THE DISRUPTION OF KING DAVID'S REIGN
The glorious reign of king David was disrupted when one of his sons rose up against him. Notice that Absalom did not at first, openly rebel against his father. He only did this after he made sure that the people were in his grips. But how could he amass the support of the people? He presented himself to them as one that loves them more, and one who would do them greater justice than his father.
2 Sam. 15:1-6:
1 In the course of time, Absalom provided himself with a chariot and horses and with fifty men to run ahead of him.
2 He would get up early and stand by the side of the road leading to the city gate. Whenever anyone came with a complaint to be placed before the king for a decision, Absalom would call out to him, "What town are you from?" He would answer, "Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel."
3 Then Absalom would say to him, "Look, your claims are valid and proper, but there is no representative of the king to hear you."
4 And Absalom would add, "If only I were appointed judge in the land! Then everyone who has a complaint or case could come to me and I would see that they receive justice."
5 Also, whenever anyone approached him to bow down before him, Absalom would reach out his hand, take hold of him and kiss him.
6 Absalom behaved in this way toward all the Israelites who came to the king asking for justice, and so he stole the hearts of the people of Israel.
The Bible says, “….. so Absalom STOLE the hearts of the men of Israel” v. 6.
In this act of Absalom, we see various intruders trying to usurp the unique position of God in the church. We see them in the form of material wealth, magnificent edifies, academism, organizational structures, and personality cults. Each portrays itself as having the interest of the church at heart more than God. Each portrays itself as being in a better position to advance the cause of the church and enhance her image, by more acceptable and easy means than God.
‘Why depend on the old-fashioned God to do things in a modern society?” they often ask. “Oh, that I were made to rule in God’s stead, in the church, then will it become really acceptable in the society,” each one of them laments.
The extent to which these pretentious intruders have succeeded in their mischievous campaigns can be assessed by what exists in the churches today. Where material wealth, is enthroned, one is as much a saint as he can afford to boast of material acquisitions.
The more you have and can give, the more wonderful a Christian you are. Church leaders sing your praise from the pulpits, assuring you of great rewards in heaven, your dirty life notwithstanding. The less you have and can afford to give the less a Christian you are. Where magnificent edifices is enthroned, what counts is the type of building the church can boast of.
Where academism is enthroned, the worth of a minister is determined by his position in the administrative set up. Yes, where personality cult is enthroned, the question becomes, “Who are you? and What are you?
I do not here condemn having nice church building, neither do I condemn being educated. Of course, you should strive for excellence but having all these are not measures of your perfectness. In Fact the more of these you have, the more humble you should become. There is nothing you are or have which you do not receive from God who owns all things.
There is no gainsaying the fact that the church has, to a large extent, fallen victim of the wicked machinations of these intruders. A usurper is occupying the throne that rightly belongs to God and Him alone in the church. And where do all these leave us?
During the reign of Absalom, David, the legitimate king was temporary relegated to the background. Notice that he was not actually overthrown. This is very significant. All the time that Absalom, the impostor was reigning over the people, David was still the legitimate king, but he could not carry out his functions as the king, because of the failure of his people to recognize and submit themselves to Him. Notice, also, that the king still had people loyal to him all the time, and that in the battle that followed he and his people emerged victorious.
Here again we see the position of things in the church. God, as the King of the church can never stop to be. His reign is from everlasting to everlasting. There is no possibility of over-throwing Him. All the impostors have succeeded in doing is to limit His operations within the church. Also, God still has a host of faithful Christians who still acknowledge His absolute authority over them.
And in the battle that rages on, God’s people are on the side of victory. AMEN.
“Jesus shall reign where’er the sun
Doth his successive journey run;
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore
Till moons shall wax and wane no more”
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