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2 Samuel 3

25 Jun

3 The war between the house of Saul and the house of David lasted a long time. David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker.

2 Sons were born to David in Hebron:

His firstborn was Amnon the son of Ahinoam of Jezreel;

3 his second, Kileab the son of Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel;

the third, Absalom the son of Maakah daughter of Talmai king of Geshur;

4 the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith;

the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital;

5 and the sixth, Ithream the son of David’s wife Eglah.

These were born to David in Hebron.

Abner Goes Over to David

6 During the war between the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner had been strengthening his own position in the house of Saul. 7 Now Saul had had a concubine named Rizpah daughter of Aiah. And Ish-Bosheth said to Abner, “Why did you sleep with my father’s concubine?”

8 Abner was very angry because of what Ish-Bosheth said. So he answered, “Am I a dog’s head—on Judah’s side? This very day I am loyal to the house of your father Saul and to his family and friends. I haven’t handed you over to David. Yet now you accuse me of an offense involving this woman! 9 May God deal with Abner, be it ever so severely, if I do not do for David what the Lord promised him on oath 10 and transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and establish David’s throne over Israel and Judah from Dan to Beersheba.” 11 Ish-Bosheth did not dare to say another word to Abner, because he was afraid of him.

12 Then Abner sent messengers on his behalf to say to David, “Whose land is it? Make an agreement with me, and I will help you bring all Israel over to you.”

13 “Good,” said David. “I will make an agreement with you. But I demand one thing of you: Do not come into my presence unless you bring Michal daughter of Saul when you come to see me.” 14 Then David sent messengers to Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, demanding, “Give me my wife Michal, whom I betrothed to myself for the price of a hundred Philistine foreskins.”

15 So Ish-Bosheth gave orders and had her taken away from her husband Paltiel son of Laish. 16 Her husband, however, went with her, weeping behind her all the way to Bahurim. Then Abner said to him, “Go back home!” So he went back.

17 Abner conferred with the elders of Israel and said, “For some time you have wanted to make David your king. 18 Now do it! For the Lord promised David, ‘By my servant David I will rescue my people Israel from the hand of the Philistines and from the hand of all their enemies.’”

19 Abner also spoke to the Benjamites in person. Then he went to Hebron to tell David everything that Israel and the whole tribe of Benjamin wanted to do. 20 When Abner, who had twenty men with him, came to David at Hebron, David prepared a feast for him and his men. 21 Then Abner said to David, “Let me go at once and assemble all Israel for my lord the king, so that they may make a covenant with you, and that you may rule over all that your heart desires.” So David sent Abner away, and he went in peace.

Joab Murders Abner

22 Just then David’s men and Joab returned from a raid and brought with them a great deal of plunder. But Abner was no longer with David in Hebron, because David had sent him away, and he had gone in peace. 23 When Joab and all the soldiers with him arrived, he was told that Abner son of Ner had come to the king and that the king had sent him away and that he had gone in peace.

24 So Joab went to the king and said, “What have you done? Look, Abner came to you. Why did you let him go? Now he is gone! 25 You know Abner son of Ner; he came to deceive you and observe your movements and find out everything you are doing.”

26 Joab then left David and sent messengers after Abner, and they brought him back from the cistern at Sirah. But David did not know it. 27 Now when Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into an inner chamber, as if to speak with him privately. And there, to avenge the blood of his brother Asahel, Joab stabbed him in the stomach, and he died.

28 Later, when David heard about this, he said, “I and my kingdom are forever innocent before the Lord concerning the blood of Abner son of Ner. 29 May his blood fall on the head of Joab and on his whole family! May Joab’s family never be without someone who has a running sore or leprosy or who leans on a crutch or who falls by the sword or who lacks food.”

30 (Joab and his brother Abishai murdered Abner because he had killed their brother Asahel in the battle at Gibeon.)

31 Then David said to Joab and all the people with him, “Tear your clothes and put on sackcloth and walk in mourning in front of Abner.” King David himself walked behind the bier. 32 They buried Abner in Hebron, and the king wept aloud at Abner’s tomb. All the people wept also.

33 The king sang this lament for Abner:

“Should Abner have died as the lawless die?
34     Your hands were not bound,
    your feet were not fettered.
You fell as one falls before the wicked.”

And all the people wept over him again.

35 Then they all came and urged David to eat something while it was still day; but David took an oath, saying, “May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun sets!”

36 All the people took note and were pleased; indeed, everything the king did pleased them. 37 So on that day all the people there and all Israel knew that the king had no part in the murder of Abner son of Ner.

38 Then the king said to his men, “Do you not realize that a commander and a great man has fallen in Israel this day? 39 And today, though I am the anointed king, I am weak, and these sons of Zeruiah are too strong for me. May the Lord repay the evildoer according to his evil deeds!”

2 Samuel 3

Dear God, I think I want to spend some time with Abner this morning. What an interesting man. Saul’s cousin. Promoted into power because of that relationship. I still don’t know where he was or how he survived the battle where Saul and his boys died. Going back to the second time David spared Saul’s life, David took that opportunity to mock Abner and suggest he wasn’t up to protecting the king.

But this was a family thing and Abner wanted to see his father’s brother’s family–his grandfather’s family–remain in power as kings of Israel so he saw to it that Saul’s throne passed to his next living son Ishbosheth. But as happens in nepotism, Ishbosheth wasn’t up to the job. He was an insecure child who, for whatever reason, accused Joab of sleeping with Saul’s concubine. I don’t know what all the implications of that were. Had she become Ishbosheth’s concubine? Was he simply accusing Abner of betraying his father posthumously? Whatever the implications were, Abner was incredibly offended and decided that it was time to follow your will for Israel and encourage the other 11 tribes to join Judah in naming David king. It strikes me that he admits up to that point he was willfully going against your will (verse 18). Or maybe he was hoping that somehow he could stay in power and David would still take care of the Philistines. It’s hard to be sure. But Abner had a lot to lose, up to and including his life, by transferring the kingdom to David. It’s interesting that this offense by Ishbosheth was the straw that broke the camels back.

Father, I heard someone say that it is hard to get someone to change their mind when their paycheck is dependent upon them believing what they believe. In Abner’s case, there was no way he was going to willingly yield his power to Joab. And Joab certainly had a grudge against Abner. There was no way the two would willingly coexist. Joab was presumably part of David’s 600 who were being chased by Saul and Abner. And then Abner killed Joab’s brother (although he tried not to). But Abner was beloved by the Israelites, and they watched David closely and how he reacted to his death. David adequately convinced them of his innocence in Abner’s death and his respect for Abner through the way he mourned, and that brought him credibility and respect in their eyes. And, of course, Joab’s crime against Abner will come up later (2 Kings 2:5-6). David never forgot. I guess my point is, help me to be willing to do the right thing under you even if it costs me money, influence, or standing. I want to be willing to do anything you call me to do to bring your glory, regardless of what it costs me. I consider my life worth nothing to me, Father. Help me to believe and live those words.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on June 25, 2025 in 2 Samuel

 

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1 Samuel 17:20-30

30 May

20 So David rose early in the morning, left the sheep with a keeper, and took the things and went as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the camp as the army was going out to the fight and shouting for the battle. 21 For Israel and the Philistines had drawn up in battle array, army against army. 22 And David left his supplies in the hand of the supply keeper, ran to the army, and came and greeted his brothers. 23 Then as he talked with them, there was the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, coming up from the armies of the Philistines; and he spoke according to the same words. So David heard them. 24 And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were dreadfully afraid. 25 So the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel; and it shall be that the man who kills him the king will enrich with great riches, will give him his daughter, and give his father’s house exemption from taxes in Israel.”

26 Then David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”

27 And the people answered him in this manner, saying, “So shall it be done for the man who kills him.”

28 Now Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger was aroused against David, and he said, “Why did you come down here? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the insolence of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.”

29 And David said, “What have I done now? Is there not a cause?” 30 Then he turned from him toward another and said the same thing; and these people answered him as the first ones did.

1 Samuel 17:20-30

Dear God, I want to sit with Eliab here for a second. Part of the army. Scared. Facing a grave danger. Feeling humiliated because he is unwilling to face Goliath (as is everyone around him). This is serious business. This is “adulting” on a military level. This is what a responsible man does. And here comes his little brother who doesn’t have these responsibilities talking smack. Talking tough. He sees David as naive, and arrogant because he’s never been given a responsibility he failed at. He’s just a boy. And while the other men were probably able to blow David off as a naive kid, or maybe even a sacrifice to Goliath to save their skins, Eliab was both frustrated with David and loved him and didn’t want to see him sacrificed.

Then there’s David. Naive. Foolish. Perhaps a bit arrogant. But there was also something different about him. He had a level of faith. We will learn later that he had faced dangers of lions and bears that maybe Eliab didn’t know about. He did have something in his own experience that told him this wasn’t a foolish mission for him.

There is a time when my experience can hold me back. I assume I know the outcome of something because I’ve been burnt before. I remember several months ago I was asked about looking into a program that my experience in my job told me wouldn’t work for us. My inclination was to blow it off without even examining it. Then I had a thought occur to me that perhaps a younger more naive me would have followed up on this opportunity and looked into it. Maybe I was selling it short for no reason other than hubris and arrogance. Maybe I was grumpy old man, not willing to explore new ideas. So I contacted a clinic that was using the program and took a couple of staff people with me to visit them. Ultimately, we decided to not do it, but I felt good that we had explored it.

Father, I’m not sure what I’m taking with me from this story this morning, but I feel like part of the message to me is that I should not close my heart to the inspirations you give me and also be open to the inspirations of the younger, perhaps more naive people you have put around me. Help me to hear your voice when it comes to what you would have me do next. Help me to see over, through, and beyond the walls that might be in front of me. Help me to be what you need me to be for your kingdom in my home and in my community. Help my life to be a light that sees me decreasing, you increasing, and people being drawn to you like moths to a flame.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on May 30, 2025 in 1 Samuel

 

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1 Samuel 17:12-19

29 May

12 Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah, whose name was Jesse, and who had eight sons. And the man was old, advanced in years, in the days of Saul. 13 The three oldest sons of Jesse had gone to follow Saul to the battle. The names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. 14 David was the youngest. And the three oldest followed Saul. 15 But David occasionally went and returned from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.

16 And the Philistine drew near and presented himself forty days, morning and evening.

17 Then Jesse said to his son David, “Take now for your brothers an ephah of this dried grain and these ten loaves, and run to your brothers at the camp. 18 And carry these ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand, and see how your brothers fare, and bring back news of them.” 19 Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.

1 Samuel 17:12-19

Dear God, I want to sit with David as the youngest boy. As the youngest child, I can empathize with feeling like you’re always playing catch-up. No matter how old I get, as long as the three of us are alive I will always be four years younger than my sister and six years younger than my brother. I’ll never catch up. Our daughter is almost three years younger than our son, and, especially when they were little, I used to watch her try to take back every day of that three years.

Sometimes, I think there is something important about accepting the role of the youngest. In this case, David had a job to do. He had a role in the family. He was to help care for his brothers, express his father’s love and support for his brothers, and then bring back news of his brothers to his father. He was old enough to travel alone but not yet old enough to join the fight. Still a boy but feeling more and more like a man.

Of course, we will see tomorrow that David’s brothers still treat him like the youngest. They will be mad at his impudence when he responds to Goliath’s challenge with indignation and defiance by calling out the men of Israel who won’t fight. Partly out of shame and partly out of this feeling of superiority they feel.

And even though I am the youngest in my family, I am currently the oldest at work. So I need to remember to ask myself if I am giving my younger coworkers the respect they deserve to not only do the jobs they have but to trust them with more than my preconceived notions of them might normally allow.

Father, help me to know how to still live into my role as the youngest child in my family. Help me to know how to parent my youngest child. Help me to be an encourager of the staff who work with me. Love them through me. Love me through them. Help us all to simply be yours. Be your worshippers. Be your servants. Be your people.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on May 29, 2025 in 1 Samuel

 

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1 Samuel 17:1-11

28 May

17 Now the Philistines gathered their armies together to battle, and were gathered at Sochoh, which belongs to Judah; they encamped between Sochoh and Azekah, in Ephes Dammim. 2 And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and they encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in battle array against the Philistines. 3 The Philistines stood on a mountain on one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side, with a valley between them.

4 And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 5 He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. 6 And he had bronze armor on his legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders. 7 Now the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his iron spearhead weighed six hundred shekels; and a shield-bearer went before him. 8 Then he stood and cried out to the armies of Israel, and said to them, “Why have you come out to line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and you the servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.” 10 And the Philistine said, “I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.” 11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

1 Samuel 17:1-11

Dear God, I guess the question I have is why did they accept Goliath’s terms of battle? Obviously, I don’t understand war tactics from 5,000 years ago. I don’t completely understand the war tactics of trench warfare from World War I. But the idea that they would entertain this offer in a fair fight is somewhat silly to me. Why would they limit themselves to this offer when the advantage is definitely to the Philistines?

Maybe they were used to being the Philistines’ servants and this would just return things to the status quo. Maybe they didn’t want to die in a battle. Maybe they were scared. Maybe the option of sending one dude out to die (maybe Saul?) and then the rest of them just agree to live but serve the Philistines wasn’t the worst offer on the table. Maybe the devil they knew was better than the devil they didn’t know, with the devil they didn’t know being possible death.

Are there times when I’ve given up and just accepted a less desirable fate because the compromise was better than my fear of the unknown? Hmm. I need to really think about that. Have I settled in some area because I was afraid to break out? I guess I actually have an example of when I faced this fear, stepped out in faith, and took a chance on a path that could have led to disaster. It was almost 23 years ago when I prayerfully decided to leave a stable but awful job for what you had next for me. And the next three years were hard. 2003, 2004, and 2005 were challenging years from an income and career standpoint. My wife and I have said that if we had known how hard those years would be we might not have had the courage to do it. But I can say it was worth it. I stepped out and into an eventual career and also a life outside of my career that has really brought me a lot of joy and enabled me to serve you in unique and fulfilling ways. Life hasn’t been perfect. Life still isn’t perfect. But I know that when I stepped out in faith in 2003 it was the right thing to do.

Father, open my eyes to anything in my life right now that I am cowering before. Help me to see where I am settling. Help me to see where I don’t believe. Help me to find the right path forward in every area of my life.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on May 28, 2025 in 1 Samuel

 

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Life is cheap?

07 Feb

Dear God, I don’t really have a verse to go with this thought today. Or, better said, I’m not starting with a verse today. I’ve just had a thought festering in my mind for the last two or three weeks that I wanted to work out this morning (not that I’ll get to any real resolution because I’m too ignorant to get that far).

I have a friend’s funeral today. She was a precious woman. She was loved by her family. It was a long struggle for her with various ailments. In and out of hospitals. In and out of physical rehab facilities. A real concern for how she would be cared for after her mom passed. And now her mom has outlived her. Her mom has other children facing physical ailments. Her mom is unbelievably strong and resilient, having survived her own bout with serious cancer about five years ago. And here she is now, burying her daughter today. I cannot imagine how her heart must be breaking right now, even as I type these words.

So my friends life was precious. Her life brought some of your presence into the world. Her life was not cheap. Or was it? It seems like lately, on an aggregate scale, we have started to treat human lives as cheap. I read yesterday that 40,000 Palestinians have died in Gaza in the last 16 months. Even if that number is inflated and only half that many have died, how can we just blink and move on when we here that that many lives have been snuffed out unnecessarily. Then there were the Jewish lives that were snuffed out in a day back in October 2023. Then I read another story yesterday that the Russians are taking the North Korean off of the front lines in Dursk because of their heavy losses. As I understand it, these North Korean soldiers were literally cannon fodder. But each one was a life. Each one was a soul. then there are all of the Ukrainians who have died over the last three years simply because a leader in one country decided he wanted their land as his own. Tens of thousands (hundreds of thousands on both sides?) dead at one man’s whim. And now in our own country, people groups are being marginalized and discriminated against. Racism has reared its ugly head, and people are judging others–bullying others–based simply on the color of their skin. We don’t see these lives as precious. We see them as cheap and something to be exploited for our own advancement.

But what if my life, in the end, is that cheap too? What if it is simply not important that I continue to live? Yes, it would leave a hole like any one of the other hundreds of thousands of people I’ve mentioned here left holes. Just as my precious friend leaves a hole this week. But in the end, am I not just 1/8-billionth of the current population of the earth?

Father, in the end, the value I add is that I get to worship you and the bring your kingdom and your will into this world my treating the lives around me as precious as you treat them. To love them. To encourage them. Maybe to admonish them, but lovingly. Love my neighbor as myself? Well, I think my life is precious, so I think what that really means is that I see each person’s life as being as precious as my life is. Life is not cheap. Their lives are not cheap. At the same time, I could die today and leave the hole that all of us leave because while life is not cheap, it is certainly fleeting. Even a life lived to 100 is still such a small piece of history. So help me to feel the value you place on me, respect and appreciate the value you place on us all, and then act on that. And please comfort the family and friends of my friend who died. She was loved by us. She is loved by you. She is precious still.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 7, 2025 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

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Solomon — 1 Kings 11:41-12:4

22 Aug

The rest of the events in Solomon’s reign, including all his deeds and his wisdom, are recorded in The Book of the Acts of Solomon. Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years. When he died, he was buried in the City of David, named for his father. Then his son Rehoboam became the next king. Rehoboam went to Shechem, where all Israel had gathered to make him king. When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard of this, he returned from Egypt, for he had fled to Egypt to escape from King Solomon. The leaders of Israel summoned him, and Jeroboam and the whole assembly of Israel went to speak with Rehoboam. “Your father was a hard master,” they said. “Lighten the harsh labor demands and heavy taxes that your father imposed on us. Then we will be your loyal subjects.”
1 Kings 11:41-12:4

Dear God, I’m going to wrap up the 1 Kings telling of Solomon’s story by looking again at this initial exchange between Israel’s leaders and Rehoboam. Apparently, by the end of Solomon’s reign we know there were two pretty distinctly negative things about him:

  1. He worshiped other gods because of his many, many wives.
    He was a harsh king that gave people harsh labor and high taxes.

It takes me back to 1 Samuel 8 when Samuel warned the people who were then the leaders of Israel:

“This is how a king will reign over you,” Samuel said. “The king will draft your sons and assign them to his chariots and his charioteers, making them run before his chariots. Some will be generals and captains in his army, some will be forced to plow in his fields and harvest his crops, and some will make his weapons and chariot equipment. The king will take your daughters from you and force them to cook and bake and make perfumes for him. He will take away the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his own officials. He will take a tenth of your grain and your grape harvest and distribute it among his officers and attendants. He will take your male and female slaves and demand the finest of your cattle and donkeys for his own use. He will demand a tenth of your flocks, and you will be his slaves. When that day comes, you will beg for relief from this king you are demanding, but then the Lord will not help you.”
1 Samuel 8:11-18

I’ve mused in these journals what Israel (and David) would have looked like if David had been a judge and not a king. I think David’s life would have played out completely differently. Even if he had been more of a warrior judge like Joshua instead of a spiritual leader judge, he still would have lived a much different life. But I suppose that any of us that make ourselves king, whether it be in reality or figuratively in our own minds or families, will end up needing people to rule over. That can include a spouse or children. But if we can keep thinking of ourselves as your servants and the servants of those whom you called us to love, them we have a chance at being more useful to you and getting more done in the long run.

Father, help me to be exactly who you need me to be for those around me. Use my life to draw others’ hearts to you. Increase through me and help me to decrease. Do it all for your glory and so that you are worshipped.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on August 22, 2019 in 1 Kings, 1 Samuel, Solomon

 

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Emails to God – Advising Through Conflicts of Interest (Esther 1)

26 May

1 This is what happened during the time of Xerxes, the Xerxes who ruled over 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush: 2 At that time King Xerxes reigned from his royal throne in the citadel of Susa, 3 and in the third year of his reign he gave a banquet for all his nobles and officials. The military leaders of Persia and Media, the princes, and the nobles of the provinces were present.

4 For a full 180 days he displayed the vast wealth of his kingdom and the splendor and glory of his majesty. 5 When these days were over, the king gave a banquet, lasting seven days, in the enclosed garden of the king’s palace, for all the people from the least to the greatest who were in the citadel of Susa. 6 The garden had hangings of white and blue linen, fastened with cords of white linen and purple material to silver rings on marble pillars. There were couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl and other costly stones. 7 Wine was served in goblets of gold, each one different from the other, and the royal wine was abundant, in keeping with the king’s liberality. 8 By the king’s command each guest was allowed to drink with no restrictions, for the king instructed all the wine stewards to serve each man what he wished.

9 Queen Vashti also gave a banquet for the women in the royal palace of King Xerxes.

10 On the seventh day, when King Xerxes was in high spirits from wine, he commanded the seven eunuchs who served him—Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar and Karkas— 11 to bring before him Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown, in order to display her beauty to the people and nobles, for she was lovely to look at. 12 But when the attendants delivered the king’s command, Queen Vashti refused to come. Then the king became furious and burned with anger.

13 Since it was customary for the king to consult experts in matters of law and justice, he spoke with the wise men who understood the times 14 and were closest to the king—Karshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena and Memukan, the seven nobles of Persia and Media who had special access to the king and were highest in the kingdom.

15 “According to law, what must be done to Queen Vashti?” he asked. “She has not obeyed the command of King Xerxes that the eunuchs have taken to her.”

16 Then Memukan replied in the presence of the king and the nobles, “Queen Vashti has done wrong, not only against the king but also against all the nobles and the peoples of all the provinces of King Xerxes. 17 For the queen’s conduct will become known to all the women, and so they will despise their husbands and say, ‘King Xerxes commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, but she would not come.’ 18 This very day the Persian and Median women of the nobility who have heard about the queen’s conduct will respond to all the king’s nobles in the same way. There will be no end of disrespect and discord.

19 “Therefore, if it pleases the king, let him issue a royal decree and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media, which cannot be repealed, that Vashti is never again to enter the presence of King Xerxes. Also let the king give her royal position to someone else who is better than she. 20 Then when the king’s edict is proclaimed throughout all his vast realm, all the women will respect their husbands, from the least to the greatest.”

21 The king and his nobles were pleased with this advice, so the king did as Memukan proposed. 22 He sent dispatches to all parts of the kingdom, to each province in its own script and to each people in their own language, proclaiming that every man should be ruler over his own household, using his native tongue.

Dear God, I find the advisors’ advice interesting. They weren’t as concerned about the idea of the king’s authority as they were concerned about the authority of men over women in the entire society. Getting more personal, they were more concerned about their own lives and their own wives. They had a conflict of interest in giving this advice. Did they do the right thing?

I am reading a terrific book right now about the different Presidents of the United States and their relationships with each other behind the scenes (The Presidents’ Club). It is interesting to see the times when a former or current president will reach out to another under the guise of helping, but it really falls into the category of helping their own self-interests. The book is also clear that it is often easier for the person who isn’t the president at the time to make an aggressive decision than when they are president. They give an example of a president never taking the country into a war while he was president, but then encouraging his successor to take a harder, more aggressive line in using the military to advance foreign policy.

I guess my point is, Xerxes needed some sound counsel and got this instead. Perhaps it was cultural, but it would have been nice if he had just gone to his wife and asked her why she wasn’t coming. Perhaps she had a good reason.

Father, I know that marriage, especially between kings and queens of that era, are not what I think of as marriage now. I know that there is no comparison. My point is, this man needed some wise counsel. Perhaps he got it for that time. I, however, don’t think he did. Help me to seek wise counsel when I am in a quandary. Help me to know how best to tap into your wisdom in any given situation. Help me, also, to be your counsel to others. Give me your words and your voice. Help me to look beyond mine and others egos into the depths of what you might have me to do that might even be at my own expense so long as it is for your glory and your plan.

 
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Posted by on May 26, 2012 in Esther

 

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Emails to God – Jesus in Egypt (Matthew 2:19-23)

05 Nov

19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”

21 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.

Dear God, it is interesting that Luke’s account of Jesus’ birth totally skips Egypt, the death of the babies, and Herod. I wonder why. Luke’s account is supposed to be from Mary, so I wonder why Luke would have left this out. Did he not think it was important to the narrative he was trying to tell? He obviously goes into more detail about a lot of other things regarding the birth, including John the Baptist, Mary’s angel visit, etc.

I can’t imagine the strain of this period for Joseph and Mary. They had to have been thinking, Okay, when I signed up for this I never imagined I would have to move to Egypt in order to save the child’s life. Now they are left with moving here and there trying to keep the kid safe, eventually ending up in their hometown after a few years.

I wonder what the Egyptian years were like. I wish we had some kind of account of them here. I just read some Wikipedia explanations of the time in Egypt, and they sound interesting, if not a little fantastical. There is apparently a lot of apocrypha about Jesus’ family in Egypt, and the Coptic church in Egypt uses them extensively as they describe Jesus’ time in their land. Some of the miracles include palm trees bowing to him, idols falling before him, springs of water suddenly appearing out of the ground, etc.

I guess my point in all of this is that there is sooooo much that I do not know. There is sooooo much that I do not understand. Are these stories true? I don’t know. I wasn’t there. But, in the end, there is certainly an indication that this man made an impression, even when he was a baby. There was certainly something heavenly and divine about him. His arrival changed the course of time wherever he went. It’s amazing.

Father, I read this story and I simply worship you for it. I can only try to appreciate what Joseph and Mary suffered through this time, but it is more than I can imagine. But through it all I see that I owe you my complete submission. I give myself to you. All that I am for all that you are—that is the exchange I make with you.

 
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Posted by on November 5, 2011 in Matthew

 

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Emails to God – Helpless Parents (Matthew 2:13-18)

04 Nov

 13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

 14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

 16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

 18 “A voice is heard in Ramah,
   weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
   and refusing to be comforted,
   because they are no more.”

Dear God, I cannot imagine feeling this helpless as a parent. I have spent some time in the past talking about Joseph and his faithfulness/obedience to you here. His responsiveness to your word was impressive. But I don’t want to focus on that today. I want to focus on the idea of the powerless parents who saw the government come through and kill their children. They had absolutely no power to stop it. All they could do was watch in horror. And why did it happen? Because an insecure man couldn’t stand the idea of his successor having been born. If only he had known how the plan could work out.

So there are a few things here:

  1. The obedience of Joseph:
  2. The horror the Bethlehem parents experienced
  3. Herod’s insecurity over invalid presumptions he made

I have heard stories about the Sudan and the atrocities there. Women and girls being raped and killed. Men being beaten and killed. And there is nothing the fathers can do to protect their families. They are helpless. They are impotent in the worst way.

I think that there are similar forces at work against my family, but they are harder to see because they infiltrate the mind. Media is the worst. Television. Internet. Music. They are all working against my family, and while I can make some draconian rules against allowing such things in the house (and we do have limits), there is simply no way I can completely shield my children, wife, or myself from them.

Father, protect families in a way that only you can. Protect the families of the Sudan and everywhere else where atrocities are occurring, including human trafficking. Bless those who have suffered and give them peace. Free the captives. Ease the souls of those who were charged with protecting them but were unable to. And protect my family. I feel the attacks. I feel the insidiousness. Please help me to navigate my way through parenting my children so that our family might be a place where we feel your presence and love despite my sin.

 
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Posted by on November 4, 2011 in Matthew

 

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Emails to God – Who were the Wise Men? (Genesis 2:1-12)

03 Nov

1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;

for out of you will come a ruler

who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

 

Dear God, there are so many mysteries about these men. Who were they? Where did they come from? What made them follow the star? Why did they choose the gifts they brought? When did they arrive? Why didn’t Herod send a representative with them to ensure he learned more about Jesus? How did they know about the Jewish prophecies?

 

Given all of that, I think the overall takeaway from this story is that something significant happened when Jesus was born. People like these men could see it. Time changed. I don’t know how they counted years before the B.C. and A.D. system came about, but somewhere along the way it was so significant that they decided to go back and renumber everything around his birth almost 600 years afterward. Jesus’ arrival rippled throughout creation, even into the heavens. No only did earth experience it, but the universe experienced it too.

 

Father, I look at this story and, while I have more questions than answers, it is simply a reminder that you are to be worshipped. Jesus is to be worshipped. I accept this blessing and offer you my love. I submit my life to you. All I am for all that you are. I submit my life to you regardless of what is in it for me, for you are worthy of living my life for.

 

 
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Posted by on November 3, 2011 in Matthew

 

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