My
Junk, His Jewel
The 1st Chapter of Matthew’s gospel
records for us the forty-two generations between Abraham and Jesus the
Christ—fourteen from Abraham to David, fourteen from David until the
carrying away to Babylonian, fourteen from Babylonian to Christ (1:17).
Holding down the fifteenth spot is Solomon: “And Jesse begat David the
king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of
Urias” (1:6).
Let’s reflect for a moment about the
events that transpired to put Solomon into that fifteenth slot. David
was taking a little ‘time off’ when he should have been at war with his
troops. When he observed a woman bathing, he abused his authority,
summoned her to his bed for an adulterous act, and sent her home. After
news of her pregnancy, he arranged for her husband Uriah to take some
‘R &R’ in the hopes he and Bathsheba would come together,
providing the perfect alibi for her pregnancy, his
adultery. What he didn’t count on was Uriah being a more
honorable man than he was, refusing to engage in selfish (although
legitimate) sexual pleasures while fellow soldiers remained on the
battle field.
When David’s ‘cover-up’ plan failed,
he conspired to have Uriah exposed to enemy arrows in the hopes he’d
receive a fatal shot, leaving the appearance of a legitimate pregnancy
with no Uriah around to dispute it. David then took Bathsheba
to wife, who gave birth to a son. For a year David lived with his
adultery and murder safely covered up…at least he thought. But his God
saw everything, made it known to his prophet Nathan, who lowered the
boom on David.
David confessed his sin; God
forgave it, but took the life of the child because David had given
Israel’s enemies an opportunity to blaspheme. Forgiveness of sin does
not always erase its consequences.
In time, Bathsheba conceived again,
and had a son David named Solomon, whose name means “peaceful.” What a
fitting name for son who came along after the raging ‘storm’ of
disobedience and chastening had run its course! Moreover, we find this
declaration: “And she [Bathsheba] bare a son, and he [David] called his
name Solomon: and the LORD loved him” (2 Samuel 12:24). What an
affirmation of GRACE!
We know how God endowed Solomon with
unsurpassed wisdom, and added to this humble man great riches besides.
This mention of Solomon as the 15th man in the Messianic succession is
a poignant reminder how a merciful and gracious God can reach into the
JUNK of our lives and extract a JEWEL for his own glory. This truth was
reiterated in Acts 9 when God reached into the JUNK which was the life
of Saul of Tarsus and produced Paul, perhaps the greatest JEWEL the
Christian church has ever known.
Got JUNK? God just might have a JEWEL
in the making! text
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