Tuesday, July 4, 2023

NOT EVERYONE IS WILLING TO FORGIVE

PROCLAMATION

“And there happened to be there a man of Belial, whose name was Sheba, son of Bichri, a Benjamite; and he blew a trumpet, and said, ‘We have no part in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse; every man to his tents, O Israel.’ ”  2 Samuel 20:1 (KJV)

 

EXPLANATION

These words were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God after the death of the prophet Samuel by Nathan the prophet and Gad the seer.  As David was trying to convince the people to accept him again as king, not everyone who came to meet him was supportive of him.  There was a troublemaker in the crowd named Sheba who would lead a second rebellion against King David.  When Sheba openly opposed David, the men of Israel followed him and deserted David, but this time the men of Judah stayed loyal to him. (2 Samuel 20:2)  It is not stated whether or not Sheba was a part of the first rebellion against David led by Absalom.  It is also not stated why David felt that Sheba was more of a problem than Absalom or why Sheba was so influential. (2 Samuel 20:6)  However, after he left, David sent his men to pursue after Sheba and they returned with his head. (2 Samuel 20:22)  It is not stated whether or not David forgave the ten concubines he left to care for the palace who slept with Absalom, but he put them under house arrest and never again slept with any of them. (2 Samuel 20:3) 

 

APPLICATION

In every crowd there is always a troublemaker present.  Someone who undermines our position, opposes our plan, and wants to lead our followers in a different direction.  It is not always clear exactly why our haters hate us so.  Some people feel that we have done them wrong and they will not forgive or forget it.  Some people don’t like what we have said, or what we have done, or what we stand for, or for being who we are.  There is nothing that we can do to make some people like us, and we really should not try to.  We just need to be ourselves and to follow The Word of God and accept the fact that we will have some haters.  Jesus, The Christ, said that we would be hated (Matthew 10:22) but that we should remember that the world hated Him before hating us. (John 15:18)  So, we should rejoice and be glad because we will be blessed when people insult us, persecute us, or lie about us because of our beliefs.  We should know that we will receive a heavenly reward because of it when we persevere. (Matthew 5:11-12) 

 

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