Tag Archive | revenge

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, days 149

May28

   Day 149—We are in our FIFTH month of Bible reading and we have begun our 13th book – 1 Kings.  Are you loving God more each day? What are you learning about Him?  Share in the comments section.

   Day 149 –  1 Kings 1 – 2, Psalms 37, 71, 94. (David dies, but first stops a coup)

1 Kings 1.  David is old and frail and can’t get warm. The court brings a young and beautiful woman to care for him and keep him warm at night. (No hanky-panky, however.)  

Taking advantage of his father’s advanced age, Adonijah, next in line to be king, claims himself the heir to the throne by collecting chariots, and soldiers, one of the high priests, and even the aging Commander of David’s army, Joab. They hold a huge festival with loads of sacrifices.  

But when the prophet Nathan hears of it, he enlists Bathsheba in a plan to officially crown the LORD’s choice, Solomon, as king after David.  The old king musters enough strength to do just that, authorizing them to have Solomon ride through town on his royal donkey, the priests to anoint him king in front of all the people, encourage them to shout, “Long live King Solomon” and to sit him on his father’s throne.

Adonijah hears the commotion and knows what it means. He makes a wild dash for the horns of the altar at the Tabernacle (a place he can claim clemency). Solomon grants him that… IF HE WILL SHOW HIMSELF A WORTHY MAN.”  (We’ll see about that in a bit.)

By the way, verse 6 points out a fault of David with ALL his sons and probably the reason so many went wrong. It’s a warning to parents today. “His father had never at any time displeased him by asking, ‘Why have you done thus and so?“ Not only was Adonijah handsome like Absalom, he was spoiled rotten.

1 Kings 2. Like all Jewish patriarchs, King David calls for Solomon when he knows he is dying. He blesses Solomon and encourages him in the LORD. “Be strong, and show yourself a man, and keep the charge of the LORD your God, walking in His ways and keeping His statutes, His commandments, His rules, and His testimonies…. that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever your turn, that the LORD may establish His Word that He spoke to me…. ‘you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel’.”

HOWEVER, the old king then instructs Solomon to assassinate two men “according to your wisdom, for you are a wise man.”

  1. He is to kill Joab for revenge-killing the commanders of Saul’s and Absalom’s armies (Abner & Amasa) IN TIME OF PEACE.
  2. He is also to kill Shimei, the Benjamite, who cursed David as he fled from Absalom. David had sworn that HE himself would not kill the man but now instructs Solomon to do it.

Then David dies – after reigning for 40 years as king. He was buried in Jerusalem, the City of David. And Solomon’s kingdom is firmly established…almost.

Next, that slippery Adonijah comes to Bathsheba and asks HER to ask SOLOMON to pretty please give him Abishai as his wife. TWO THINGS TO REMEMBER:  1. Abishai was the beautiful woman given to David to keep him warm and was considered a concubine.. 2. Someone who wanted to claim the kingdom for himself would sleep with the former king’s wife/concubine.

ADONIJAH WAS ATTEMPTING A SNEAKY COUP TO STEAL THE CROWN FROM SOLOMON!!

Solomon sends his commander, Benaiah. to kill Adonijah. 

Solomon sends Benaiah to kill Joab.

After giving Shimei a narrow place to live, and the man leaves it, Solomon sends Benaiah to kill him. 

His oaths to his father accomplished, the kingdom was now established in the hand of Solomon.

Psalm 37.  “Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. Trust in the LORD and do good…”   “Delight yourself in the LORD…”   “Commit your way to the LORD…”   “Be still before the LORD….”

“The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in His way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the LORD upholds his hand.”

“I have young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.”

Psalm 71. “For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O LORD, from my youth.”    “Do not cast me off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength is spent.”    “Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

Psalm 94. “He who planted the ear, does He not hear? He who formed the eye, does He not see? He who disciplines the nations, does He not rebuke? He who teaches man knowledge – the LORD – knows the thoughts of man, that they are but breath.”

“Blessed is the man whom You discipline, O LORD, and whom You teach out of your law, to give him REST from the days of trouble…”     “If the LORD had not been my help, my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence. When I thought, ‘My foot slips,’ your steadfast love, O LORD, held me up. When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.”

#2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 96

Apr5

    Day 96 —  We have been reading the Bible daily for a quarter of the year and have begun a new month. Praise God! What have you learned about God? About yourself?

   Day 96 – Judges 19 – 21 (A very bad incident, civil war, and kidnap)

Wow, can it get any worse? Today’s reading, the last in Judges, shows how morally low people can get without the knowledge of God.

Chapter 19 tells a story about a Levite that parallels the story of Sodom in Genesis 19. A Levite’s concubine runs away to her father and he goes after her. After several days, the father allows him to take her away. On the way home, they stop in a town of the tribe of Benjamin. An old man advises him to spend the night INDOORS!  The reason is that the town is full of craving homosexual men! Like at Lot’s door in Sodom, these men demand that the old man send the Levite out so they can “have their way with him.” The Levite sends out his concubine instead and they ravish her all night so that she dies at his doorstep. (Can you believe it??)

He loads her body on his donkey and goes home, where he cuts it in pieces and sends one to each of Israel’s tribes. (Gag!)  In Chapter 20, the tribes muster soldiers to go after Benjamin to destroy them all. After two costly defeats, they use an ambush technique we saw Joshua do against Ai, and nearly wipe out all the Benjaminites – only 600 left. 

Remorse then hits the other eleven tribes, and in Chapter 21, they devise a plan to give these 600 min, wives to carry on the line. They notice that one city in Israel did not send soldiers to fight. So they go and kill all the men and married women, and steal 400 virgins for the men of Benjamin.  But, alas, there are still 200 wifeless men! What to do??

They hear of a festival in Shiloh. They wait in ambush (a different kind) for the young women to come into the vineyards dancing… and grab 200 of them.  With these new wives, the 600 of Benjamin return, rebuild their towns, and live in them.

The last verse in Judges says it all. “In those days there was no king in Israel (and) everyone did what was right in their own eyes.”  

#2024 GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 23

Jan23

   Day 23 —  Won’t you read the Bible with me this year?   It only takes a few minutes.  (You can also listen to an audio recording.)

   Day 23 – Genesis 32 – 34 (Jacob goes home)

In yesterday’s reading we saw Jacob being confronted by his father-in-law. He will face more crises today.

Chapter 32. After leaving Laban and before he meets his supposedly blood-thirsty brother Esau, God sends a host of angels to encourage him. (He’s going to need that!)

He’s sent a message to Esau that he is returning home and hopes to find favor (not fury) in his brother’s eyes.  The message comes back that Esau is coming to meet him…… with 400 men. YIKES!  (Remember Abe’s 318 men who fought kings and rescued Lot?)

Jacob divides his camp in two, hoping to save some of them, and asks for help and deliverance from the God of his grandfather and his father (not his own yet). He remembers that God had promised to be with him and to make his offspring numerous as the sand.  Then, still trusting in his OWN methods, he sends Esau a humongous gift of animals to appease him. And then he waits.

That night, God, Himself meets and wrestles with Jacob. He changes his name to Israel (champion with God) and blesses him. He also cripples Jacob’s hip to remind him Who really got the upper hand. Jacob realizes he’s “seen” God for himself.

Chapter 33. Taking one more precaution against the Esau-crisis, Jacob arranges his family in preferance of who he loves most. The servant girls and their boys in front, Leah, her sons & daughter next, and his beloved wife Rachel and favorite son Joseph at the very back. Then he turns to face his “avenging” brother.

But miracle of miracles! Esau runs to meet his long lost sibling and embraces him (and there is no dagger in his hand!). Introductions are made all around, Jacob/Israel is humble towards Esau, and Esau is gracious towards his “cheater” brother. They both go their way in peace.

Whew. Crisis number two averted, by God hand, again.

Jacob/Israel and his huge (intact) family and still an abundance of animals, turn West, cross the Jordan River and re-enter the Promised Land. He settles in Shechem and buys some land, including a well from the local head honcho. (betware, Jacob!!)

In Chapter 34, a set of horrible disasters plays out. First Jacob & Leah’s daughter Dinah is raped. The man, and his father, the local king barter for her. (Lets all intermarry and be one happy family.)  Unfortunately, Jacob does not meet this crisis head on. It’s left to Simeon and Levi, full brothers to Dinah to revenge their sister’s defilement.  They murder not only the man and his father, but ALL the men in the town. They also plundered the city – all their wealth, all their little ones and wives, all that was in their houses.

Whoa. (Certainly not the ‘eye for an eye’ concept that God had set in place hundreds of years ago.)

Jacob is aghast and ashamed… and fearful. He thinks he’s doomed now, by the hands of all the surrounding Canaanites. “I stink in their sight,” he moans. And they hastily move on.

On his journey home, he’s had to deal with Laban, Esau, and now the pagans in the land that God promised his offspring.  He’s nearly 100 now, and responsible for so many people. He’s at a very low point.

But God meets him in the pit and raises him up. (tomorrow’s reading)