Friday, April 29 ~ tammi

Today's reading from the Chronological OT/NT Reading Plan is 1 Samuel 17-18; Luke 20:27-47.

I watched a documentary one time about possible scientific explanations for four phenomenons mentioned in the Bible.  The goal was not to prove or disprove the biblical account, but merely to examine whether something would actually be considered miraculous or if there were plausible scientific explanations.  One of the experiments was to determine whether a rock from a sling could actually kill someone, as in the account of David vs. Goliath.

They enlisted the service of the world record-holder in slinging, which is, apparently, a common sport in some middle-Eastern and Mediterranean countries.  They use the same type of slings they've been using for millenia, the same kind David would have had ~ two long straps with a widened, rounded, cradle-like portion in the middle to hold the stone or other projectile.  It is absolutely incredible the velocity and distance that can be achieved by good slingers!  The researchers agreed it was easily plausible that a man could be killed by a slung stone, and indeed, the sling was widely used as a weapon throughout history and in many parts of the world.  The miraculous part, they concluded, was that David had had such incredible accuracy in hitting a relatively miniscule target, given the sort of armour customary for that day.  They figured David would have only had the space of a few inches as a target.

I always wonder why he selected five stones.  I suspect he knew just one would do it, but maybe he knew it was possible he'd have to try more than once, given the size of his target and the pressure of the situation.  Yet he seems so calm in the face of overwhelming odds.

What I love about this story is that David isn't resentful that the Philistines are oppressing Israel or that Israel isn't winning the war.  He doesn't even seem concerned that his oldest three brothers ridicule him for inquiring about a reward for killing Goliath.  What galls David, the reason he steps in, is the Philistines' mockery of Israel's great God.  That's what spurs him to action.  He doesn't step in as the saviour of the army and his fellow-countrymen; he steps in as a protector of God's reputation.  I so admire that about him here and in so many other instances throughout his life.  Oh, that we would so jealously guard and protect the Holy Name of our God!!!

So many times we enter the fight because we've been offended, someone has infringed upon our precious rights, and by golly, we are gonna make. them. PAY!  I wonder how many battles we lose simply because we are fighting for the wrong thing.  And how many times do we win, but at the expense of our testimony?

And then David gets married for the first time...  Anyone else disgusted by the bride-price set by Saul for his daughter Michal?  Eeeww.  But it's interesting how David was relieved that was the price because it was something he could easily afford!  He didn't have material wealth to offer in exchange for becoming the king's son-in-law, but he could sure kill and dismember Philistines!  Gross.

Another thing that popped out at me ~ actually a few chapters ago, but relating to today's passage ~ is the age difference between David and Jonathan.  I've always been under the impression that they were close in age.  And as far as I can remember, all the children's Bible stories depict it that way.  But David is relatively young here, probably only in his mid-teens at the oldest, while Jonathan is an accomplished soldier and warrior; a commander in his father's army.  He's been fighting at Saul's side since chapter 13.

Now, bear with me here a little as I think out loud:  Saul dies in battle at the age of 72 (he became king at age 30 and reigned 42 years) and David becomes king of the tribe of Judah shortly thereafter ~ also at the age of 30.  (he only becomes king over all Israel 8 years later)  If we figure Jonathan at 20-30 years younger than Saul, that still makes him at least a dozen years older than David, probably more.  I'm thinkin' it's possible Jonathan could've almost been old enough to be David's dad.  I never noticed that before.

In light of that little tidbit, I sense that Jonathan was more of a mentor/father-figure to David than a best buddy.  And maybe this is partly why Jonathan is so gracious in recognizing and respecting David as the successor to the thone instead of himself.  A younger man closer to David's age might not have handled it so gracefully.  Maybe this is also partly why David became the man that he did.  Jonathan would have been a perfect mentor ~ wise, godly, and a strong, well-loved servant-leader of men.  In any case, we see the beautiful lesson in loyalty in the life of Jonathan, whose story of friendship with David begins here.

Then we skip over to Luke and Jesus making fools of the religious leaders and teachers left and right!  First they try to trap Him with respect to who people should pay homage to and He answers them simply:  "Give to Caesar what is rightfully Caesar's and give to God what is rightfully God's."  We have obligations both to God and to our governments, which are all, as Romans 13 points out, established by God. But it is important to keep our priorities straight and remember which is the higher authority, especially in times where our governments' regulations run in opposition to God's Word.

Then it's the Sadducees who try to confuse Him with a long story about a poor woman who ends up married to a whole string of brothers because they keep dyin' on her, when their real goal is to get Him to prove or disprove the idea of resurrection after death.  Jesus sees right through them and gives them an answer, indicating that though our souls continue living and we're given new, glorified bodies, our relationships just won't work the same as they do down here.  Then He gets right to the heart of the matter and addresses their REAL motivation behind the question ~ His authority and identity.  The religious leaders knew the Messiah was supposed to come from David's line, but Jesus reminds them that David himself knew the Messiah would not only be human, but be a divine being as well.

Following that exchange, Jesus addresses the onlookers, telling them to beware the religious leaders, exposing them as frauds, and indicating they will be more severly dealt with because they were in position to be earthly examples of God's mercy and grace and they were abusing that position to extort from the poor and gain personal wealth.

And so we return to the theme from the beginning of this long post ~ about having the right motives. In David we saw an example of the right motives; in the religious leaders, we see the negative example. And in Jesus' warning, we also see WHY it's so important to have the right motivation. I trust we will learn to regularly examine our motivation for service, adjust our priorities, and desire to serve for the simple reason that we love God and we know serving in the Body of Christ pleases Him.







Tomorrow's passages: 1 Samuel 19; Psalm 23 & 59; Luke 21:1-19