(July 19, 2014)
The
actions by David, in how he instructed Solomon, are very much out of character
from what we saw of him during his lifetime.
Those he had forgiven, he commanded Solomon to kill. Those who had served him well, he ordered
struck down. How many times did Joab
save the kingdom?
But as
I think about it, there is a certain logic to absolutely everything that took
place. Joab never repented of his
actions when he killed those who David promised peace. Adonijah was fine until such time as he
sought out David’s young virginal comforter (a demonstrated aspiration to the
throne). Shimei (the one who openly
repented) was given strict commands, and if he followed them he would have died
of old age. Abiathar, as a priest, was
not struck down even though there was justification.
As
shocking as this appears to me to be at first glance, the longer I look at it
the more I realize that my shock is an issue of culture and perspective, rather
than one of eternal law. And that, as
much as anything else, is truly surprising to me.
No comments:
Post a Comment