Friendship Spurned, Wrath Earned

So Hanun took David’s servants and shaved them and cut off their garments in the middle, at their hips, and sent them away;

~1 Chronicles 19:4

And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another.

~Matthew 21:35

In our first key verse for today, King David (after God had firmly established his kingdom) sent messengers to comfort King Hanun of the Ammonites for the death of his father, King Nahash, because Nahash had been kind to David when David was on the run from Saul. And so, with a genuine heart, King David sent his messengers to offer a hand of friendship and comfort to the bereaved King Hanun. Instead, Hanun, unwilling to trust David and assuming that David had sent spies, took David's servants forcefully and humiliated them by shaving half their hair, half of their garments all the way down, and sent them away disgraced. And with that, the Ammonites realized that they had "become a stench to David." The result? The Ammonites amassed a large army and even hired other nations for help, and yet David and his men crushed them in battle, destroying 40,000 soldiers and 7,000 chariots.

A chilling parallel may be drawn between this incident and the parable that our Lord Jesus gave us of the wicked vinedressers in Matthew 21:33-46. Note that in both incidents, the servants of the owner were not well received and were instead beaten, stoned, and killed. Finally, the gracious owner sent his only son, knowing that he must be respected, but instead, the wicked tenants took him and killed him. And then that horrifying reality that Jesus declared, "What then will the owner do to those tenants? ... He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to others."

I must make a sobering application of this to any of my readers who have not surrendered their lives to Christ Jesus, the King of the universe and the Son of the Most High God. On the cross, God Almighty stretches out His hand in friendship to you, although you are guilty and deserve an eternal penalty in hell for all your crimes. So then, do not waste a moment, my reader, and receive the friendship of a good God today. Nothing is more dreadful in all of human experience than to reject the mercy and grace of a good God, because when you have rejected Christ forever, there is nothing left "but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the enemies of God." To reject Jesus and His people is to spit in the face of the Almighty Himself, and nothing could be more outrageous since that is like an insect that rages against the blazing sun. All that is left for those who reject Christ is the judgement day, when Christ shall return to wage war, wipe out his enemies and cast them into the lake of fire and sulfur to be tormented day and night forever.

Instead, my friends, seize the opportunity now by recognizing that God is patient and longsuffering towards us because He does not want anyone to perish but desires that all repent and believe in Him (2 Peter 3:9), and in His patience, He was willing to suffer judgment on your behalf and be condemned for your sake. Receive His forgiveness before it is too late.