King James Version, with Nii Okai's journal notes · 10 notes
1And when David was a little past the top of the hill, behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple of asses saddled, and upon them two hundred loaves of bread, and an hundred bunches of raisins, and an hundred of summer fruits, and a bottle of wine.
2And the king said unto Ziba, What meanest thou by these? And Ziba said, The asses be for the king’s household to ride on; and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat; and the wine, that such as be faint in the wilderness may drink.
3And the king said, And where is thy master’s son? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he abideth at Jerusalem: for he said, To day shall the house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my father.
Such a wicked lie 🤥. We must all indeed be very wise and careful in the corridors of power.
Innocence and naivety cannot be tolerated; it is the bane of fools.
And one would die if he or she chooses the path of innocence without wisdom.
So for the righteous, Jesus tells us to keep our innocence as doves 🕊 but be wise as serpents 🐍.
Why all these analogies? Because Ziba hated that he worked for a crippled son of a dead and defeated king 👑.
He was doing fine, enjoying the wealth of the dead, when suddenly Mephibosheth is discovered as an heir, and David's love for truth and covenant restores all that pertaineth to Jonathan and his descendants.
I can imagine how shamed Ziba was. Imagine a caretaker flaunting the wealth of his dead masters.
And then suddenly there comes an heir to lay claim of his inheritance; to make matters worse, he was a cripple.
That was the state of Ziba when Mephibosheth suddenly popped out of nowhere.
Ironically, Ziba knew all along where Mephibosheth was but never mentioned it.
He, Ziba, himself had fifteen sons and servants as well — he was great himself, and now the tables had turned and he had been made a servant again.
2 Samuel 9:9-11 KJV
Then the king called to Ziba, Saul's servant, and said unto him, I have given unto thy master's son all that pertained to Saul and to all his house.
[10] Thou therefore, and thy sons, and thy servants, shall till the land for him, and thou shalt bring in the fruits, that thy master's son may have food to eat: but Mephibosheth thy master's son shall eat bread alway at my table. Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.
[11] Then said Ziba unto the king, According to all that my lord the king hath commanded his servant, so shall thy servant do. As for Mephibosheth, said the king, he shall eat at my table, as one of the king's sons.
DAVID was a wise king 👑 and read the situation very well and knew what challenges such demotion would cause,
So he kept Mephibosheth in his palace always, and he ate at his table whiles Ziba slaved away for Mephibosheth.
Ziba didn't really slave away; he had sons and servants himself, but his pride was wounded.
He had no choice.
And now here comes such an opportunity to discredit this crippled heir.
And he did that skillfully and regained his stolen wealth.
And this is where wisdom comes in.
Mephibosheth would not be beaten in the game. He was crippled, so was pushed aside by Ziba — such gross disrespect from a servant to a prince 🤴.
How dare Ziba even touch him, but who cares, he did and took occasion to steal generational wealth.
Mephibosheth also played his cards and left his beard unshaved for all the period the king 👑 was in exile.
And his overgrown bushy beard 🧔 was evidence. A grown beard cannot be faked.
He saved his skin and kept his life and even got half the property.
Justice was served. David knew he had been a bit unfair to Ziba in not giving him anything when his master's son — Mephibosheth — was introduced into the scene.
To prevent any future contests, he divided the land and held no animosity against Mephibosheth, as evidenced when he spared him from death ☠
2 Samuel 21:7 KJV
But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the LORD'S oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.
David had restored Mephibosheth and saved the man from untold pain and hardships and shame.
It was because of acts like this that endeared David to the Lord's heart.
He was a good man. Just imagine how a man like Jonathan, so anointed, one whom the Lord used to grant great victories to Israel, dies and his generation is suddenly treated like scumbags.
His son, his only son, was crippled, and thus his entire generation rendered useless and cut short.
Life can be so cruel and painful and unfair. But David changed those fortunes.
He loved the Lord and his work and laws, and the Lord loved him, for he kept his commands and executed the Lord's will and laws and judgements.
4Then said the king to Ziba, Behold, thine are all that pertained unto Mephibosheth. And Ziba said, I humbly beseech thee that I may find grace in thy sight, my lord, O king.
5And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, thence came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera: he came forth, and cursed still as he came.
6And he cast stones at David, and at all the servants of king David: and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left.
7And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial:
8The LORD hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned; and the LORD hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son: and, behold, thou art taken in thy mischief, because thou art a bloody man.
Though it is not stated directly in the scriptures, whenever there is the dethronement of a king 👑, much bloodshed happens as people clamor for the power and the throne.
And the death of Saul was no different, hence Shimei's curse 🤬
9Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah unto the king, Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? let me go over, I pray thee, and take off his head.
10And the king said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? so let him curse, because the LORD hath said unto him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Wherefore hast thou done so?
11And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, Behold, my son, which came forth of my bowels, seeketh my life: how much more now may this Benjamite do it? let him alone, and let him curse; for the LORD hath bidden him.
12It may be that the LORD will look on mine affliction, and that the LORD will requite me good for his cursing this day.
13And as David and his men went by the way, Shimei went along on the hill’s side over against him, and cursed as he went, and threw stones at him, and cast dust.
14And the king, and all the people that were with him, came weary, and refreshed themselves there.
15And Absalom, and all the people the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with him.
I was wondering why they did not immediately chase after David and his men, because others were able to reach David and co and help them with food.
Why did not Absalom and his team chase after David?
Then I realized that that would require mobilizing the army, which takes time.
At this time Joab and other key leaders had vacated post.
A new leader was in place, and it would take him time to organize himself.
16And it came to pass, when Hushai the Archite, David’s friend, was come unto Absalom, that Hushai said unto Absalom, God save the king, God save the king.
17And Absalom said to Hushai, Is this thy kindness to thy friend? why wentest thou not with thy friend?
18And Hushai said unto Absalom, Nay; but whom the LORD, and this people, and all the men of Israel, choose, his will I be, and with him will I abide.
19And again, whom should I serve? should I not serve in the presence of his son? as I have served in thy father’s presence, so will I be in thy presence.
Interesting response.
It's all agendas and games. Absalom heard and understood Hushai's response of betrayal to his father as Hushai seeking his own interests.
Absalom knew that all who were around him sought each their own good, not that they loved him, but at this time he was in power, so of course many would default to him and seek their interests in the new kingdom 👑 he had set up 👆
20Then said Absalom to Ahithophel, Give counsel among you what we shall do.
Just as people were around him to use and benefit from him, and not necessarily because they are loyal to him, so also he immediately began to use them, their abilities, time and skill.
21And Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Go in unto thy father’s concubines, which he hath left to keep the house; and all Israel shall hear that thou art abhorred of thy father: then shall the hands of all that are with thee be strong.
By this singular act, all Israel knew that forever the cords of blood between father and son were severed; there was no way any would obtain mercy from the other because of blood, seeing the abomination King Absalom had committed.
David was definitely not going to be welcomed back by any chance.
This was the new kingdom, and it was about time the whole of Israel became forward looking and focused on the new king.
This was the whole purpose of the act of incest and abomination.
What did Hushai do in this case? We are not told what his counter suggestion was.
22So they spread Absalom a tent upon the top of the house; and Absalom went in unto his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.
23And the counsel of Ahithophel, which he counselled in those days, was as if a man had enquired at the oracle of God: so was all the counsel of Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom.
And this testimony of Ahithophel is proved right in his counsel to Absalom about such abomination of sleeping with his father's concubines.
This was actually the word God had prophesied, and we are not told if Ahithophel knew this word or not, but he here counsels in line with the word of the Lord.
This Ahithophel a while ago was seeking the face of the Lord, and now here he was counseling contrary to the law of God.
2 Samuel 15:12 KJV
And Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counsellor, from his city, even from Giloh, while he offered sacrifices. And the conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom.
Why was this statement made after Ahithophel had given such a wicked counsel? Was that counsel also of God? In a sense it was, for the Lord had told David that that would happen.
So though that counsel was wicked, it was of God.