“King David answered by saying, ‘Summon Bat-Sheva to me.’ She entered the king’s presence and stood before the king. Then the king swore an oath: ‘As Adonai lives, who has delivered me from all adversity, as I swore to you by Adonai the God of Israel, ‘Your son Shlomo will be king after me; he will sit on my throne in my place,’ so will I do today.’”-1 Kings 1:28-29
It appears that Bathsheba had left David’s royal chambers when Nathan had entered.
I say that because in verse 28, we’re told that David summoned Bathsheba back.
She returned, and then that’s when David uttered the mother of all announcements.
In front of Bathsheba, Avishag, Nathan, and presumably some other members of his court, David declares that Solomon will be Israel’s next king.
The typical Biblical vow-making formula is used here.
David swears an oath in the name of YEHOVAH.
Once David did that, there was no way the vow could be overturned since God himself became the guarantor of the oath.
David’s declaration was to take effect immediately.
Solomon would assume the throne from that very day.
Overjoyed and filled with gratitude, Bathsheba responds with…
“Let my lord King David live forever.”
Let’s examine the phrase “live forever” for a second.
In Hebrew, it is CHAYAH OLAM.
Honestly, the words “live forever” don’t quite do the original Hebrew justice here.
In modern terms, it’s more accurate to translate this as, “May my Lord David live eternally.”
“What the hell is the difference?”…is what you’re probably thinking, right?
Well, homie, there’s actually a huge difference here.
So pay attention.
See, Bathsheba wasn’t wishing her husband a long life here on earth.
She was actually wishing him the opposite.
She was wishing him a happy afterlife AFTER he died.
That was kind of the point behind why Nathan and Bathsheba rushed to his royal chambers.
They had to make it clear to David that he didn’t have much time left on this plane of existence.
That since his time was so limited…
He had better hurry up and announce Solomon to be the next king while he still had the breath of life in him.
Take a look at what Bathsheba told David in verse 21:
“If you don’t, then,
when my lord the king sleeps
with his ancestors,
I and my son Shlomo
will be considered criminals.”
Bathsheba was doing something very few people in David’s royal court dared to do.
She was speaking openly about his impending death to him.
And it was the right thing to do given the circumstances.
This leads to today’s takeaway.
Too many people are living out their lives as if they’re gonna live forever.
This leads to significant procrastination when it comes to carrying out important duties.
Ya feel me?
So the lesson for today is to be aware that your time on this planet is limited.
It could be much more limited than you can even imagine.
So if there’s some important stuff you gotta do…
Apologies to be made…
Certain relationships to mend…
Or whatever.
Don’t put it off.
Live for the Lord TODAY with all of your heart, soul, and mind.
Ya feeling me?
Done.
When we read in the Bible that God talks about life and death, he isn’t talking about life and death as we define it- we live on a mortal plane of existence, and God lives on an eternal plane of existence, so he is talking about our eternal life or death (life, as I understand it, being in his presence and death being somewhere else).
Another thing I have discovered is too often people are too concerned about Eschatology, focused on the Acharit HaYamim (End Days) so much so that they don’t concentrate on what they are doing today!
We need to watch where we are walking instead of focusing on where we will be walking, and what that means is to obey God now, today, and do what he says we should do and not what some religion teaches (unless, of course, that religion teaches you to obey the Torah).
No one knows when they will have their last breath, so live now as if it is you last breath, obeying God, showing mercy, humility, and faith that through Yeshua’s sacrifice we can find forgiveness, which is what we need to have life, eternal.
Great reminder, Steven. We all waste so much time regretting the past or worrying about the future, instead of being present here and now. As Yeshua said, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Be blessed.