The welcoming celebration for the king had been unplanned, and the northern tribes were underrepresented when it occurred. Words were spoken, accusations made, feelings hurt, and the northern tribes went home in disgust instead of escorting David back to Jerusalem.
ACCUSATION OF STEALING. Perhaps the northern tribes should have been embarrassed that more of them had not met the king, but instead of faulting themselves, the northern tribes directed attention on the tribe of Judah. "Why," they asked David, "did our brothers, the men of Judah, steal the king away and bring him across the Jordan?" By using the word "steal," they hoped to remind David that they had been first to call him back as king, and they implied that Judah wanted to separate the king from the rest of Israel.
JUSTIFICATION. Of course, the men of Judah overheard. They responded that there was nothing unusual about their eagerness to welcome the king because they were more closely related to David, who was of the tribe of Judah. "Why," they asked, "are you angry with us? Have we used our relationship to the king for any selfish or unscrupulous purpose?"
ACCUSATION OF SHOWING CONTEMPT. The northern tribes responded that they had ten shares in the king and therefore deserved more from their relationship to him. Since Judah did not recognize their greater share, they accused Judah of treating the rest of Israel with contempt. Judah's contempt was confirmed, they suggested, by their refusal to credit the northern tribes with being the first to speak of recalling the king.
HARSH WORDS. The men of Judah responded with even harsher words. What had begun as unplanned but joyous welcome for the king became a harsh war of words. Rather than resolving the differences, Sheba, a troublemaker who lived in the hill country of Ephraim (2 Samuel 20:21), convinced the northern tribes to go home while the men of Judah escorted the king to Jerusalem.
The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
-- James 3:6
No comments:
Post a Comment