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- What attributes of God’s character does this passage reveal?
- How does the passage point to Jesus?
- How should the truth of this passage change me?
- How do the events of today’s reading help you better understand the grand narrative of Scripture?
2 Sam. 8
Once again I find myself scratching my head over some of the details in the Bible. What’s the deal with the measuring line and the Moabites? We don’t see that measuring line except with the Moabites, so this doesn’t seem to be a standard practice. Yet it must have been mentioned for a reason other than its oddity. I did notice the two thirds thing, which is a ratio I see a lot, especially in prophecy. I tend to believe that everything in the Bible means something. However, I am often at a loss as to what that something is. Such is the case with this strange detail.
2 Sam. 9
I wonder what was going through Mephibosheth’s mind when they brought him before David? David’s first words to him, besides his name, were, “Don’t be afraid” (2 Sam. 9:7a). Maybe Mephibosheth knew that David had never raised a hand against anyone in Saul’s family. Maybe he knew that David had been like a brother to his father, Jonathan. Or maybe he didn’t know these things. Even if he did, though, David was king now, and Mephibosheth was tied by blood to the old regime. I’m sure it was common practice for the new regime to wipe out everybody associated with the old when they took power. So it’s quite likely that Mephibosheth feared for his life.
Maybe, though, if Mephibosheth did know these things about David, he had some hope for mercy. His reaction makes it obvious that he was well aware that David had power over his life or death. Hope for mercy or not, I’m sure he was overwhelmed by what David gave. David gave it, not because of anything Mephibosheth did, but because of who David was and Mephibosheth’s relationship to Jonathan. Mephibosheth seemed to understand this as well, and responded with continued humility.
I think we might all be like Mephibosheth one day. We will be brought before the King of all creation; God Most High. I think no matter who we are, that will be enough to drop us to the ground. But we know something about God’s character and we know Jesus, His beloved Son. So we will come before God with hope for mercy. And even though we know that we are promised abundance beyond what we can imagine because of who God is and our relationship with Jesus, I believe we will be just as overwhelmed with His kindness as Mephibosheth was of David’s.
1 Chron. 18
This passage is the repeat of 2 Samuel 8 that we just read. Again, it is nowhere near verbatim. Interestingly, it omits the odd Moabite detail. Something it does repeat, however, is another thing that jumped out at me in the 2 Samuel passage. Not just once, but twice it says, “The LORD made David victorious wherever he went.” (1 Chron. 18:6b & 12b). It seems to me that saying this once in these relatively short passages would have been more than sufficient. Yet we get it twice both times. Maybe this is to stress that the victories were God’s.
Interestingly, the second mention of this comes immediately after another detail that the Chronicler changed. 2 Samuel 8:13 says, “David made a name for himself when he returned from striking down eighteen thousand Edomites”. The Chronicler, however, attributes this amazing feat to Abishai. I find this a little odd, given that the Chronicler seems to make every effort to put David in the best light. Then again, maybe that’s the point. After all, it was God who gave the victory, so why give credit to David when God used Abishai to do the deed? We don’t need to take credit, even for our own deeds, when we understand that our boast is in God alone.