“Glory to the Precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ”

2 Corinthians 10: 4, 5

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 

casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen

We, the bride, the church should safeguard our soul so that evil thoughts do not arise in us.

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in the portion of the Bible that we meditated upon in the past days, we meditated that God is the God who provides greatly for us, the bride, the church even during our old age.

Next what we are meditating upon is that 2 Samuel 20: 1 - 8 And there happened to be there a rebel, whose name was Sheba the son of Bichri, a Benjamite. And he blew a trumpet and said: “We have no share in David, Nor do we have inheritance in the son of Jesse; Every man to his tents, O Israel!”

So every man of Israel deserted David, and followed Sheba the son of Bichri. But the men of Judah, from the Jordan as far as Jerusalem, remained loyal to their king.

Now David came to his house at Jerusalem. And the king took the ten women, his concubines whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in seclusion and supported them, but did not go into them. So they were shut up to the day of their death, living in widowhood.

And the king said to Amasa, “Assemble the men of Judah for me within three days and be present here yourself.” 

So Amasa went to assemble the men of Judah. But he delayed longer than the set time which David had appointed him. 

And David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom. Take your lord’s servants and pursue him, lest he find for himself fortified cities, and escape us.” 

So Joab’s men, with the Cherethites, the Pelethites, and all the mighty men, went out after him. And they went out of Jerusalem to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri. 

When they were at the large stone which is in Gibeon, Amasa came before them. Now Joab was dressed in battle armor; on it was a belt with a sword fastened in its sheath at his hips; and as he was going forward, it fell out.

When we meditate upon the above-mentioned verses, because the talk arose between the men of Israel and the men of Judah that they had more shares with King David, the words of the men of Judah were fiercer. And there happened to be there a rebel, whose name was Sheba the son of Bichri, a Benjamite. And he blew a trumpet and said: “We have no share in David, Nor do we have inheritance in the son of Jesse; Every man to his tents, O Israel!” So every man of Israel deserted David and followed Sheba the son of Bichri. But the men of Judah, from the Jordan as far as Jerusalem, remained loyal to their king. Now David came to his house at Jerusalem. And the king took the ten women, his concubines whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in seclusion and supported them, but did not go into them. So they were shut up to the day of their death, living in widowhood. And the king said to Amasa, “Assemble the men of Judah for me within three days and be present here yourself.” So Amasa went to assemble the men of Judah. But he delayed longer than the set time which David had appointed him. And David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom. Take your lord’s servants and pursue him, lest he find for himself fortified cities, and escape us.” So Joab’s men, with the Cherethites, the Pelethites, and all the mighty men, went out after him. And they went out of Jerusalem to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri. When they were at the large stone which is in Gibeon, Amasa came before them. Now Joab was dressed in battle armor; on it was a belt with a sword fastened in its sheath at his hips; and as he was going forward, it fell out.

Then what Joab did was that in 2 Samuel 20: 9, 10 Then Joab said to Amasa, “Are you in health, my brother?” And Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him. 

But Amasa did not notice the sword that was in Joab’s hand. And he struck him with it in the stomach, and his entrails poured out on the ground; and he did not strike him again. Thus he died. Then Joab and Abishai his brother pursued Sheba the son of Bichri.

According to the above-mentioned verse, then Joab and Abishai his brother pursued Sheba the son of Bichri.

My dear people, God is showing us as a pattern the above-mentioned words and telling us that Sheba did not like the men of Israel and the men of Judah accepting David as their king and he is chasing the Israelites away from King David. But this is the deed of the devil and for us not to give place for Christ the king to come and stay within us the spirit of Sheba makes us far away from the Lord and in our soul the devil comes and puts many evil thoughts and destroys our soul and makes it desolate and will make it the dwelling place of the serpents. Therefore the King is making the church of Christ to gather together. When the church gathers together and with the true word of God when they worship the Lord then the Lord will chase away that evil spirit from us. But when we see here to delay the church to gather together for worship Amasa is being the reason. So David is sending his servants. The reason for this is so that the crowd of the evil one should not gather in the city and stay there and so David is acting first. Therefore, Joab, the servant that David sent when he sees Amasa on the way itself the belt with a sword fastened in its sheath at his hips which he had tied it fell out and he took it as a sign and so he caught him and asked him are you in health brother and took him by the beard with his right hand to kiss him. But Amasa did not notice the sword that was in Joab’s hand. And he struck him with it in the stomach once, and his entrails poured out on the ground; Thus he died. This means that we should not allow such kind of deeds of the devil to continue to work within us and if we also act first then our Lord Jesus Christ will send his sword within us and destroy them. Only them the kingdom of God will come and dwell within us. Therefore we must meditate upon these verses well and to remove the evil thoughts that are arising in us let us submit ourselves.

Let us pray. May the Lord bless you all abundantly. 

       - To be continued