Just When You Thought You'd Made It...

Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba, and they called him to David; and the king said to him, "Are you Ziba?" And he said, " I am your servant."  The king said, "Is there not yet anyone of the house of Saul to whom I may show the kindness of God?" And Ziba said to the king, " There is still a son of Jonathan who is crippled in both feet."  So the king said to him, "Where is he?" And Ziba said to the king, "Behold, he is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel in Lo- debar." (2 Samuel 9:2-4 NASB)

Then the king called Saul's servant Ziba and said to him, " All that belonged to Saul and to all his house I have given to your master's grandson.  You and your sons and your servants shall cultivate the land for him, and you shall bring in the produce so that your master's grandson may have food; nevertheless Mephibosheth your master's grandson shall eat at my table regularly." Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.  Then Ziba said to the king, "According to all that my lord the king commands his servant so your servant will do." So Mephibosheth ate at David's table as one of the king's sons. (2 Samuel 9:9-11 NASB)

 The story of Mephibosheth, and his inclusion in David's story is interesting.  One reason for the 'interest' in my opinion is Ziba.  Everyone forgets about Ziba, and I suspect that, in David's day, that's pretty much how Ziba wanted it.  He was the servant of Saul, and the detail in 2 Samuel is that he had fifteen sons and twenty servants of his own.  He was finally out on his own and doing well, when this happened.

Another interesting detail, Ziba has the distinction of being known as Saul's servant, but Saul's dead.  Also, Ziba knows exactly where Mephibosheth, the one crippled in both feet, is.  I think it's an important detail that this son of Jonathan wasn't with his family, but with someone else, outside of the territory of Benjamin.  Why isn't the servant of Saul responsible for taking care of one of the last survivors?  If Mephibosheth is lame in both feet, he's not that able of taking care of himself, so why isn't this servant of his grandfather taking care of him?

David calls for Mephibosheth and makes him like one of his own sons.  But he also gives to him all that belonged to Saul.  At first this sounds great.  But two things make this rather disruptive.  First, Ziba was doing great on his own, in his own right, and now he's back to being a servant.  Second, this wasn't the only survivor of Saul's household.  Read the confusing account of 2 Samuel 21.  There were actually at least seven additional children in Saul's house, two sons of Saul and five sons of one of his daughters.  What happened to them when David returned all that was Saul's to Mephibosheth?  And these are just the ones we know about.

It's at the point where David gives Ziba the responsibility to manage the lands and house of Saul on behalf of Mephibosheth that we are told he has fifteen sons and twenty servants of his own.  I think we're told this to provide some idea of Ziba's situation before he is again put in the role of 'servant' of a living master.  He's no longer 'master of his own fate'.  And he was doing so well at it too.

So here's a few possible motivating things in the back ground which could explain this kindness and Ziba's fate.  First, I suspect that everyone knew about Mephibosheth, but he was always the 'leftover' rather than the choice child.  I think that's why he was with this other, generous family.  I don't think his family was all that keen on his being with them.  He was lame, and therefore obviously 'stricken of God'.  He had a 'lofty' name (takes away shame), but clearly he's a constant reminder of the day Saul fell (that's when he went lame, that day).  The family had another "Mephibosheth" to take his place (who was later hanged by the Gibeonites).   So for David to show this kindness is unexpected, and I think that's one reason Ziba brings him up.  Who would show kindness to one 'stricken of God'?  Well, it seems David would, especially when the son is actually one of Jonathan's.

The second thing here is David's love for Jonathan that sees a son of his treated this way by the family.  So he reverses his fortune, and now he's on top.  Now the family works for him, and he's no longer dependent on the 'leftovers' if any.  It can't sit well with the rest of Saul's family.  When sons of Saul are required to atone for the Gibeonite atrocity by Saul, Mephibosheth (son of Jonathan) is spared, but seven others are not.  It can't sit well with the family that David spared the cripple.

This brings me, finally, to Ziba and Mephibosheth in the account of Absalom's rebellion.  As David is leaving Ziba meets him and claims that Mephibosheth thinks he's going to get the kingdom now (seriously?), and for this David gives everything to Ziba.  Then when David returns Mephibosheth is a wreck, obviously never having taken care of himself while David is gone, and claims Ziba never came to get him and he had no donkey (missed the last taxi out of town?).  David gives him half back, and Mephibosheth says Ziba can keep it, he's just glad David returned.  David didn't seem to know who to believe (neither sounds that credible), but I think Ziba was the liar of the two.

So what's my takeaway here?  I think the lesson best learned from Mephibosheth is found when you look at all three characters, Mephibosheth, David, and Ziba.  I learn that God never discounts someone just because they're lame (the first recorded 'disabilities act').  I also learn that not following the first rule doesn't work out well (e.g. Ziba).  And finally I learn that whatever I consider to be my weakness, whatever may be considered my weakness by others, God still knows my name, where I am, and the number of hairs on my head.  Of course he also knows of every sparrow that falls to the ground, so I shouldn't get too proud of my status.

One of God's favorite things to do in order to show His glory and power is to reverse fortunes.  He loves to turn things around.  It's an element of His character that has found it's way into all our human stories.  The best stories have a reversal of fortune, and God 'writes' the best of the best stories.  The story of Jesus is a HUGE reversal, and we are the ones who benefit.  It's all over the place with David, the shepherd, priest, and king; Abraham, the landless, son-less, wanderer, and father of nations; Joseph the son, slave, ruler, and savior.  Just look at Hebrews 11, and this 'role call of faith'; they're all 'reversals of fortune'.  In fact the whole point of that chapter is that we have the biggest and best reversal yet to come: Heaven.

My lesson is that God reverses fortunes: the last shall be first, and first last.  The workers in the vineyard all got a denarius, even those who worked only an hour.  Weird Al Yankovic has a song that I really love, "Everything You Know Is Wrong".  I think God yells this constantly, but we still love our own reason and logic, and are still surprised when fortunes reverse.  Maybe, just maybe, this Creator of all matter truly IS in control.  Maybe?