Absalom is one of the villains of Scripture. He rebelled against his own father, the beloved King David.
But as I read his story my heart goes out to him. Look at some of the details and let me know what you think.
1. When a half-brother rapes his sister (2 Samuel 13) Absalom tenderly comforts her and takes her into his own home. He later names a daughter after this sister. What a kind, loving man he seems to be when we first meet him. But things start to change.
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When (King Ahab) saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?” “I have not made trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “But you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the Lord ’s commands and have followed the Baals. (1 Kings 18:17, 18)
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What happened here? A wicked king – Ahab – meets a godly prophet – Elijah – and blames the problems the kingdom is having – drought – on Elijah. Ahab really could not see, or refused to admit, that it was his own sin that had caused the rain to cease.
Now would be a great time to take a cheap shot at the government. It is the wicked, politically correct but not just plain correct politicians that are responsible for the evil loosed in our nation. It is easy to criticize and point fingers at them but there is a smaller “kingdom” I need to consider before I point fingers – my own personal kingdom, my own life, my own heart. Continue reading
When Jesus came to be baptized John naturally resisted. John was baptizing people for repentance. John knew Jesus was sinless and did not need to repent of anything. John also acknowledged that he was a sinner like us, “I need to be baptized by you.” But Jesus insisted that john baptize Him. Why?
The 100% right answer is exactly what Jesus told John, “Jesus replied, ‘Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then John consented.” (Matthew 3:15)
But what does “to fulfill all righteousness” mean? How did Jesus being baptized “fulfill all righteousness”? Here are at least a few reasons. Continue reading
While living under the blessing of the Lord and in God’s favor Solomon made shields for the temple guards out of solid gold. He made 200 large shields and 300 smaller ones. (1 Kings 10:16) Why does Scripture bother to tell us this? Continue reading
A friend of mine believes there is no hell and that all people will be saved. “The church portrays God as an angry, fire breathing God to keep people in fear and obedient to the church. God is love, not some fire breathing dragon.”
I thought of him when I read this song of David.
“In my distress I called to the Lord; I called out to my God. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came to his ears. The earth trembled and quaked, the foundations of the heavens shook; they trembled because he was angry. Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it.
2 Samuel 22:7-9 NIV Continue reading
In 1 Kings 2, Solomon takes vengeance on his father’s enemies. God does not condone or condemn it, He just tells us what happened. I wonder if the Lord might be giving us a prophetic picture of what is to come when the Lord Jesus ascends to the throne and takes out all the enemies of the kingdom. For example …
1. Abiathar, the priest.
David said he wanted Solomon to be king but that wasn’t the proper protocol. The law of succession said David’s oldest son should be king. Solomon was not the oldest and, in fact, wasn’t even a legitimate son. Abiathar tried to follow the law and keep Solomon from the throne. He only wanted to obey the law but by doing so he was putting it above the expressed will of the king. Abiathar’s life was spared but he lost his priesthood – ability to minister before the Lord.
Will there be those who inherit eternal life but are not permitted to minister to the Lord because they insisted on clinging to the law refusing to embrace grace? Hmmm … I wonder. Continue reading
In honor of Memorial Day and all who served I’m offering this ENCORE POST
Some Christians refuse to serve in the military on religious grounds. So what of those who do serve? Are they disobeying God? Let’s look into God’s Word and see what HE has to say.
Note: Because this is such a complex issue and because the topic so deeply impacts the lives of many men and women who are serving in the armed forces, this topic deserves greater attention and this post is much longer than most.
1. What did Jesus say?
John the Baptist and Jesus both spoke to soldiers in an army that was oppressing God’s people. Certainly, if it was wrong to serve in the military, it would be extra wrong to serve in an army oppressing God’s chosen people and either John or Jesus would have addressed the issue. Neither John nor Jesus said the soldiers should change careers. In fact, soldiers specifically asked John what they should do and he never mentions getting out of the military.
Luke 3:14
Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely — be content with your pay.” Continue reading
Isaiah 49:23
… those who hope in me will not be disappointed.
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I’ll bet you have been disappointed by God. I know I have been. So how can this passage be true? While I was trying to figure that out I realized I was focusing on only one side of the passage – the”will not be disappointed” side. Maybe the answer lies in the other half of the passage.
To never be disappointed everything that comes my way will have to be wonderful, at least as good and perhaps better than I was expecting. Of course, that is not the way life is. Everyone, believers and the lost, suffer hardship, grief, loss, shattered dreams. So how can this promise, from the very lips of God, be true? When I focused on the other end of the passage – “those who hope in me” – I made an amazing discovery. Continue reading
All of us have known church/ministry leaders, either personally or on the national/international scene, who have inflicted great harm on God’s people – perhaps through their own moral failure, through spiritual manipulation, harsh legalism or a number of other ways. A video I was sent recently reminded me of how wide spread this is and as I thought about it a picture came to mind.
Among a group of young children a few of the bigger ones were wielding knives. The bigger ones were recklessly swinging their knives slashing and hurting those around them. These were God’s kids being hurt and doing the hurting. I thought, “Lord, you seem to be a pretty bad Father.”
I would be a horrid father if I allowed my kids to slash and hurt one another like God permits His kids to do. I have a responsibility to restrain my children, to keep them from hurting others. But God does not do that. He allows “the big ones” to abuse, manipulate and repeatedly inflict injury leaving a path of hurt people strewn in their wake. “Why do you do that Lord? Even our wicked society restrains those who would hurt others – and your law commands government to do so. But you don’t within your own family.” Continue reading
Something about the book of Job always troubled me. God allowed all Job’s children to be killed. At the end of the book it says the Lord gave him 7 sons and 3 daughters – like that would make it all right.
“Lord,” I thought, “I can’t believe that fixed everything. If You gave me 10 more kids that wouldn’t make up for the loss of even one of mine.”
In my heart I heard the Lord say, “I never said it made it right. I just told you what I did for Job so he did not grow old alone. Do you think he has any complaints about how I treated Him?”
Duh! I felt pretty foolish. Of course Job has no complaints about God’s treatment of him. For thousands of years he has been happily reunited with his whole family – those children before and after his trial. He wouldn’t complain about a few years of pain compared to the indescribable joy he has experienced for these thousands of years – and will continue to experience throughout eternity.
Life can be brutal. Why do some sink while others soar? I thought of a fellow who whined to me for two hours about how he was tossing out his faith in God because of a relatively minor problem he was having. Then I thought of a heroic friend who daily battles pain due to lupus but declares the goodness of God in the midst of it and even ministers to others every day she is physically able to.
Why are some of us like straw men that any tiny puff of adversity scatters to the wind and others like eagles that the storms lift to new heights of glory?