Later, he's going to kill the Edomites and other stories and other battles, and so he has decided.
Okay, they're in front of us and they're in back of us. We're going to have to attack our way out. Are not some of the battles in life that way? You have no choice. You either lie down and be slaughtered, or you attack.
You fight your way out. None of it's pleasant. It is every bit as sickening and disgusting. But what are you going to do? The loved ones involved, especially when loved ones are involved, you're going to fight.
This is Cross Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the Book of Second Samuel. Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about Cross Reference Radio. Specifically, how you can get a free copy of this teaching today on Cross Reference Radio.
Pastor Rick will be teaching in Second Samuel chapter ten. This treatment of shaving that they received, cutting off the garment, was how you treated prisoners of war. Isaiah chapter twenty.
So shall the king of Assyria. Lead away the Egyptians as prisoners and the Ethiopians as captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. And so, their cutting their garments like this was to shame the Jewish people. This was in line with Nahash, the king that died when he wanted to conquer Jabesh Gilead. He said right out, "I want to shame the Jewish people." I think part of the problem, just part of it, that Antichrist will have against the Jewish people is that they're not going to want to be globalized.
They're going to want to retain their identity, and that's going to really just fuel the flames of his hatred. Because we know, in a world that wants to be globalized, you don't have a right to be a patriot to love your country. You have to love this global monstrosity that they are cooking up. This modern day babble. Anyway, it's about a thirty mile trek from Rabba, the key city of the Ammonites, where this is taking place, to Jericho, where these men will have to wait.
Now, a thirty miles. You got to know they're hoping they're not going to see anybody on the way. How unfortunate! You know they're ashamed, and I'm sure they saw people. And man, what a rough ride!
Verse ten, when they told David, he sent to meet them because the men were greatly ashamed, and the king said, "Wait at Jericho until your beards have grown, and then return." So David is sympathetic. I know, guys, a tough blow. I don't. You don't have to come here. Just hang out there, and I'll take it from here.
This is an act of war. He can't let this slide. The next thing you know, other kingdoms will be coming against him. He had this cannot go unpunished.
So, the deed of grace shown to these dimwits at Ammon plunged the region into war, and it's a big war, not a little one. Verse six: When the people of Ammon saw that they had made themselves repulsive to David, the people of Ammon sent. And hired the Syrians of Bethreab, the Syrians of Zoba, twenty thousand foot soldiers, and from the king of Maaca, one thousand men, and from Ishtab, twelve thousand men.
So there is a lot of people going to be on the battlefield. This is just one side, and a great many of them going to be slaughtered. And this is only the first part. It's a two-part war. It says here, the people of Ammon saw that they made themselves repulsive.
Elsewhere, the translators in the Old King James Version used the word odious. It's closer. They had a stench. That's the word. David thinks we have this smell about us.
That is kind of the picturesque language. First Chronicles in the parallel account, chapter nineteen. When the people of Ammon saw that they had made themselves repulsive to David, and there they use the same word. Hanun and the people of Ammon sent a thousand talents of silver to hire for themselves chariots and horsemen from Mesopotamia, from Syria, Maaca, and from Zobah.
So they reached out all over the place. A talent of silver is about seventy-five pounds.
Well, here they have a thousand.
So this is a king's fee. This war is already expensive. All because they could not accept a deed of kindness.
Now, I mean, there are times you know someone's maybe stalking you or something like that. That's not paranoia. That you have grounds for a little concern about what's going on here. But these guys, with nothing, brought all of this down on the region, and they're spending, as I mentioned, a king's fortune to hire these mercenaries to deliver them. From this self-inflicted wound, and the one thing that could have saved everyone—further judgment and punishment, and ultimately defeat—would have been just David.
We were wrong. They don't even try. They don't send ambassadors to David. They, instead of lawyering up. They, you know, war up.
Everybody's the war drums are beating all over the place. They don't even bother to try. They are dim wits with no care. They think that they're going to win. The very thing they thought that they were avoiding by identifying these men as spies is the very thing they caused.
As such, this is what paranoia does. Imaginary problems can become a real problem if one's reasoning abilities collapse.
So, if you think you're being chased by a giant bunny, and it's not true, but if you really think it, it becomes a problem. Especially if you run out into traffic trying to get away from the giant bunny. How do you advise somebody on this? This is all in your head.
Well, that doesn't mean it's trivial. It means it's a problem. I'll come back to that.
Well, I'll stay on it just for a little bit more. It's not the fault of the one who gives good advice if the one who does not receive that good advice does something to themselves or someone else. As Satan would try to come along and say, "Ah, you gave advice, but it didn't work because you didn't make it the right way or some other stupid thing." The individual is responsible. Proverbs chapter one verse thirty. There are quite a few of these throughout the proverbs.
He says they would have none of my counsel and despise my every rebuke. Wisdom is appealing to them. Wisdom is appealing to their decision, but is not appealing to them. I hope I'm not confusing you there. Coming back to Proverbs, therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way and be filled to the full with their own fancies.
So there in Proverbs one, he said, you know, I've appealed to you. I've made this argument that this shoots down this crazy stuff you're up to, but you're going to do it anyway. In another section in chapter one, he says, then wisdom will mock them. Told you so. But you just won't listen, will you?
We know people like this. They make a wreck of their lives because they just will not listen. It's so frustrating. What are you supposed to do? I mean, you pray, you appeal to God on their behalf, you intercede, and there's really nothing more you can do.
You poke too much, you make things worse. Anyway. Bloodshed because of these incompetent counselors, these low caliber people mess up everything. I had an older friend years ago. He was fond of saying about people who were problems; they mess up the whole world.
It's hyperbole, but it messed up his whole world. Or if you were close enough to them, verse seven.
Now, when David heard it, he sent Joab and all the army of the mighty men. Had David not sent his army again, further aggressions would come his way. He had to do this. This was an army of Israel's mighty men, not David's fifty-one mighty men. This is the mighty men of Israel.
And it is interesting, though, when the mighty men of David are listed in chapter twenty-three, Joab is not named. I think that was a zinger, a shot. The historians, I'm not naming him. I didn't like him. He threatened me.
I don't know what it is, but he's not named, and he certainly was one of the mighty men. Anyway, why doesn't David himself go? Why does he delegate this to Joab? This is a big army going to war. He's going to do this twice.
The second time, Satan's going to get him. He should be with his men. He's not going, and I'm going to give a bit of a timeline to these events. If we're still here, before I finish, well, a rapture could come. I mean, it really could.
Verse eight. Then the people of Ammon came out and put themselves in battle array at the entrance of the gate. And the Syrians of Zobah, Bethriab, Ishtab, and Maaca were by themselves in the field.
So we have two forces that Joab and his brother Abishai are dealing. They are the two generals. And the Ammonites are fighting near their city, Raba, near the city gate, so that if it's not going the way they hope the battle would go, they could retreat into the city. Then that would then mean a siege. Their plan to deal with the siege would be to send for reinforcements, as did the people of Jabesh Gilead when they were besieged by.
A Naash the king they sent to Saul and Saul came and bailed them out and so that would be their plan. Whereas the mercenaries from as far as Mesopotamia, that's heading towards the Euphrates, they were out in the open field.
So you have got one in front of the city, somewhat in front of the city, and then you have the others exposed out in the field, and that's where the larger numbers are on the chariots. Verse ten. When Joab saw the battle line was against him, before and behind, he chose some of Israel's best and put them in battle array against the Syrians. Joab, his forces are between a rock and a hard place, as we would say. There was no way out.
He either. Slaughter them or be slaughtered. He understood that, but the would-be slaughterers, or the ones that have taken a tiger by the tail, Joab made the mistake of allowing the enemy to trap his forces. But the enemy made a mistake by allowing themselves to come up against Joab. He just understood war.
He understood killing. And he is going to be at his best here, and not only here. Later, he's going to kill Edomites and other stories in other battles. And so he has decided: okay, they're in front of us, and they're in back of us. We're going to have to attack our way out.
Are not some of the battles in life that way? You have no choice. You either lie down and be slaughtered, or you attack. You fight your way out, and none of it's pleasant. It is every bit as sickening and disgusting.
But what are you going to do? There are loved ones involved, especially when loved ones are involved. You're going to fight. It says here he chose some of Israel's best and put them in battle array against the Syrians. And so here he is, this cornered tiger.
He knows what he's going to do. He chooses his, you know, best fighters, and he sticks them against the mercenaries. Believing that the those on Ammon, he'll take them.
So he was out maneuvered.
Now this is important. He was out maneuvered, but he was not outmatched, and that is why he is going to win. He doesn't blink, and this is again what this is the highlight of Joab. We don't see him in this light. We see him killing again, as I mentioned, but without hesitation, he knows what to do, and then he does what he knows what to do.
Realizing that the Syrians presented the greatest threat, he matched his best men against them. Verse ten, and the rest of the people he put under the command of Abishai his brother, that he might set them in battle array against the people of Ammon.
Now, remember, Abishai, loyal to David, a worthy opponent. He knows what to do, and he is doing it. He is listed as one of the mighty men of David. I like Abishai. I like that you know.
If you messed with David, he didn't take that mess. Lord, and David, I'll go take his head off for you if you'd like. He says at one point when Shimei is cursing David and throwing up dust. Abishai's, who is this guy? I'll take him out right now.
Verse eleven. Then he said, "This is Joab speaking. If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me. But if the people of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will come and help you." Why doesn't he say if there's too strong for both of us? Because it ain't factoring in his head.
He's like, there's no way these guys going to beat us. He doesn't even think about being defeated. He just thinks about what kind of adjustments he has to make on the battlefield ahead of time. And so he says, if you're failing, I'll come help you. If I'm failing, you come help me.
But we're both not going to fail. No trace. Of him considering defeat, and you've got to admire this. These guys, this is not—they got skin in the game. They're going to be killed in a very ugly way if they can't get this together.
Verse twelve. Then he says, "This you'll not hear Joab speak like this again." So enjoy it. Be of good courage, and let us be strong for our people and for the cities of our God. And may Yahweh do what is good in His sight. What if Joab had a heart for God?
Well, probably not.
So many people would be dead because of him. But he shines here. He tells his brother, "Be of courage." Other commanders are likely in close proximity to this, and they can hear this, and they're getting built up. Yeah. Joab's not backing down.
I'm not backing down because they're not paranoid. They're not. Oh, we're going to lose this. Oh, they're out to get us.
Well, they know all of that. But they're saying, "You look, the other side is scared too. They're not invincible." His attitude on the battlefield is always one of overcoming, and that's hard to do. But it's not too hard to start doing it. In your head, Corinthians chapter sixteen, the first Corinthian letter, Paul says, "Watch, stand fast, be brave, be strong." Now, coming from you know someone who's not seen action, that may not be as potent, perhaps.
And yet, Paul saw a lot of action by this time in his life. He had suffered very much for Jesus Christ. And so when he says stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong, he's telling you as someone who's done it. What is the alternative? You're going through something, and your pastor says to you, "Just be strong and let's pray." Well, what should he say?
Be a little weakling, just lie down and let life trample you, and never mind your loved ones.
Well, I hope the pastor never says something like that. Ephesians chapter six, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
Now, maybe you feel like you've been told to be strong by God, but you've already saw defeat in the past.
Well, that's the past. This is now. You have to be strong. Second Timothy chapter two. You, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
See, this is relevant to me. The battles of the Bible are real stories about real people in the presence of the real God, and they are recorded and preserved for me personally, as it should be with you. When you read this, you should say, "This is for me." I may not need it today, but I might need it later, and so I'm going to keep this. And I'm going to understand it, and I'm going to give myself to it. In preparation, I'm saying, "We are.
I've gone over this so many times. I'm tired. Is it worth it?" And then the Lord reminded me of a verse that He put in my heart many years ago when Satan was telling me, "Don't put so much effort into my Christianity. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength." It settles it. Doesn't leave anything else.
And in some areas, I struggle and maybe not be able to pull it off the way I want. But in other areas, I can take this thing, and that's what I'm going to do in my life. It is something that I know I can excel with concerning my God. Then I'm going to excel. And in other areas, I have to hide behind the Lord's mercy, and that has been profound.
He says, "And may the Lord do what is good in His sight." Well, he didn't do that with Abner when David was going to appoint Abner the commander. Joab didn't say, "Well, you know, let it be the Lord's height." He went and killed Abner, didn't he?
Well, he could say, "Well, yeah, well, he killed my brother. Yeah, but your brother was trying to kill him, so that was just wrong." But here, here he finds faith, and he never again looks so good as he does here.
So we got to stay on Joab just a little bit because. He was the butcher of Israel, and he lived by the sword. He hacked his way through serving his king. There are some that might try to do that in ministry. They hack their way through ministry, insensitive to other people.
I mean, now you can try to be sensitive to people and do the right thing, and you're still going to hurt them.
Some of them. And not because you are insensitive, but usually because they're either wrong, thin-skinned, or sometimes it's just one of those confusing times in life where devil gets in there and makes a mess of things. Jesus, he taught us about this insensitive approach to ministry. Jesus taught that ministry is not something we hack our way through. John chapter eighteen.
Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest servant and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus. John always so careful to give us details about Peter's mess ups. He was just you know, and we ran to the tomb, and I outran Peter, and things like that. It's kind of it's amusing.
I don't think John was being vindictive. I think he was just reliving the moment. As it was, it was Peter, and Peter took that sword. I think that's how John like, yeah, that was Peter. I don't think it was that at all.
I think it was genuine. But anyway, Matthew, when he writes about this, he doesn't name Peter. But Jesus said to him, "Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword." Well, that has spiritual implications because there are those who take the word of God and they die by the word of God and go to heaven. But here it is physical. But Christ is saying that's not how we do it.
We don't go around hacking people to serve our king.
So Joab, he of course has this shining moment, but otherwise he did not. But here he is filled with the Spirit.
Now, when in the New Testament we talk about filled with the Spirit, we Wrongfully tend to automatically think he's speaking in tongues or some. Not all of us, but some do, and that's not accurate. That sometimes it's true, but that would be a very limited meaning. It's much vast than that. He's filled with the Spirit here.
That's this courage and this exaltation of Yahweh. He has the capacity. He can be filled. This works against him because you know why aren't you filled again, Joab? What happened?
He evidently, like Esau, he found the flesh more suitable to his dispositions. Verse thirteen.
So Joab and the people who were with him drew near for the battle against the Syrians, and they fled before him.
Well, he engages them, he attacks them, he attacks. He's just aggressive. But remember, in his ranks are stout-hearted men. Men who could keep ranks, who could hold the line, men who would not turn and run in the face of opposition, men who were able to influence other men in the right direction. Gender is not important at this point because the sisters can influence other sisters in the right direction, and of course we can influence each other regardless of.
Male or female, with righteousness, you can encourage anyone. The word in season is not gender specific. You can be a man or a woman, and give an encouraging word. How many times the sisters have encouraged me? Just pastor that sermon ministered to me.
Well, that ministers to me back.
So I'll be expecting a lot more apples on my desk going forward. First Chronicles again, one of the most beautiful chapters in the Old Testament, because you have this whole army coming out to say, "This is our king," and it is a picture of the church saying, "This is our king." It's so difficult to get people to march together, and the Holy Spirit can do it. You just have to have people who are. Ready to be filled. First Chronicles chapter twelve verse thirty three of the tribe of Zebulun.
There were fifty thousand who went to battle, expert in war with all weapons of war. Stout-hearted men who could keep ranks. There are the stout-hearted. And then verse thirty eight of First Chronicles twelve. All these men of war who could keep ranks came to Hebron with a loyal heart to make David king over all Israel.
I think. Boys and girls, younger believers, they should have heroes. You really should have someone that you you want to be like. If you can't find them among people, you find them in the Bible. They're all over the place.
You know, someone that you can identify with. You know, maybe you say, "I like Esther because she got to the point where she said, 'Whether I die or not, this is what I have to do.'" Or maybe you like these men in chapter twelve of. First Chronicles, maybe I want to be one of those men. If you have a problem with fear, one thing I think is very important is that you at least act brave, even though on the inside everything is on full of you screaming, you're panicking, but on the outside. Because it matters, this contagious fear is, but so is courage.
As we saw with Joab, he says, "You know, take heart. We're not going to give in to these guys." Now, I'm not talking about doing things you're not capable of doing. For instance, when I before I learned to walk steel, you couldn't fake it. You could, but you're dead. You'd be dead.
You just either could or you could not. It was not something you could fake. And if someone came and tried to pretend, they were going to be dead or hurt.
So my point is, I think it is a plus. You moms know this. There are times you know you're afraid, but you're not letting your kids know you're afraid. They can't see it, but it's there. But your bravery is in you just you know putting up that wall.
How beneficial it is! To do just that. This has been the latest edition of Cross Reference Radio. Pastor Rick Gaston is teaching through the Book of Second Samuel, which details the reign of David as king of Israel. There are so many life lessons to be learned during these years of David's life.
We're glad you've tuned in to hear more from God's Word. This radio ministry comes to you from Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville in Mechanicsville, Virginia. If you're interested in Accessing more messages, just like this one, you can listen online or download these messages at CrossReferenceRadio dot com. You can also subscribe to our podcast by going to your favorite podcast app. We can't wait for you to step into the next teaching that Pastor Rick has for us.
So come back next time for Cross Reference Radio.
