Joab was one of David’s most trusted advisors. He was the son of Zeruiah, David’s sister. There are many incidents in Scripture that show Joab to be a wise man, and yet…
The first thing that we told about Joab is that, shortly after King Saul’s death, another man, named Abner, tried to make Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, king instead of David. Joab led some of David’s men to go deal with this threat, and they met with Abner and some of Ishbosheth’s men, at the pool of Gibeon. There was a great battle there, a lot of people were killed, but the battle went worse for Abner than for Joab. Abner ran away, but Joab’s brother Asahel chased after him. The exchange between them makes it seem that Abner knew Joab, but Abner ended up killing Asahel. At the end of the day, Abner had lost 360 men, and Joab had lost twenty. Of course, one of the twenty that Joab lost was his brother, so that was a particularly difficult loss for Joab.
As the war continued, and David grew stronger and stronger, Abner came to David to try to make peace. Joab was not there when David met with Abner, and when Joab returned, the servants told him that Abner had been there, and that David had sent him away in peace. Abner became angry, and accused Abner of spying on the king, and sent servants after Abner. When Joab caught up to Abner, he killed him (more because of Asahel than because of suspicion of spying, but, there it is). Of course, David got upset with Joab for that, but apparently he somewhat understood, because Joab still had a job; in fact, 2 Samuel 8:16 says that Joab was captain over all the host.
In 2 Samuel 10, the Ammonites hired the Syrians to help them fight against Israel. David sent Joab to fight the Ammonites and the Syrians. While that was going on, David got himself into another little jam, and sent to Joab to help him out. Joab did as requested.
In 2 Samuel 14, David’s son Absolom had been exiled. Joab had a woman come into the king and describe a situation very similar to the one that led David to exile his son. After he pronounced judgment (the judgment that Joab had expected), then the woman asked the king why was Absolom still exiled? David only wanted to know one thing from her after that; he asked if Joab had put her up to it.
Unfortunately, later on, Absolom led a rebellion of his own, trying to become king in David’s place. Joab led the army that tracked Absolom down, under orders from the king not to harm Absolom. Joab realized that Absolom would always be a problem, so when he saw the king’s son, he killed him. David wasn’t happy about that, and he mourned his son. Joab spoke harshly to the king (I doubt whether anyone else could have spoken to David that way and gotten away with it), but pointed out that, if Absolom hadn’t died, he probably would have kept trying to become king until David was dead, and everyone loyal to David was dead, also.
In 2 Samuel 20, Joab pursued after a man named Sheba, and Sheba took refuge inside one of the cities of Israel. It looked like Joab was going to have to destroy the city in order to get to Sheba, but a wise woman called to Joab, and asked what he wanted. He explained who they were after, and she asked if he was prepared to destroy a city in Israel in order to get Sheba. Joab indicated that he would really rather not have to destroy a city, but he wasn’t going to leave until he had Sheba’s head. She told him to give a few minutes, and shortly thereafter, Sheba’s head came sailing over the wall.
In 2 Samuel 24, David told Joab to count the people of Israel. Joab reminded David that the number of people wasn’t important anyway, but David insisted. In fact, the Law forbade counting Israel, since God wanted Israel to trust in Him, rather than their numbers, so David got in trouble with God for this.
Then another one of David’s sons tried to usurp the throne, a man named Adonijah, but this time Joab threw in with Adonijah. The Bile doesn’t make it clear why. Perhaps simply because Joab had been too close to David for too long, and knew how many serious mistakes David had made. In any case, Joab seemed convinced that Adonijah would make a better king than David. Joab was a smart guy, but, in the end he outsmarted himself. I think sometimes we get close to someone that seems so godly and righteous, and we start seeing his or her flaws. Guess what? We all have flaws. Don’t let somebody else’s flaws cause you to outsmart yourself. The bottom line is that Joab did a lot of very smart, and very courageous things for an awfully long time, but, in the end, he was found to be fighting against the ordinances of God, because, flawed or not, David was the man that God had ordained to be king over Israel.
The first thing that we told about Joab is that, shortly after King Saul’s death, another man, named Abner, tried to make Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, king instead of David. Joab led some of David’s men to go deal with this threat, and they met with Abner and some of Ishbosheth’s men, at the pool of Gibeon. There was a great battle there, a lot of people were killed, but the battle went worse for Abner than for Joab. Abner ran away, but Joab’s brother Asahel chased after him. The exchange between them makes it seem that Abner knew Joab, but Abner ended up killing Asahel. At the end of the day, Abner had lost 360 men, and Joab had lost twenty. Of course, one of the twenty that Joab lost was his brother, so that was a particularly difficult loss for Joab.
As the war continued, and David grew stronger and stronger, Abner came to David to try to make peace. Joab was not there when David met with Abner, and when Joab returned, the servants told him that Abner had been there, and that David had sent him away in peace. Abner became angry, and accused Abner of spying on the king, and sent servants after Abner. When Joab caught up to Abner, he killed him (more because of Asahel than because of suspicion of spying, but, there it is). Of course, David got upset with Joab for that, but apparently he somewhat understood, because Joab still had a job; in fact, 2 Samuel 8:16 says that Joab was captain over all the host.
In 2 Samuel 10, the Ammonites hired the Syrians to help them fight against Israel. David sent Joab to fight the Ammonites and the Syrians. While that was going on, David got himself into another little jam, and sent to Joab to help him out. Joab did as requested.
In 2 Samuel 14, David’s son Absolom had been exiled. Joab had a woman come into the king and describe a situation very similar to the one that led David to exile his son. After he pronounced judgment (the judgment that Joab had expected), then the woman asked the king why was Absolom still exiled? David only wanted to know one thing from her after that; he asked if Joab had put her up to it.
Unfortunately, later on, Absolom led a rebellion of his own, trying to become king in David’s place. Joab led the army that tracked Absolom down, under orders from the king not to harm Absolom. Joab realized that Absolom would always be a problem, so when he saw the king’s son, he killed him. David wasn’t happy about that, and he mourned his son. Joab spoke harshly to the king (I doubt whether anyone else could have spoken to David that way and gotten away with it), but pointed out that, if Absolom hadn’t died, he probably would have kept trying to become king until David was dead, and everyone loyal to David was dead, also.
In 2 Samuel 20, Joab pursued after a man named Sheba, and Sheba took refuge inside one of the cities of Israel. It looked like Joab was going to have to destroy the city in order to get to Sheba, but a wise woman called to Joab, and asked what he wanted. He explained who they were after, and she asked if he was prepared to destroy a city in Israel in order to get Sheba. Joab indicated that he would really rather not have to destroy a city, but he wasn’t going to leave until he had Sheba’s head. She told him to give a few minutes, and shortly thereafter, Sheba’s head came sailing over the wall.
In 2 Samuel 24, David told Joab to count the people of Israel. Joab reminded David that the number of people wasn’t important anyway, but David insisted. In fact, the Law forbade counting Israel, since God wanted Israel to trust in Him, rather than their numbers, so David got in trouble with God for this.
Then another one of David’s sons tried to usurp the throne, a man named Adonijah, but this time Joab threw in with Adonijah. The Bile doesn’t make it clear why. Perhaps simply because Joab had been too close to David for too long, and knew how many serious mistakes David had made. In any case, Joab seemed convinced that Adonijah would make a better king than David. Joab was a smart guy, but, in the end he outsmarted himself. I think sometimes we get close to someone that seems so godly and righteous, and we start seeing his or her flaws. Guess what? We all have flaws. Don’t let somebody else’s flaws cause you to outsmart yourself. The bottom line is that Joab did a lot of very smart, and very courageous things for an awfully long time, but, in the end, he was found to be fighting against the ordinances of God, because, flawed or not, David was the man that God had ordained to be king over Israel.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment