First Kings
Friday, July 16, 2010
Numbered Days
(I Kings 2:26, 27)
“Your days are numbered!” mother used to exclaim in exasperation. What she meant was that misbehavior would one day get its punishment. Punishment might not be immediate, but there would be a definite day of reckoning. My day of reckoning usually came when father returned home from work. Punishment, though delayed, was always certain. Delay never deceived me into thinking that I was somehow in the clear for my misdeeds. The passing of time was no assurance of clemency. Hearing the words “Your days are numbered” from my mother was more like a death sentence!
God had previously made such an announcement to the house of Eli the priest (I Samuel 2:27-36). Eli, you will recall, had indulged his sons in preference above the commandments of the Lord. Their vile behavior finally brought the Lord’s judgment upon Eli and his descendents. As far as the priestly office was concerned, the house of Eli was serving on borrowed time. Their days were numbered.
Interestingly, God’s pronouncement to Eli did not fully come to pass in his lifetime. Indeed, years passed without any evident fulfillment of God’s promise. Perhaps Eli’s descendents had become comfortable in their offices, believing that the prophet’s message to Eli must somehow have been mistaken. Maybe, they reasoned, God had changed His mind.
When the blow finally fell, it fell decisively. Solomon believed Adonijah’s request for Abishag was part of a larger conspiracy (22). Accordingly, he expelled Abiathar from the priesthood, ending forever the priestly service of the house of Eli—just as the Lord had promised.
Judgment delayed is not judgment forgotten. Sooner or later, sin always has its consequences. Don’t lull yourself into a false sense of security just because your sins do not come under God’s immediate scrutiny. If you sin and don’t get it right, your days are numbered!
