Thursday, February 13, 2014

Life of David - Lesson 36

Joab Getting Back - 2 Samuel 20:4-26

Prayer: Lord, today we're going to see one of David's loyal men being disloyal not only to David but to You.  Help us Lord not to let anger and resentment get a foothold in our lives, even though revenge may seem to get us what we want it is never the right answer.  Help us to seek to love & live at peace with our fellow man, even those who are in opposition to all we hold dear.

Quickly Form Groups:
1.  Why should we never take action when we're angry?  Come up with real-life examples of what can go wrong.

Since Absalom's rebellion David's kingdom is a mess, and he's been attempting to regain loyalties & broker peace... but there's at least one guy who doesn't want peace with David, his name is Sheba and he's leading a rebellion.  When last we left the narrative of David's life he was going through the process of returning to the palace after living in exile in Mahanaim, and that was a time for making peace - not for chasing down a rebellion.  Amasa is now David's primary general, he was formerly Absalom's general but now has replaced Joab as David's primary general, and Amasa is about to get his first assignment.  Lest we forget, these guys are family, Joab & Amasa are full cousins & are sons of two of David's half-sisters (David's nephews).

2 Samuel 20:4-5 - David sends Amasa out to summon the troops, specifically the troops of the tribe of Judah.  David asked Amasa to be back in 3 days, but Amasa didn't get back in time.  At this point David has to be wondering if Amasa is happy with his new position as the primary general of David's army, having just previously been the primary general over Absalom's army.  We don't know what David is thinking at this point, but we do know that David still needed to deal with Sheba & the men that joined in his rebellion, and Amasa hasn't returned with the troops.

2 Samuel 20:6-7 - David decides not to wait any longer before dealing with Sheba, and decides to send his own personal troops out under the leadership of Abishai (another of David's generals & Joab's brother).  He sends Abishai & the troops out to pursue Sheba, trying to prevent Sheba from gaining a foothold in Israel.  The men normally assigned to Joab, and Joab himself, are heading out under Abishai.  Joab is still not being named as the leader - this confirms to me that David is upset with Joab.  I believe David knew or suspected Joab's involvement in Absalom's death, though it's possible there was some other issue.  These two brothers, Joab & Abishai, have both been serving David as generals for a very long time.  Of the two Joab appears to be the more aggressive, more impulsive, and more hot-headed.  This smaller force (not the full troops of Judah) that is setting out is most likely the force known as David's "Mighty Men" - we've talked about them previously, they've been with David since his years on the run from (former) King Saul - we'll learn more about these men in a lesson coming up in a couple weeks.

2 Samuel 20:8-10 - Remember how I said Joab was aggressive & a bit of a hot-head, we see it here.  David had put Amasa over his troops as a means of reuniting the kingdom, Joab doesn't care.  Joab has no respect for Amasa, probably considers him a traitor, and definitely considers him a personal enemy.  Amasa has done nothing wrong since becoming David's primary general - except being late, there are no reasonable grounds for this action - Joab is simply exacting his own personal revenge.  Lest you think I'm being hard on Joab, I'm going to remind you that this isn't the first time Joab has acted in this manner.  Joab also murdered Abner in another act of revenge:
Abner had been King Saul's primary general, and David had been trained up and served under Abner before he was forced to flee for his life from King Saul.  After Saul's death, but before the nation had been united under David, there had been a battle between David's men & Israel's army.  During this battle another of Joab's brothers, Asahel, had relentlessly pursued Abner & wouldn't turn away (though Abner begged him to).  Abner later realized how David would be a better king for Israel than the son of Saul who was sitting on the throne, so Abner & his troops voluntarily allied themselves with David.  Abner, at the same time, got the heads of the families of Israel to also give their allegiance to David as king.  Abner had successfully brokered a peaceful uniting of all Israel under David as King, but all Joab could see is the man who killed his brother in battle - so Joab killed Abner.
So Joab pretends to be a friend, greeting Amasa as if with a kiss, but instead guts him (it's a grotesque & graphic scene).  Once again Joab has committed murder, this time murdering his cousin, David's nephew, and the current primary general of David's forces.

2 Samuel 20:11-13 - Abishai & Joab continue on their way in pursuit of Sheba, but it's interesting that this time Joab's name is listed first - the implication of which is that Joab is back in charge.  If that's not enough, one of Joab's men is encouraging the troops to rally behind Joab, basically equating loyalty with Joab to loyalty to David.  These aren't just the troops that have come with Abishai, these are also the troops that arrived with Amasa, so we shouldn't be surprised at their hesitation as they come across the murdered body of Amasa - were they perhaps concerned for their own lives?  In any case, the body is causing the troops to hesitate, so the body is removed from the road & covered, and the troops head off with Joab to pursue Sheba.

2 Samuel 20:14-16 - So Sheba has been working his way through Israel, gathering men to himself.  Sheba has settled himself and his troops in Abel Beth Maacah (or Beth Maacah in the area of Abel), a fortified city in Israel (the location of which I was unable to confirm).  Joab & the troops of David besiege the city,   build a siege ramp against the outer fortifications, and were beginning to batter their way into this fortified city in order to get to Sheba.  The people in Beth Maacah were probably wanting nothing to do with having their city walls breached, and a wise woman of the city calls out to the troops that she wants to speak to Joab.  The people of Israel would have been used to Joab being the general in charge of David's army, so it's not too surprising that she asked for Joab by name.  Normally a woman wouldn't take a lead role like this, so she must have been a special woman that was trusted by the people of Beth Maacah - and the scriptures record she was wise.  I want to point out that she's a woman, because culturally this is a bit of a big deal, in those days women were considered property, not leaders or spokespersons - so she must have been exceptional.

2 Samuel 20:17-19 -  Joab comes forward, and the woman doesn't recognize him, so she verifies she's talking to the right guy.  Then she humbly requests he listen, a good move on her part.  Joab is taking the time to listen to a woman, this is pretty amazing considering his personality, so I'm even more impressed - this is one woman I'd like to meet & hope she's in heaven so I can get to know her in eternity.  She reminds Joab that the area of Abel is an area known where people could seek answers from God, a place that is known for being peaceful, and a town that has been faithful to Israel.  The town isn't part of this rebellion, the town wants to continue it's role as being a "mother" - a nurturing society in Israel.  So she asks Joab outright what he's up to, what he's got against their city - I'm guessing that Sheba's presence, or his intentions, may not have been common knowledge within the city.

2 Samuel 20:20-21 - Joab responds with a clear purpose, he knows there's no point in destroying a strong city - that would just weaken Israel as a whole.  Joab makes it clear that all he wants is this one man Sheba handed over, he makes it clear that Sheba is a traitor to David's throne, and promise to withdraw is Sheba is handed over.  The woman, now with a clear picture of the problem, and knowing the people of her city, promises that she'll set that Sheba's head is thrown over the wall.

2 Samuel 20:22 - The woman goes around and speaks with the people of her city, advising them to throw Sheba's head over the wall, and they take her advice.  This is obviously a city that wants no part of harboring a traitor, they don't want to be caught in the middle of a conflict, they want peace.  They cut off Sheba's head & toss it over the wall to Joab, Joab sounds the trumpet & ends the pursuit - the men of Judah's forces all head back home, and Joab leads the king's forces back to Jerusalem.

2 Samuel 20:23-26 - These last few verses almost feel like a footnote, but it gives credit by name to some of David's loyal men & priests.  The interesting thing here is that Joab is back as the primary general of Israel's army, and nobody appears to be questioning his position - not even David.  Joab doesn't get away with all his evil acts, they catch up to him eventually, but not until the reign of Solomon - this is another case (like Shimei in last week's lesson) where David, on his death bed, asks Solomon to deal with something by the special gift of wisdom God has granted to him.

Closing Prayer:  Lord we thank you for the wisdom that comes from you.  We thank you for the wisdom of this exceptional woman of Beth Maacah, and how she was able to broker peace for her city.  We thank you for the special gift of wisdom that you granted to Solomon, we thank you for your wisdom available to us through your Word, and we thank you for wisdom given to us through the working of your Holy Spirit in our lives.  Help us to rely on your wisdom rather than our own thoughts or emotions.  Amen!

Quickly Form Groups Again:
2.  Think about situations or circumstances stir you up (your "hot-buttons").  When you realize that you're being stirred up what do you do to get your emotions in-check?  What might you need to do differently?

3.  Pray for each other.

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