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31 July 2007
2 Samuel 8 v 1-4
Later, David defeated the Philistines, conquered them, and took the city of Metheg Ammah.
He also defeated the people of Moab. He made them lie on the ground, and then he used a rope to measure them. Those who were measured within two rope lengths were killed, but those who were within the next rope length were allowed to live. So the people of Moab became servants of David and gave him the payment he demanded.
David also defeated Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to take control again at the Euphrates River. David captured one thousand chariots, seven thousand men who rode in chariots, and twenty thousand foot soldiers. He crippled all but a hundred of the chariot horses.
What a challenging passage we have before us! Here we have David, God's chosen, anointed one, Slaughtering two thirds of the Moabite population, and forcing the remainder into servanthood, then committing an act of animal cruelty that would appal the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
It would be very easy to read today's passage and dismiss it as "just the way they did things then". However, I don't think that the passage is dismissed that easily.
The treatment of the Moabites calls to mind atrocities in Rwanda, Darfur and Cambodia. Mistreatment of animals is common today. Wars have not ceased in this "more enlightened" age.
Maybe now is the time for more and more people to call out to God in prayer, pleading for an end to the violence. Maybe it is also a time for Christians to express their dislike of war and their love of peace. For, as Jesus says in Matthew 5:9, "Those who work to bring peace are happy, because God will call them his children."
Father God, in our violent World, we pray that you would send peace. We pray also that you would send peacemakers, to bring your peace through these, your children. Amen
Written by Matt Chessum
2 Samuel 8 v 1-4
Later, David defeated the Philistines, conquered them, and took the city of Metheg Ammah.
He also defeated the people of Moab. He made them lie on the ground, and then he used a rope to measure them. Those who were measured within two rope lengths were killed, but those who were within the next rope length were allowed to live. So the people of Moab became servants of David and gave him the payment he demanded.
David also defeated Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to take control again at the Euphrates River. David captured one thousand chariots, seven thousand men who rode in chariots, and twenty thousand foot soldiers. He crippled all but a hundred of the chariot horses.
What a challenging passage we have before us! Here we have David, God's chosen, anointed one, Slaughtering two thirds of the Moabite population, and forcing the remainder into servanthood, then committing an act of animal cruelty that would appal the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
It would be very easy to read today's passage and dismiss it as "just the way they did things then". However, I don't think that the passage is dismissed that easily.
The treatment of the Moabites calls to mind atrocities in Rwanda, Darfur and Cambodia. Mistreatment of animals is common today. Wars have not ceased in this "more enlightened" age.
Maybe now is the time for more and more people to call out to God in prayer, pleading for an end to the violence. Maybe it is also a time for Christians to express their dislike of war and their love of peace. For, as Jesus says in Matthew 5:9, "Those who work to bring peace are happy, because God will call them his children."
Father God, in our violent World, we pray that you would send peace. We pray also that you would send peacemakers, to bring your peace through these, your children. Amen
Written by Matt Chessum
