David Defeats the Ammonites
1 In the course of time, the king of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun succeeded him as king. 2 David thought, “I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent a delegation to express his sympathy to Hanun concerning his father.
When David’s men came to the land of the Ammonites, 3 the Ammonite commanders said to Hanun their lord, “Do you think David is honoring your father by sending envoys to you to express sympathy? Hasn’t David sent them to you only to explore the city and spy it out and overthrow it?” 4 So Hanun seized David’s envoys, shaved off half of each man’s beard, cut off their garments at the buttocks, and sent them away.
5 When David was told about this, he sent messengers to meet the men, for they were greatly humiliated. The king said, “Stay at Jericho till your beards have grown, and then come back.”
6 When the Ammonites realized that they had become obnoxious to David, they hired twenty thousand Aramean foot soldiers from Beth Rehob and Zobah, as well as the king of Maakah with a thousand men, and also twelve thousand men from Tob.
7 On hearing this, David sent Joab out with the entire army of fighting men. 8 The Ammonites came out and drew up in battle formation at the entrance of their city gate, while the Arameans of Zobah and Rehob and the men of Tob and Maakah were by themselves in the open country.
9 Joab saw that there were battle lines in front of him and behind him; so he selected some of the best troops in Israel and deployed them against the Arameans. 10 He put the rest of the men under the command of Abishai his brother and deployed them against the Ammonites. 11 Joab said, “If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you are to come to my rescue; but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come to rescue you. 12 Be strong, and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The LORD will do what is good in his sight.”
13 Then Joab and the troops with him advanced to fight the Arameans, and they fled before him. 14 When the Ammonites realized that the Arameans were fleeing, they fled before Abishai and went inside the city. So Joab returned from fighting the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem.
15 After the Arameans saw that they had been routed by Israel, they regrouped. 16 Hadadezer had Arameans brought from beyond the Euphrates River; they went to Helam, with Shobak the commander of Hadadezer’s army leading them.
17 When David was told of this, he gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan and went to Helam. The Arameans formed their battle lines to meet David and fought against him. 18 But they fled before Israel, and David killed seven hundred of their charioteers and forty thousand of their foot soldiers. He also struck down Shobak the commander of their army, and he died there. 19 When all the kings who were vassals of Hadadezer saw that they had been routed by Israel, they made peace with the Israelites and became subject to them.
So the Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites anymore.
Side Notes:
vs. 4-5 In Israelite culture, all men wore full beards. It was a sign of maturity and authority. Thus when these ambassadors had their beards half shaved, they suffered great indignity. Cutting off their garments also exposed them to ridicule.
vs. 6 Because Hanun took the wrong advice, he suspected the motives of the ambassadors and humiliated them. Then he realized that David was angry and immediately marshaled his forces for battle. Hanun should have thought through the advice more carefully; but even if he had not, he should have tried to negotiate with David. Instead, he refused to admit any fault and got ready for war. Often we respond angrily and defensively rather than admitting our mistakes, apologizing, and trying to diffuse the other person's anger. Instead of fighting, we should seek peace.
vs. 12 There must be a balance in life between our actions and our faith in God. Joab said, "Let us fight bravely." in other words, they should do what they could, using their minds to figure out the best techniques and using their resources. But he also said, "The Lord will do what is good in his sight." He knew that the outcome was in God's hands. We should use our minds and our resources to obey God, while at the same time trusting God for the outcome.
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2 comments:
Well...we are back on track now :) Sorry about the little break there :) Let's try to get done with 2 Samuel before the start of the new year so we can start Jan. 1st with Psalms...we'll see if we can do it :) Anyway...this chapter was really good...especially the part of using what God has given you but also at the same time trusting God for the outcome. Sometimes I think we try to do it both ways but not both ways together...we try to do it on our own...using what God has given us but not trusting in Him that he will take care of the situation...and then other times I think we just sit back and wait for Him to do something without doing anything for ourselves with what He has given us...I do believe that there needs to be a balance. He gave us our resources for a reason and we need to use them...and trust Him for the outcome ;)
Well I probably just rambled that point to death :) Hope all is well with you!
"Often we respond angrily and defensively rather than admitting our mistakes, apologizing, and trying to diffuse the other person's anger." I am often guilty of this statement- mostly with my husband. Not that we fight or get angry with each other a lot but sometimes when he gets upset/irritated/frustrated with something I've done or said (usually computer related or a spending money related comment) I often get angry and defensive instead of looking at it from his point of view.
Also Ali I agree about how we can get off track with using what God has given us and trusting God for the outcome. I can be guilty of this with my pregnancy- I use the medical resources (cerclage) that are available but sometimes am worried/fearful about the outcome- when I know worry/anxiety is not something that will change the outcome at all and I should be trusting God instead.
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