“‘Know for a fact that on the day you go out and cross Vadi Kidron, you will certainly die; your blood will be on your own head.‘ Shim‘i answered the king, ‘What you have said is good; as my lord the king has said, so will your servant do.’ So Shim‘i lived in Yerushalayim for a long time.”-1 Kings 2:37-38
When we last left off, Shimei, the old man who cursed King David, agreed not to cross the Kidron Valley again.
If you ask me, that wasn’t such a bad deal.
However, as expected, an incident occurred 3 years later.
What happened?
Two of Shimei’s slaves escaped and ran off to a place called Philistine Gath.
The fact that Shimei had slaves tells us Solomon allowed Shimei to bring all of his wealth and his entire household with him to Jerusalem.
In other words, the restrictions Solomon imposed on Shimei weren’t harsh at all.
Anyway, Shimei wanted his slaves back.
So he ignored his deal with Solomon, rode off to Gath, got his slaves back, and returned to Jerusalem.
The question that arises is, why in the world would Shimei take such a dangerous risk?
Solomon made it clear that if he crossed the Kidron River, he was a dead man.
The answer to this question is something we should pay attention to because it serves as a warning that we should not treat our relationship with God in a frivolous manner.
So here’s the thing.
A total of 3 years had passed since Shimei made his promise to Solomon.
Since he had been obedient that whole time…
And since his venturing out of Jerusalem would only be for a quick trip…
He figured Solomon would be cool with it.
He figured wrong.
Also, consider this was the same rash man who thought he had gotten away with cursing and hurling stones at David when David was fleeing from Absalom.
As far as Shimei was concerned, all he had had to do was apologize profusely with a lot of ridiculous head bowing, and he got away scot-free.
So I betcha he thought he could manipulate Solomon in the same way.
As we’ll see the next time we meet, he couldn’t have been more wrong.
Anyway, for now, let’s transition over to the takeaway.
It is this:
Just as Shimei treated his promise to Solomon in a frivolous manner…
Do we not act in the same way in terms of our obedience to the Lord?
Shimei said to himself…
“I’ve been a good boy for 3 years, and I’m just gonna leave Jerusalem for a quick time. It shouldn’t be a big deal.”
Eve in the garden, said to herself…
“That fruit on the tree that God told us not to eat looks so freakin’ good. Surely one little bite couldn’t hurt.”
The believer says to him or herself…
“Eating that bacon cheeseburger ain’t gonna affect my salvation. And besides, I’m a gentile, so it’s totally fine for me to eat unclean foods.”
Or…
“Who cares if I work on the Shabbat. Jesus did away with the Law anyway.”
Or whatever lame excuses we make to disobey God’s commands.
I’ve been there myself too many times to count.
So do you see what’s happening here?
When we make excuses, this slippery slope leads to disobedience.
And this disobedience can lead to seriously impairing our relationship with the Lord.
Ya feel me?
Done.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Therefore, whoever ignores one of
the least of these commands and
teaches others to do the same will
be called the lowest in the
kingdom of heaven. But whoever
keeps these commands and teaches
people to keep them will be called
great in the kingdom of heaven.”
-Matthew 5:19
Leave a Reply