The Living Word: A Daily Devotional with Jeff & Dale from The Jenkins Institute

When Sheba rebelled against King David, Joab, the commander of the

army, trapped him in the city of Abel Beth Maacah. As the siege engines

were positioned and they started battering the walls, a wise woman

approached Joab. She explained that they were the peaceful and faithful

in Israel, and that destroying a city that was a mother in Israel made no

sense. Why are you doing this?

Simple: we want Sheba…dead or alive. The woman said to Joab, “His

head shall be thrown to you over the wall” (2 Samuel 20:21, ESV).

Problem solved.

Before his untimely death in World War I from a sniper’s bullet,

Joyce Kilmer was the leading Catholic American poet of his

generation. His strong religious faith and dedication to the

natural beauty of God’s world are clearly seen in his most famous

work, Trees:

I think that I shall never see

A poem as lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest

Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,

And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in Summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;

Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree.

Almighty God repeatedly reveals that his people often do not view

time with the same perspective that He does. While we expect

prompt and decisive action, the Lord of All Creation is patient,

letting things develop.

Those Israelites who recognized Abimelech’s authority in Shechem

languished under his rule for three years. But the Lord had a plan,

and it raised opposition against Abimelech from his own subjects.

Daily life turned into a dystopian Mad Max existence, with bandits,

pirates, marauders, and conspirators abounding.

The legendary Canadian power trio RUSH recorded a song in 1978 titled

The Trees. It includes these lyrics:

There is unrest in the forest

Trouble with the trees

For the maples want more sunlight

And the oaks ignore their pleas

So the maples formed a union

And demanded equal rights

They say, “The oaks are just too greedy

We will make them give us light”

Now there’s no more oak oppression

For they passed a noble law

And the trees are all kept equal

By hatchet, axe, and saw

The song’s author, Neil Peart, was more than likely familiar with Jotham’s

discourse on the trees. Peart was addressing issues of social inequality

and collectivism through the observed natural order. But Jotham is

outraged that his kinsman Abimelech has interrupted God’s natural order

by jumping the line and declaring himself king. This is an unfortunate

development that can only end badly.

Gideon’s leadership led to the land enjoying peace for forty years (Judges

8:19). But the seeds of trouble had already been sown. The Israelites

wanted a line of family succession with Gideon, his son, and his grandson

to rule. Gideon rejected that idea, saying “The Lord will rule over you”

(Judges 8:22-23, ESV).

I’ve been a Christian for a long time. Perhaps you have been as well. One thing that we have witnessed through the years is grudges, anger, and resentment that exist between people. This can manifest in an unwillingness to talk to the other person, avoidance, gossip, and slander. I know of some who were so offended that they determined to never “darken the door of the church building again.”

One billion dollars vs. one hundred denarii (around $15). In a stunning reversal, the forgiven becomes the unforgiving; thereleased becomes the enslaver. How can a man, who moments ago was forgiven a debt so enormous that it would have resulted in him losing everything, become a man who now cannot forgive a measly sum from a “fellow servant?”

D.A Carson observed: “We glimpse some idea of the size of the indebtedness when we recall that David donated three thousand talents of gold and seven thousand talents of silver for the construction of the temple, and the princes provided five thousand talents of gold and ten thousand talents of silver (1 Chronicles 29:4, 7).

D.A Carson observed: “We glimpse some idea of the size of the indebtedness when we recall that David donated three thousand talents of gold and seven thousand talents of silver for the construction of the temple, and the princes provided five thousand talents of gold and ten thousand talents of silver (1 Chronicles 29:4, 7).

In biblical times, kings conducted business on behalf of their kingdoms. This could include anything from investing in existing establishments to new start-up ideas. It frequently dealt with individuals, where one man was loaned a sum of money with a contract to repay the loan in a set period of time. In this week’s parable, the king has his own workers (“slaves”) whom he funds for himself.