As soon as someone start to narrate another person unfairly before me, right within me, I will know that such relationship and encounter with the narrator shall not end very long neither end very well: this has always been the case that backbiters are frustrated to call me a bad person: sure, woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you; for so they did unto the false prophets.
Initially, I wasn’t a bad person until they brought up the story of another person before me; but because I chose to embarrass them for the character they chose to display and were caught unaware by my displeasure against them to spoil another (woe to thee that spoils, and thou was not spoiled; and deals treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee!When thou shall cease to spoil, thou shall be spoiled; and when thou shall make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee. Isaiah 33:1) to feign righteousness, zealousness and hatred covered by deceit before me. Proverbs 26:26.
The truth is that only a bad person will welcome a backbiter and offer him a chair to sit and give him an audience to share his unpopular story.
I became bad to such because, trust me, backbiter defamatory and harmful words shall be delivered unfailingly in one way or other to the victim (except they are people I don’t know) to verify the true account of it; but they always end up saying, please do not say I told you, or just ignore it after the damages has been done to poison the heart against others and to separate good people (a forward man sows strife: and a whisperer separates chief friends. Proverbs 16:28) from loving and doing business with one another.
Personally, I don’t like to listen to any deforming story about others, except with the permission to verify such information: if not, just keep it to yourself: if there is any strife, go and humble yourself to sort things out with your brother, and you can only speak about it to the pastor to make peace or judge (Matthew 18:15 – 18) between you after two to three attempts has failed from the intervention of two people and the elder from the church to reconcile both. Note: if you fail to resist and to forbid anyone to tarnish someone else image, personality and testimony before you, you’ve fallen to wallow in their mud and is polluted and defiled before God by the news accepted and digested: you are painted black to share in the sin of the backbiter.
The carnal, the false brethren and agents of Satan sowing divisions by calumny are classified as backbiters and slanderers: they vilify others by spreading negative information in the church among the brethren. Sometimes, they looked down on good men to despise their works and to fume out the wickedness and the evil in them before others. They hid bitterness in the heart to speak badly of others: discontent by jealousy, competitive and comparison spirits to behave like Satan, though they claim to be born again. They don’t merit your company, attention, confidence and trust because they are talebearers that you can’t confide in them. They are gossipers speaking contrary things behind the scene of what they see, what they think, and what they heard. They can be whatsoever or whomsoever in the church (pastor, deacon, choir leader or member, usher or a church member, husband or wife, servant or master) it doesn’t make any difference to God: as long as they are backbiters, they are evil and deadly: serpent will bite without enchantments; and a babbler is no better; their judgment is about to come, and their sentence to hell is without appeal if they don’t repent and stop backbiting. Ecclesiastes 10:11.
If they are curious about you, be very careful, lest you get carried away by sweet and soothing talks of pretentious love because it is all about getting the best information out of you, either to spread it out before others or to know your strong and weak point, that they might diffuse and circulate the latter secretly to pollute your integrity, demean your personality, and to decrease your popularity before others: if possible, to deliver you into the hands of the Philistines of your destiny as Delilah did to Samson to destroy him.
Devil is the chief propagandist while backbiting spirit is one of the destructive, fastest and deadly arsenal in his power against the church to scare people away from the house of God; and to destroy good relationships among brethren.
The bible permits you to exercise justifiable godly anger against the backbiter (the north wind drives away rain: so doth an angry countenance a backbiting tongue. Proverbs 25:23) to dispel and dispatch the rumourmonger (any person given to gossiping and divulging personal information about others) away from your presence like a man will look around for a long stick or strong rod to scare an approaching– unfriendly dog away from his presence.
It is better to change the topic or you tell them to change the topic to show your disinterest and disapproval to talk behind others at their back. The backbiter can be outwardly good and very nice and generous brother or sister in the church, but they are spiritual stabbers before God; all their good gestures and kindness is to deal a blow of evil tongue against the personality of others, to crucify the recipient and beneficiary of their charitable works before others (let another man praise thee, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips. Proverbs 27:2) depicting them as poor and beggarly; to show others the inferiority of their beneficiaries in comparison to their superior wealth and riches.
It’s funny but I’ve witnessed a church member abandoned her local church in disagreement with her pastor because the under-​shepherd had just spill out everything she told him at the last one on one counselling meeting during the Sunday sermon to claim it was a message he received from God: but few sympathizers that knew her with the problem understood that the pastor has rudely, arrogantly and openly intruded to expose her privacy to preach: a talebearer reveals secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit conceals the matter. Proverbs 11:13.
The question is, if she has not gone before for counselling before the pastor, wouldn’t the preacher man drawn his water from another well? If a believer cannot trust to share a burden of prayer or family private situation or matter with the pastor or the pastor’s wife or with the church prayer warriors and church elders for spiritual supports unless it is heard from others who are not in the group to expose the nakedness they ought to cover (he that goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets: therefore meddle not with him that flatters with his lips. Proverbs 20:19) how are we sure that we are not dwelling with enemies and rivals appearing like friends, expressing love with the mouths, but not from the heart?
The bible commands to study to be quiet and mind your own business — not a busybody in other men’s affairs. It is heart-​broken and an unforced error on the part of any pastor, or a deacon, or an elder, or any of their spouses (even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things. 1 Timothy 3:11) if should they be found guilty of backbiting (the words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly. Proverbs 18:8) any of their church members who has taken them as spiritual leaders for God’s sake.
The ministers’ couples, the prayer warriors and intercessors as well as individual believer should be discreet and not talebearer to reveal other’s men privacy or the sorrow in their lives (the heart knows his own bitterness; and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy. Proverbs 14:10) shared with the hope to receive psychology and biblical encouragements and spiritual supports.
There are many people in the church today who are possessed with the evil spirit found in Doeg the Edomite. It was all David’s fault, when conducting his business, to prefer an open conversation with priest Ahimelech inside the temple, and took bread and sword from the priest in the presence of Doeg the Edomite – now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the LORD; and his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chiefest of the herdsmen that belonged to Saul. 1 Samuel 21:7.
This time around, far away from the court of King Saul, but in the presence of Doeg who prospers and rule over the king’s herdsmen, David should have known better to excuse himself and the priest away from the temple to discuss any important issue in a more private place beyond the view and understanding of the temple worshippers.
I assumed that David had knowledge of Doeg’s evil spirit of backbiting of others in the past before king Saul; or he felt he might seek to increase his trust and favour before the king by telling him of David’s visit and the help he received from the priest at Nob (and David said unto Abiathar, I knew it that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul: I have occasioned the death of all the persons of thy father’s house. 1 Samuel 22:22. Proverbs 26:22) by his reaction to the news of the death of all the priests, and the city of the priests king Saul ordered to be killed with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and sucklings, and oxen, and asses, and sheep. 1 Samuel 22:19. Note: the footmen of the king’s armies were afraid to lay their hands upon the priests of God for destruction by the King’s request; but Doeg the Edomite executed the destruction of the Lord’s priests, and their city with their wives, children and livestock by himself: such are the unimaginable destructive effects of backbiting spirit and power given to the backbiters by Satan: and do you think such a believer shall possess heaven? No, such are cursed, and shall be rejected and denied entrance to heaven: accuse not a servant unto his master, lest he curses thee, and thou are found guilty. 1 Kings 22:17 – 18. Proverbs 30:15.
Once a backbiter sees a brother and sister together speaking any serious matter; to him, that’s a sin, and they should be having an affair and the rumour must be spread wide and large to cause confusion and divide good people, even if there is nothing shared between them more than the pure love of God without any appearance of evil. 1 Timothy5:2.
I’ve been privileged as a missionary, guest speaker and church planter to live among many brethren from different nations, backgrounds and education levels: either with the pastor’s family, or with an elder of the church, or as a guest in a Christian family: but two families among ten could be given a pass mark for not backbiting others while the rest failed.
These are born again and so called sprit filled believers and church workers and shepherds. It is sad as a visitor to notice that you are accommodated by the hypocrites, haters, jealous, competitive, bitter and evil hearted hosts. Some will do this to court your favour and to present themselves as far better, righteous and spiritual holier than thou above others, ignoring the fact that he that speaks evil of his brother speak evil of the law and judges the law: but there is one law giver who is able to save and destroy, who are you that judges another’s man servant? This is where the backbiter is indicted in the court of heaven for taking up the post and office of God, the great judge. James 4:11.
Such backbiting activities that could not be found in the offices and neighbourhood are thriving in the churches where those involves are supposed to be fellow yoke bearer, but they are secret agent tellers and talebearers of fake news instead of good news bearer they are called to be in Christ.
God forbids such character in the church (thou shall not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people. Leviticus 19:16) and he commands serious believers on their way to heaven to avoid the company (the one who reveals secrets is a constant gossip; avoid someone with a big mouth. Proverbs20:19) of the secret stories and events tellers from the pollution and defilement to compromise them.
A backbiter, if he’s not exposed and disassociated from others (he that goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets: therefore meddle not with him that flatters with his lips. Proverbs 20:19) can destroy an entire church, marriage, company etc. The person who has given listening ears to the gossiper as well as the person spoken against are both hated by the gossiper because love does not work any evil or harm against his neighbour: and to seek or to be the cause of strife and rioting between brethren, love does not: where no wood is, there the fire goes out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceases. Proverbs 26:20.
Psalms 15, verses 3b – he that do no evil to his neighbor.
God is the humanitarian Creator of the universe — the God of all flesh. His entire project is inclusively about man before the fall and after the fall so that his counsel should stand and the thoughts of his heart towards humanity and all generation should not be abolished to save man from the grip of Satan: that in the ages to come, they may dwell in eternity with him: God is my King of old working salvation in the midst of the earth. Psalms 74:12.
There are many philanthropist irreligious people operating non– profitable organizations which also believes in humanity as much as the certain Samaritan did when he intervened and rescued the half wounded man from premature death at the place the priest and the Levite failed to live up to their expectations to work righteousness as God’s ambassadors to humanity.
The humanitarian believers of self– righteousness works tirelessly to make the world a better place for all and sundry by doing everything within and beyond their power to be there for the poor and needy. They exert their strength for the weak, and lent their voices for the voiceless and the oppressed.
Humans are interrelated creature and everyone ought to love their neighbours as much as themselves: we were made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth.
Without God and Christ in our world, our understanding and project on humanity will fall short of God’s views, ideas and project on humanity. Only the redeemed saved by the blood of Jesus and pardoned by his mercy have full details, knowledge and understanding of God’s plans and intent for humanity: first, that they should follow after God to labour for the deliverance and salvation of the world of ungodly sinners and to rescue the perishing (if thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain; if thou says, behold, we knew it not; doth not he that ponders the heart consider it? And he that keeps thy soul, doth not he knows it? And shall not he renders to every man according to his works? Proverbs 24:11 – 12) as God’s co-​workers on earth. This is the most urgent need to prioritize before we provide any material, financial and whatever assistance of those things needful for the body to those who are really in necessity.
This was the foundation of the early church — spiritual and humanitarian mission. By the way, Jesus was mistakenly taken to be the king on mission of saving the world from the grip of Roma power when he fed the multitudes with bread. A part of the early church was devoted to prayer and ministering of the word and the other part of the church was devoted to social welfare and well-​being of the brethren. They are not eccentric hoarder as the church of this era, but were willingly sacrificial to part with their excessive belongings and precious inheritance to put others at ease. Note: it is the greatest evil done to the soul of our neighbour to deprive them the truth of Christ’s gift of salvation whether they will hear or forbear: and to be a stumbling block or occasion of sin and fall for our neighbour for whom Christ died is a punishable and damnable sin to our soul.
Your neighbour is every human being living on earth; rich or poor, white or black, male or female, good or bad: at anytime and anywhere. The issue with the people we’ve met in the past or have any present dealings or relationships with; and the people we meet daily in the restaurant, supermarket, gas station, bus stop, work place, church and wherever it is are a great deal before God on how they are treated.
In every way you can possibly think of it, you are your brother’s keeper; and not his eliminator, nor a competitive oppressor, God both were created to watch the back for one another on earth.
The comfort and happiness of your neighbour is committed to your trust and accountability before God (withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do it. Say not unto thy neighbour, go, and come again, and tomorrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee. Proverbs 3:27 – 28) including his moral and mental supports and consolations in sorrow as your responsibility and duty to lift him up whenever he is down; to rejoice with him whenever he rejoices: and to weep with him in his sorrow; so much that the moving of your lips should assuage his grief and not to multiply or intensify his troubles to make things worse for him.
You have done evil to your neighbour when your words and comments which ought to be seasoned with grace and filled with salt are not soothing to heal but are damaging and hurtful to him. Job 16:1-5.
Sometimes, evil doers change to different method to inflict mental injury on others as they switch to mouth weaponry to speak wickedly to break the heart of their neighbour that they might cause and effect moral, emotional and spiritual injury and damages: they wet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter word: that they may shoot in secret at the perfect: suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not: though they speak peaceably with their neighbours, but mischief is in their hearts. They encourage themselves in an evil matter: they commune of laying snares privily; they say, who shall see them? They search out iniquities; they accomplish a diligent search: both the inward thought of every one of them, and the heart, is deep. But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly shall they be wounded. So they shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves: all that see them shall flee away. Psalms 67: 1 – 8.
He is an evil doer against his neighbour who is wielding the tongue as a sword and his mouth as a poisonous instrument to slander and slay other’s character, life, marriage and home, testimonies, children, husband, wife, career and destiny and of the church of God: they speak vanity with their neighbour; and with a double heart do speak flattering and proud things: and have said in their hearts, with our tongue we will prevail; our lips are mine own: who is lord over us? Psalms 12:1-4.
Believer should be ready for every good works which are within the boundary of the word of God as it is his duty to do good unto all men: to feed his enemy if he’s hungry; and to give water to his haters, if such is thirsty. He is under the law of God to be subjected to the authority of the land of his earthly sojourn (submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: as free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God) in the fear of God, and not in any way to compromise his uprightness to corrupt the word of God.
Never should he take the law to his own hand for self vengeance, to do anything or act in any way to jeopardizes public safety and interests than to keep shinning as light in the world of darkness.
The basic principle of identifying any good or bad tree is through the fruit it bears; though appearances can be temporary deceitful: but by and large, the tree shall be known for its beauties or ugliness when its season comes to bear fruit — dead or good, bad, dry, fresh, bitter or sweet fruit. Somehow and somewhere, the bad person shall be made known; and the good man, because he’s good, will strive to improve and continue in well doing to his neighbour in pursuance of eternal honour, glory and immortality.
The bible out– rightly condemns and speak against the following acts and many more of such things to portrait the perpetrator of such behaviours as evil doer: if you murder: if you violently or deceitfully take away that which is your neighbour: when you hold the truth back from him; and you are a false witness against him: when you deprive him of his wages: if you lie and flatters him with the kisses (lie or deceive) of an enemy instead of the wound truth and honesty) of a friend: if you rejoice when evil befall him or you speak evil to defame him: if you bully and despises him: if you betray him: if you see any of his interest and property destroying and you do nothing in his absence to defend it: if you seek for his fault and set trap for him to fall: if you rape any without sexual consent: if you give or take bribe to punish the innocent or to pervert justice: if you are an adult (paedophile) sexually engage with prepubescent children age 13 or younger to spoil them: if you are involves in sex trafficking: if you use your position, money and other influence to oppress him in any way to take his wife, land, children or anything that belongs to him in contrast to what you expect from other people to do to make you happy and fulfilled in life, but you are not willing and ready to do it for others –respect and honour of their dignity etc.
If we engage in actions (physical violence) or conversations (verbal abuse or aggression) wherein others are not edified, than to lose their self-​worth and self-​esteem, we are verbally cruel (mouth and tongue slayers) to hurt the heart of others; we are unto God as evil doers. If we rejoice in an evil works done by others (he that is glad at calamity shall not go unpunished. Proverbs 17:5) or we set up any of our fellow human being for punishment, oppression, affliction and destruction (devise not evil against your neighbour, seeing he dwells securely by you: he that devises to do evil shall be called a mischievous person. Proverbs 3:29: Proverbs 24:8) who is not buying into our wrong or false ideological views and reasons: or bowing to our pomposity as the mischievous Haman thought to destroy the whole Jewish community because Mordecai refused to respect his arrogance. Psalms 40:8.
Psalms 15, verses 3c – he that does not takes up a reproach against his neighbour.
Love believes all things: but for the fact that love rejoices not in iniquity but rejoices in truth, it should found out what is true before believing all things to be true in any shameful allegation made against his brother or anyone — against the elders or anyone, receives not an accusation; but at the mouth of two or three witnesses every word should be established. 1Timothy5:19.
Lest we partake in other men’s sin, we should make diligent search to investigate any evil report made against any of our brethren before us, lest we be found guilty of gossiping, judging and condemning him whom Christ has justified and glorified.
Sin is a reproach to any person; but to assume and conclude that a believer is evil by the testimony of one person is to hastily bring him under condemnation without any fair hearing: whoever haste with his feet to give any imprudent judgment sin against the Lord.
To distance or to cease to have anything to do with a brother or sister in the Lord as the result of misleading and false depiction of an assailant reporter lacking proof or substantiation from the mouth of two or three witnesses is to sin against God. Evil report against any of the brethren which the reporter begs should not be verified must be discarded and such person should be warned against repetition of such absurd act in the future: take no part in the worthless pleasures of evil and darkness, but instead, rebuke and expose them. It would be shameful even to mention here those pleasures of darkness that the ungodly do. But when you expose them, the light shines in upon their sin and shows it up, and when they see how wrong they really are, some of them may even become children of light! That is why God says in the Scriptures, awake, O sleeper, and rise up from the dead; and Christ shall give you light. So be careful how you act; these are difficult days. Don’t be fools; be wise: make the most of every opportunity you have for doing good. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but try to find out and do whatever the Lord wants you to. Ephesians 4:11-17.
Let us not walk in the mentality and behaviour of the men of this world who will take side with evil reporter and accuser for any gain, help, favour and advantage to cause division among the saints when the opportunity is there to find out the truth and to possibly bring the erring back into the light and onto the will of God if the accusation against such is true: brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men, lest your name be blotted out among the inhabitants of God’s holy hill. If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which the Lord thy God gives thee, man or woman, that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the LORD thy God, in transgressing his covenant, and hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded; and it is told thee, and thou hast heard of it, and enquired diligently, and, behold, it is true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel: then shall thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and shall stone them with stones, till they die. At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death. The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So thou shall put the evil away from among you. Deuteronomy 17:2 -7. I Corinthians 14:20. Note: only the evil minded people in the church will take side or have his part with the evil leader or any evil person in any evil matter or report to usurp or sway justice in favour of the evil leader or in support of the rich to silence the mouth of the poor and to suppress truth and revival: most especially when such carnal, dry and empty leader felt threatened by the presence of a gifted brother against his position and influence; he will devise means by false accusations to fight him without cause that he might present the innocent as worthless fellow before others and to destroy any of his momentum and spirited activities which are beyond regular protocol of the church.
What was the root of Nabal’s sin and what was that which ignited his rude manner and the wickedness of his heart shown towards David? What has David and his men did that they were so repugnant to the rich man that he detested them so much that he would none of them than to chase them away like they were lepers? (1). There is no man who should or want to affiliate or associate with anyone labelled wanted as the enemy number one of the state as king Saul falsely portrayed David, lest they should be found guilty of treasonable capital offence and be killed in the same manner that king Saul wrongly killed the priests at Nob and destroyed their city with the eighty– five priests of God because they helped David. (2) Nabal was an evil man; and evil was in his heart because he willingly chose to ignore the truth to believe the lies spread against David and to act on false rumours and report (and when David’s young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased. And Nabal answered David’s servants, and said who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants these days that run and break away every man from his master. Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they come from? 1 Samuel 25:9 – 11) not considering the help and protection his servants received from David and his men in the wilderness to judge and condemn the innocent: but his wife Abigail chose to act and relate to connect with David and his men with her true conscience of the full knowledge and account of what truly transpired that led to the fall out between King Saul and David: she was blessed here and hereafter with God in heaven because she would not treat David with popular reproach and unjustified accusations– and now this blessing which your handmaid hath brought unto my lord, let it even be given unto the young men that follow my lord. I pray thee, forgive the trespass of your handmaid: for the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house; because my lord fights the battles of the LORD, and evil hath not been found in thee all thy days. Yet a man is raised to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul: but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the LORD thy God; and the souls of your enemies, them shall he slings out, as out of the middle of a sling. And it shall come to pass, when the LORD shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel; that this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my lord hath avenged himself: but when the LORD shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember your handmaid. 1 Samuel 25:27-31.
Those that shall be counted worthy to co– habitat with God in his holy hill of Mount Zion are those that are with clean hands and pure hearts: they have kept themselves from false matters and reports, not to condemn the innocent and prosecute or kill the righteous: such wicked act is unjustifiable before God — cursed be he that will take up a reproach against his neighbour and believes in it without verification to act against the innocent: this is as if he has condemned and shed an innocent blood; and the Lord shall requite it from his hand. Whatsoever we heard against our brethren, diligent inquisition should first be made to establish the facts from the accused or from the mouths of two to three witnesses: and if the matter is not true, the upright man shall be appalled when the innocent shall stir up himself against the hypocrite. Job 17:8.
Mephibosheth was the son of Jonathan, the grand-​son of Saul. Jonathan was soul mate (1Samuel 20:17) friend of David with the covenant of God between them both: but Saul, Jonathan’s father, the king of Israel, was David’s sworn and hellish enemy with the history of a long war between their households, even long after the death of king Saul. Note: the envious, rivalry, lying and treachery reproach brought against David by the King (1Samuel 22:14) was unjustified; therefore his Son would not buy into any of it that David should be killed: but his error was his ungodly and carnal attachment with his evil father (1 Samuel 23:16) that exposed him to evil and evil found him while he was his father: for in their death Saul and Jonathan were not divided (2 Samuel 1:23).
Let us therefore learn to detest the company of evil men; whomsoever they are to us, and to cherish, honour and embrace the company of them that fear God, lest we partake in other men’s sin and punishment, just as Jonathan died unfairly and untimely alongside with his father; he who was thought to become the second in command with David in power over all Israel. 1 Samuel 23:17.
After that David became king over Israel, he remembered the covenant of God between him and Jonathan to reward the kindness he received from him to his Son Mephiboseth: by so doing, he was faithful to the bond of the covenant between them and their generations to repay former kindness received to the seed of the dead. Mephibosheth, though lamed on both feet (2 Samuel 9:13) as the result of his fall at the age of five at the time his nurse ran to escape with him at the news of Jonathan and King Saul’s death (2 Samuel 4:4) was sent for and brought from Lodebar, east of Jordan, near Mahanaim (signifying a wilderness city of dry land, a physical habitation meant only to survive and to hide: it is a place of save our soul. 2 Samuel 17:29) to Jerusalem the capital city, honoured by King David and commanded to be fed daily together with him at his royal table all the days of his life because of Jonathan’s friendship, goodness and loyalty. More also, David released all of King’s Saul inheritance to his grand-​son and charged his predecessor’s servant by the name Ziba with all his children and all that were under his command to serve Mephibosheth interest, command and pleasure, just as they served his grand-​father, Saul. 2 Samuel 9: 9 – 13.
It was very obvious that Ziba, King Saul’s servant, was already content to sit over all of his master’s inheritance; for he had judged the heir inheritor incapable because of his physical disability: ruled him out to manage the wealth of his father and grand-​father: hence he never made any search to hand over his parent’s inheritance to him: and hence his answer and description of Mephibosheth before David while he ignored to mention his name before the king at David’s request exposed the evil in his heart — and Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan has yet a son, which is lame on his feet. 2 Samuel 9:3.
But at the time Absalom rebelled to usurp his father’s throne, David escaped for his life into exile, thus Ziba found the opportunity to lavish flattering gifts he cannot afford of his proper money out of Mephiboseth inheritance on David welfare to blind the king’s reasoning mind and to seize on such open door to accuse Mephiboseth of treasonous act and lack of appreciation to David’s goodness towards him (and when David was a little past the top of the hill, behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple of asses saddled, and upon them two hundred loaves of bread, and an hundred bunches of raisins, and an hundred of summer fruits, and a bottle of wine. And the king said unto Ziba, what are these things for? And Ziba said, the asses are for the king’s household to ride on; and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat; and the wine, that such as be faint in the wilderness may drink. And the king said, and where is thy master’s son? And Ziba said unto the king, behold, he abides at Jerusalem: for he said, today shall the house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my father. Then said the king to Ziba, behold, yours are all that pertained unto Mephibosheth. And Ziba said, I humbly beseech thee that I may find grace in thy sight, my lord, O king. 2 Samuel 16: 1 – 4) while the king David did nothing to interrogate Ziba’s reproachful allegation against Mephiboseth before he hasted in his emotional stressful situation ordered the transferred of king Saul’s land and every other properties unto Ziba for inheritance: robbed off, and denied Mephiboseth’s rights and access to the inheritance of his father Jonathan and of his grand-​father Saul.
David, while returning back home after the exile from Absalom revolt, Mephiboseth went out to welcome him; for since the time that the King departed from Jerusalem, Mephiboseth had being in uninterrupted mourning and sorrow because of the king’s plight: though the king was far away from his sight, his heart was one and united with him in his sorrow (rememberthem that are in bonds, as bound with them; [and] them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body. Hebrews 13:3) his untrimmed beards, unwashed clothes and unwashed feet testified to the state of his heart and his loyalty to the king at his absence — and Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king, and had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came again in peace. And it came to pass, when he was come to Jerusalem to meet the king that the king said unto him, wherefore did you not go with me, Mephibosheth? And he answered, my lord, O king, my servant deceived me: for thy servant said, I will saddle me an ass, that I may ride thereon, and go to the king; because thy servant is lame. And he hath slandered thy servant unto my lord the king; but my lord the king is as an angel of God: do therefore what is good in your eyes. For all of my father’s house were but dead men before my lord the king: yet didst thou set thy servant among them that did eat at your own table. What right therefore have I yet to cry any more unto the king? And the king said unto him, why speaks thou any more of thy matters? I have said thou and Ziba divide the land. 2 Samuel 19: 24 – 29.
This time around, king David finally reversed his ordered that the land be divided into two, half part for Mephiboseth, and the other part for his servant Ziba: but the company and fellowship with the king was all that matters most to Mephiboseth: and he willingly transferred the full ownership of the land to his liar and slanderous servant that he might enjoy the king’s presence and to court for his favour: for in the King’s favour is life. 2 Samuel 19:30. Psalms 30:5.