telling how it negatively affects their life. The hope is that the concern of family and friends will bring about change in actions and attitude of the targeted individual.

            God provided an intervention for David through his prophet. Nathan approached David with the desire to change the King’s sinful heart to repentance. Taking the role of storyteller, Nathan draws David into his account of the rich man with many herds of sheep taking the poor man’s only lamb. When David finished his outburst of rage against such injustice, Nathan says in a calm, cool voice: “Thou art the man.”(King James): The confrontation of sin is achieved with power and conviction. King David repents, but the consequence of his sin still is enforced. The child of his adultery and murder dies. But the matter is settled.

            When given the responsibility of holding an intervention for his lustful son, David fails to act. David should have learned the lesson about the effects of lingering sin when his son, Amnon, violates his half sister, Tamar. But King David reacts to the rape with anger and nothing else. He ignores confronting his son’s criminal behavior. Worse, he does nothing to gain justice for the victim. Because David failed to confront Amnon, then his other son, Absalom, grew bitter until Aabsalom erupted in the murder of Amnon. As head of the household and father of these children, David lacked control needed to confront the situation, which led to more sin and sorrow.

            As a teacher in a class of behavior disordered boys, one of my goals was to help each student take responsibility for their own actions. These students disliked parents, principals, teachers and other students to confront their bad choices. They learned that “other-control” is not as desirable as “self-control”. Interventions changed behavior.

            As Christians, we have intervention of our sin by the prodding of the Holy Spirit or the conviction of the Word of God. Sometimes we are confronted by people who speak the truth with love about us. Lord, let us see ourselves as You do, and repent of our sin.

Cleo Lampos, guest blogger

Author : Teaching Diamonds in the Tough:Mining the Potential in Every Child (Lighthouse of the Carolinas, 2012)

Second Chances, First Book in Series: Teachers of Diamond Project School (Oak Tara, Summer 2013)

www.cleolampos.com

clampos@sbcglobal.net