Regrettable Relatives: Revised (Second) Edition

By Rev Emmanuel Oghene-Emmanuel

There have been all sorts of relatives since the time of Cain and Abel, Joseph and his elder brothers, Laban against Jacob as well as Esau and Jacob. As things turned out, David wished his nephews, the sons of Zeruiah, one of his sisters, had not joined his army. They had a lusty craving for violence without reverence for God and immediate reality, whereas David reverenced God above anything else. You and I need God to shield us from the troubles that relatives constitute. Some are more of a curse than a blessing.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris UK
• Release date: Oct 25, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664116757

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Copyright © 2021 by Rev Emmanuel Oghene-Emmanuel.

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Rev. date: 10/23/2021

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CONTENTS

Dedication

Appreciation

Preface

Chapter 1Scandalous Siblings

Chapter 2Cantankerous/Curious Kinsmen/Kindred

Chapter 3Ungodly Uncles and Aunts

Chapter 4Jeremiah’s Antagonistic Colleagues

Chapter 5Senior Colleagues Against Junior Colleagues

Chapter 6Amaziah Against Amos

Chapter 7Parents’ Packaged, Padded and Paddled Pains

Chapter 8Envy & Jealousy-engineered and enveloped Regrettable Relatives

Chapter 9Relatives Railroaded Regrets (Family/Friends Failed/Felled Fellas/Fellows)

Chapter 10Self-centredness

Chapter 11Natural Flair for Wickedness

Chapter 12Toxic Temperamentality (Unguarded Behavioural Pattern)

Chapter 13Unrepentant Sinfulness

Chapter 14Unguarded Greed for Gains and Greatness

Chapter 15All Sorts of Fear-fuelled Fumbling and Failure

Chapter 16Pride and Arrogance

Chapter 17Caustic Covetousness

Chapter 18Callous Lifestyle

Chapter 19Unbelievably Bitter Brothers

Chapter 20Weak Determination to do Good

Chapter 21Undue Family Attachment

Chapter 22Respect Roulette/The Harmful Helpers

Chapter 23David’s Multilateral Nephews

Chapter 24Unreasonable, Shameless and Callous Relatives

Chapter 25Ridiculous Rivalry Amongst Relatives

Chapter 26Regrettable Religious Relatives

Chapter 27Ruthless and Ruinous Relatives

Chapter 28Differentiate Between Rewarding and Ruinous Relatives

Chapter 29Moses’ Misery-Milling Relatives

Chapter 30David’s Dilemma Over Absalom

Chapter 31Mindless Marital Mates

Chapter 32Recognizing Heinous Relatives

Chapter 33Confirm the Relevance of Each Relative to Your Divine Destiny from God

Chapter 34Avoid Regrettable Relatives as much as possible

Chapter 35Add Regrettable Relatives while Asking God to Deliver You from Your Enemies

Chapter 36Group Ruinous Relatives with Enemies and Treat them as such

Chapter 37Precarious Privilege Peers

Chapter 38Watch, Pray and Act Appropriately

Chapter 39Peruse Individual’s Propensity

Chapter 40Saul Against His Children

Chapter 41Diasporas’ Home-based Relatives’ Narcotic Nonsense and Heinous Hallucinations, ‘Hallucinationness’ or ‘Hallucinatiousness’

Chapter 42Curious Compatriots

Chapter 43Regrettable Representatives

Chapter 44Revered/Respected Ragamuffins’ Reputation Rescue Rascality

Chapter 45Marital Misery Millers

Chapter 46Leah’s Marital Life’s Lessons

Author’s Other Published Titles

DEDICATION

To all the victims of their parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, family heads, cousins, professional and religious colleagues of this worrisome world.

APPRECIATION

My heart felt appreciation to God of Israel and Father our Lord Jesus Christ who throughout this revised version proved beyond all doubts that this is His project. His presence and intervention were so real that whenever I was ready to work on this manuscript, He made the thoughts to flow unrestrained. It was an unprecedented experience indeed. My sincere thanks to my only Mrs Comfort Temilola Oghene for her usual support. Meanwhile, I take full responsibility for all errors therein.

PREFACE

At the time that Genesis 4:1-16 say that Cain killed Abel because of envy and jealousy, Abel was his only sibling. Genesis 4:25-26 attests that it was after Cain’s murder of Abel that God gave their parents, Adam, and Eve another son that they named Seth. Even claimed that Seth was God’s replacement for Abel who Cain murdered. Abel’s offence was that he dared to make acceptable sacrificial offerings to God while Cain’s sacrificial offerings were regarded by God as unacceptable. It was brotherhood trust that made Abel to follow him to the farm away from the view of their parents to kill. Technically speaking, Abel made the mistake of trusting an untrustworthy brother – a victim of misplaced trust.

King Saul wasted the lives of his children and grandchildren just like Hiel did to his eldest and youngest sons. Despite all the support Joab and his two younger brothers, Abishai and Asahel gave to their maternal uncle, David as devoted and dedicated warriors, David was disgusted with them because of their violent, blood-thirsty mentality/mindset, character, and conduct. David cursed them on the day Abner was buried.

This is despite that Abner supported Saul throughout the years that Saul determined to kill David while Joab and his younger brothers supported David. Also, Abner like Saul were of the tribe of Benjamin. Abner was Saul’s cousin, and chief of army staff (COAS) of Israel’s army throughout Saul’s 40-year reign. David repeatedly expressed his disgust towards Joab, Abishai, and Asahel’s unrestrained tendency for violent response to everything. He instructed Solomon to ensure that Joab did not die a natural death because he killed Abner and Amasa whom David adjudged better persons. Meanwhile, Abner remained loyal to Saul throughout the years that Saul determined to kill David, while Amasa was COAS during Absalom’s ill-fated rebellion.

1 Samuel 16:6-9, 17:12-15 and 1 Chronicles 2:13-17 confirm that David’s father, Jesse’s third oldest son was named Shammah while David was the youngest. The two sons of Shammah played divergent roles in David’s life and family during David’s reign. 2 Samuel 21:20-21 and 1 Chronicles 20:6-7 confirm that Shammah’s son named Jonathan helped to kill a Philistine enemy while 2 Samuel 13:1-7, 30-33 says that Shammah’s other son, Jonadab taught David’s son, Amnon how he could rape David’s daughter, Tamar as well as trivialized the killing of Amnon by Absalom two years later. 2 Chronicles 28:1-(3)-4 and 33:1-(6)-9 attest that Kings Ahaz and Manasseh of Judah slaughtered their sons as sacrificial offerings to heathen gods. 2 Kings 3:26-27 affirms that King Mesha of Moab slaughtered his biological heir to prevent being defeated by enemies.

Just as Jeremiah’s hometown of Anathoth compatriots wanted him dead, so also Jesus’s Nazareth kinsmen tried to throw Him off a high cliff to die in the deep valley. Pilate reminded Jesus that it was His own fellow Jews who delivered Jesus to his court to condemn for the Jews to crucify. While Pilate sought ways to free Jesus, His fellow Jewish religious rulers blackmailed Pilate to condemn Jesus for them to crucify.

CHAPTER 1

Scandalous Siblings

Two brothers went for caterpillar operator employment interview with a construction company. Both were certified caterpillar operators. However, the older learnt and qualified before the younger. After the interview, the younger brother passed and was offered the position. When the older saw that he was unsuccessful, he went to the chairman of the interview panel to say he taught his younger brother private lessons before he could pass his operator certification examination. That he was a better operator, though he cannot explain why he did not do well enough in the interview.

The interview panel chairman sent him out and called in the younger brother who’s employment letter was been prepared to ask if his older brother once taught him to operate caterpillar. He confirmed the claim. That was how the employment offer was withdrawn. The older brother’s singular reason was that he did not want to return home to admit that his younger brother was successful in the same interview that he failed. It is called shame shedding/shielding, ridicule resistance, or rebuffing reason. He had to cause his younger brother pains to protect himself from ridicule amongst family and friends who could rub his employment test failure in his face. Genesis 4:1-16 says:

1 Then Adam had intercourse with his wife, and she became pregnant. She bore a son and said, By the LORD’s help I have gotten a son. So she named him Cain. 2 Later she gave birth to another son, Abel. Abel became a shepherd, but Cain was a farmer. 3 After some time Cain brought some of his harvest and gave it as an offering to the LORD. 4 Then Abel brought the first lamb born to one of his sheep, killed it, and gave the best parts of it as an offering. The LORD was pleased with Abel and his offering, 5 but he rejected Cain and his offering. Cain became furious, and he scowled in anger. 6 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why that scowl on your face? 7 If you had done the right thing, you would be smiling;[b] but because you have done evil, sin is crouching at your door. It wants to rule you, but you must overcome it. 8 Then Cain said to his brother Abel, Let’s go out in the fields. When they were out in the fields, Cain turned on his brother and killed him. 9 The LORD asked Cain, Where is your brother Abel? He answered, I don’t know. Am I supposed to take care of my brother? 10 Then the LORD said, Why have you done this terrible thing? Your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground, like a voice calling for revenge. 11 You are placed under a curse and can no longer farm the soil. It has soaked up your brother’s blood as if it had opened its mouth to receive it when you killed him. 12 If you try to grow crops, the soil will not produce anything; you will be a homeless wanderer on the earth. 13 And Cain said to the LORD, This punishment is too hard for me to bear. 14 You are driving me off the land and away from your presence. I will be a homeless wanderer on the earth, and anyone who finds me will kill me. 15 But the LORD answered, No. If anyone kills you, seven lives will be taken in revenge. So the LORD put a mark on Cain to warn anyone who met him not to kill him. 16 And Cain went away from the LORD’s presence and lived in a land called Wandering," which is east of Eden. (GNT)

First, Cain was too proud to ask his younger brother how he presented his offerings that could have made God prefer his sacrificial offerings. Which is worst, wearing the tag of a murderer or the shame of asking your younger brother for solution? Second, not even God could dissuade Cain from going down in recorded human history as the first ever murderer, or homicide harbinger, and despiser of divine discouragement from the worst kind of evil. A classic example of an incorrigible.

Third, just as Genesis 3 confirms that Satan had deceived their parents to disobey God in the Garden of Eden, he allowed Satan to lend support to the seed of envy and jealousy in his heart/thought process to commit the first ever homicide in recorded human history. He was a persuasion pervert. While he parried God’s dissuasion from doing evil, he persuaded Abel to accompany him to a lone place where he killed Abel. A tortuous trust twister – he twisted Abel’s trust in him to kill and by so doing cut short Abel’s life.

Genesis 4:17-22 attests that after cutting short Abel’s life, Cain went ahead to marry and have children who perpetuated his genealogical descendants. This means that after disallowing Abel from living long enough to reap the reward of his pleasing God by offering acceptable sacrifices to God, only then he settled down to marry and live normal life.

Furthermore, Genesis 4:23-24 confirms that one of Cain’s descendants named Lamech murdered someone who punched him. Genesis 4:24a claims that Lamech referenced Genesis 4:13-16-noted God-given reprieve from the full-brunt for the consequences of Cain’s murder of Abel. First, this can be interpreted to mean that Lamech understood that there are consequences for the murder of a fellow human just as he knew that there is reprieve or escape route for a murderer like his ancestor, Cain. Classic case of criminals exploiting the legal loopholes.

Afterwards, Lamech claimed or somewhat boasted to his wives that if ever he is killed to avenge the murder of the man, 77 persons would be killed to pay for his (Lamech’s) life. It explains the workings of the mind of Cain and his killer descendants who exist in every generation and clime. Lamech meant that his life is worth the life of 77 fellow humans. Only when he has killed 77 is he deserving of death sentence as punishment.

Fourth, just like all evil doers are cowards, the same God he disregarded His pleas to kill his younger brother, he claimed that his punishment was too much for him to bear. He killed Abel but did not want to be killed by any other. More often, killers dread being killed – one of the greatest signs of cowardice. All those who cannot take what they dish out are certified and/or crowned cowards.

Fifth, good people or the righteous are always at the mercy of bad people or the unrighteous in every generation and clime. He did not allow Abel to live long to reap the reward of pleasing God. Cain was a deserving reward denier or regrettable righteous’ deserving reward robber. SRS could be said to mean success or successfuls’ reward stranglers, stoppers, stealers, swindlers. Judges 6:1-6 says that the Midianites and Amalekites made life miserable for the Israelites in the same way which judges led the Israelites.

Daniel 6 confirms that Daniel’s royal colleagues did not want him to get the promotion that their boss the emperor thought that his exceptional competence primed productivity deserved. Matthew 26:31-35, Mark 14:27-31, Luke 22:31-35 and John 13:36-38 can be interpreted to mean that when Peter was about to take over the leadership of the Jesus-pioneered preaching group, that is when Satan tried to sabotage the plan for Peter to become leader aided by James and his brother, John. If Satan had succeeded or Jesus had not thwarted Satan’s efforts, Peter’s service, and followership of Jesus in the preceding three and a half years would have been in vain.

Sixth, Cain should have asked God for another chance to offer acceptable sacrifices after taking advice from Abel. The unrighteous often opt for the worst solution when they are faced with challenges. That God tried to stop Cain means that if he had approached God for solution, God would have given him another chance to somewhat retake his proof of reverence for God’s test.

Seventh, envy and jealousy often becloud good judgement of her victims. Most people under the stranglehold of envy, jealousy and criminal hate are impatient, irrational, and unbelievably sadistic. They are selfishly scandalous or scandalously selfish. Cain did not care about the feelings of their parents. Genesis 27:41 confirms that Esau considered his father’s feelings to decide to delay Jacob’s punishment until after their father’s death even though he knew that their father preferred him to Jacob or did not care much about Jacob.

Most sickening siblings and buccaneer brothers in Cain’s mould or with Cain’s monstrous mentality or mindset have no regard for neither their parent’s feelings nor their sibling’s, family members’, or anyone’s feelings. They never comprehend the concept of reverence for God or regard for loved ones. For them, no one is untouchable. Unprovoked hatred and hurt is an integral part of their discomforting disheartening DNA.

Eight, slaves of envy and jealousy-triggered anger and rage do not regard brotherhood bond. Cain claimed that Abel’s well-being was not his responsibility. He did not say who exactly should have his brother’s back. They were born and bred in the same household. How would he have felt if Abel said the same about him or wanted him dead?

Nine, killing Abel did not make him acceptable to God. The effort and time he put into working out how and where to go kill Abel, he should have spent to find out how he could offer an acceptable sacrifice to God. Since God spoke to him, he should have taken advantage of that discussion forum to ask God to teach him on how he should offer a preferred sacrifice.

Ten, Cain’s generation, disciples or character and conduct kindred have no loyalty to anyone, and they are in every generation and clime. For them, it is I, Me, and Myself and everyone else can jump into the lagoon to drown and go to hell. Cain let Satan to short-change him like his parents had done in the Garden of Eden.

Eleven, they (Cain and Abel) built altars and offered sacrifices on their individual altars in the physical realm, but we see God and Satan who are spirits reacted as it were from the physical realm. It is part of the broader concept of God Responds to Stimuli. God and His loyal angels on the one hand responds to what humans do just as Satan and his loyal demons do.

Just as God noted and accepted Abel’s offerings while He rejected Cain’s, the devil noted Cain’s hateful emotions towards Abel and lent his support to Cain’s thoughts to disregard God’s dissuasion to kill Abel, his only surviving brother at the time. Cain had the choice and chance to either do good or right but he failed. It is like Genesis 35:22 and 39:1-6 confirm that Reuben and Joseph’s moral character was tested over women while Joseph passed with flying colours, Reuben flunked it. When God saw that Satan had set out to mess up Cain’s thoughts, He tried to dissuade him (Cain) from heeding Satan’s injurious interference in his thought line.

There is the broad concept of Unexpected Attack by Unexpected Enemy at Unexpected Place and Time. It bothers on someone unexpectedly turning on someone they should protect. True friends defend their friends like 2 Samuel 15:32-37 and 17:1-13 say that David’s trusted friend, Hushai protected David against David’s son, Absalom, and his supporters. Brother protecting brother supposed to be taken for granted, all things being equal. Siblings supposed to support, protect, and defend siblings without hesitation and zealously too. But we know that through the generations, this is not the case.

Cain killed his younger brother despite God’s warnings because of envy and jealousy. He chose to kill him rather than ask what he could do to please God like Abel did. The concept of Sane Souls Solution Seeking and Application Pattern and Practices means that rational, logical, and thoughtful souls would seek and apply the solution to their problems and pains that do not hurt their neighbour. Cain could have approached either God or Abel for suggestion on what to do to present a God pleasing sacrifice. If he was too proud to ask Abel’s guidance because he was older, he should not be too proud to approach God for guidance. If he had been sane enough to approach God, he should have asked two things –

(a) second chance, and

(b) what God expected or what did Abel did right, and he did wrong in the first or previous attempt to please God.

For the humble and logical souls, it is supposed to be as simple as that. After all, just because Abel got it right in the first ever sacrifice ever does not guarantee that Abel will get it right next time or all other times in the future. However, Cain and his curious kind clan members are so full of themselves that they abhor living with the fact that someone seems better than them at any point in time. There are preposterous persons who believe that they must be considered better than everyone else at all times.

For Cain, so long as he was older, it must never be said that his younger brother or sibling was better than him in any other area of life. He had the monstrous mindset of the older must be on top always, over my dead body must it be said that my junior is better than me, or any younger person who is adjudged better than me is not fit to live beside me – what a miserable mindset. No wonder the world is in the wearisome state that it is.

Genesis 4:1-16 repeated ‘then Cain said to his brother Abel, Cain turned on his brother and killed him, where is your brother Abel, am I supposed to take care of my brother’. It is not by accident that the brotherhood relationship responsibility between them is mentioned repeatedly because it is not expected that a brother would harm his own brother out of envy and jealousy or any other reason. This is the first time in recorded human history that a brother turned on his brother. Jeremiah 7:31, 19:5b and 32:35 talk about God and certain sins as follows:

31 In Hinnom Valley they have built an altar called Topheth, so that they can sacrifice their sons and daughters in the fire. I did not command them to do this—it did not even enter my mind.

5 … they have built altars for Baal in order to burn their children in the fire as sacrifices. I never commanded them to do this; it never even entered my mind.

35 They have built altars to Baal in Hinnom Valley, to sacrifice their sons and daughters to the god Molech. I did not command them to do this, and it did not even enter my mind that they would do such a thing and make the people of Judah sin." (GNT)

The point is that there are sins/ungodly acts that men commit that take even God by surprise. Surely, we would say nothing is strange to God, but we find in the above passage that there are certain things we do that surprise God. 2 Samuel 7 and 1 Chronicles 17 mean that David took God by surprise when he desired to build the Temple and hence, God made a sacred covenant of an eternal dynasty with him. That was a pleasant surprise, but in the above case, it was an unpleasant surprise with Cain against Abel just like the portions of Jeremiah we read above. In the case of the Israelites in Jeremiah’s generation, God did not expect that a sane parent would offer his children to any god, even when they knew that God rejected the offer of Isaac by Abraham at the last minute. Exodus 13:13, 15, Leviticus 18:21, Deuteronomy 18:10-11 say that He then commanded through Moses that they must never offer their sons, even to Him when He claimed the firstborn sons.

Cain disregarded God’s dissuasion to kill Abel. First, this means that Cain could hear God personally or directly. Second, God spoke to him directly and Cain understood God’s persuasion. Third, Cain did not reply to God’s admonition until God returned to implement punishment. God visited to forewarn him, yet he still went ahead to kill his younger brother. Afterwards, God returned to prosecute and punish him. Apparently, he was so consumed with rage against Abel that he did not respond to God’s warnings to not hurt his younger brother.

God told him two things –

(a) he should resist the rage, and

(b) Satan’s effort to hijack his rage to commit murder/homicide.

All things being equal, most older brothers especially eldest brothers protect their younger siblings rather than hurt them. He was the first noted eldest child in human history, and it is most unfortunate that he chose to set a very bad precedent when it comes to the subject of brotherhood bond and comradeship.

Cain killed his brother to calm his nerves from the frustration of failure to please God. Cain and his curious kind clan have no loyalty to anyone except themselves and their feelings. He did not mind killing Abel, yet he dreaded being killed. Classic example of criminals’ cowardice. He could not man-up to receive the same treatment he loved to dish out to others – COWARDICE 101.

Bible-noted Cain’s disciples include Joseph’s buccaneer big brothers, Judah’s second son who Genesis 38 affirms refused to impregnate his late older brother’s wife so she would bear a son who would carry on his older brother’s name, Elimelech’s closer relative who Ruth 3 confirms refused to marry Ruth so she could bear a son to carry on Elimelech’s name.

Others are Solomon who would not compensate Adonijah for ceding the throne of their father to him as God meant. 1 Kings 2:13-25 says that Solomon’s mother agreed that it was right to compensate Adonijah. Solomon murdered Adonijah because of a woman he never even married afterwards. 2 Chronicles 21:1-4 recount Jehoram’s murder of his younger brothers who had never offended him after the death of their father, King Jehoshaphat of Judah. Judges 9’s account mean that Abimelech ably qualify for Cain’s curious clan of his generation of Gideon’s children.

CHAPTER 2

Cantankerous/Curious Kinsmen/Kindred

SAMSON’S EXPERIENCE

Judges 13 opens with the claim that God meant Samson to lead the Israelites against their neighboring nation oppressors, the Philistines. Judges 15:20 confirms that Samson led the Israelites accordingly during the last 20 years that he lived. Judges 13:1-5 suggests that it was after God had used the Philistines to punish the Israelites for 40 years that God decided to send someone in the person of Samson the eldest child of Mr and Mrs Manoah from the town of Zorah of the tribe of Dan to save them from the Philistines. God zeroed on and sent Samson through his parents to defend the Israelites from the Philistines as much as he possibly could. However, there was an instance during his 20-year leadership that the Israelites did the unthinkable. They bound and delivered Samson up to the Philistines to be punished and even kill, even though Samson was supposed to be risking his life to fight their cause against the Philistines. In this respect, Judges 13:1-5, 24-25 and 15:9-15, 20 say:

1 The Israelites sinned against the LORD again, and he let the Philistines rule them for forty years. 2 At that time there was a man named Manoah from the town of Zorah. He was a member of the tribe of Dan. His wife had never been able to have children. 3 The LORD’s angel appeared to her and said, You have never been able to have children, but you will soon be pregnant and have a son. 4 Be sure not to drink any wine or beer, or eat any forbidden food; 5 and after your son is born, you must never cut his hair, because from the day of his birth he will be dedicated to God as a nazirite. He will begin the work of rescuing Israel from the Philistines. 24 The woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The child grew and the LORD blessed him. 25 And the LORD’s power began to strengthen him while he was between Zorah and Eshtaol in the Camp of Dan.

9 The Philistines came and camped in Judah, and attacked the town of Lehi. 10 The men of Judah asked them, Why are you attacking us? They answered, We came to take Samson prisoner and to treat him as he treated us. 11 So these three thousand men of Judah went to the cave in the cliff at Etam and said to Samson, Don’t you know that the Philistines are our rulers? What have you done to us? He answered, I did to them just what they did to me. 12 They told him, We have come here to tie you up, so we can hand you over to them. Samson said, Give me your word that you won’t kill me yourselves. 13 All right, they said, we are only going to tie you up and hand you over to them. We won’t kill you. So they tied him up with two new ropes and brought him back from the cliff. 14 When he got to Lehi, the Philistines came running toward him, shouting at him. Suddenly the power of the LORD made him strong, and he broke the ropes around his arms and hands as if they were burnt thread. 15 Then he found a jawbone of a donkey that had recently died. He reached down and picked it up, and killed a thousand men with it.

20 Samson led Israel for twenty years while the Philistines ruled the land. (GNT)

First, it can be assumed that these 3000 Judean men were their best warriors of the tribe of Judah. Let us bear in mind that 1 Chronicles 5:1-2 claims in part that God made the tribe of Judah stronger than all other tribes of Israel to enable the Judeans or Judah’s descendants to provide royal leadership for the nation or other tribes. Genesis 49:1-2, 8-12 affirms that the lives of the Judeans would be spiritually controlled by the spirit of a lion. That is why we have the concept of the lion of the tribe of Judah. Traditionally, the lion is a fearless creature of God that we often claim as the king of jungle. Also, coincidentally, both 1 Samuel 24 and 26 open with how Saul led 3000 of Israel’s best warriors to go after David to kill if God and David had allowed. Therefore, these 3000 men supposed to be the best of the best warriors of the entire nation of Israel.

Second, it was easier for them to go after Samson their fellow Israelites but not the Philistines who had tormented them for well over 40 years before the advent of Samson. The Philistines had oppressed them for 40 years before God visited to announce the imminent birth of Samson. He would have to be at least 19 or 21 before he commenced protecting the Israelites from the Philistines. The men of Judah and Israel were so used to the Philistines lording it over them that they were not eager to join Samson or any other of their fellow Israelite compatriot to end the Philistines’ oppression. The fear and even the dread of the Philistines had overwhelmed that they were not willing to even attempt to free themselves from the oppression. This can be likened to when the Israelites turned against Moses for attempting to free them from Egyptian oppression. They claimed that they were better off continuing as slaves in Egypt than be threatened because of their attempt to be freed.

Third, the men of Judah could have recruited the men of war from the other eleven tribes of Israel to join forced to confront the Philistines or cue behind Samson to confront the Philistines. Alternatively direct the Philistines to go capture Samson by themselves. It is called the concept of Fear of Enemy Forced Foolishness or Betrayal or both. 1 Samuel 23:1-12 says that the fear of King Saul forced the Keilahites to determine to handover David to Saul even though the Israelites, including the people of Keilah knew that Saul should not have threatened David. 1 Samuel 22:5 says that Prophet Gad ordered David to leave his home or neighbourhood because of the fear of what Saul might do to him, if Saul found out that David was hiding in his vicinity, and he did follow in the faulty footsteps of the people of Keilah to report David’s presence in his neighbourhood to Saul.

Fourth, the Judean warriors reminded Samson that the Philistines were their rulers. That is a sign of a people who have lost all hope of getting their independence from their oppressors. They meant something like,

Much as we are unhappy with the status quo, we have gotten used to it that we are somewhat content with it.

When a people have suffered for so long, they become accustomed to it to the extent that they consider any attempt to end their sufferings as disturbing the sleeping dogs unnecessarily. Deliverance process can be likened to the well-known childbirth process – it is not without its pains even though the joy that accompanies successful birth quickly overshadows the pain associated with the birth process. They should have known that Samson was one of them and must have meant well rather than just trying to provoke their oppressors to persecute them more. Amongst the worst people to help are relatives who lack understanding and unwilling to sacrifice immediate spurious comfort for greater gain in the future.

It is striking that Samson insisted on their promising to not kill him before he surrendered to them. Three things –

(1) he was so patriotic that he did not want to clash with his fellow Israelites, and

(2) he did not trust that they will not kill him and give his body and head to the Philistines to end his continued provocation of the Philistines that invited the people of Judah and their men of war or warriors.

(3) They did not dispute Samson’s insinuation that without promise in God’s name, they could never harm him to appease the Philistines. It means that if Samson had not remembered to ask them to so promise in God’s name, they could have killed him and delivered his head or body to the Philistines. It reminds of 1 Samuel 30:9-16’s claim that an Amalekite asked David to promise in God’s name to never harm him after he would have helped David and his men of war. It means that Samson was right to not trust that his fellow Israelites whom God sent him to help were not trustworthy. Now, if the bravest men are so afraid what about the weakest and fearful men. What do you do, or should you do when those you are determined to risk your life to save do not mind handing you over to their enemy to kill, or they even kill you and hand over your body or head to the enemy?

Fifth, one regrettable realisation is that they could constitute a threat to one of their own who had no intention to hurt them but not the foreign enemies who had hurt them for well over 40, or even 50 years going to 60 or more years. They said ‘we have come to tie you up to hand over to the Philistines’. Why not we have decided to protect Samson and defend our land from your notoriousness’. We see the enormous challenge that indigenous saviours have – like all indigenous saviour – Samson’s greatest problem was never the Philistines because God already empowered him to prevail over them, his real problem was his kinsmen who he was determined to protect from the external oppressors. It can be called Natives’ Notoriousness, Kinsman’s Curiousness, Cantankerous Kinsmen, or Indigenes’ Injuriousness – they oppose their kinsman’s solution and by so doing, allow their foreign oppressors to have a free reign over them and at their expense.

The man God sent for the sole purpose of saving you from your oppressors, you bound and handed over to the same oppressors to do whatever they liked with him. Exodus 2 and Acts 7:33-36 say the reason the Israelites rejected Moses’ initial attempt to protect them from their Egyptian oppressors was because they did not understand that God meant Moses to be their deliverer from their Egyptian oppression.

Hosea 4:6a says lack of knowledge or ignorance has the capacity to destroy even the persons God has chosen to bless. It is called ‘Divinely Detailed Deliverer Denouncers, Deniers and Detractors’. Along this line, Matthew 23:37-39 says:

37 Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You kill the prophets and stone the messengers God has sent you! How many times I wanted to put my arms around all your people, just as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would not let me! 38 And so your Temple will be abandoned and empty. 39 From now on, I tell you, you will never see me again until you say, ‘God bless him who comes in the name of the Lord.’ (GNT)

Luke 13:34-35 repeats this passage. For reasons best known to humans, they have higher propensity to reject, renounce and even ruin their God-sent saviour. This is amongst the most mysterious passages of the Holy Bible. Jesus said it has been like that through the generations. What you need, desire and somewhat demand is delivered, but you turn round to disdain, despise, and destroy same. Literally unbelievable.

Ecclesiastes 9:13-16 tells of a city-nation that was captured by their invaders because the leaders of the nation disregarded the wisdom of one of their own that could have saved them, because he was poor. Daniel 2 and 6 attest that Daniel’s noble colleagues, who he once saved from their boss the emperor thought that they had an unidentified reason to plot his death. They did not even have the courage to indicate why Daniel should be killed even though they were the nobles of the empire. Of course, their heart-hidden reason was that Daniel was becoming too powerful for their liking. He did not belong to their circle of friends, or he was not their buddy or pal.

Someone might argue that it is partly God’s fault that He chose someone that they despise because of his social status to present the solution to their problem. Quoting God, Isaiah 55:8-9 says that God’s thoughts are far higher than humans’ thoughts. It is like the distance between the heavens and the earth. Let us bear in mind that the heavens which is God’s home and head office is far beyond the sun, moon, and stars. It is partly to teach us to be humble that God uses the seemingly foolish to teach the supposed wise and powerfuls of this world.

Think about it, it pleased God to choose a poor speaker, the youngest of the family to deliver the Israelites from Egyptian bondage. Naturally, it does not make sense. Since he would need his older brother to communicate effectively, why not just appoint his older brother as the deliverer. After all, they are members of the same family. So, if God had predestined that a member of their parents’ pioneered family must lead their generation of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’s descendants, then use the one that you already empowered speak fluently since the leader of the nation must be a good speaker – must not have problem expressing himself or herself.

His is God and neither His decisions nor actions are questionable. He asserts in Isaiah 44:21-28 and 45:11 that none have the right to query is decisions and actions. In Isaiah 44:21-28 and 45:1-19, He detailed His plan to use a non-Israelite named Cyrus to help the Israelites. Sensing that some Israelites would be wondering why God would use a non-Israelite (Cyrus), He declared that none including the Israelites can question His decision and action on anything.

God chose Jeremiah to be the greatest of the prophets of his dispensation. He got the mandate to determine the destiny of his nation and all other nations of the earth at the time. Yet, God did not give him the skill or natural talent to write, rather God chose to provide him with Baruch to serve as his secretary. In our human thinking capacity, we would be tempted to ask God, why not just appoint Baruch to do the job so he could write whatever you reveal to him without having to use another person. But of course, Isaiah 55:8-9 tells us that His ways are different from ours while Isaiah 28:21 partly suggests that His actions are supposed to seem strange to us humans.

Rather than tell the Philistines to catch Samson by themselves, they went to plead with Samson to surrender to them so they could hand him over to their oppressors. If God never gave Samson the capacity to free himself from the capture of the Philistines or Samson decided to never help the Israelites again. What if God had said something like,

Since you are so scared of the Philistines that you are surrendering the only man who I meant to save you from them (the Philistines), then, go on with your sufferings in the hands of your oppressors until you are determined to queue behind whoever I send to save you without fear of your oppressors.

The way they treated Samson has slight semblance to when Jesus returned to His supposed hometown of Nazareth. Matthew 13:53-58, Mark 6:1-6, Luke 4:16-30 says that His Nazarene kinsmen did not regard him enough to benefit from God’s power available in His life to benefit members of His generation. In Matthew 23:37-39 and Luke 13:34-35, Jesus meant that until targeted beneficiaries recognize and respect their God-sent benefactor, they should remain in their sufferings. It happened to the prophet Jeremiah. His fellow Judeans and Israelites wanted him dead while doing what God sent him to the land of living to do to save members of his generation from the consequences of God’s anger against them. Because they failed to heed God-authored Jeremiah’s warnings, they were carried captive to Babylon as God warned that He would.

Apparently, Samson’s generation of Israelites were too afraid of the Philistines, hence they gave up the man God had sent to deliver them from their enemies and oppressors. Do you allow fear of survival or anything for that matter to make you betray your relative who genuinely want to be of help? It is easier for your relative to help you than a non-relative. If the Israelites had trusted in God and understood that God sent Samson to help them, the demand of the Philistines would have been an opportunity to rally round Samson to confront the Philistines as a nation.

Surely, the Philistines had been oppressing them for a long time before Samson’s emergence, but if they were desirous of freedom from their oppression, then they should have supported Samson against their oppressors. What is making you transform into a regrettable relative who renders/surrenders/betrays a rewarding relative to your enemy to kill so that the enemy could continue to oppress you? The reason this is important is that Judges 15:20, 2 Samuel 8:1 confirms that it was not until the time of David that the Philistines’ control of the Israelites and their land ended. It means that the judges after Samson until the time of Saul could not end the Philistines’ oppression. Again, 1 Samuel 13:19-22 says:

19 There were no blacksmiths in Israel because the Philistines were determined to keep the Hebrews from making swords and spears. (20 The Israelites had to go to the Philistines to get their plows, hoes, axes, and sickles sharpened; 21 the charge was one small coin for sharpening axes and for fixing goads, and two coins for sharpening plows or hoes.) 22 And so on the day of battle none of the Israelite soldiers except Saul and his son Jonathan had swords or spears. (GNT)

Eli, Samuel, and King Saul’s reigns preceded David’s reign. The battles against the Israelites raged during their reign. 1 Samuel 4 confirms that Eli, Hophni, Phinehas, and thousands of Israelites died fighting the Philistines. 1 Samuel 7:1-13 confirms that Samuel led battle against them just as 1 Samuel 14:47-49 says that Saul led several battles against them before the 1 Samuel 14, 17, 23:27-29 and 31:1-13/1 Chronicles 10:1-12-detailed one, in which King Saul died. No basic war weaponry. Let us not dabble into the subject of some regrettable relatives fitting the example of reprehensible relatives.

NEHEMIAH’S EXPERIENCE

The Jews were being despised by their neighbouring nations when their fellow Jew, a highly or perhaps, the most accomplished professional chef of Jewish descent named Nehemiah son of Hacaliah, a diaspora Jew was determined to return to lend helping hand to improve the image and add value to the Jews. He used his clout to get support of his boss, the emperor Artaxerxes who Ezra 4:24, 5 – 7 confirm ruled the world on God’s behalf at the time to get all the materials needed for the rebuilding of the walls and gates of Jerusalem. First, the Persian empire was the sole super-power that ruled the rest of the nations of the world. Artaxerxes became emperor of Persia after Emperor Cyrus. Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem for the project, and Nehemiah 1, 2, 6:15-19 says:

1 This is the account of what Nehemiah son of Hacaliah accomplished. In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year that Artaxerxes was emperor of Persia, I, Nehemiah, was in Susa, the capital city. 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, arrived from Judah with another group, and I asked them about Jerusalem and about the other Jews who had returned from exile in Babylonia. 3 They told me that those who had survived and were back in the homeland were in great difficulty and that the foreigners who lived nearby looked down on them. They also told me that the walls of Jerusalem were still broken down and that the gates had not been restored since the time they were burned. 4 When I heard all this, I sat down and wept. For several days I mourned and did not eat. I prayed to God, 5 LORD God of Heaven! You are great, and we stand in fear of you. You faithfully keep your covenant with those who love you and do what you command. 6 Look at me, LORD, and hear my prayer, as I pray day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess that we, the people of Israel, have sinned. My ancestors and I have sinned. 7 We have acted wickedly against you and have not done what you commanded. We have not kept the laws which you gave us through Moses, your servant. 8 Remember now what you told Moses: ‘If you people of Israel are unfaithful to me, I will scatter you among the other nations. 9 But then if you turn back to me and do what I have commanded you, I will bring you back to the place where I have chosen to be worshiped, even though you are scattered to the ends of the earth.’ 10 Lord, these are your servants, your own people. You rescued them by your great power and strength. 11 Listen now to my prayer and to the prayers of all your other servants who want to honor you. Give me success today and make the emperor merciful to me." In those days I was the emperor’s wine steward.

1 One day four months later, when Emperor Artaxerxes was dining, I took the wine to him. He had never seen me look sad before, 2 so he asked, Why are you looking so sad? You aren’t sick, so it must be that you’re unhappy. I was startled 3 and answered, May Your Majesty live forever! How can I keep from looking sad when the city where my ancestors are buried is in ruins and its gates have been destroyed by fire? 4 The emperor asked, What is it that you want? I prayed to the God of Heaven, 5 and then I said to the emperor, If Your Majesty is pleased with me and is willing to grant my request, let me go to the land of Judah, to the city where my ancestors are buried, so that I can rebuild the city. 6 The emperor, with the empress sitting at his side, approved my request. He asked me how long I would be gone and when I would return, and I told him. 7 Then I asked him to grant me the favor of giving me letters to the governors of West-of-Euphrates Province, instructing them to let me travel to Judah. 8 I asked also for a letter to Asaph, keeper of the royal forests, instructing him to supply me with timber for the gates of the fort that guards the Temple, for the city walls, and for the house I was to live in. The emperor gave me all I asked for, because God was with me. 9 The emperor sent some army officers and a troop of cavalry with me, and I made the journey to West-of-Euphrates. There I gave the emperor’s letters to the governors. 10 But Sanballat, from the town of Beth Horon, and Tobiah, an official in the province of Ammon, heard that someone had come to work for the good of the people of Israel, and they were highly indignant. 11 I went on to Jerusalem, and for three days 12 I did not tell anyone what God had inspired me to do for Jerusalem. Then in the middle of the night I got up and went out, taking a few of my companions with me. The only animal we took was the donkey that I rode on. 13 It was still night as I left the city through the Valley Gate on the west and went south past Dragon’s Fountain to the Rubbish Gate. As I went, I inspected the broken walls of the city and the gates that had been destroyed by fire. 14 Then on the east side of the city I went north to the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool. The donkey I was riding could not find any path through the rubble, 15 so I went down into Kidron Valley and rode along, looking at the wall. Then I returned the way I had come and went back into the city through the Valley Gate. 16 None of the local officials knew where I had gone or what I had been doing. So far I had not said anything to any of the other Jews—the priests, the leaders, the officials, or anyone else who would be taking part in the work. 17 But now I said to them, See what trouble we are in because Jerusalem is in ruins and its gates are destroyed! Let’s rebuild the city walls and put an end to our disgrace. 18 And I told them how God had been with me and helped me, and what the emperor had said to me. They responded, Let’s start rebuilding! And they got ready to start the work. 19 When Sanballat, Tobiah, and an Arab named Geshem heard what we were planning to do, they laughed at us and said, What do you think you’re doing? Are you going to rebel against the emperor? 20 I answered, The God of Heaven will give us success. We are his servants, and we are going to start building. But you have no right to any property in Jerusalem, and you have no share in its traditions.

15 After fifty-two days of work the entire wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month of Elul. 16 When our enemies in the surrounding nations heard this, they realized that they had lost face, since everyone knew that the work had been done with God’s help. 17 During all this time the Jewish leaders had been in correspondence with Tobiah. 18 Many people in Judah were on his side because of his Jewish father-in-law, Shecaniah son of Arah. In addition, his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam son of Berechiah. 19 People would talk in front of me about all the good deeds Tobiah had done and would tell him everything I said. And he kept sending me letters to try to frighten me. (GNT)

One: God-of-Israel from His home in heaven approved that Nehemiah started and completed this project. God’s approval is implied when He let Nehemiah find favour with his boss the emperor to return to Jerusalem to pursue the project. As the king of earthly kings at the time, the emperor approved the project. Yet, there were Nehemiah’s Jewish kinsmen living back home in Jerusalem who thought that they had or found reasons to be loyal to the very neighbouring nations’ leading citizens who despised them as Jews.

Let us repeat the reminder that the Emperor Artaxerxes and Nehemiah’s boss who approved everything that Nehemiah requested for the project was not a Jew. All that he based his approval upon was that Nehemiah had been his hardworking, triumphantly honest, and diligent employee. That meant that if Nehemiah had asked the emperor for an island and materials to build as his personal estate for himself and his descendants, the emperor would have approved. However, rather than ask for personal benefit, he asked for what would benefit his fellow Jews. Yet you find any Jew who had reason to be against Nehemiah and the project.

Someone somewhere might not like this, yet it seems that there are persons who prefer to be despised than for anyone, including a relative to remove the source of despising. The non-Jewish despisers are understandable, but the despised Jews who claim to have whatever reason(s) to team up with their despisers to oppose the project that would remove the basis for the despising can never be understood. Also, the account claims that it was many people rather than some or few Jews who joined non-Jews to oppose the award deserving patriotic project.

Nehemiah 6:17 claims that Jewish leaders were in correspondence with the non-Jewish detractors throughout the 52 days that it took to complete the project. The leading citizens are supposed to sensible citizens. Isaiah 3:1-3 and Amos 6:1 strongly suggest that the leading citizens are givers of hope to the commoners of society. When we want to be sarcastic, we would say that ‘even the leading citizens who are sometimes referred to as any society’s/community’s leaders of thought’ (NLOT) were under the spell of the curious compatriots who found reason to take side with non-compatriots. Even the supposed leaders of thought were not smart or intelligent enough to see beyond their noses that the project’s completion would add value to their prestige as Jews. Then, Nehemiah 6:18 claims that ‘many people’ which suggests that most of the ‘non-leading citizens/leaders of thought’ joined the leading citizens/leaders of thought to oppose the project. Unbelievable.

Two: Nehemiah was not living in Jerusalem rather the news of spiteful way that the Jews living back home were being treated spurred him to determine to use his privilege position to add value to the lives of the Jews back home in Jewish main homeland, and by so doing, stop their despisers from looking down on them. As a professional chef, Nehemiah was at the peak of his career having the honour to work for the number 1 citizen on earth. He did not need the improvement of the infrastructures in Jerusalem to enjoy respect as an individual. The job he did was enough for him to command clout wherever he went in the empire and by extension, the entire earth. Any official who found out that he was the chief wine mixer for the emperor would revere him because they knew that he had direct access to the emperor.

Three: Nehemiah did not boss everyone around when he got to Jerusalem rather, Nehemiah 3 confirms that he lived the hands-on project leader style. He participated personally in the project. He oversaw, directed, and supervised the project personally. In this respect, Nehemiah 4:1-23 and 5:14-18 say:

1 When Sanballat heard that we Jews had begun rebuilding the wall, he became furious and began to ridicule us. 2 In front of his companions and the Samaritan troops he said, What do these miserable Jews think they’re doing? Do they intend to rebuild the city? Do they think that by offering sacrifices they can finish the work in one day? Can they make building stones out of heaps of burnt rubble? 3 Tobiah was standing there beside him, and he added, What kind of wall could they ever build? Even a fox could knock it down! 4 I prayed, Hear how they make fun of us, O God! Let their ridicule fall on their own heads. Let them be robbed of everything they have, and let them be taken as prisoners to a foreign land. 5 Don’t forgive the evil they do and don’t forget their sins, for they have insulted us who are building. 6 So we went on rebuilding the wall, and soon it was half its full height, because the people were eager to work. 7 Sanballat, Tobiah, and the people of Arabia, Ammon, and Ashdod heard that we were making progress in rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem and that the gaps in the wall were being closed, and they became very angry. 8 So they all plotted together to come and attack Jerusalem and create confusion, 9 but we prayed to our God and kept men on guard against them day and night. 10 The people of Judah had a song they sang: We grow weak carrying burdens; there’s so much rubble to take away. How can we build the wall today? 11 Our enemies thought we would not see them or know what was happening until they were already upon us, killing us and putting an end to our work. 12 But time after time Jews who were living among our enemies came to warn us of the plans our enemies were making against us.[a] 13 So I armed the people with swords, spears, and bows, and stationed them by clans behind the wall, wherever it was still unfinished. 14 I saw that the people were worried, so I said to them and to their leaders and officials, Don’t be afraid of our enemies. Remember how great and terrifying the Lord is, and fight for your relatives, your children, your wives, and your homes. 15 Our enemies heard that we had found out what they were plotting, and they realized that God had defeated their plans. Then all of us went back to rebuilding the wall. 16 From then on half of my men worked and half stood guard, wearing coats of armor and armed with spears, shields, and bows. And our leaders gave their full support to the people 17 who were rebuilding the wall. Even those who carried building materials worked with one hand and kept a weapon in the other, 18 and everyone who was building kept a sword strapped to their waist. The man who was to sound the alarm on the bugle stayed with me. 19 I told the people and their officials and leaders, The work is spread out over such a distance that we are widely separated from one another on the wall. 20 If you hear the bugle, gather around me. Our God will fight for us. 21 So every day, from dawn until the stars came out at night, half of us worked on the wall, while the other half stood guard with spears. 22 During this time I told the men in charge that they and all their helpers had to stay in Jerusalem at night, so that we could guard the city at night as well as work in the daytime. 23 I didn’t take off my clothes even at night, neither did any of my companions nor my servants nor my bodyguards. And we all kept our weapons at hand.

14 During all the twelve years that I was governor of the land of Judah,