Introduction What prompts the human heart to reject God s lovingkindness? How is it possible someone can destroy a relationship; a family, a community, or a nation on the basis of a misunderstanding? In chapter 10 the misunderstanding is deeply rooted and grounded in fear and suspicion. In fact, this chapter provides an object lesson---if one were needed---as to how wars can develop out of nothing. A friendly act (by David) was misinterpreted (by the Ammonite king) and was repaid by a gross insult; the next step was to look round for allies, and before long three nations were at war: What really caused the war; then? Undoubtly it was suspicion and mistrust, otherwise David s friendly gesture would have been accepted as such. Where suspicion and mistrust exist, it is possible for any and every action to be misjudged. 2 Samuel 10:1 (NKJV) It happened after this that the king of the people of Ammon died, and Hanun his son reigned in his place. 2 Then David said, I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father showed kindness to me. So David sent by the hand of his servants to comfort him concerning his father. And David s servants came into the land of the people of Ammon. David showed kindness to Mephibosheth and now shows kindness to a pagan king. Once again David is not content to simply sympathize or empathize but rather decides to act with kindness towards the king. The Ammonites were descendants of the younger son of Lot (Gen. 19:38). The children of Israel were commanded to treat them kindly (Deut.2:19); And when you come near the people of Ammon, do not harass them or meddle with them, for I will not give you any of the land of the people of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to the descendants of Lot as a possession....they lived in the area north and east of the Dead Sea in modern Jordan. Their chief city in ancient times was called Rabbah. This city was located on the outskirts of the modern capital of Ammon Jordan in an area that was called The Citidel. Israel had a long history of conflict with the Ammonites. The Ammonites would often form pacts and alliances with neighboring desert tribes to keep Israel from occupying the land promised to them by God. The Holman Electronic Bible has an article which describes the ongoing fight between the people of Jabesh Gilead and the Ammonites. Jabeshites were suing for terms of surrender; and the Ammonites demanded nothing less than to put out the right eye of each man in the city. In desperation the Jabeshites sent a message to Saul at Gibeah for help. Saul organized an army; lifted the siege, and so the people of Jabesh were strong supporters of Saul. The Ammonite King defeated by Saul was Nahash; and apparently David had good dealings with this king. The wars that followed between David s troops and those of Hadadezer 1
of Zobah (2 Sam. 10:6-19); provided the occasion of David s affair with Bathsheba. Uriah, Bathsheba s husband, was killed while storming the walls of Rabbah (2 Samuel chapters 11-12). The Jabeshites were the ones who organized the crack Israeli commando team to remove the descretated bodies of Saul and his three sons from the walls of Beth Shean and give them a decent burial. Certainly Nahash had not shown kindness to everyone in Israel; but had shown kindness to David. Perhaps the old saying; the enemy of my enemy is my friend was true in David s case. On the run from Saul, Nahash had shown kindness to David and his men. We are told under what circumstances the kindness was shown. When the king died David sent a delegation of Ambassadors to offer condolences and offer comfort as a sign of respect and admiration for the people of Ammon. The ways of the world and international politics are sometimes difficult to figure out. However David was one who admired and respected loyalty under pressure. When people showed him kindness; he showed them kindness. (v.3) David acts in sincerity but the counselors of the new king fill the new monarch with doubts, fears and suspicions. These are the same evil suspicions that came upon Joab when Abner came to see David. He believed Abner was simply spying out their weaknesses so the enemies of David could exploit him and his men. The counselors bluntly ask the king, Do you really think David has our best interests in mind? Someone said; The thought can be father to the action (Phillip Keller p.78). Why would the counselors do such a thing? It s possible they may have genuinely suspected David; or like corrupt politicians they act on their own fear and suspicion. What we think inevitably leads to what we do. The leaders of Ammon do not politely decline David s offer of kindness; they publicly humiliate his ambassadors. Did David know this would happen? (v.4) The King then humiliated the messengers or ambassadors of David. He took them into custody which was even then a serious breach of International protocol. It was also a serious breach of trust. The king then added insult to injury by shaving off their beard and turning their robes into short hospital gowns. For a Hebrew man, this was a most grievous offense. It is my understanding if you wanted to humiliate a Chinese person in ancient times you would cut off his braid from the top of his head. To the Hebrew his beard was a sign of virility, wisdom and manhood (Keller p. 79). Robes were worn with the utmost dignity to cover nakedness. In the culture of the Middle East a man would rather die than have his beard cut off; being clean shaven was the mark of a slave; but free men wore beards. With the value universally set upon the beard by the Hebrews and other Oriental nations, as being man s greatest ornament, the cutting off of one-half of it was the 2
greatest insult that could have been offered to the ambassadors, and through them to David their king (Keil & Delitzsch)....often swear by it; and in matters of great importance, pledges it. Nothing can be more secure than a pledge of this kind; its owner will redeem it at the hazard of his life (Clarke). When mischievous junior high schoolers wanted to humiliate someone at school they would pants the person; that is take town their pants exposing their underwear. If you really wanted to humiliate someone you would take their underwear from the gym and fly it from the flagpole. It was a horrible indignity. The thought that leads to the action and the terrible consequences. Tens of thousands of people would die--because one man acted on his fear and suspicions. (v.5) Look how well David deals with a trusted advisor who has been publicly humiliated. He does not wish to further expose them to public ridicule. He tells them to wait in Jericho until their beards grow back to an acceptable length. David was angry--enraged is a better word. When a king sends an ambassador--the way you treat the kings ambassador is the way you treat the king. David realized the men s shame was his own shame. Jesus feels the same way about you! 2 Corinthians 5:20 (NKJV) Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ s behalf, be reconciled to God. Listen to Paul s admonition; our message from our king; be reconciled to God. Jesus told his own disciples that if the world hates you; it hated Jesus first (John 15:18). Now the king of Ammon will experience the full force of retribution. Not only will he be in trouble; but his people and all the allies he enlists in the war against David and the people of Israel will be in trouble. More people will be hurt and die then they ever imagined. Phillip Keller puts it well; Just the false imagination of one man s mind would lead to loss, suffering, bloodshed and death for roughly 60,000 men. One man s wrong thinking would precipitate a vicious war that would wipe out his people and reduce them to mere slaves in David s evergrowing empire (pp. 79-80). Look at the short history of the 20th century; WWI; WWII; Korea, Vietnam; Hitler, Stalin, Chairman Mao; Pol Pot; Sadam Huiseen; the list goes on and on. Human beings have the capacity and power to imagine things which are not, as though they really exist (Keller). Imagination is a two-edged sword, which can be used to create works of art, complex math formulas, synthetic materials, but can also be used to create powerful weapons of mass destruction. A mind that is not submitted to Christ, can be given over to the worst kinds of activity. We can use our brains, our minds our imaginations for the worst kind of things or the best kind of things. It can distort thinking and give a false view of life. It can end in the indulgence of fantasies and self-deception that ultimately destroy a person (Keller). 3
What do we do with our thought life? What do we do with our imagination? Unless we bring our thoughts under the captivity and control of Jesus Christ we run the risks of being enslaved by the monsters we create in our own mind. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (NKJV) For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,5casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, The battle for the Christian begins in our minds. When we as Christians are born again, we can and should expect changes in the way we think, what we think and how we process information. The mind of Christ must be formed within us, if we are ever to exhibit the character of Christ. We must be transformed by the Holy Spirit. How do you suppose we acquire the standards, the values and the interests of Christ? We must love what he loves, accept what he accepts, reject what he rejects and allow the mind of Christ to be fully formed within us. (v.6) Fear and hatred breed fear and hatred. The Ammonites were now viewed by David as dung in the desert sands worthy only of burial. The Ammonites hired mercenaries and soldiers to protect their borders. They asked for help from Syria, Zobah and Aram (which is Mesopotamia or modern Iraq and Iran). Some Bible scholars estimate the King of Ammon spent about 47 tons of silver bullion which would be the equivalent of several hundred million dollars. 1 Chronicles 19:6 says the Ammonites paid 1000 talents to the Syrians. (v.7) 2 Samuel 10:7 (NKJV) 7Now when David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the army of the mighty men. Joab is put in charge of the war effort. He is no stranger to battle. Here we are introduced to David s mighty men. Clearly David s mighty men are a reflection of David. These were the distressed, indebted, and the discontent people who followed David at the cave of Adullam (1 Samuel 22:1-2). We are given short profiles of some of these men; Adino the Eznite--killed 800 men at one time (2 Sam. 23:8). Jashobeam who killed 300 men at one time (1 Chron. 11:11). Another was Benaiah who killed a lion in a pit on a snowy day and took on a huge Egyptian warrior and killed the Egyptian with his own spear (1 Chron. 11:22-23; See David Guzik s notes on this passage--where I got this information; THANKS DAVE). (vv. 8-11) Joab and his brother Abishai are facing a battle on two fronts. One from the Ammonites; and the other from the mercenary soldiers. Joab is savvy in the ways of war. He realizes the only way he will survive is to cut his army in two and attack on both fronts. If he or his brother begins to falter, they can cover each other s back. This has great application at every level, personal, social, military and of course church and home. 4
(v.12) Joab did not appear to be a very religious man--but he knew if ever there was a time to call on the Lord--it was in the midst of battle. Be of good courage and be strong is the battle cry of Joshua. Courage and strength are not matters of feeling and circumstance; they are matters of choice; The Lord Jesus Christ makes his resources available to us! We can be strong in the power of his might. (13-14) The armies of Israel prevailed in the battle. Joab prepared for the battle; but ultimately left the outcome in the Lord s hands. (v.15-19) For some strange reason, the Syrians thought they could regroup, mount an assault and break free from the subjugation of David. It was not to be. David gathered the entire army and defeated the Syrians in an overwhelming victory. Like most enemies--they were persistent. David fought many battles in his life; and we must fight many battles in our Christian life. We are to win our battles by defeat! What? The Cross! Out of Touch with the World One of the strangest tales to come out of WWII concerns the story of two young men who were captured by the Americans in Germany near the end of the war. The two were shipped to POW camp in this country, but attempts to integrate them were to no avail. They would not or could not speak to American authorities. They kept to themselves and refused to talk to anyone, even their fellow German prisoners. In fact, the other German prisoners insisted that they knew nothing about the pair. The American officers were puzzled. The two men seemed frightened and bewildered but not sullen or rebellious. After a few week in their new quarters they even seemed willing to cooperate, but when they finally did speak no one could understand a word they said. There was something else too. They did not look like Germans. Since their features were more Asiatic in appearance an expert in Asiatic languages was called in. He soon solved the mystery. The two were Tibetans, and they were overjoyed that at last someone was able to understand them and to listen to their incredible, almost unbelievable story. It seems that in the summer of 1941 the two friends, lured by a desire to see something of the world outside their tiny village, crossed the northern frontier of Tibet and for weeks wandered happily in Soviet Russian territory. Abruptly they were picked up by Russian authorities, put on a train with hundreds of other young men, and shipped west. Outside a large city, at an army camp, they were issued uniforms and rifles and given some rudimentary military training. After a few days they were loaded onto trucks with the other soldiers and shipped to the Russian front. They were horrified at what they saw. Men were killing each other with artillary, rifles, even hand to hand combat. Because they were good Buddhists, killing was against their moral principles. They started to flee to the rear, but in their flight they were overtaken by Germans and made prisoners. Once again they were loaded onto a train and shipped this time to Germany. After the Normandy invasion, as the American forces neared Germany, they were put into an auxiliary service in the German army. As the Americans continued to advance the two were given guns and told to fight with the Germans. Once again they tried to flee, but this time they were captured by the Americans. When they had finished their story, the interpreter asked them if they had any questions. They had only one: Why were all those people trying to kill each other? 5