Given the paganism masquerading as ‘Christianity’, seen everywhere at this time of the year, I always like to bring a word of instruction to the boys and girls of Kilskeery Independent Christian School regarding what the Bible says about the birth of Christ.
Hanun humiliates David’s ambassadors, by having their tunics and beards slashed. 1240s, Maciejowski Bible, Leaf 40
“Now it came to pass after this, that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon died, and his son reigned in his stead. And David said, I will shew kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father shewed kindness to me. And David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. So the servants of David came into the land of the children of Ammon to Hanun, to comfort him. But the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanun, Thinkest thou that David doth honour thy father, that he hath sent comforters unto thee? are not his servants come unto thee for to search, and to overthrow, and to spy out the land? Wherefore Hanun took David’s servants, and shaved them, and cut off their garments in the midst hard by their buttocks, and sent them away,” 1 Chronicles 19:1-4.
As I said in part one of this Gospel study, these verses formed part of my daily Bible reading on Monday, 25th November. As I read them I thought of the parallel there is between the kindness of David, the reaction of the Ammonite king and princes to his kindness and the parallel reaction of men to the greater kindness, by far, of the Word that the Lord sends to sinful man, amidst the mourning that sin has wrought universally amongst us!
Please consider: —
I. THE WORDS OF SYMPATHY TO THE MOURNERS CAME FROM A GREAT KING.
We are told that at that time, following a series of great victories by David over neighbouring nations, that it had all come about because, “Thus the LORD preserved David whithersoever he went,” 1 Chronicles 18:13.
1. For David to take note of the sadness that had come upon the household of “Nahash the king of the children of Ammon”, by the death of the old king, was an act of gracious kindness. It is very obvious from the passage that David was engaged in the establishing of his kingdom with the help of the Lord. For him to take the time to consider the grief of the family of Nahash indicated his love and concern for the family of a man who had shown kindness to him (verse 2).
Likewise, we can say with the Psalmist that “The LORD most high is terrible; he is a great King over all the earth,” Psalm 47:2. Yet, the “great King”, “so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life,” John 3:16. That displays kindness and love at their ultimate level!
It has ever been a source of great wonder to me, and indeed to all who have experienced the saving grace of God, why he ever took notice of me. (more…)
Banishment of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, drawing by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld
“Now it came to pass after this, that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon died, and his son reigned in his stead. And David said, I will shew kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father shewed kindness to me. And David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. So the servants of David came into the land of the children of Ammon to Hanun, to comfort him. But the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanun, Thinkest thou that David doth honour thy father, that he hath sent comforters unto thee? are not his servants come unto thee for to search, and to overthrow, and to spy out the land? Wherefore Hanun took David’s servants, and shaved them, and cut off their garments in the midst hard by their buttocks, and sent them away,” 1 Chronicles 19:1-4.
These verses formed part of my daily Bible reading on Monday, 25th November. As I read them I thought of the parallel there is between the kindness of David, the reaction of the Ammonite king and princes to his kindness and the parallel reaction of men to the greater kindness, by far, of the Word that the Lord sends to sinful man, amidst the mourning that sin has wrought universally amongst us!
The Saviour uttered those immeasurably kind words, recorded in Matthew: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light,” Matthew 11:28-30.
The two terms the Saviour uses to describe mankind are “labour” and “heavy laden”. The word “labour” carries the meaning of ‘weary, tired, exhausted with toil or burdens or grief.’ “Heavy laden” refers to the ‘placing of a burden upon, to load up.’
The Lord Jesus knows the heart and state of mankind better than any! In truth, apart from the Bible and the faithful expositions of its teaching by godly witnesses, there is nothing in all the annals of men that has come anywhere near describing the miserable state of the human heart or the origins of that misery!
The consequences of that misery and man’s reaction to it, the fruitless seeking after relief through drugs and alcohol, the delving deep in to pleasure-seeking, even man-contrived religion – all have availed nothing!
Yes, men have linked such behaviour, to a degree at least, to the wretched distress that is everywhere present among men. However, they have not, cannot, truthfully identify the reason for such misery nor prescribe an answer!
Man, the most intelligent and educated, is incapable of understanding his own heart. It is only revealed to men by the Word of God.
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings,” Jeremiah 17:9-10.
Only the Lord can “search” and “try” (examine) the human heart. It remains an ‘enigma’ to the wisest of men who reject the Bible’s revelation of it.
The Gospel is God’s cure for the miseries that SIN has brought upon mankind. The origins of sin amongst men goes back to the day when Adam, the representative of humanity, for in him physically the seed of all humanity resided, disobeyed the terms of the Covenant which the Lord made with him as our representative.
The ‘Shorter Catechism’ explains the matter with great proficiency!
Question 16: Did all mankind fall in Adam’s first transgression?
Answer: The covenant being made with Adam, not only for himself, but for his posterity (1); all mankind, descending from him by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him, in his first transgression (2).
(1). And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. (Genesis 1:28, KJV).
And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. (Genesis 2:16-17, KJV).
(2). Therefore as by the offence of one [judgment came] upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one [the free gift came] upon all men unto justification of life. (Romans 5:18, KJV). (more…)
