"And I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of many waters, like the voice of a great thunder, and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps." (Rev. 14:2)
Heaven. A lot of people picture it with people sitting around playing harps for eternity. Today's passage spoke of a voice of many waters and thunder, distancing it even more. I remember this story from the Old Testament and the unexpected perspective of Heaven it gave me.
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When news of King Saul's and his son Jonathan's being killed in battle reached the palace, Jonathan's little boy's nurse panicked and decided to run away with the baby. Why? Well, in those days, whenever a new king sat on the throne, all possible threats to the crown were eliminated.
Everyone knew David was the next king, meaning Jonathan's baby (and all other of King Saul's male heirs) would be executed. In her hurry, the nurse dropped the child before managing to smuggle him away. By the time David found Mephibosheth (Jonathon's son), he'd grown up crippled in both feet.
Mephibosheth expected to be killed when discovered but found himself invited to dine at the king's table--a result of a promise between David and Jonathon decades earlier. Then he was given property as well as assigned a servant to manage it. Mephibosheth couldn't believe the favor King David extended him; royalty usually despised the handicapped; he had in fact seen himself as a dead dog.
Years later, an uprising occurs, and the depth of Mephibosheth's gratitude fully shows itself. The king had been temporarily driven from the castle and was leaving the city when met by Mephibosheth’s servant, who slanders him, saying:
Behold, he abideth at Jerusalem; for he said, “Today shall the house of Israel restore to me the kingdom of my father.” (2 Sam. 16:3)
At this news, all property once given Mephibosheth is declared the servant's.
However, when the tide turns and the King is able to return to Jerusalem, he finds Mephibosheth at the outskirts of the city not having washed or changed since the day David fled the palace--he'd been heart-sick the king could get kicked out of his own home. Clearly such a man could not have been planning to take over of the country!
But it was Mephibosheth's words that got to me.
When David saw he had been wrong in believing the other servant's words so said they could divide the property in half, the natural human response would've been: “Only Half?”
After all, It had been ALL his before the FALSE accusation and David's WRONG judgment to take it away, right? But no. Mephibosheth said, “Oh, LET HIM KEEP IT ALL--THAT DOES NOT MATTER! I'M JUST GLAD YOU'RE BACK SAFE AND SOUND!” I think I wanted to cry when I read that.
“Yea, let him take all, forasmuch as my lord. The king, is come again in peace unto his own house.” (2 Sam. 19:30)
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Recently, I was thinking about how Heaven isn't that real to a lot of people anymore. But even to Christians who find it real, in order to talk about it, we often speak of the following: our new, sinless hearts; the restored, unbroken world; how sin-suffering-parting-death will be no more; perfect love and light will be for eternity, etc...(I am starting to get giddy.)
But that's a bit like the “rightful property” Mephibosheth said he wasn't as interested in as the KING that came back to Jerusalem.
It hit me: would I be just as quick to find myself saying naturally; FORGET ALL THAT: I JUST WANT TO SEE JESUS!
Fanny Crosby wrote a song that says, “Take the World, but Give Me Jesus”. I wonder if it should be retitled, “MEPHIBOSHETH 2”(I mean, I know technically, he didn't even know the Name of Jesus at the time, but...)
