Joel M Bradshaw

1Now a troublemaker named Sheba son of Bikri, a Benjamite, happened to be there. He sounded the trumpet and shouted,

“We have no share in David, no part in Jesse’s son! Every man to his tent, Israel!”

2So all the men of Israel deserted David to follow Sheba son of Bikri. But the men of Judah stayed by their king all the way from the Jordan to Jerusalem.–2 Samuel 20

1. David was being reinstalled on his throne after the disastrous coup of Absalom.
2. Political tensions were being stoked along family lines.
3. Since David was from Judah, the other tribes [called “Israel” here] were questioning whether he would be their king, too. Would he just represent Judah or all of Israel?
4. A man named Sheba capitalized on all this and was fomenting division. Interestingly enough, after David and Solomon’s death, the land would forever be divided into those two national groups (Judah and Israel).
5. Shebas’s basic argument was what divided Israel was more important than what or who united them.
6. Our society loves to divide people and get them angry at each other. Christians should be different. The Jesus who unites us is vastly more important than the issues that divide us.
7. Pursue unity. Honor Jesus. Live His gospel. Love your neighbor. Stop making your life more about the political and societal matters that divide. Live for the Jesus who brings Gospel unity. Let today be the day.–JMB