"Toxic masculinity" - LOL!

I just finished reading 2nd Samuel 23 and the thought that struck me was "I guess God didn't get the message about how bad "toxic masculinity" is."  :)  I am being facetious of course. 

To set the stage it is getting to the end of David's life.  It is chronicling the "Might Men of David".  Here is an example.
 

2 Samuel 23:8-12(NKJV)

These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb-Basshebeth the Tachmonite, chief among the captains. He was called Adino the Eznite, because he had killed eight hundred men at one time. 

And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo, the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there for battle, and the men of Israel had retreated. 

He arose and attacked the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand stuck to the sword. The Lord brought about a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to plunder. 

And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines had gathered together into a troop where there was a piece of ground full of lentils. So the people fled from the Philistines. 

But he stationed himself in the middle of the field, defended it, and killed the Philistines. So the Lord brought about a great victory.

What I noticed  is that the men God holds up as examples and heros here are all men of valor.  Men skilled in the art of war.  Men willing to fight to the death for the things they believe in. Men loyal to their King. 

In other words.…masculine men!  :)

"Gird up the loins of your mind" What???

Is that Scripture's way of saying get some cajones?  :)

One of the things we intentionally taught our kids was mental toughness. 

Here is just one example of how that paid off.  My youngest son Jed was pitching in a Little League game.  I think he was 11.  There were two adults on the other teams sideline just mercilessly verbally harrassing my son.  So much so that the home plate umpire called time and went over and told them to knock it off. 

The thing is, the harassment didn't bother Jed at all.  He had a smile on his face and just kept pitching, and pitching well.  What the umpire didn't know was that the two adults who were harassing him were two of his travel ball coaches.  They knew he was mentally tough enough to take it! (Yeah, that was a proud Pappa moment :)

So I ran across this verse this morning and it seems to be preaching mental toughness although with some strange wording. 
 

1 Peter 1:13(NKJV)

Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 

 

Loins of your mind?  I don't know about you but with the reference to the loins it seems to me that Peter was telling people to get some mental cajones or in other words get some mental toughness. 

Pretty cool!

Here is an interesting concept

We think of sinning as an active verb.  It is something we "do".  But is that always the case?  Are there time we sin by not doing something?
 

James 4:17(NKJV)

Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

 

Now we know the answer don’t we? Not doing something can sometimes be as sinful as doing something. 

 

I love when Scripture keeps it simple.

 

Is this "discernment" training?

There are several places in the Bible that leave me wondering exactly what I am supposed to learn from the text.  Things in the text that just make you go 'huh?".  Here is one that I ran across today.

 

2 Samuel 9:11-13(NKJV)

Then Ziba said to the king, “According to all that my lord the king has commanded his servant, so will your servant do.” “As for Mephibosheth,” said the king, “he shall eat at my table like one of the king’s sons.” 

Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Micha. And all who dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants of Mephibosheth. 

So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem, for he ate continually at the king’s table. And he was lame in both his feet.

 

Here is what I find odd about this.  When Mephibosheth is introduced earlier in this chapter it is noted that he is lame in his feet.  I just find it odd the way God ends by noting again that he was lame in his feet.  Why?

 

The fact that God took the time to point that out again makes me think that there must be some reason he did so.  Must be something I am to learn from that maybe?  But for the life of me I can't figure out what it is!  :)

That is what makes me think that little things like this are "discernment" training.  We need to learn to discern the important from the inconsequential.  Seems to me that this is one way to accomplish that goal.  Make sense?

Some things I just don't get

 There are several things in the Bible that I just don't get and this is one of them.

 

2 Samuel 6:6-7(NKJV)

And when they came to Nachon’s threshing floor, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. 

Then the anger of the Lord was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his error; and he died there by the ark of God. 

 

Why was God angry about that?  Uzzah didn't do anything out of disrespect or anything.  He did it out of love and concern.  He didn't want God's ark to fall off of the cart.  God is supposed to be a God of justice.  Where is the justice in this? 

 

2nd Samuel 5 - simple but important lesson

In 2nd Samuel we see David consolidating his Kingdom over not just Judah but all of Israel.  The Philistines decide it is time to take David out.  Now here is the lesson.

Both times, before committing to an action, David inquired of God.  David let God guide him. 

 

But does that always mean you will be successful if God says proceed?  In this case it worked out both time for David.  But it isn't always so.  Why is that?
 

Here is my take on it.  In my life there have been times when I have taken a certain action or strategy that I was sure God was leading me to.  Does that mean God got it wrong?  It could certainly seem that way in the moment. 

But with the benefit of hindsight I can see that in the situations that didn't work out I generally learned lessons or new skills that I needed for down the road.  God is a really awesome long term thinker!

So if you find yourself in that situation where something you were sure God was leading you to didn't work out, don't doubt God.  Do what I try to do.  Follow Gods success plan in Romans 5:3-5 and keep the faith!

 

When did this change?

This has always puzzled me.  In the Old Testament there are many examples of men of God having multiple wives and concubines.  Here we have David taking not one but two wives after  Nabal died.

1 Samuel 25:41-43(NKJV)

Then she arose, bowed her face to the earth, and said, “Here is your maidservant, a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.” 

So Abigail rose in haste and rode on a donkey, attended by five of her maidens; and she followed the messengers of David, and became his wife. 

David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel, and so both of them were his wives.

 

I don't see that it was condemned by God at all.  Then all of a sudden it seemed to disappear and it became one wife only. 

 

What I find so puzzling about it is that there is no decree by God in Scripture that it be change.  It just changed.  Seems weird to me that it just changed like that.  Societies don't normally just spontaneously change centuries old behavior in that way. 

And just to be clear, I have a great wife and am not looking or another one or anything.  Just find it puzzling.