“OUR GREATEST LEGACY”
We face a deficit of biblical morality in the family, government, corporate culture and world at large. Anyone who is a father or a leader knows that communication with their children, employees and constituents is essential to their well being, upbringing as a child, and development as a person and civilization. Today, I am going to show that we all leave a legacy, so let’s leave a really good one and not a bad one. This all starts ultimately with how we parent our children. This is what determines what the next generation reflects God’s goodness and what becomes of the world. And this is our greatest legacy.
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While the title of this talk is “OUR GREATEST LEGACY”, I want to focus on the life of David in 2 Samuel in an effort to illustrate an often overlooked failure within his life that directly effected his LEGACY. It’s easier to look learn from failures of others than make the same mistakes ourselves.
While tempted to give you all types of stats and data about the obvious state of the United States, Europe and the world at large, I want to give you something better-A biblical story that illustrates the core problem of today’s global demise. The reason I am doing it’s biblical principles (or lack there of) that direct peoples steps in one direction or another-for the better or worst.
The most ancient, wise and dependable principles of how to live life are found in the ancient Scriptures. And today’s Scripture reference will focus on the life of David as written about in the book of 2 Samuel. Second Samuel was written by Samuel himself and others CIRCA 930 B.C. and later. Let’s get started:
One thing that has always baffled me about one of the most well known, biblical characters and fathers, (father)-king David, is that he-like the rest of us as imperfect human beings, made a lot selfish decisions as a person, king-leader-but also as a father. David is a great biblical character for sure, but we often don’t get a balanced view of David failures in light of his triumphs. And this detracts from the biblical lessons God has left us through the life of David. Instead, we tend to elevate God’s imperfect servant David due to all his successes-but glossing over failures. But for you and I today, it’s in the failures that some of the greatest lessons are to be learned.
The goal today is not to focus on the FAILURE of DAVID, but how you and I today can learn from David in avoiding the pitfalls in our own life. I think this is why God gave us 2 Samuel in great part. The one major hallmark of King David that is most always overlooked is the simple fact that he had the propensity to make very poor decisions in sparing those who unjustly sought to kill him. We saw that with king Saul and now we see the same predicament with David’s own son Absalom. With Saul, I can see why David left it in God’s hands to take Saul out and not kill the anointed king-Saul himself. That being said, had David been cornered with nowhere to go but the “FOREVER BOX”, did David have the biblical right to take Saul’s life in self-defense? I will leave that up to you to decide. I know that David was wanting to be above approach, but his decision to spare his enemies often came at the expense of others who were in danger of losing their own lives. Yes, in the end God protected them all, but today, I want to get you to think about this more deeply.. Let’s fast forward to 2 Samuel 14 to look at the truth text of today’s lesson.
Rewinding to an earlier time in 2 Samuel, we read about Amnon, David’s son (from another wife) lusting after Tamar, his half sister. Now Tamar happens to be the biological sister of Absalom (David’s son from another wife). The Bible tells us that Absalom killed his half brother Amnon. for raping and disrespecting Tamar, his biological sister. As a result, Absalom fled to “TALMAI” son of Ammihud, the king of Geshur. And king David mourned for his son every day after he fled to Geshur for three years out of fear of his father putting him to death.
Now Joab knew that the king’s heart went out to and for his son Absalom and sent a wise woman to go before king David. She made up a story about a similiar story of what I just explained in order to get the king to grant grace upon her and decree an oath of protection of such a case which reflected the same principled actions of Absalom. By doing so, king David set a precedent, similiar to our president the American legal system makes that help other cases make decisions on future cases. Then the hammer came down in that the lady asked why the king doesn’t apply the same principle to his own son. (2 Samuel 14).
As a result of her visit, she gets king David to agree “PRINCIPALLY” not to allow the banished son to be put to death for killing his half-brother. David immediately that Joab had lovingly put this lady up to this in an effort to bring Absalom back to Jerusalem without consequence. This is what king David said:
“THEN THE KING SAID TO JOAB, BEHOLD NOW, I GRANT THIS: GO BRING BACK THE YOUNG MAN ABSALOM” (2 Samuel 14:21).
But then David failed miserably as a parent-a dad and as a leader of Israel in verse 24 which tells us this:
David said, “…LET HIM DWELL APART IN HIS OWN HOUSE; HE IS NOT TO COME INTO PRESENCE. SO ABSALOM LIVED APART IN HIS OWN HOUSE AND DID NOT COME INTO THE KING’S PRESENCE” (2 Samuel 14:24).
THE TURNING POINT: TAKING THINGS FROM BAD TO WORST.
David gave his own son the cold soldier, forcing him back to Jerusalem, and then deliberately ignoring him instead of forgiving him, loving him and preparing him to assume the throne. Now, if you as the reader are tempted to think that Absalom was not fit to inherit the throne due to his muring his half brother, I submit the following.
Didn’t David himself covet, steal, commit adultery and then murder to cover it up? Why would we give David a pass on his sins of adultery and murder of an innocent man to cover up and not grace upon Absalom for killing his half brother who raped Absalom’s brother and disgracing her-making it impossible to marry for the rest of her life?
I “get” why David brought back Absalom, but I don’t understand why he wouldn’t even speak to his son Absalom. What was it that he was trying to achieve? Absalom was the third and favorite and favorite son of David. As such, he was the clear choice in assuming David’s throne. More than that, despite king David having received God’s favor and forgiveness for his own sins, David failed to extend the same grace and forgiveness upon his own son for his sin.
David, while a man after God’s own heart, he also acted very self-serving and wicked in applying different weights and standards to his son and others than he did to himself. Outside of God’s proclamation that the sword would never leave David’s house, I don’t believe Absalom would ever have went against David if David had not forced him to come back to Jerusalem and then shamefully ignore him.
Furthermore, David had hundreds of wives. What’s up with that? I understand that most of those wives were given to him by neighboring nations to keep peace through blood line family marriage. Never-the-less, David enjoyed Michal, Abigail, and Bathsheba, as prominent in Scripture. Deuteronomy 17:17 forbids kings from taking multiple wife’s. Despite David’s 700 wives and 300 concubines (1 Kings 11:3), David disobeyed this command.
I’m not here to defame David, but to look at how you and I can be better parents, spouses and Christian citizens in our secular world. God gave us the story of king David so that is what we are to look at for interpretation and than apply that to our lives in application.
I understand that as Christians, we often look very highly upon the life of David, but while a great leader and biblical character, he continually did some really bad things. The key word there is continually. I suppose though that his strengths outweighed his weaknesses. I think we tend to idolize David for killing Goliath and for his patients in restraining himself from battling and taking the lives of king Saul and his son Absalom. To be fair, Absalom and Saul were both wrong to pursue David in an effort to kill him, but in Absalom’s case, it was easily avoidable had David done his job as a father and national leader. And that’s my point.
I know it’s not a popular point for many Christians to look at because David was a great man and leaders in many ways, but it’s fair and right to look at both his sinful and good sides without ignoring or elevating one over the other.
I am going to pick this up in a second episode next time, but today, I wanted to lay some groundwork for next time when we pick the story up in an effort to see why we do the same thing David did. To one degree or another, we do much the same. While we probably have not murdered a person, committed adultery, or taken multiple wives, we have committed many of these sins in our minds and hearts. Our nation and much of the Western world is in a pickle. As a result, Christianity is reflected as weak, compromised and lacking the teeth of conviction. God’s Word is quite the same and instructs us to be the same. I’m not worried about Christianity because Christianity is in the hands of God who will raise up godly leaders around the world through the ashes of what we make of Christianity as lived out in the flesh in the United States and all other countries in the world.
We as Christians and the world at large face a deficit of biblical wisdom and morality to guide it rightly. This starts with ourself which then trickles down to our family and into the values of our government, corporate cultures and society as a whole. If we don’t change this, we are going to face further pain at our own demise. And this all starts with equipping the next generation to be godly, morally driven leaders, fathers and mothers, rulers and leaders who stand on consistent principles. This means that this really starts with you and I getting out of the Christian bubble and into the world. We are not to be of the world but we are called to live “IN” the world and not avoid it (John 17:14-15).
This all starts with the family. Anyone who is a father, mother or a leader, knows that communication with their children, employees and constituents is essential to their well being as their upbringing as a child, and development as a person is what directs any culture and civilization.
How you and I parent our children determines how the next generation will run the WORLD-the world’s corporations and government. If you are wondering how the world gotten so off-track and your government so immorally corrupt. Today’s lesson tells us just that. Let’s not only be in prayer about this in our own life and family but take action. This starts by accepting the fact that the world as we know it today is gone. This is simple history as the world empires are run by sinful men and women and all human empires rise and fall. The question is-WHAT COMES NEXT? God is on the throne and will raise up and use His remnant to create a wonderful new world, using those who know and serve his rightly, with biblical morals, and strong conviction.
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