Today's Scripture Reading (July 21, 2025): 2 Samuel 10
The incident occurred during a war between the Greeks
and the city of Troy, located in modern-day Turkey. Paris had kidnapped Helen,
the wife of Menelaus, the mighty King of Sparta in Greece. Menelaus was
determined to retrieve his wife, but to do that, he had to gain entry to the
city gates of Troy. So, Menelaus devised a plan. He would present the city of
Troy with a gift, maybe they would interpret this as a desperate plea by Sparta
for peace and the end of the conflict. The gift Menelaus would give to Troy was
a statue of a horse. However, inside the horse, the Spartan King would place a
small attack force. Once the gift was wheeled inside the city, his attack force
would come out of the horse and take the city.
The horse and the war between Sparta and Troy, along
with all of the characters of the story, are largely mythical, and there is no
evidence that the Trojan Horse ever existed. However, the idea of nations
coming claiming friendship while planning an attack is a familiar story. One
recent example might have been the June 2025 missile attack by the United
States on suspected Iranian nuclear sites. It seemed that President Trump and
the United States had committed to negotiating a solution to the crisis, but
then launched an attack before any real negotiations could take place. I have
to admit that I find it amusing that some of my conservative friends, and fans
of President Trump, quickly supported the attack and called any detractors
hypocrites because of the attacks of previous Democratic governments. My
response is that there is nothing like pointing to your political opposition
and declaring that you are different, and then using their previous actions to
justify your own.
Sneak attacks don't always require a horse.
Negotiating while you are secretly planning an attack is more common than
probably anyone wants to admit. If someone wants to negotiate, the best
military advice I can give you is not to let your guard down, because the
negotiating table might be the Trojan Horse that your opposition is offering to
you.
However, not every negotiation is a Trojan Horse.
Sometimes, the negotiation is precisely what it seems to be: an attempt to
reach a compromised solution to a conflict. Maybe the best advice comes from a
Russian proverb, one that Suzanne Massie, an expert in Russian history, taught
to President Ronald Reagan: "Trust, but verify" (in Russian, the
proverb actually rhymes).
Nahash, the King of the Ammonites, has died. As a
result, Hanun, his son, has taken over his throne and responsibilities. David
seems to have believed that Nahash was good to him, and he wants to offer his
condolences to his son. David could have sent a messenger carrying a letter to
the new King of the Ammonites, but he decides instead to send a delegation.
More than just words of sympathy, David hopes that there is something that he
can do to help the new King. However, Hanun and his new advisors appear to
believe that the delegation is not there to extend condolences. Hanun thinks
that this is David's version of a Trojan Horse, and this delegation is there to
scout out any weaknesses of the city. Hanun wasn't willing to "trust, but
verify." Instead, he simply assumes that the delegation was a prelude to
an attack from David and immediately goes on the offensive against both the
delegation and Israel.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Chronicles 19
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