1 Kings 2:36-37

New International Version (NIV)

Then the king sent for Shimei and said to him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there, but do not go anywhere else. The day you leave and cross the Kidron Valley, you can be sure you will die; your blood will be on your own head.”

For Meditation

Shimei was under discipline from King Solomon for the insults and stones hauled at David, his father, during his flight from Absalom (2 Sam. 16:5-8). David charged Solomon on his death bed to make sure that he brought Shimei’s “grey head down to the grave in blood” (1 Kings 2:9). So, in a grand display of wisdom and tact, Solomon “spared” Shimei’s life with one precarious condition. He would swear by the Lord not to leave Jerusalem, or go anywhere else, or he would surely die (1 Kings 2:36-40). Shimei thought the king had been magnanimous in his ruling, so he joyfully agreed. “What the king has said is good. Your servant will do as my lord the king has said” (38).

1. So, why did Shimei disobey the king’s orders? Why did he leave Jerusalem to go after two of his runaway slaves, three years later (39-40)? Did he forget the death sentence Solomon had pronounced for such disobedience?
2. Why did Shimei put the recovery of his slaves above his life? Keeping in mind that slaves were valued as property in that culture, do you see how easy it was for him to disobey the king at the risk of his life when economics came to play in this saga?
3. Or, was it the lapse of time that obscured Shimei’s memory? How could he be so flippant and forgetful? But, isn’t that how we are?
4. Don’t we carelessly put ourselves in harm’s way sometimes by jumping into some economic activity, for all its worth, while blatantly disobeying the very word of God we have accepted as good?
5. Why do we conveniently forget so quickly? Why do we allow time to dull our memory when it comes to the things of God, when we never forget anything that feeds and gratifies the flesh?

I pray you will correctly assess the importance of what God has said concerning all your personal interests, be they cultural, social, economic, or political. Not only that, but that you will not allow such interests to truncate your enthusiastic response to Christ at any time.

So: May you kill the “Shimei factor” in you by dying to self and staying alive for Christ; and may you keep your spiritual fervor ablaze always for God’s honor. The consequences of any other choice are not worth it.

Shalom