11-11-13. 2 Samuel 20:1-26. JOAB IS RESTORED –my devotional

Key Verse: 20:23a                                                                                                                                                         Kevin E. Jesmer
“Now Joab was in command of all the army of Israel…”

Dear Lord, Jesus, thank you for the Gospel that give us life. Thank you for your word that works in us. It sprouts and bears abundant fruit. Thank you for bearing your fruit in the hearts of all of our family members and believing friends. You are alive and working. I thank you for the many veterans who have given their lives for our nation. We could be overcome by fascism, extremism and communism if it were not our soldiers. We could be living in a country where people live in fear, if it were not for our soldiers. We are thankful for their sacrifice and your intervention at the critical time. May we always remember the price that needed to be paid so that we can be free. Please help me to accept one word of God in my heart today. I pray in Jesus’ holy name. Amen.

Part 1: Joab Kills Amasa (1-10).

Verses 1-10, “Now there happened to be there a worthless man, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjaminite. And he blew the trumpet and said, “We have no portion in David, and we have no inheritance in the son of Jesse; every man to his tents, O Israel!” 2 So all the men of Israel withdrew from David and followed Sheba the son of Bichri. But the men of Judah followed their king steadfastly from the Jordan to Jerusalem. 3 And David came to his house at Jerusalem. And the king took the ten concubines whom he had left to care for the house and put them in a house under guard and provided for them, but did not go in to them. So they were shut up until the day of their death, living as if in widowhood. 4 Then the king said to Amasa, “Call the men of Judah together to me within three days, and be here yourself.” 5 So Amasa went to summon Judah, but he delayed beyond the set time that had been appointed him. 6 And David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom. Take your lord’s servants and pursue him, lest he get himself to fortified cities and escape from us.” 7 And there went out after him Joab’s men and the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and all the mighty men. They went out from Jerusalem to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri. 8 When they were at the great stone that is in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. Now Joab was wearing a soldier’s garment, and over it was a belt with a sword in its sheath fastened on his thigh, and as he went forward it fell out. 9 And Joab said to Amasa, “Is it well with you, my brother?” And Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him. 10 But Amasa did not observe the sword that was in Joab’s hand. So Joab struck him with it in the stomach and spilled his entrails to the ground without striking a second blow, and he died. Then Joab and Abishai his brother pursued Sheba the son of Bichri.”

What spiritual lessons can we glean from this passage with a whole lot of killing? There is something important to learn for sure, for this is the word of God in the Bible. And so let’s see…  Not everyone in Israel was happy to see David return as king. A man from Benjamin named Sheba rallied the tribes of Israel to himself, but Judah remained faithful to David. The union of the nation was threatened, so David gave Amasa three days to summon the troops of Judah. Amasa had served as Absalom’s general, but when Joab disobeyed David by killing Absalom, David appointed Amasa to take Joab’s command. Now, when Amasa was late at the most critical time, David sent Abishai and Joab instead. There was no other choice. David had to do something. If Amasa was going to procrastinate then David needed to do something, and making Joab the commander was that “something.”

I learned here that at the critical moment we need to make some decisions. We need to make executive decisions. It may not be clean and easy decisions. After all Joab was a worldly and a violent man, but David had no choice. He had to call upon Joab. He was the man who could get the job done and in a timely fashion.  And so one thing that I can learn here is that I need to not be afraid to make “executive” at critical moments in life, knowing that these decisions may not always fall into place perfectly. Our President and members of our government have to make such decisions daily.

I also learned that God raises us people for the “hour”. There needed to be a military commander who could take the bull by the horns and avoid a civil war. If there was a civil war there would be lots of suffering and death. The unity of the kingdom would be lost. Something needed to be done and Joab was the man to do it. It would have been nice if Joab was a God fearing, peace loving, nice guy, but he was not. But it was the man Joab who was needed to get the job done.

Yes, God works through believers and no believers. Didn’t God work through Cyrus, the King of Persia to bring the people of God back to Judah? In WWll Winston Churchill was a man of the hour. In our own American history, think about General Sherman. He was a great general. But he went to great lengths to win the Civil War. On his push to the sea, he besieged and bombed cities. He was decisive and effective at a critical time in American history. He is what this nation needed. There are times when God raises up his servants and they may not be the type of person that we expect and desire. But they may be the type of person that is needed. We need to be in tune with what is needed and how God is moving at certain critical moments in history.

Part 2: A Wise Woman (11-26).

Verses 11-26, “And one of Joab’s young men took his stand by Amasa and said, “Whoever favors Joab, and whoever is for David, let him follow Joab.” 12 And Amasa lay wallowing in his blood in the highway. And anyone who came by, seeing him, stopped. And when the man saw that all the people stopped, he carried Amasa out of the highway into the field and threw a garment over him. 13 When he was taken out of the highway, all the people went on after Joab to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri. 14 And Sheba passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel of Beth-maacah, and all the Bichrites assembled and followed him in. 15 And all the men who were with Joab came and besieged him in Abel of Beth-maacah. They cast up a mound against the city, and it stood against the rampart, and they were battering the wall to throw it down. 16 Then a wise woman called from the city, “Listen! Listen! Tell Joab, ‘Come here, that I may speak to you.’” 17 And he came near her, and the woman said, “Are you Joab?” He answered, “I am.” Then she said to him, “Listen to the words of your servant.” And he answered, “I am listening.” 18 Then she said, “They used to say in former times, ‘Let them but ask counsel at Abel,’ and so they settled a matter. 19 I am one of those who are peaceable and faithful in Israel. You seek to destroy a city that is a mother in Israel. Why will you swallow up the heritage of the Lord?” 20 Joab answered, “Far be it from me, far be it, that I should swallow up or destroy! 21 That is not true. But a man of the hill country of Ephraim, called Sheba the son of Bichri, has lifted up his hand against King David. Give up him alone, and I will withdraw from the city.” And the woman said to Joab, “Behold, his head shall be thrown to you over the wall.” 22 Then the woman went to all the people in her wisdom. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri and threw it out to Joab. So he blew the trumpet, and they dispersed from the city, every man to his home. And Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king. 23 Now Joab was in command of all the army of Israel; and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was in command of the Cherethites and the Pelethites; 24 and Adoram was in charge of the forced labor; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder; 25 and Sheva was secretary; and Zadok and Abiathar were priests; 26 and Ira the Jairite was also David’s priest.”

Joab found Sheba in the city of Abel and besieged the city. A wise woman negotiated a peace treaty in exchange for Sheba’s head. In such a way the union of the nation was preserved. The woman was truly wise and Joab was willing to change his plans when he was faced with wise direction. We need to people who are wise and people who are willing to back off and subject themselves to God’s wise ways, even when adrenaline is pumping through their veins. Such people can lead a nation. May God raise up wise women across our land and may our leaders concede to truth.

David overcame his own personal feelings about Joab and retained him as his top commander. David was the leader of Israel, but in his leadership is the truth of living as a servant of God in the real world. It is not easy being a Christian leader when you are leading both Christian people and non Christian people. A Christian leader cannot impose Christian beliefs on the entire populace. It just won’t work. There needs to be some give and take and a lot of teaching and prayer and persuading the people to your cause. I pray that such leaders may be raised up in America, who can lead all the people.

We also need to have wisdom at the critical moment. The woman stood up with the best proposal for that moment in time. We need the Spirit of God to show us the way and show the choices that we must make. I need wisdom to lead my family, raise my kids, to work as a nurse, relate to the neighbors, and wisdom to interact with the people in the church and the people in NW Ontario. Lord, grant me your wisdom to be your servant.

Prayer: Lord, bless this nation with leaders who are servants of God.

One Word: A leader of the nation, a servant of God