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SATURDAY'S BARGAINOMICS BIBLE PASSAGE

David hadn’t had time to catch his breath since his ordeal with Absalom and he was already dealing with another uprising where “the men of Israel deserted David and followed Sheba son of Bicri” (II Samuel 20:2a, NLT). Ticked off because only half of Israel’s men got to escort the king on his way back to Jerusalem while the whole army of Judah had the honor, Sheba played on their wounded spirits and enticed them away from David.

Folks, there’s a world of lessons in this. Just because things aren’t going your way isn’t necessarily the time to switch loyalties. There is no worse time to make a decision than when you’re emotionally distraught. Whenever possible, decisions should be made after things cool down, not in the heat of the moment.

Unlike the men of Israel, “the men of Judah stayed with their king,” (II Samuel 20:2b), showing loyalty. David was smart enough to know, as I said yesterday, that he had to follow Barney Fife’s advice and nip this revolt in the bud before it had time to fester into an all-out war.

He began preparations by ordering Amasa, who had served as Absalom’s military leader, to “Mobilize the army of Judah within three days, and report back” (II Samuel 20:4a). But Amasa didn’t get the job done. Either he was incompetent, which is highly unlikely, or he was intentionally – and traitorously – dawdling around.

So “David said to Abishai, ‘Sheba son of Bicri is going to hurt us more than Absalom did. Quick, take my troops and chase after him before he gets into a fortified town where we can’t reach him’” (II Samuel 20:6).

“Abishai and Joab, together with the king’s bodyguard and all the mighty warriors, set out from Jerusalem to go after Sheba. As they arrived at the great stone in Gibeon, Amasa met them. Joab was wearing his military tunic with a dagger strapped to his belt. As he stepped forward to greet Amasa, he slipped the dagger from its sheath” (II Samuel 20:7-8).

“‘How are you, my cousin?’ Joab said and took him by the beard with his right hand as though to kiss him” (II Samuel 20:9). This was a customary greeting in those days. Amasa was completely thrown off guard.

“Amasa didn’t notice the dagger in his left hand, and Joab stabbed him in the stomach with it so that his insides gushed out onto the ground. Joab did not need to strike again, and Amasa soon died. Joab and his brother Abishai left him lying there and continued after Sheba” (II Samuel 20:10).

“One of Joab’s young men shouted to Amasa’s troops, ‘If you are for Joab and David, come and follow Joab.’ But Amasa lay in his blood in the middle of the road, and Joab’s man saw that everyone was stopping to stare at him. So he pulled him off the road into a field and threw a cloak over him. With Amasa’s body out of the way, everyone went on with Joab to capture Sheba son of Bicri” (II Samuel 20:11-13).

Most likely Amasa was disemboweled but still in the throes of death. For men accustomed to battle to shy away from the sight, it had to have been horrendous. It was necessary to remove Amasa from view to motivate the men to continue onward.

Sheba may have run, but he couldn’t hide. His rebellion against God’s anointed one was going to cost him dearly. No one ever has or ever will rebel against God and get away with it.

Copyright © 2013
Judy Woodward Bates

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FRIDAY'S BARGAINOMICS BIBLE PASSAGE

“So all the men of Israel deserted David and followed Sheba son of Bicri" (II Samuel 20:2a, NLT). The men of Israel, miffed because only half of them got to escort the king while the whole army of Judah had the honor, were ripe pickings for a man like Sheba. Playing on their wounded spirits, he enticed them away from David.

“But the men of Judah stayed with their king and escorted him from the Jordan River to Jerusalem” (II Samuel 20:2b). The men of Judah showed loyalty. They hadn’t been swayed by Sheba’s speech. But the wound had been inflicted and would continue to fester.

In a quick side note, the Bible adds at this point: “When David came to his palace in Jerusalem, he took the ten concubines he had left to look after the palace and placed them in seclusion. Their needs were provided for, but he no longer slept with them. So each of them lived like a widow until she died” (II Samuel 20:3).

Showing his absolute power as Israel’s new leader, Absalom had raped all ten of David’s concubines who’d been left behind to care for the palace. Having been defiled in this way, David could no longer have them as his own. But neither could anyone else. Absalom’s sin ruined the lives of these ten women. So David did the only honorable thing he could do: he provided for them the rest of their lives.

That taken care of, “the king told Amasa, ‘Mobilize the army of Judah within three days, and report back at that time.’ So Amasa went out to notify Judah, but it took him longer than the time he had been given” (II Samuel 20:4-5).

Let me add a little background here: Amasa had been appointed by Absalom to lead his troops against David. David, in an act of reconciliation, had kept Amasa as a leader for his own military forces. David may also have kept Amasa out of resentment toward Joab, David’s military leader who had disobeyed David’s order to “deal gently” (II Samuel 18:5) with Absalom and had instead made sure he died. Bear in mind, though, that Joab had merely been protecting David from an enemy, albeit David’s own son, whom, allowed to live, would not have stopped trying to kill David to take over his throne.

Amasa was the son of David’s sister Abigail – see First Chronicles 2:17 – and therefore, the cousin of Joab, whose mother Zeruiah was also a sister of David – see Second Samuel 17:25. This would mean that both Amasa and Joab were David’s nephews.

First Chronicles 2:16 and Second Samuel 2:18 list Joab, Abishai and Asahel as brothers and sons of Zeruiah. Joab had been David’s right-hand man from the beginning of his kinghood and had been the one to obey David’s order to send Bathsheba’s husband Uriah to his death – see Second Samuel 11:1-21. Abishai was also one of David’s faithful. Asahel, the youngest son of Zeruiah, ended up being killed by Abner in self-defense – see Second Samuel 2:18-26; his death was later brutally avenged by Joab and Abishai – see Second Samuel 3:22-30.

Twice David, in anger, shouted, “What do I have in common with you, you sons of Zeruiah?” (II Samuel 16:10 and II Samuel 19:22). What’s up with that? I speculate that Zeruiah was a strong-willed woman who was perhaps not David’s favorite relative. Whatever the reason, I don’t think David meant the phrase “sons of Zeruiah” as a compliment.

Back to our passage. David had ordered Amasa to “Mobilize the army of Judah… within three days” but Amasa hadn’t gotten the job done. So “David said to Abishai, ‘Sheba son of Bicri is going to hurt us more than Absalom did. Quick, take my troops and chase after him before he gets into a fortified town where we can’t reach him’” (II Samuel 20:6).

David realized time was his enemy. The longer he waited to deal with Sheba, the more entrenched he and his followers would be. David wanted him stopped before he could cause any further trouble.

As Barney Fife would say, David wanted to “nip it in the bud.” We’ll see what happened tomorrow.

Copyright © 2013
Judy Woodward Bates

BARGAINS OF THE DAY!

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THURSDAY'S BARGAINOMICS BIBLE PASSAGE

David was still on his return route to Jerusalem: “All the troops of Judah and half the troops of Israel escorted the king on his way” (II Samuel 19::40b, NLT). “All the troops of Judah and half the troops of Israel.” Seems like such a simple statement, doesn’t it? But it wasn’t. Why?

“All the men of Israel complained to the king, ‘The men of Judah stole the king and didn’t give us the honor of helping take you, your household, and all your men across the Jordan’” (II Samuel 19:41).

“The men of Judah replied, ‘The king is one of our own kinsmen!’” (II Samuel 19:42a).

“‘But there are ten tribes in Israel,’ the others replied. ‘So we have ten times as much right to the king as you do. What right do you have to treat us with such contempt? Weren’t we the first to speak of bringing him back to be our king again?’ The argument continued back and forth, and the men of Judah spoke even more harshly than the men of Israel” (II Samuel 19:43).

From the cradle onward, humans vie for power. A pair of toddlers wrestle for a toy. Two teenage boys get into a fistfight over a girl. Two business owners compete for customers. On and on it goes. Judah was strutting proudly as their entire army escorted the king. Israel, on the other hand, was angry because only half their troops got to participate. Their dispute wasn’t about the king’s honor; it was a competition between Judah and Israel over which of them got the most glory.

David had even more to deal with: “There happened to be a troublemaker there named Sheba son of Bicri, a man from the tribe of Benjamin. Sheba blew a ram’s horn and began to chant: ‘Down with the dynasty of David! We have no interest in the son of Jesse. Come on, you men of Israel, back to your homes!’” (II Samuel 20:1).

Seems there’s always “a troublemaker,” isn’t there? Sheba was a slick talker, too. Note his three statements:

(1) “Down with the dynasty of David!” This is strictly my opinion, but I believe Sheba spat out “dynasty” like a curse. Instead of confessing God’s anointing on David as the leader of the people of Israel, Sheba made him sound more like a self-appointed dictator.

(2) “We have no interest in the son of Jesse.” Sheba wanted to remind everyone of David’s lowly beginnings. He wasn’t of royal blood – he was a sheep herder’s son and unworthy of being their king.

(3) “Back to your homes!” Sheba was walking away from David, both politically and physically and was encouraging and even challenging the other men to do likewise.

“So all the men of Israel deserted David and followed Sheba son of Bicri" (II Samuel 20:2a).

Note how quickly Sheba was able to draw the men of Israel away from David. Folks, a slick talker is like a Roman candle: momentarily exciting but quick to fizzle. The men of Israel didn’t take time to think through their decision; they allowed themselves to be swept up in the fervor of the moment.

Be careful who and what you listen to. Always do your own research. Don’t take the word of another, especially on anything that can have eternal consequences.

“He is wise who knows the sources of knowledge – who knows who has written and where it is to be found.” (A. A. Hodge) 

Copyright © 2013
Judy Woodward Bates

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