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GRACE,
GREED &
GRATITUDE And Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son that was
lame of his feet.
Mephibosheth
and Ziba are not exactly household
names. Nevertheless, the story of their relationship with David and with one
another reveals so much about their character.
David, the man after God’s own heart,
is found to be Gracious.
Ziba, the overlord of King Saul’s vast holdings is found to be Greedy,
and Mephibosheth, son of Jonathan, son of Saul, is found to be Grateful as well as faithful in the extreme. To set the stage for this real life drama, we must go
back to I Samuel 20:14 where Jonathan and David are confirming their bond of
love. Jonathan, recognizing that
God will place David upon the throne of his own father Saul, requests that David
remember to be kind to Jonathan’s offspring when he sits upon the throne. This
was very important in that time when new kings often eliminated all traces of
the former king’s lineage so that all claims to the throne would also be
eliminated. This practice has
always existed in those kingdoms where blood is the prime qualification for
succession. A classic example in Scripture is II Kings 11:1 which reads … And
when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and
destroyed all the seed royal. This was her attempt to prevent
anyone claiming the throne from her. (Click here to see the January 98 article
“King Athaliah was no Lady”) So, when the day came that both king Saul and
Jonathan his son were killed on the same day, there was the expectation that
David would kill all of the surviving potential heirs to King Saul. The nurse
who had the charge of Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth took flight with the child
to protect him from death. As she
ran, the child was dropped and fell to the ground and was crippled for life. He
was taken away and kept in hiding until the day he was called forth by David.
(II Sam. 4:4) Now, we come to II Sam. 9:1-13.
David has time to consider the promise he made many years before, and so
he asks if there is anyone left of the house of Saul to whom he can show
kindness and grace. Ziba is called
before the king and announces that there is one remaining son of Jonathan. Then
Mephibosheth is also summoned to present himself before David, no doubt fearing
for his life. But instead he is granted amnesty and freedom and with one word
from David, he is also made very very rich.
He is to be lord of all the domain formerly held by King Saul and Zeba
and his sons are to continue caring for the property and working the fields.
Mephibosheth himself will reside in the royal presence and eat at the
king’s table. This is not a fairy
tale, and so we do not read “and they
lived happily ever after”. In
point of fact, the saga is just beginning. There came a time when David’s own son threatened
the kingdom and David was forced to flee from Jerusalem and dwell with his
troops in the surrounding hills. During this time Ziba hatched a plan of Greed. He loaded a variety of fruits
and drinks upon animals and went out to where David was camped. He offered the
bounty in his own name saying that Mephibosheth did not come with him because he
had thoughts of regaining the throne of his grandfather Saul.
It was of course a lie, but David took him at his word and pronounced a
change in the arrangement. From now on Ziba would own all that was formerly
given to Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth was now restored to his state of poverty,
without so much as a moment to defend himself.
What a travesty of justice. What greed! Remember that Ziba was
practically the owner of all this wealth even before the treachery was
perpetrated, since he and his family were the supreme caretakers. And now after
David’s new decree he owned nothing new except the title “owner”.
(See II Sam. 16:1-4) Where is Mephibosheth during all this time of
intrigue? Jump ahead to II Sam.
19:13 and you will find the next installment in this tragedy. David is now about
to return to Jerusalem with his kingdom once again secure. As he approaches, all
Judah comes out with joy to meet him. Among them is our man Mephibosheth. Where
has he been? He has been praying and fasting in mourning garb all the time
that David has been gone and in danger. How faithful and grateful this man
was to his king. He now tells David
of the lies of Ziba, and accepts the judgment of David. David once again makes a snap decision and pushes aside the
details of the matter and orders the splitting of the fortune between the greedy
Ziba and the grateful and faithful Mephibosheth. Our first thought when we read this portion is to
condemn David. Obviously he is not
concerned to get to the bottom of this mess and to settle it justly.
But let us not be as hasty as David was.
We may not be able to justify David, but we may be able to at least
understand the pressure that was upon him. He was burdened with many things that
were much more important to him than Mephibosheth or Ziba … or Saul and
Jonathan for that matter. Look at what took place in his life between the time
he decided to be gracious to Mephibosheth and the time Mephibosheth met him upon
his return. 1.
He embarked upon the Ammonite-Syrian military campaign. 2.
He commits adultery with Bethsheba, impregnates her, kills her husband,
marries her, has a son, losses a son, has another son named Solomon. 3.
David and Joab conquer Rabbah. 4.
David’s son Amnon has an incestuous relationship with Tamar, his
sister. 5.
Absolam, another son of David kills Amnon. 6.
Absalom revolts against David. 7.
David forgives Absalom. 8.
Absalom again revolts against David. 9.
David flees Jerusalem. 10.
Shamei curses David. 11.
Absalom enters Jerusalem as an enemy. 12.
Joab kills Absalom Wow! That’s
a lot of stuff to deal with! Perhaps
if we cannot excuse David for his lack of fair play, we can at least understand
why he did not give the matter his full attention.
There were simply too many more important things happening at the same
time. But in spite of the ill
treatment that Mephibosheth received he still comes across as a man of
character. His values are shown to
be on a higher plane than his adversary. He
cares nothing for the worldly goods, but rejoices that his Lord David is back
safe. As for Ziba, getting half the
inheritance by deception, Mephibosheth says:
Yea,
let him take all, forasmuch as my Let us learn from this narrative. On the positive
side we are exhorted to be gracious to our enemies, as was David and to be
grateful for our blessings as was Mephibosheth. On the negative side let
us not struggle for that which rusts and suffers corruption nor act with deceit,
as did Ziba. Let us not be so quick to hear evil reports against anyone, but let
us exercise enough patience to ensure that we have heard the entire matter
before we dare to make a judgment. |