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2 Samuel 10
It was 1938 and the ink had barely dried on
the Munich agreement. In Britain,
Chamberlain was proclaiming “Peace in our time”. In Germany, Hitler explained what his
signature meant. He said:
“Chamberlain seemed such a nice old gentleman, I thought I would give him
my autograph.” The offer of
appeasement was ostensibly signed by Hitler, but in reality it was
spurned. And he plunged the world
into war. Later Hitler said "We will not capitulate - no, never! We
may be destroyed, but if we are, we shall drag a world with us - a world
in flames."
Last Sunday the nation
remembered a foreign power led by paranoia and
ill-will. A leader who spurned
the offer of appeasement. A war
in which nations were gathered together in opposition. And a decisive victory that brought us
peace.
Many here lived through this war. But this week in our Old Testament
reading we see another, much older, war.
But the similarities are striking. In 2 Samuel 10 we also see a paranoid and power-hungry
despot. We see appeasement spurned. We see nations gathered together in
war. And we see a decisive
victory that brought peace.
That is the story of 2 Samuel 10. But you know, all of this reflects a
much bigger, cosmic war-story. A
war-story which is recorded for us in Psalm 2 and which we all said
together.
It’s the war-story of
war-stories. It’s up on the
screen.
[SLIDE – Psalm 2]
It tells of the nations conspiring,
plotting, taking their stand and gathering together. Who are they at war with? Verse 2: Against the LORD and against His Anointed One? The world is at war against God and
His anointed King, Christ.
That is the war story of all war
stories. And the question the
Psalmist asks is why? Why do
the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?
It’s a question that demands an answer. Why?
Why fight against God and against His Anointed King? It is wickedness. It is madness. But I assure you it is the world we
know. Jesus Christ does not look
down from heaven and see 6 million adoring, obedient subjects worshipping
and serving Him. We do not
naturally like the “just and gentle” rule of Jesus Christ (as the prayer
book puts it). We naturally fight
it. And the world is in flames
because of it.
So painted across the cosmic canvas we have
Psalm 2 – telling us the over-arching war-story that defines
reality. The world is at war with
God and His Christ. And, here,
sketched out as a miniature portrait we have 2 Samuel 10. Two war-stories with marked
similarities.
In 2 Samuel 10 we have the nations gathering
together. Look down to verse 6 of
our passage and you’ll see the Ammonites gang up with 20 000 Arameans
from Beth Rehob and from Zobah.
They also gather together with the men of Maacah and of Tob. 33 000 men from 5 nations fighting against
the anointed king.
In Psalm 2 verse 6, God reminds us that He
has installed His King on Zion, His holy hill.
Well in 2 Samuel, David has just been
installed as king in Jerusalem.
These two Scriptures have a lot in common.
In Psalm 2:7 we see that God’s King is
described as God’s Son.
Now in 2 Samuel chapter 7 it also speaks of
God’s King as God’s Son.
And the end of the Psalm…
[Next Psalm 2 SLIDE]
… from verse 8, tells of the victory of God’s
King. The nations that were
raging against Him, become subject to Him.
And that’s just what our passage is all
about. The good king defeats the enemies that have gathered against him
and he brings peace.
2 Samuel 10 is a sketch of the great oil
painting that is Psalm 2. But you
know there are some important differences between these
Scriptures.
For one, God’s words in Psalm 2:7 are never
said to David. God never says to David
“You are my Son, today I have become your Father.” Instead God says to David:
[SLIDE – 2 Sam 7:12-14]
12 When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise
up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I
will establish his kingdom… I will be his father, and he shall be my
son.”
So it’s not David who is to be called “Son of
God”, but one of David’s descendants is to be called “Son of God.”
You see it’s Jesus who is the descendant of
David who is also God’s eternal Son.
Jesus is the True Anointed One, the True King, the True Warrior
and Inheritor of the ends of the earth.
[SLIDE – back to Psalm 2]
David pictures and foreshadows Christ, but
David is not “the Son of God” spoken of here in Psalm 2. And if we were in any doubt about that
we should just turn the page in 2 Samuel and we’ll that David is a sinner
like the rest of us. From 2
Samuel chapter 11 David’s adultery and murder displease the LORD
greatly. And from this flows a
series of disastrous events that leave his kingship a long way
short of the Psalm 2 portrait.
No, David is a sketch – a miniature, sin-stained sketch – of what
we see in Christ.
In 2 Samuel 10 we see the final installment
of the Good King sketches. And
just before we descend into the wickedness of the following chapters,
David pictures to us Christ’s final battle that will bring peace,
not just to Israel but to the whole world. Here is a miniature sketch of Christ’s final battle.
So this morning we’re not simply studying
ancient foreign policy. It’s not
that we’re especially interested in the miliary campaigns of the near
east. We’re not history buffs we
are Jesus-buffs. We turn to the
Scriptures because here is the Holy Spirit’s multi-faceted portrait of
Jesus. And here is one sketch of
one aspect of Christ’s kingship.
We’re not meant to leave church this morning knowing how to win an
ancient battle. We’re meant to
learn how Christ wins His cosmic battle and brings everlasting
peace. That’s the point. With that in mind.
Let’s have a look at verse 2:
David
thought, "I will show kindness to [the Ammonite king] 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.
“I will show kindness” says David. Here is a picture of just and gentle
rule. “I will show kindness.”
Last week we saw chapter 9 where David shows kindness to
Mephibosheth. There his kindness
was lavished on an unworthy and helpless enemy and because of David’s
committed, covenant love, Mephiboseth was raised to table fellowship with
the king.
And here again David again shows
kindness. But this time it’s
kindness to foreign nations. To
the Ammonites.
Now the Ammonites share a border with Israel
and are generally in a state of on-again-off-again war with
Israel. Nonetheless, the anointed
King says “I will show kindness.”
This kindness is not only for Israel, the
King offers this kindness to the nations as well. Here is love for those who may well
hate you in return. It’s the offer of a hand-shake to someone with their
arms folded. It’s leaving the
hand out there, maintaining eye-contact, inviting a response. It’s keeping your hand extended long
beyond the uncomfortability, the shame, the loss of face. It’s exposure,
it’s vulnerability, it’s the very nature of Christ’s kindness.
In fact the Bible goes further. In the Bible, the LORD’s posture to
the world is not the offer of the hand, it’s both arms outstretched. In both the the Old and New Testaments
the LORD says: “All day long I have held out my arms to a
disobedient and obstinate people.”
How long can you open your arms wide to an unresponsive person and
not feel stupid? How long can
you open your arms wide to a hostile person and not feel stupid? God does it all day long. That’s Christ’s kindness. The posture of Jesus towards His
enemies, is the posture of One with arms wide open. In fact they were nailed open, for His
enemies. That is the kindness of
the anointed King.
But this kindness is rarely appreciated. The Ammonites assume in verse three
that David’s kindness is really cover for a spying mission.
You’ve heard it said “Beware Greeks bearing
gifts” the Ammonite nobles were saying “Beware God’s king offering
kindness”. They presume there’s a
catch or a trap. And so they do
something appalling – they re-pay great kindness with great wickedness.
Verse 4:
4 Hanun seized David's men, shaved off half of each man's beard, cut
off their garments in the middle at the buttocks, and sent them away.
This is always the danger when you offer
kindness to enemies. This is
exactly why offering kindness makes you vulnerable. Here, very literally, the servants of
David are exposed and shamed.
People in our culture may shave off someone’s
eyebrow as a joke – and that’s embarassing enough. But if you’re in a shame-based
conservative culture where every man has a full beard – and one half of
your face is shaved clean? That’s
devastating. If you’re in a shame-based conservative culture and your
clothes are cut off at the buttocks?
Top of the buttocks?
Bottom of the buttocks?
Either way, that’s pretty short!
These men would be mortified far more than we can probably
appreciate in our culture. The
servants of the king have brought news of the king’s kindness to his
enemies, and they are humiliated.
This is what happens to all who seek to bring
Christ’s news to the world. The
prophets were treated this way, the apostles were treated this way. Christ Himself was treated this way.
Let me read to you some words from Matthew
27:
Matthew 27:28
They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and then
twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a
staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him.
"Hail, king of the Jews!" they said. 30 They spat on
him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. 31
After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes
on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.
Jesus had said “no servant is above his
master.” The servants of the king
are not above this kind of treatment.
We will be treated the way our king was treated.
But in verse 5 we see that the King cares for
his humiliated servants. He sends
people to help them and puts them up at Jericho till their beards grow back.
In sending out these servants, the Ammonites realize, verse 6, that David
is protective of his servants.
David has taken this personally – really there was no other way to
take it. But all of a sudden the
Ammonites realize they’ve bitten off more than they can chew. They’re afraid. What do they do?
Come clean and seek to make ammends? Send messengers offering
restitution? Ask for terms of
peace? No, they hire an army – 33
000 men from four other nations.
1 Chronicles tells us that this mercenary army cost the Ammonites
1000 talents of silver. In
today’s market that would be worth about £8 million. What’s interesting to me is that kings
throughout the OT often pay off foreign kings to keep them from
invading. And it seems like the
going rate is about 100 talents of silver to keep a foreign king at
bay. Do the Ammonites offer 100
talents of silver as restitution or tribute? No. They spend 1000
talents to go to war.
The Ammonites end up doing exactly what they
had assumed David was doing – they plotted and conspired and made for
war.
But we must remember this is not what David
intended. This whole incident
began with his kindness.
This avalanche that is building to war, began with David’s kindness.
So it is with Jesus Christ. He said famously “I have not come to
bring peace but a sword.” And
that statement leaves many people scratching their heads. “How did Jesus bring a sword? He was the Prince of Peace. Wasn’t He the original, non-violent
protestor? Didn’t He love His
enemies and pray for those who persecute Him? Didn’t He come as love incarnate?” Exactly! He IS God’s Kindness to the world. And that’s why the world is at war
with Him. It is actually the
kindness of the King that provokes the war.
Why do the nations conspire against the LORD
and against His Anointed King? Because
of His just and gentle rule.
Well David hears, v7, that the Arameans are
on the march against Him. Events
are in motion, we’ve gone past the point of no return and David sends
Israel into battle. David did not
start this, but He will finish it.
He will bring peace again, if not by sending sympathisers, this
time by sending soldiers.
In verses 8-10 we see the battle lines. The Ammonites are defending their city
Rabbah. The Arameans and other armies
for hire would have come from the north.
And the Israelites are in the middle. It’s a pinzer movement.
A war on two fronts. So
Israel’s commander in chief, Joab, divides his forces and puts his
brother, Abishai, in charge of the other force.
Verse 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."
It’s a rousing battle speech. The two brothers may be fighting on
different fronts but they’re in it together. Be strong says Joab and then he reminds Abishai “The LORD
will do what is good in His sight.”
At first, this looks like fatalism. A kind of “Que sera, sera, whatever will be will be.” But actually “what is good in the
LORD’s sight” is not unknown.
Throughout the Bible we’re told what is good in the LORD’s
sight. And it’s the protection of
God’s people and the subjection of God’s enemies. Joab’s not saying “Maybe God will help
us, maybe not, who knows.” No, he
knows the kind of God they are fighting for – that He protects His
people. And so he encourages his
brother: Be strong, let us fight bravely.
And so they do, and before the battle even
gets going, it’s over. In
Hollywood terms, v13 is a big disappointment. We’ve had the tough guy speeches but now we don’t get the tough-guy
action. Look at v13:
Then
Joab and the troops with him advanced to fight the Arameans, and they
fled before him. 14 When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans
were fleeing, they fled before Abishai and went inside the city.
The best army that money can buy flees, the
Ammonites flee back inside their city.
It’s over before it’s begun.
No contest.
And that’s what happens in the second battle,
the final battle.
In this second battle over the page, David
has to deal with the remaining Arameans who have now got
re-inforcements. But in this battle,
David himself goes out to fight. Do you see how v17 emphasises David’s
involvement. David gathered all
Israel, David crossed the Jordan with Israel. The enemy lines up to meet David.
But just as with the previous battle, it’s
over before it begins.
Verse 18: But they fled before Israel.
Massive build up but when it comes to the
showdown, the enemies of God’s king melt away. Verse 18 continues the focus on David, “David killed
seven hundred charioteers, 40 000 foot soldiers, David stuck down the
enemy commander.” The writer
really wants us to see that this battle belongs to the King.
Because here, before we go into chapter 11
and David’s downfall, here we have a picture of the final battle of the
Good King. This is the final
showdown – the war that would actually bring peace. And so verse 19, there is “peace” as
the nations become subject to the True King and His people.
As I keep saying, this battle is a sketch of
the final battle waged by God’s King.
We saw it in our New Testament reading. Let me remind you.
[SLIDE – Rev 19]
Then I
saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered
together to make war against the rider on the horse [Jesus] and his army.
And again you’re thinking, brilliant,
here comes the Hollywood battle scene.
But no, the verse goes on.
20
But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet … The two of
them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulphur. 21
The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of
the rider on the horse.
End of battle. And that’s the truth about the world’s
war against Christ. There’s a lot
of talk, a lot of bluster. It’s
all plotting and conspiring and gathering together, there’s saber
rattling, and stock-piling of weapons, and grand gestures of defiance but
at the end of the day – at the end of THE Day – Christ will over-throw
His enemies the way you or I would topple a glass of water. The Bible says He will defeat His
enemies “by the breath of His mouth and destroy them by the splendour of
His coming.” (2 Thes 2:8) There is a Day coming, when multitudes
of the earth will be destroyed by the sheer glory of Christ’s return. There will be a Day when Christ
Himself steps onto the battle-field, and every force of opposition that
had seemed so impressive will be shattered.
For His enemies it will be hell. For His people it will be victory,
relief, everlasting peace.
Perhaps when you first heard 2 Samuel 10 read
this morning you thought it was about people a long time ago in a land
far far away. But I want to tell
you, you’re in the story too.
This is a sketch of the great cosmic battle. And all of us are involved. Let me highlight a few possibilities:
Perhaps we’re the servants of David –
bringing news of His kindness to the world. Perhaps even this week we’ve been humiliated by telling
people of the King’s kindness.
King Jesus was humiliated too.
He sympathises. And He
fights for you. One day you will be vindicated.
Perhaps we’re Ammonites – suspicious of the
King’s kindness. Perhaps we don’t
trust the outstretched arms of Christ.
If that’s you then look to the cross. There the King’s arms were nailed open for you. You can trust this King. Whatever His plans are for you, they
are for your good. Make peace
with Him. Because we are either
with Him or against Him and soon He will step onto the battlefield. Make peace. Make use of His kindness, it won’t be held out to you
forever. Respond to His offer.
Submit to Him. Trust Him. He has
proved Himself trustworthy.
Or perhaps we’re soldiers
in David’s army, fighting on many fronts, hard-pressed on every
side. Arameans to the north,
Ammonites to the south. Let me
re-assure you by paraphrasing verses 11 and 12: “If your troubles are too hard, I’ll help you out, and if
my troubles are too hard, you can help me out. Only let us be strong and let us fight bravely for our people. And the LORD will do what is
good in His eyes. He will
vindicate His people. Christ will
defeat His enemies. The future is
one of victory and everlasting peace.
So be strengthened this morning.
The King wins.
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