Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Shimei Breaks His Promise

I Kings 2:36-46

“And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said unto him, Build thee an house in Jerusalem, and dwell there, and go not forth thence any whither.  For it shall be, that on the day thou goest out, and passest over the brook Kidron, thou shalt know for certain that thou shalt surely die: thy blood shall be upon thine own head. 

And Shimei said unto the king, The saying is good: as my lord the king hath said, so will thy servant do. And Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many days.” (I Kings 2:36-38) 

Shimei was one of Saul’s family.   He still resented that David had taken the kingdom, possibly feeling it should have been given to him.  He blamed David for Saul and his son’s deaths, and tried to stir up trouble for David.  According to II Samuel 16:5-8.  “And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, thence came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera: he came forth, and cursed still as he came.  And he cast stones at David, and at all the servants of king David: and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left.  And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial: LORD hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned; and the LORD hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son: and, behold, thou art taken in thy mischief, because thou art a bloody man.”

David warned Solomon to watch out for him because with his attitude he could never be trusted, in I Kings 2:8-9.  “And, behold, thou hast with thee Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite of Bahurim, which cursed me with a grievous curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim: but he came down to meet me at Jordan, and I sware to him by the LORD, saying, I will not put thee to death with the sword.  Now therefore hold him not guiltless: for thou art a wise man, and knowest what thou oughtest to do unto him; but his hoar head bring thou down to the grave with blood.”  He was not to let him get by with anything.

Solomon essentially told Shimei that he had to stay in Jerusalem where he could keep an eye on him.  If he went farther a  field than the little brook, the Kidron, he would forfeit his life.  It was his responsibility to stay within the boundaries.  Shimei agreed that he could live with Solomon’s conditions.

“And it came to pass at the end of three years, that two of the servants of Shimei ran away unto Achish son of Maachah king of Gath. And they told Shimei, saying, Behold, thy servants be in Gath. 

And Shimei arose, and saddled his ass, and went to Gath to Achish to seek his servants: and Shimei went, and brought his servants from Gath.” (I Kings 2:39-40) 

For three years, Shimei had no problem living within the boundaries.  Then two of his servants ran away to the Philistines in Gath.  Not trusting anyone else to get them back, Shimei went to Gath himself, ignoring his agreement with Solomon, probably assuming Solomon would not hear or wouldn’t care.

“And it was told Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath, and was come again. 

And the king sent and called for Shimei, and said unto him, Did I not make thee to swear by the LORD, and protested unto thee, saying, Know for a certain, on the day thou goest out, and walkest abroad any whither, that thou shalt surely die? and thou saidst unto me, The word that I have heard is good.  Why then hast thou not kept the oath of the LORD, and the commandment that I have charged thee with?” (I Kings 2:41-43)

Solomon did hear about Shimei’s excursion and called him in, reminding him of the agreement they had made.   He questioned him as to why he had not kept the agreement after making it, especially since it was an agreement they made before God as witness.  To discount it was essentially a mockery of God.  Ecclesiastes 5:4-6 warns, “When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.  Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.  Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?”

It is a reminder of how seriously God takes our word.  That so many today take a promise so lightly, and especially an oath of marriage or office is especially troubling.  I do not think God will overlook the times when we have made such a production of our promise, then break it.

“The king said moreover to Shimei, Thou knowest all the wickedness which thine heart is privy to, that thou didst to David my father: therefore the LORD shall return thy wickedness upon thine own head; And king Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the LORD for ever.” (I Kings 2:44-45)

Solomon then reminded Shimei of why the agreement had been made, that Shimei had knowingly falsely accused David of killing Saul and his family, trying to turn people against him.  It was his own wickedness that had brought about the agreement, and now it was his violation of the agreement that would result in his death.  Solomon would not be held guilty for his execution.

“So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; which went out, and fell upon him, that he died. And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.” (I Kings 2:46)

With the death of Shimei, all the prospective troublemakers from David’s reign were eliminated.  Solomon no longer had to worry about questions about his right to be king.


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