DON'T BE A MESSENGER WITHOUT ALL OF THE INFO

PROCLAMATION

“Then Ahimaaz called out to the king, ‘All is well!’  He bowed down before the king with his face to the ground and said, ‘Praise be to The Lord your God!  He has delivered up those who lifted their hands against my lord the king.’  The king asked, ‘ Is the young man Absalom safe?’  Ahimaaz answered, ‘… I don’t know …’  The king said, ‘Stand aside and wait here.’ So he stepped aside …”  2 Samuel 18:28-30 (NIV)

EXPLANATION

In the battle with his son Absalom and the army of Israel, King David instructed each of his three commanders to be gentle with his son.  David’s men routed the Israelite army.  They were not prepared to fight in the forest.  As he fled, Absalom’s long hair got caught in the branches of a large oak tree and his mule kept going leaving him hanging in the tree.  Absalom was proud of his long hair (2 Samuel 14:25-26) and that vanity played a part in his demise.  Joab’s soldiers found him there and, remembering King David’s words, they would not harm him.  When Joab arrived, after confronting the first soldier to find him, Joab thrusted three spears into his body and then ten of his armor-bearers attacked Absalom and killed him.  Ahimaaz asked to carry the news of the victory to the king but Joab initially told him no and sent the Cushite runner instead. (2 Samuel 18:19-21)  A little while later Ahimaaz asked again if he could run to the king with the news even though there was no need for him to do so. (2 Samuel 18:22-23)  This time he was allowed to go, and he outran the Cushite and got to the king first, but he could not give a full report.  It was the Cushite who arrived later that told the king his son was dead.

APPLICATION

Sometimes in our haste, we go off “half-cocked” without all of the information that we need in order to present the whole story.  The first report of “breaking news” is not always the most accurate and it is usually lacking in specific details.  In the courtroom we are told to tell “the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”  All too often we give out misinformation because we do not have, or intentionally do not present, all of the facts.  Sometimes we just accept what we have heard as the truth and share that with others without bothering to verify the information for ourselves.  Just because something comes from a pulpit does not make it right.  We are to also read and study The Bible and verify that which heard is in fact the truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)  It would be good for all of us, not just the preachers, to be diligent students of God’s Holy Word and thereby not be so easily deceived by false teaching.  Without personally reading and studying The Bible we are relying on our own understanding, which is not good, (Proverbs 3:6) or relying on the words of others whose message may be missing significant information.