Bible passage
(1) There happened to be there a base and contemptible fellow named Sheba son of Bichri, a Benjamite. He blew a trumpet and said, We have no portion in David and no inheritance in the son of Jesse! Every man to his tents, O Israel! (2) So all the men of Israel withdrew from David and followed Sheba son of Bichri; but the men of Judah stayed faithfully with their king, from the Jordan to Jerusalem. 2 Samuel 20:1-2
(15) And they came and besieged Sheba in Abel of Beth-maacah, and they cast up a siege mound against the city, and it stood against the rampart; and all the men with Joab battered and undermined the wall to make it fall. (16) Then a wise woman of the city cried, Hear, hear! Say to Joab, Come here so I can speak to you. (17) And when he came near her, the woman said, Are you Joab? He answered, I am. Then she said to him, Hear the words of your handmaid. He answered, I am listening. (18) Then she said, People used to say, Let them but ask counsel at Abel, and so they settled the matter. (19) I am one of the peaceable and faithful in Israel. You seek to destroy a city which is a mother in Israel. Why will you swallow up the inheritance of the Lord? (20) Joab answered, Far be it, far be it from me that I should swallow up or destroy! (21) That is not true. But a man of the hill country of Ephraim, Sheba son of Bichri, has lifted up his hand against King David. Deliver him only, and I will depart from the city. And the woman said, Behold, his head shall be thrown to you over the wall. (22) Then the woman in her wisdom went to all the people. And they cut off the head of Sheba son of Bichri and cast it down to Joab. So he blew the trumpet, and they retired from the city, every man to his own home. And Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king. 2 Samuel 20:15-22
My thoughts
The people from the Sheba in Abel of Beth had a really big problem. They were all going to die because of this one man that was in their walled city. They were saved by this wise woman. She understood that they have to cast out the evil from among themselves, so they should live.
Nowadays we live in a strange community. It seems that nothing goes right. The non-rightness people prosper and all the other suffer. But actually all of us have issues with our correctness.
Each of us are like that walled city. So we could really live we have to give up on the bad things. We have to accept God as He is, and let Him cleanse us. If we want to live our life to the full, we have to accept Him, as God says I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows). John 10:10
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Today too many people don’t even recognize there is evil among us, much less want to do anything about it - in ourselves or in our society.
All we can do is to pray for the place God put us, so that He could work in us and show Himself to the around people
I am personally praying these days for repentance. We forgot about that, personally and as Christian Communities. We do not grieve our sins, or the sins of our brothers. I remember the times when my heart was torn apart before God, because I sinned against Him. I pray to have that in my life, again…
I am happy for you, for realizing the need to pray, and also to pray for your community, for the brothers and sisters from your church