Mephibosheth v. Ziba


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It’s kind of a murky tale that leaves a lot of readers wondering who to believe. It’s the case of Mephibosheth v. Ziba. For the full context you can read 2 Samuel 4:4, 2 Samuel 9, 2 Samuel 16:1-4 and 2 Samuel 19:24-30. The principal players of this confusing story are King David, Mephibosheth (a crippled man and the sole surviving member of Jonathan’s household) and a servant of Mephibosheth’s named Ziba. Mephibosheth says one thing and Ziba another. Somebody’s lying. You decide.

During the time of Absalom’s rebellion (2 Samuel 13-18) David had to flee Jerusalem, and mysteriously Mephibosheth did not go with him. Ziba claims that Mephibosheth stayed behind because he was an opportunistic traitor. Mephibosheth claims that he was abandoned and left behind by Ziba who then spread some nasty lies about him.

It’s one man’s word against another. After reading the above scripture passages which of them do you believe? Or perhaps another question might be who cares either way? Well…we do, of course! It’s in the Bible after all. God wanted this tale to be included in His Word and so we must assume that wrestling with it will be profitable for us somehow. Why do you think God would put this story in front of us? What application might its meaning hold for our lives? As 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” This Sunday we’ll spend some time studying the case of Mephibosheth v. Ziba and I’m excited to see how God will use this lesser-known corner of His book to build us up into more fully committed followers of Jesus.