The Judas of the Old Testament | Part 1

There are many who are very loyal yet very lost.

Listen closely to Adrian Roberts. Joab was the Judas of the Old Testament. He was an unusual man. He was a remarkable man, because outwardly he seemed to love David. He spent all of his life serving David, yet he truly never loved David, and ultimately he was judged by David. The only thing I can think of that is sadder is for a modern day Christian to be in the church, respect Jesus, fight for Jesus, serve Jesus, and to die and go to hell under the wrath of Jesus, and some will. And so I want you to pay very close attention to a man who was very loyal and very lost.

Welcome to Love Worth Finding, featuring profound truth simply stated by pastor, teacher, and author Adrian Rogers. In 1 Kings chapter 2, David is coming to the end of his reign. Before relinquishing the throne to his son Solomon, David proclaims judgment on his right-hand man, Joab. Now, by all appearances, Joab was devoutly loyal.

But in spite of his loyalty, there was still something missing. If you have your Bible, turn now to 1 Kings chapter 2, we'll begin in verse 5, as Adrian Rogers tells us more about the Judas of the Old Testament. Now I want you to take your Bible tonight and turn to 1 Kings chapter 2. We're going to talk tonight on this subject, the Judas of the Old Testament, the Judas of the Old Testament, 1 Kings chapter 2, and we begin reading in verse 5. Now, David is coming to the end of his reign. We're going to skip way ahead, therefore, in our study of the life of David, and talk about something that happened right at the end of his reign as he's getting ready to turn things over to his son Solomon, and then we're going to go backward in the scripture and bring us back up to the point where we started tonight. Now, David is speaking to Solomon, his son, and he says in verse 5, Moreover, thou knowest also what Joab, the son of Zeruiah, did to me, and what he did to the two captains of the host of Israel, unto Abner, the son of Ner, and unto Amasa, the son of Jather, whom he slew, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war upon his girdle that was about his loins, and in his shoes that were on his feet.

And now notice the command, Do therefore, according to thy wisdom, and let not his whorehead, that is, his white head, his aged head, go down to the grave in peace. David pronounced judgment upon Joab. Joab was the Judas of the Old Testament, and he was an unusual man. He was a remarkable man, because outwardly he seemed to love David. Outwardly he seemed to be loyal to David. Outwardly he served David, but when it came to the very end, he ended up under the judgment and the wrath of David.

He spent all of his life serving David, yet he truly never loved David, and ultimately he was judged by David. Now, this man Joab was a very formidable man. He was a very outstanding man. He was a man among men, and Joab would have gone to the top in any profession, anywhere, any place.

That's the kind of a man he was. If you'd ever wanted to have a man on your side, you would have wanted Joab to be on your side. The way that Joab got to be David's commander in chief, and incidentally he was David's commander in chief. He was David's right-hand man. Remember right after David was crowned king, and actually we're going to go back and talk about what happened when David was crowned king, because we're going to see a parallel of the things that happened when Jesus is crowned king. One of the things that happened when David was crowned king was that there was a Jebusite stronghold that had been in the land since the days of Joshua, and nobody had been able to take that Jebusite stronghold, but when David was crowned king, immediately that stronghold fell. And incidentally, and we're going to talk about it in greater length later, when Jesus is crowned king, you're going to find all kinds of strongholds in your life that are going to fall. But here was this Jebusite stronghold. It was so strong that they laughed and mocked at the armies that came up against it, and they were so secure that they said, listen, even the blind people and the lame people can defend our stronghold. But David said, whoever takes that stronghold will be my commander in chief.

And old Joab said, I'll take it, and he did. What courage he had, what strength he had, what wisdom he had, what daring he had, what cunning he had. He was a man among men, and he cared not for the insults of the Jebusites. He cared not for the armaments of the Jebusites. He took that city and delivered it to David, and he became David's commander in chief.

And yet it's such a tragic story. He fought alongside David. He fought for David. He worked for David. He respected David.

He looked up to David, and yet he spent his entire life for David only to receive at the end of his life the wrath of David and the judgment of David. And I say that's a tragedy. That is sad. The only thing I can think of that is sadder is for a modern-day Christian to be in the church, work in the church, admire Jesus, respect Jesus, fight for Jesus, serve Jesus, and to die and go to hell under the wrath of Jesus, and some will. And so I want you to pay very close attention to a man who was very loyal and very lost.

And I'm afraid that many may be in that same kind of a situation. They may be like Joab in the Old Testament. They may be like Judas in the New Testament. Now I want you to notice the loyalty of this man, the loyalty of this man. What a loyalty he had for David. If you were to ask anybody, who is David's right-hand man? Who is the man that you can trust to stand by David? Outwardly they would have all said Joab. Joab is the man that's loyal to David. It doesn't matter whether it's dangerous.

It doesn't matter whether it's desirable or not desirable. You're going to find Joab standing for David and fighting for David. He was loyal to David, but he never really loved David.

He never really opened his heart to David. And what he did with David ultimately depended upon what David did with him. Now David, you know, is a picture of Jesus. David is an Old Testament type, prophecy, illustration of Jesus. Both are of the tribe of Judah. Both are God's anointed kings.

Both were first rejected and then both were enthroned. And so David pictures the Lord Jesus Christ. He is a type, a picture of Jesus. But now Joab was seemingly loyal to David, outwardly loyal to David. Let me tell you what kind of a loyalty he had.

First of all, he had a family loyalty. You're in 1 Kings chapter 2. Look in verse 5. Moreover, thou knowest also what Joab the son of Zeruiah, or Zeruiah did, unto me. Well who is Zeruiah?

Who is this? Why this was David's sister. And Joab was David's nephew. And so Joab had known about David ever since he was a little boy. You see, David's sister was there in the tent, doubtless, peeking through the tent curtains when old Samuel the prophet came to anoint the king of Israel. Can you remember the seven sons of Jesse came in there? And I think seven is significant.

I believe it speaks of the perfection of the flesh. These seven sons were there, but none of them were good enough. And old Samuel, knowing that God had his king, one by one they appear and one by one the old prophet shakes his head and says, this is not the one.

There must be someone else. And then they remember that boy who's keeping the sheep, that shepherd boy David. And Samuel says, send for him.

Go get him. And off for the hills they run and they come back with little David. And certainly David's sister was there, Joab's mother was there. And she saw that holy prophet thank God. She saw that holy prophet get out the holy oil and poured on David's head. And she saw then from that time on, she knew that David was God's anointed king. He was the one that was chosen of God and that God had decided that David would rule the throne. And I believe that when little Joab was born to David's sister, she said to him, now Joab, I want you to remember that David is the man of destiny. I was there when he was anointed.

He is God's man. And Joab, I want you to live for David. I want you to give your heart to David. The future is with David. You stay with David. You stick with David. David is God's anointed. From the time that Joab was a little boy, doubtless he knew this. And that's one reason that he was loyal to David.

He's like many people who are raised in the church. And from the very time that they can first hear and understand, they learn about Jesus. Jesus is king. Jesus is Lord. Jesus loves me.

This I know. Jesus is God's anointed Messiah. Jesus is the savior, the Lord. And just like Joab, we've heard it from you. I'm talking about Joab's loyalty to David. And first of all, he had a family loyalty. He could hardly remember a time when he'd not been told about David.

But not only did he have a family loyalty, he had what I want to call a fundamental loyalty. He believed the right things about David. For example, he was convinced that David was the savior of Israel. It was very obvious that David was God's savior in that day. He could remember the story of how David went out and fought Goliath and how he had defeated Goliath and that one man had won the battle for them all. It was a vicarious battle and David had won it and David had overcome him that had the power of death, that is Goliath. He was victorious and certainly Joab knew that David was savior.

But not only did he know that David was savior, he knew that David was sovereign. Joab saw how Abner had tried to set up another king and we're going to talk about that. His name was Ish-bosheth and he was a rival king. He had no right to be king.

Abner tried to set up Ish-bosheth as king but Joab would have no part of it. And Joab knew that David was supposed to be king. He was sovereign. He was lord and king and Joab stood up for this.

He knew it was right and he fought for it. But not only was he convinced that David was savior, not only was he convinced that David was sovereign, he was also convinced that David was sufficient. He had been around David enough to know that David was a most remarkable man. He had seen how David single-handedly had united the 12 tribes of Israel. He had seen how David had been such a king that David brought in both peace and prosperity and unity. He had seen how David was the embodiment of all of Israel's ideals. In this one man, David, we see a shepherd and a soldier. We see a king and a prophet.

We see a musician and a poet. He was a diplomat. He was an administrator. He was a friend. He was a hero. He was all of it.

What more could you want? If Israel had David, it didn't seem like they needed anything else. If they didn't have David, it seemed as though they had nothing. Joab believed all of this. Not only did he have a family loyalty, he had a fundamental loyalty. He saw David as savior, sovereign, and sufficient.

But not only this, he also had a fighting loyalty. As you study the life of Joab, and we're going to see in a moment, he would fight for David just like that. He was on the battlefield for David. He risked his life for David. He took the Jebusite stronghold for David. And had you asked who is David's most courageous soldier, who is his most faithful servant, people would have said Joab, of course.

But now wait a minute. In spite of the fact of his loyalty, there was still something missing. And I'm going to show you in a moment that there was a fatal flaw in Joab. And not only are you going to see his loyalty, but you're going to see his lostness. Somehow he never, ever really gave his heart to David. He admired David. He fought for David, and yet he never surrendered to David. He knew that David was savior. He knew that David was sovereign.

He knew that David was sufficient, and yet he had not given David his heart. And he's like so many people who occupy the pews of churches across America. They have been raised from children to have a family loyalty. They have heard so much of the word of God that they have a fundamental loyalty. And they have worked so hard for the Lord that they have a fighting loyalty for the Lord. And yet they have never, ever been born again.

They have never, ever really been saved. They are going to die and go to hell because there's something missing in their relationship with the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Now we've talked a little bit about the loyalty of Joab. I want us to think for a moment about the lostness of Joab. What caused this man Joab to receive the judgment of David? Why would David come to the end of his life and tell his son Solomon, and for Joab, don't you let his white head go down to the ground in peace? You let my judgment fall upon him.

Why is it? What happened to him? Well, we'll search the record, and you're going to find out that in all of it you can never find a place where Joab truly, from his heart, loved David. Joab was a man who loved the kingdom without loving the king. He loved the power, but he didn't love the person.

He loved the glory, but he did not love the glorious one who was God's anointed. And you can see in the way that Joab dealt with three rebellions that came up against David, that Joab really never, ever had the heartbeat of King David. Let's go now to 2 Samuel chapter 3.

Turn backward in the materials, would you please? 2 Samuel chapter 3, and I want us to begin reading in verse 20, and see what Joab did to a man named Abner. So Abner came to David, to Hebron, I'm reading 2 Samuel 3 verse 20, so Abner came to David to Hebron and 20 men with him, and David made Abner and the men that were with him a feast. And Abner said unto David, I will arise and go and will gather all Israel unto my Lord the king, that they may make a league with thee, and that thou mayest reign over all that thine heart desireth. And David sent Abner away, and he went in peace. Now I want to tell you, this is the same Abner who had once rebelled against David. This is the same Abner who had wanted to set up a wrong king, Ish-bosheth, and make him the king.

But later on, Abner saw the wrongness of his ways. After a while, Abner saw the beauty of King David, the rightness of King David, the righteousness of King David, that King David was God's appointed man, God's anointed man, and Abner repented of his ways. He came to David, he asked David for forgiveness, David forgave him, David made a feast for him, they had fellowship, and Abner said to David, David, I'm going to bring as many people to your side as I can, I love you, and I want everyone to be in your kingdom. That's what 2 Samuel 3 verses 20 and 21 tell us.

But now skip on down to verse 26. And when Joab was come out from David, he sent messengers after Abner, which brought him again to the well of Sirah, but David knew it not. And when Abner was returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside in the gate to speak with him quietly and smote him there under the fifth rib that he died for the blood of Asahel, his brother.

Now here's a strange thing. David loved Abner. David forgave Abner. David wanted fellowship with Abner. Abner loved David.

Abner was going to bring people to follow David, but Joab, who was David's commander in chief, took this man off and stabbed him in the back. And he represents so many people who claim to know and love the Lord Jesus Christ, and yet they never, ever have the mind of Christ. They never can deal properly with those whom Jesus has forgiven. They cannot see a soul forgiven. They cannot understand someone who has been forgiven and made right with God.

And so they always are bearing grudges. They're always bearing resentments because they have not the mind of Christ. I wonder, do you have the mind of Christ? Do you think as Jesus thinks, and therefore do you love as Jesus loves?

And do you deal with those whom Jesus has dealt with as Jesus would deal with them? You know, one of the saddest things in the world is to see people who knife other people in the back under the guise of Christianity. They have a drawn sword, they have a dagger, and they're arguing and disputing and fighting among themselves and yet claiming to love the Lord Jesus.

I want to tell you something, friend. You cannot claim to love the Lord Jesus Christ and knife those that he loves. I don't care where your membership is.

I don't care whether yours is a family loyalty, a fundamental loyalty, and a fighting loyalty. If you're knifing those that Jesus loves, you haven't been saved. You haven't been saved. This is what old Joab did. He never ever really had the mind of Christ, but not only did he disdain the mind of David. I want you to notice that he also distressed the heart of David. Now Absalom was David's son, and he had rebelled against David, horribly rebelled against David.

He tried to usurp the throne from David, and David said to Joab, and he said to his other men there that day, look, I know what he's done. I know what he deserves, but I want you to hear me and hear me well. Regardless of what he's done and regardless of what he deserves, I love him.

He's my son. I want to show him mercy. I want to extend my grace to him, and so therefore deal gently with the young man Absalom for my sake. All of us remember the story of how Absalom ran under that huge oak tree, and his head and his hair got entangled there in the limbs, and he's left dangling, suspending.

He cannot free himself, and how cruel and wicked Joab came and found him there and drove three daggers through his heart, and Joab's other men surrounded him and hounded him and pummeled him to the death and broke the heart of David. And with that, we'll end today's portion of the message, and we'll pick up Monday with part two. In the meantime, maybe you have a prayer request that you'd like to share with us. At Love Worth Finding, it's one of our greatest honors to come alongside you and pray with you and for you. If you can, go to our website homepage at lwf.org slash radio and scroll down to our prayer wall. There you'll find the option to either submit a prayer request or pray for others. This resource is one of our favorite ways to keep the ministry and the community praying continually for one another's needs.

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