“When David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the spoil to the leaders of Y’hudah who were his friends with a note, “Here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of Adonai.”-1 Samuel 30:26
David’s village was gone, and the Philistine kings no longer cared for his mercenary services.
So, David knew the time was ripe to mend the broken relationship with his people in Judah.
How he did that was something shrewd politicians have been doing since time immemorial.
Out of the war booty he had confiscated from the Amalekites, he sent gifts to the “elders” of Judah.
Here, “elders of Judah” means his friends and neighbors, not just people who live close by but those he had a good relationship with.
In the Bible, two different words can be translated as “neighbor.”
One word is SHAKEN, which means someone who lives nearby, maybe even next door.
The other word is REA, which means someone you have a relationship with, like a friend or a fellow countryman.
So quiz time.
In this context, which Hebrew word for “neighbor” do you think is being used?
SHAKEN or REA?
If you said REA, you got it!
REA is used because David is reaching out to his fellow countrymen or folks he knows and cares about.
So here’s the takeaway for today.
In this cold and cruel world we live in, we tend to divide folks in our community by whether they are SHAKEN or REA.
We may view that Muslim neighbor from Pakistan living across the street from us as SHAKEN.
In contrast, we may view that Jewish family next door as REA.
But here’s the thing?
Is that how God wants us to view our fellow beings?
Is it always best to divide them as “okay to hang out with” or “best to keep a distance” from?
Ya, feel me here?
I totally get that we are NOT to unite with unbelievers.
There’s a difference between ministering to an unbeliever and marrying one.
But in terms of bringing the gospel to the world…
Aren’t we supposed to bring God’s Word to all people in all nations?
I leave you with this famous story from the New Testament below.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“’And who is my neighbor?’
In reply Yeshua said: ‘
A man was going down from Jerusalem
to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers.
They stripped him of his clothes,
beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.
A priest happened to be going down the same road,
and when he saw the man,
he passed by on the other side.
So too, a Levite, when he came to
the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
But a Samaritan, as he traveled,
came where the man was;
and when he saw him,
he took pity on him.
He went to him and bandaged his wounds,
pouring on oil and wine.
Then he put the man on his donkey,
brought him to an inn, and cared for him.
The next day he took out two denarii
and gave them to the innkeeper.
‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return,
I will reimburse you for any
extra expense you may have.’
‘Which of these three do you think was
a neighbor to the man who fell into
the hands of robbers?’
The expert in the law replied,
‘The one who had mercy on him.’
Yeshua told him,
‘Go and do likewise.’
-Luke 10:29-37
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