Late in the week now, in the last half at least. Looking forward to the upcoming period of time.
I've been asked to attend a start-up men's Bible study that begins 5 p.m. today. Planning to be there, Lord willing.
The weekend is coming, with the Sunday morning gathering, which is the right way to begin the week. Yes, sometimes our resolution and focus on the Lord fails during the week, but there's a better chance of success if we start out well.
Sunday evening we're supposed to attend some sort of fund-raiser spaghetti dinner for someone Wife knows who is in Stage 4 cancer and not expected to last much longer.
And Monday morning begins the month of May.
Dear Wife is next door to "watch" the Great-Niece as mom is off to work. Not sure how much longer that will last: she's VERY pregnant, with the birth, should she go to full term, expected in just under 7 weeks, which would be in late June. I'm not a betting man, but if I was, the betting would be that she does not go to that date. She's a tiny thing as it is, and right now looks like a straw with a basketball attached. Very uncomfortable, and the coming warmer weather does nothing to relieve that.
Now, when the Birth occurs, I fully expect that, should she be able, Dear Wife will be spending a lot of time next door to assist in things. Which is probably good for everyone. When niece had the great-niece, we were still living FAR away, so we weren't here to help. Once we arrived, we were barely arrived before Wife became a significant helper. Niece was off work for about 2 months for the great-niece, probably would like to reduce that gap somewhat this time around, but that's up to them.
So it should be Fun. I guess.
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The Old Testament reading is chapters 17 and 18 of 2nd Samuel. More of the problems that David's own son, Absalom, has been causing. If you ever become concerned about the Old Testament requirement that a rebellious son be put to death to remove the problem, re-read this whole section. Now, I'm glad, personally, that the command is no longer honored: my own parents would surely have taken me out and the whole town would have eagerly assisted in the stoning. But, clearly, the conduct of Absalom, aided by many others as well as David's own failings, created many issues, issues that had long-term effects upon the nation.
II Samuel 17
1 Moreover
Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve thousand men,
and I will arise and pursue after David this night:
2 And I will come upon him while
he is weary and weak handed, and will make him afraid: and all the
people that are with him shall flee; and I will smite the king only:
3 And I will
bring back all the people unto thee: the man whom thou seekest is as if
all returned: so all the people shall be in peace.
4 And the saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel. 5
Then said Absalom, Call now Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear
likewise what he saith.
6 And when Hushai was come to Absalom, Absalom spake unto him,
saying, Ahithophel hath spoken after this manner: shall we do after his
saying? if not; speak thou.
7 And Hushai said unto Absalom, The counsel that
Ahithophel hath given is not good at this time.
8 For, said Hushai, thou knowest thy
father and his men, that they be mighty men, and they be chafed in their
minds, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field: and thy father is a
man of war, and will not lodge with the people.
9 Behold, he is hid now in some pit,
or in some other place: and it will come to pass, when some of them be
overthrown at the first, that whosoever heareth it will say, There is a
slaughter among the people that follow Absalom.
10 And he also that is valiant, whose
heart is as the heart of a lion, shall utterly melt: for all Israel
knoweth that thy father is a mighty man, and they which be with him are
valiant men. 11
Therefore I counsel that all Israel be generally gathered unto thee,
from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea for
multitude; and that thou go to battle in thine own person.
12 So shall we come upon
him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as
the dew falleth on the ground: and of him and of all the men that are
with him there shall not be left so much as one.
13 Moreover, if he be gotten into a
city, then shall all Israel bring ropes to that city, and we will draw
it into the river, until there be not one small stone found there.
14 And Absalom and
all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better
than the counsel of Ahithophel. For the LORD had appointed to defeat the
good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the LORD might bring
evil upon Absalom. 15
Then said Hushai unto Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, Thus and thus
did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel; and thus and
thus have I counseled.
16 Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, Lodge
not this night in the plains of the wilderness, but speedily pass over;
lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people that are with him.
17 Now Jonathan
and Ahimaaz stayed by Enrogel; for they might not be seen to come into
the city: and a wench went and told them; and they went and told king
David. 18
Nevertheless a lad saw them, and told Absalom: but they went both of
them away quickly, and came to a man's house in Bahurim, which had a
well in his court; whither they went down.
19 And the woman took and spread a covering
over the well's mouth, and spread ground corn thereon; and the thing
was not known. 20
And when Absalom's servants came to the woman to the house, they said,
Where is Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And the woman said unto them, They be
gone over the brook of water. And when they had sought and could not
find them, they returned to Jerusalem.
21 And it came to pass, after they were
departed, that they came up out of the well, and went and told king
David, and said unto David, Arise, and pass quickly over the water: for
thus hath Ahithophel counseled against you.
22 Then David arose, and all the people
that were with him, and they passed over Jordan: by the morning light
there lacked not one of them that was not gone over Jordan.
23 And when Ahithophel saw
that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass, and arose, and
gat him home to his house, to his city, and put his household in order,
and hanged himself, and died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his
father. 24
Then David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom passed over Jordan, he and all
the men of Israel with him.
25 And Absalom made Amasa captain of the host instead of
Joab: which Amasa was a man's son, whose name was Ithra an Israelite,
that went in to Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah Joab's
mother. 26 So Israel and Absalom pitched in the land of Gilead. 27
And it came to pass, when David was come to Mahanaim, that Shobi the
son of Nahash of Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and Machir the son of
Ammiel of Lodebar, and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim,
28 Brought beds, and
basins, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and
parched corn, and beans, and lentils, and parched pulse,
29 And honey, and butter, and
sheep, and cheese of kine, for David, and for the people that were with
him, to eat: for they said, The people is hungry, and weary, and
thirsty, in the wilderness.
II Samuel 18
1 And David
numbered the people that were with him, and set captains of thousands,
and captains of hundreds over them.
2 And David sent forth a third part of the people
under the hand of Joab, and a third part under the hand of Abishai the
son of Zeruiah, Joab's brother, and a third part under the hand of Ittai
the Gittite. And the king said unto the people, I will surely go forth
with you myself also.
3 But the people answered, Thou shalt not go forth: for if we
flee away, they will not care for us; neither if half of us die, will
they care for us: but now thou art worth ten thousand of us: therefore
now it is better that thou succor us out of the city.
4 And the king said unto them,
What seemeth you best I will do. And the king stood by the gate side,
and all the people came out by hundreds and by thousands.
5 And the king commanded
Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Deal gently for my sake with the
young man, even with Absalom. And all the people heard when the king
gave all the captains charge concerning Absalom.
6 So the people went out into the
field against Israel: and the battle was in the wood of Ephraim;
7 Where the people of
Israel were slain before the servants of David, and there was there a
great slaughter that day of twenty thousand men.
8 For the battle was there scattered
over the face of all the country: and the wood devoured more people that
day than the sword devoured.
9 And Absalom met the servants of David. And Absalom
rode upon a mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great
oak, and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was taken up between
the heaven and the earth; and the mule that was under him went away.
10 And a certain
man saw it, and told Joab, and said, Behold, I saw Absalom hanged in an
oak. 11 And
Joab said unto the man that told him, And, behold, thou sawest him, and
why didst thou not smite him there to the ground? and I would have given
thee ten shekels of silver, and a girdle.
12 And the man said unto Joab, Though I
should receive a thousand shekels of silver in mine hand, yet would I
not put forth mine hand against the king's son: for in our hearing the
king charged thee and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Beware that none touch
the young man Absalom.
13 Otherwise I should have wrought falsehood against mine own
life: for there is no matter hid from the king, and thou thyself
wouldest have set thyself against me.
14 Then said Joab, I may not tarry thus with
thee. And he took three darts in his hand, and thrust them through the
heart of Absalom, while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak.
15 And ten young men
that bare Joab's armor compassed about and smote Absalom, and slew him.
16 And Joab
blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing after Israel:
for Joab held back the people.
17 And they took Absalom, and cast him into a great pit
in the wood, and laid a very great heap of stones upon him: and all
Israel fled every one to his tent.
18 Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared
up for himself a pillar, which is in the king's dale: for he said, I
have no son to keep my name in remembrance: and he called the pillar
after his own name: and it is called unto this day, Absalom's place.
19 Then said
Ahimaaz the son of Zadok, Let me now run, and bear the king tidings, how
that the LORD hath avenged him of his enemies.
20 And Joab said unto him, Thou shalt
not bear tidings this day, but thou shalt bear tidings another day: but
this day thou shalt bear no tidings, because the king's son is dead.
21 Then said Joab
to Cushy, Go tell the king what thou hast seen. And Cushy bowed himself
unto Joab, and ran. 22
Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok yet again to Joab, But howsoever,
let me, I pray thee, also run after Cushy. And Joab said, Wherefore wilt
thou run, my son, seeing that thou hast no tidings ready?
23 But howsoever, said he,
let me run. And he said unto him, Run. Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of
the plain, and overran Cushy.
24 And David sat between the two gates: and the watchman
went up to the roof over the gate unto the wall, and lifted up his
eyes, and looked, and behold a man running alone.
25 And the watchman cried, and told
the king. And the king said, If he be alone, there is tidings in his
mouth. And he came apace, and drew near.
26 And the watchman saw another man running:
and the watchman called unto the porter, and said, Behold another man
running alone. And the king said, He also bringeth tidings.
27 And the watchman said,
Me thinketh the running of the foremost is like the running of Ahimaaz
the son of Zadok. And the king said, He is a good man, and cometh with
good tidings. 28
And Ahimaaz called, and said unto the king, All is well. And he fell
down to the earth upon his face before the king, and said, Blessed be
the LORD thy God, which hath delivered up the men that lifted up their
hand against my lord the king.
29 And the king said, Is the young man Absalom safe?
And Ahimaaz answered, When Joab sent the king's servant, and me thy
servant, I saw a great tumult, but I knew not what it was.
30 And the king said unto
him, Turn aside, and stand here. And he turned aside, and stood still.
31 And, behold,
Cushy came; and Cushy said, Tidings, my lord the king: for the LORD
hath avenged thee this day of all them that rose up against thee.
32 And the king said
unto Cushy, Is the young man Absalom safe? And Cushy answered, The
enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise against thee to do thee
hurt, be as that young man is.
33 And the king was much moved, and went up to the
chamber over the gate, and wept: and as he went, thus he said, O my son
Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O
Absalom, my son, my son!
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The New Testament portion today is verses 1-19 of chapter 21 in the Gospel of Luke.
This contains some teachings straight from Jesus that are in direct conflict with the teachings of the "Prosperity Preachers", the "name it and claim it" and "faith" cults.
Jesus died terribly. So did most of the Twelve. So did many of the other followers, and that continues to this very day. In places like Mexico. And Africa. And most of the Middle East. And in places like Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, China, and elsewhere.
Luke 21:1-19
1 And he
looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury.
2 And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites.
3
And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast
in more than they all:
4 For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the
offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that
she had.
5
And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones
and gifts, he said,
6
As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which
there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown
down.
7 And
they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what
sign will there be when these things shall come to pass?
8 And he said, Take heed
that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am
Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.
9 But when ye shall
hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must
first come to pass; but the end is not by and by.
10 Then said he unto them, Nation
shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:
11 And great earthquakes shall
be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights
and great signs shall there be from heaven.
12 But before all these, they shall lay
their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the
synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for
my name's sake.
13 And it shall turn to you for a testimony.
14
Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye
shall answer:
15
For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries
shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.
16 And ye shall be betrayed both by parents,
and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they
cause to be put to death.
17 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake.
18 But there shall not an hair of your head perish.
19 In your patience possess ye your souls.
