Tag: bloody

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

A bloody transition of power

Posted on by William Douthwaite

A “through the bible” devotion from 1 Kings 1 and 2.

I’ve heard about a “peaceful transition of power” when new leaders are elected and begin their terms of office.

It certainly doesn’t happen like that in scripture.

Adonijah thinks he has a good chance of being king after David. But when David names Solomon as his successor, Adonijah knows he’s in big trouble. Solomon says, “You have nothing to worry about.”

However, when Adonijah makes a play for David’s nurse Abishag, it’s over. Solomon doesn’t give him an inch. He sends Benaiah to execute him. End of that discussion.

Joab was a pretty good general for David, but he was an Adonijah supporter. Solomon has him executed, too.

Then there is Shimei, who threw rocks at David when he was fleeing from Absalom. Solomon puts him under house arrest. But when Shimei goes out looking for some missing servants, Solomon orders his execution, too.

And that when “The kingdom was established in the hands of Solomon” (1 Kings 2:46). I’m amazed at how bloody the transition of power is in the first two chapters of 1 Kings.

It gets messy as God fulfills his promise to David, that his descendants will always be on the throne. Jesus’s life was threatened by King Herod before he’s two years old. He endured a bloody beating and crucifixion before he’s exalted and everyone knew bows and every tongue confesses him to be Lord.

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

What a mess

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Image by starline on Freepik

A “through the bible” devotion from Leviticus 8.

Shortly after beginning my first job after college, I found a church that was very welcoming and encouraging. It wasn’t long before someone asked this twenty-something if I’d be interested in teaching the high school Sunday School class. I had no experience. But I was closer to their age, so they figured I could relate to to the teenagers. I I asked, “When would I start?”

“This Sunday.”

I had no experience, training, or curriculum. But now I had my first church ministry experience. It’s not the best way to fill a teaching slot. But how many church volunteer positions have been filled by someone who said, “If no one else will do it, I will”?

My prayer was simple. “God, don’t let me mess this up.”

The consecration or ordination of Aaron and his sons to be priests is complicated. It involves specially crafted clothing, ritual washings, and animals for slaughter. It’s messy. By the time it’s over, everything is covered in oil and blood. It takes a long time. The whole ceremony was done in public and lasted seven days.

By the time it was over, Jesus was covered in blood, too. The bloody sweat of his prayers stains the ground in Gethsemane. Streaks of red drip down his face a crown of thorn. Blood spattered everywhere as he is beaten and then nailed to a cross. Blood and water spurt from his chest as a spear pierces his heart. It’s messy, as it should be, for he is a priest, too.

Want to see people get upset? Just make a mess at church. Well-meaning members go ballistic when there are crumbs in a pew, a coffee stain on the floor, fingerprints on a window, and unflushed toilets. Just imagine if Aaron or Jesus showed up!

Posted in flash fiction

A bloody, one-star review

Posted on by William Douthwaite

“Son of a bitch!”

Drops of blood dotted the floor. I grabbed a paper towel to press against my stinging fingertips. “Man, that stings.”

It was just a simple piece of wood, sanded smooth and nicely stained. Necklaces would hang from a row of gold-colored cup hooks. A few pieces of double-sided tape would hold it to the side of the antique dresser. I could make one of these and sell them in my own online store.

I must have caught a splinter or something. I almost cut myself again before I noticed the shiny metal corners. I rubbed my finger across a razor blade embedded in the edge. Ingenious. Anyone handling this would cut themselves.

I hadn’t read much about the artisan or product reviews. It was cheap. Fifteen bucks. I just added it to my cart and checked out.

Now I was curious. Had this happened to anyone else? How many items had been sold? How much blood had been spilled?

Every review read like a chapter in a horror novel or a really bad night in the emergency room.

“Small barbed pins embedded themselves into the palm of my hand when I opened the jewelry box.”

“Hot water dissolved the mug’s ceramic coating into my tea, resulting in acid burns to my tongue and throat.”

“Blisters covered my skin where the gold chain hung around my neck.”

“Insects swarmed from tiny eggs glued on the back of the wooden picture frame.”

Four stitches and a painful injection later, I put on my thick leather yard work gloves, packed everything back up in the original box, and sent it back. I added my scathing one-star review to many others, warning future shoppers.

Weeks later, wounds just about healed, my wife brought a box in from the front porch. Coughing, she asked, “Did you order something?”

Before I could come out to say, “I don’t think so,” she had collapsed on the floor.