"And there happened to be there a rebel, whose name was Sheba the son of Bichri, a Benjamite. And he blew a trumpet, and said: 'We have no share in David, nor do we have inheritance in the son of Jesse; every man to his tents, O Israel.' So every man of Israel deserted David, and followed Sheba the son of Bichri..." (2 Sam. 20:1-2).
The usurper Absalom was dead. David, the usurped king, was king once more, and yet the transition from disorder to order was not complete for the king hadn't yet returned from the Trans-Jordan to Jerusalem, the capital of the kingdom. The tribes of Israel had decided to retrieve the king and to restore order, but the tribe of Judah (the tribe of King David's heritage) had been prompted to retrieve the king themselves. When the rest of Israel heard of Judah's initiative, they felt left out...as if the tribe of Judah was laying special claim to the king. We read about the details of this growing conflict between the 10 tribes of Israel and the tribe of Judah in 2 Samuel 19:41-43.
While emotions ran high, a man of cunning stepped in to fan the flames of rebellion. That man was Sheba. He had observed the rising bitterness, anger and jealousy and knew that this was his opportunity to rise to prominence. How did he accomplish his objective? By validating Israel's emotions and using those emotions to further his own cause. As a result, a confrontation that might have otherwise faded into obscurity quickly transformed into a full-scale rebellion. Many lives were subsequently lost.
We will encounter hardship from time to time. There will be periods of controversy in the church. Brethren will sometimes fall out of harmony. ALL relationships will have highs as well as lows; there will be disagreements, disunity and discord. It's inevitable! Whether it's your marriage, your church, or your friendships, you will sometimes have feelings and emotions that are inappropriate. Maybe it will be jealousy. Perhaps it will be bitterness. It could very well be lust or unlawful passion. Like Israel of old, you may find yourself stewing in those emotions, and there may be folks who, like Sheba, will come in and for whatever reason validate your emotions and cause you to feel justified when, in reality, you ought to repent of those emotions and pursue a course of peace and love. If you allow someone to validate your emotions as Sheba did with Israel, you may act upon those emotions and engage in actions that you will forever regret.
The Bible instructs us to seek out counsel, and to respond favorably to counsel (Prov. 13:18; 15:22), but we still must be on the lookout for "counselors" like Sheba who provide us, not with good, godly counsel, but with destructive validation. To distinguish between the two, you must first of all be honest about your own emotions. The following emotions are usually unhealthy, if not wrong altogether: bitterness, wrath anger, clamor, evil speaking (Eph. 4:31), contention, jealousy, selfishness, dissensions, heresies (Gal. 5:20), and I'm sure others could be mentioned. If someone validates any of these emotions by causing you to feel justified, and especially if they urge you to act upon those emotions, DO NOT LISTEN TO THEM!
There are many, many Shebas out there, even within the Lord's church. Sometimes, their intentions may not be quite as self-serving and wicked as were Sheba's, but our reaction should still be the same: don't allow ungodly emotions to be validated by anyone, for ungodly emotions are never justified!
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