I’m glad to welcome you to your favourite column this week. I intend to continue to show you some examples of family values. God’s purpose in this message is for you to develop godly family values which generations after you will keep. And if your family has such godly values already, God wants you to preserve these godly values and bequeath same to your children also.
In the two previous editions, I discussed the examples of the Rechabites and Nabal and Caleb. Whereas the Rechabites (Recabites) kept the godly family values bequeathed to them by Jehonadab their ancestor long after his death, Nadab’s life was contrary to that of Caleb, a man God commended for following Him wholly. Let me show you another example.
David and his family
Just like Nabal, David also came from the tribe of Judah. David and his family are also a case study in family values. David became a polygamist contrary to God’s instruction in Deut 17:17: “The king must not take many wives for himself, because they will turn his heart away from the Lord…” (NLT). David violated this instruction of God against polygamy. The Bible says after hearing of Nabal’s death, David sent messengers to Abigail to ask her to become his wife. He married her even when he was already married. (1Sam 25:39) And in 1Sam 25:43, the Bible says, David married Ahinoam from Jezreel.
David was not satisfied; he went for more wives. Since he started violating the Word of God, there was no stopping him! 2 Samuel 5:13 says, “After moving from Hebron to Jerusalem, David married more concubines and wives, and they had more sons and daughters” (NLT). These series of marriages and obsession for women were just setting the stage for the monumental disaster David had in his unholy affair with Bathsheba that dented his glorious reign until today. “Late one afternoon, after his midday rest, David got out of bed and was walking on the roof of the palace. As he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath.
He sent someone to find out who she was, and he was told, ‘She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.’ Then David sent messengers to get her; and when she came to the palace, he slept with her. She had just completed the purification rites after having her menstrual period. Then she returned home. Later, when Bathsheba discovered that she was pregnant, she sent David a message, saying, ‘I’m pregnant” (2Samuel 11:2-5 NLT). David not only impregnated Bathsheba but callously got the husband killed and married her. But David paid for it dearly because the Righteous Judge visited him with His judgement which never left David till he died.
Until his dying years, David, no doubt, had problem with women and his servants were aware of this problem. They devised a carnal way of keeping him warm by bringing a virgin to him to sleep with. What happened to his harem of wives and concubines that he needed a new wife? What kind of illness was that? And what kind of therapy prescription was that?? When David couldn’t do anything with the woman despite his reckless sexual life, they knew his death was close! “King David was now very old, and no matter how many blankets covered him, he could not keep warm.? So his advisers told him, ‘Let us find a young virgin to wait on you and look after you, my lord. She will lie in your arms and keep you warm.’? So they searched throughout the land of Israel for a beautiful girl, and they found Abishag from Shunem and brought her to the king.
The girl was very beautiful, and she looked after the king and took care of him. But the king had no sexual relations with her” (I Kings 1:1-4 NLT).
Unfortunately, Solomon took after that ungodly family value of polygamy and surpassed David’s record. His obsession for women was legendary; it was unprecedentedly scandalous. “Now King Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides Pharaoh’s daughter, he married women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon, and from among the Hittites. The Lord had clearly instructed the people of Israel, ‘You must not marry them, because they will turn your hearts to their gods.’ Yet Solomon insisted on loving them anyway. He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines. And in fact, they did turn his heart away from the Lord” (1 Kgs 11:1-3 NLT).
Solomon violated the Word of God concerning marriage, just as David, his father had done. Though Solomon was wisdom personified, one cannot find any wisdom in his having 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines. The negative consequence of this disobedience was that the many women in Solomon’s life, especially the foreign women, turned his heart away from the Lord. Solomon backslid from following the Lord in his old age; he worshipped foreign gods. “In Solomon’s old age, they turned his heart to worship other gods instead of being completely faithful to the Lord his God, as his father, David, had been.? Solomon worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech, the detestable god of the Ammonites. In this way, Solomon did what was evil in the Lord’s sight; he refused to follow the Lord completely, as his father, David, had done” (1 Kgs 11:4-6 NLT). The failure of David with regard to relationship with women was compounded in the life of his son, Solomon. Parents, especially fathers, must be careful about the values they imbibe and model to their children.
I believe you’ve heard the voice of God in this message. My prayer is that you will not bequeath to your children ungodly family values. I pray that your children and generations after you will remember you for good for laying a good foundation for them. I’ll stop here today and continue this message next week. Remain blessed.
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