The Cushite. Running Without a Message

Monday Morning Moment / Key Takewaway:
Someone has defined “tact” as “the knack of making a point without making an enemy,” and the Cushite had tact. AKA wisdom.
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Sermon Handout

Scripture(s):
  • 2 Samuel 18:19–33
  • Jeremiah 38:7-13
Sermon Series:
Speaker:
Will Robinson
Date:
08/14/2022

2 Samuel 18:19–33; Jeremiah 38:7-13

Cush = Heb. Black; Ethiopian. The prophet Isaiah describes the Cushites as “a people tall and smooth-skinned . . . a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers” (Isaiah 18:2; Jeremiah 13:23).

Ebed-Melech [Ē’bed-mē’lĕch]—SERVANT or SLAVE OF THE KING. An Ethiopian eunuch of the palace in

Zedekiah’s time who assisted Jeremiah in his release from prison (Jer. 38:7-12; 39:16).

Some of the lessons to be gleaned from the record of this Cushite/Ethiopian eunuch:

He was a servant.

He had the courage of his convictions.

He had a kind way of doing kindness.

He achieved a great service with poor instruments.

Old rags and cords! How God can use weak things for the accomplishment of His plan!

His faith in God was divinely rewarded.

Some of the lessons to be gleaned from Ahimaaz.

  • To keep Ahimaaz safe, Joab selected a person known only as “the Cushite,” who was possibly one of his own servants. Better that a foreign servant be slain than the son of a Jewish priest.
  • Ahimaaz is an illustration of somewhat irritating people who want to be important but have nothing much to say.
  • He took a shortcut route to King David through the valley, while the Cushite took the longer route over difficult terrain.

  • Ahimaaz was a young man without a real message or the ability to convey that message in the right way. As the Cushite ran, he may have meditated on how to tell King David that his son was dead. What’s the sense in running if you don’t know how to share the news?
  • David said, “He is a good man. He comes with good news” (v. 27). Good character of the messenger has nothing to do with the contents of the message.
  • In his feeble attempt to go down in history as the man who brought the news from the Forest of Ephraim to Mahanaim, Ahimaaz ended up having nothing to say that David wanted to hear. What he said was correct, but he didn’t say enough. He ended up standing to one side and watching the Cushite deliver the right message in the right way.

Ecclesiastes 9:11 (NLT) 11 I have observed something else under the sun. The fastest runner doesn’t always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn’t always win the battle. The wise sometimes go hungry, and the skillful are not necessarily wealthy. And those who are educated don’t always lead successful lives. It is all decided by chance, by being in the right place at the right time.

1 Corinthians 9:24 – 27 (NLT) 24 Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win!

25 All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.

26 So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing.

  • (ESV) 26So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air.

27 I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.

John 8:31 (NASB) 31So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine;

Monday Morning Moment:

Someone has defined “tact” as “the knack of making a point without making an enemy,” and the Cushite had tact. AKA wisdom.

Proverbs 4:7 – 8 (KJV)

7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

8 Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.

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