WE read in Rom. 15:4,4For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. (Romans 15:4) “Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning;" and in 1 Cor. 10:1111Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. (1 Corinthians 10:11). “All these things happened unto them for ensamples (or types); and they are written for our admonition.” Thus in reading the histories of individuals in the Old Testament, we see more than mere histories; and would do well to be admonished and warned by the contemptible and hypocritical course of such wretched and shameless men as Ziba.
To the honest and upright mind, there is no class of people so thoroughly detested and despised as hypocrites. And if it be so with men, what must it be with God? Reader! Are you one?
The meaning of the word Ziba, I understand to be "a statue." How very significant. How his name discovers his true character. A splendid representation of the real thing, but lifeless, a statue.
Let us look at this scripture statue, and be warned.
“There was of the house of Saul a servant, whose name was Ziba" (2 Sam. 9:22And there was of the house of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba. And when they had called him unto David, the king said unto him, Art thou Ziba? And he said, Thy servant is he. (2 Samuel 9:2)); and I am sure our introduction to him does not predict much good. He is servant to the wrong man. We know how highly favored Saul was, and yet his whole course was one of fleshly energy and miserable failure till at last he is rejected by God, and finally loses his life under the judgment of God. And thus we are introduced to Ziba as a servant of the rejected house of Saul.
Surely we may say he was educated in a wrong school. But when asked for information by David, he can give it quite correctly, for he knows the family history well. But he has no love for David, and no fellowship with David; or no sympathy for those who were marked out to be blessed by David. Yea, though his deportment is most respectful towards David, it was only cloaking his covetous, malicious, and hypocritical desires. What a hypocrite was Ziba!
How sad that he should have so many near relatives. There are many in this day who are regular attenders at their places of worship, whose creed is quite orthodox, who, when it suits their own ends, give frequently and liberally to the cause. Yet every one in the house, street, and town knows who and what they are. Their name and character is Ziba. They try to be God-deceivers on the Sunday, and men-deceivers all the week. And through their wretched hypocrisy they do not go in for blessing themselves, and hinder those who would. May God have mercy on them!
I speak not of those who are earnestly working away at their religious duties, deceived by Satan, and thinking they are doing God service, I respect such, and would gladly help them if opportunity afforded, by showing them that all their efforts are what scripture terms "dead works," and point them to the finished work of Christ as a resting-place for their poor weary hearts.
But I speak of those who are real hypocrites. Not deceived, but deceivers. Professing godliness to further their own miserable and selfish ends.
Thousands there are of such in this sin-blighted, sin-cursed world. They know they are not real Christians, yet they try to persuade others they are. Ah, there is a day coming when the "statues" shall be unveiled, and they will stand before an assembled world in their true characters, detected and manifested hypocrites, to be hurled down under the everlasting judgments of the Eternal God.
When David was returning to his kingdom after having been driven out by the usurper, Ziba's true character is seen. He cheats his poor lamed master, jumps into the saddle, and goes off to meet David with the refreshment that Mephibosheth, his master, had provided. Then he slanders his master, and receives credit from David for what was really the outflow of his master's heart (see 2 Sam. 16:1-41And when David was a little past the top of the hill, behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple of asses saddled, and upon them two hundred loaves of bread, and an hundred bunches of raisins, and an hundred of summer fruits, and a bottle of wine. 2And the king said unto Ziba, What meanest thou by these? And Ziba said, The asses be for the king's household to ride on; and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat; and the wine, that such as be faint in the wilderness may drink. 3And the king said, And where is thy master's son? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he abideth at Jerusalem: for he said, To day shall the house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my father. 4Then said the king to Ziba, Behold, thine are all that pertained unto Mephibosheth. And Ziba said, I humbly beseech thee that I may find grace in thy sight, my lord, O king. (2 Samuel 16:1‑4)).
Oh! what daring and deliberate wickedness! What a hardened and desperate sinner was Ziba! To stand with unblushing face and defame the character of the man whose very life was bound up with the welfare of David, by telling David he was staying at home to try and get the kingdom!
But thus it is with all false professors. They write bitter things against every one but themselves, forgetting that their "sin will find them out," and insensible to the terrible judgment about to engulf them. But “the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment” (Job 20:44Knowest thou not this of old, since man was placed upon earth, (Job 20:4)).
Ziba's conduct seemed all right, and his account of things quite true, but the day came when the truth came out. David returned and met Mephibosheth, and heard from his own lips the true state of things, and the true character of Ziba is unfolded. Ziba was a hypocrite to get the land. Mephibosheth was true-hearted, and wanted the Person.
And let me say, my reader, if you are a hypocrite, and go on undetected now, remember when the true David comes back again, and all His loved ones welcome His return, you will not be able to slip away, like Ziba, to deceive Jesus, and slander His people. Ah, no! You yourself will be left behind. And when that great white throne is set, you will stand before it in all your terrible guilt, a detected hypocrite.
Ah, there will be a fearful exposure of thousands who are mere imitation-Christians in that day May God save you now, dear reader, lest you find yourself among that number, whose very look then will bespeak the bitter sorrow and terrible remorse begun in their souls, to continue uninterruptedly forever.
There are only these three scriptures about Ziba,— first, he is "a servant of the house of Saul;" secondly, lie acts the hypocrite, and deceives David; thirdly, at the return of David his true character comes out. Then Scripture draws the curtain, and we hear no more of him. But we know the doom of such revealed in God's word, “The heavens shall reveal their iniquity, and the earth shall rise up against them." Then the judgment of God will burst upon their guilty souls in all its fearful, terrible, and eternal reality.
O, my reader, before the judgment reaches you, find your way to the feet of Jesus, a humble, broken-hearted, penitent sinner, and tell Him all. Keep nothing back. He will receive you graciously, and love you freely. “His blood cleanseth us from all sin." Not a few sins, but all sin. It has cleansed thousands, and it can cleanse you. God estimates and values it rightly, and will accept you according to His value and estimate of it the moment you trust Jesus.
Wait not for any feelings, but look out to Jesus. He is a Saviour, and you are a sinner. Now do let those two come together this very moment. A sinner needs a Saviour, and a Saviour wants a sinner. Now just fall at His blessed feet, and let your long night of ignorance of Him close at once and forever, and begin that blessed morning that knows no evening; and instead of being a Ziba—a wretched, miserable hypocrite—be a Mephibosheth, content to be slandered till Jesus comes; then all will be brought to light, and the mourning of the saints shall end, and their everlasting joy will be uninterrupted.
W. E.