2 Samuel 10:1-19 (CLICK HERE FOR BIBLE VERSES)
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is 2 Samuel 10:1-19. As usual, I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first. See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help. Then read the GAME sharing below. Let’s go!
2 Samuel 10:1-4 (NIV)
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 nobles said to Hanun their lord, “Do you think David is honoring your father by sending men to you to express sympathy? Hasn’t David sent them to you to explore the city and spy it out and overthrow it?”
4 So 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.
On verses 1-4: In 2 Samuel 9, David showed God’s kindness to Mephibosheth, and Mephibosheth is both humbled and overwhelmed. Now here in 2 Samuel 10, David shows kindness to Hanun leader of the Ammonites when his father died. But rather than responding with gratitude, in return Hanun, influenced by his skeptical nobles, treats David poorly. Hanun publicly humiliates the messengers whom David had sent to pay his family respect. This would result in a battle between the Israelites on one side and the Ammonites, aided by the Arameans, on the other side. As we will see in the verses that follow, David would defeat the Ammonites and the Arameans soundly.
Just as Hanun had to choose how to respond to the kindness David showed him, we must choose how we will respond to the kindness Jesus the Son of David shows us. We can either respond to God’s kindness with gratitude and thereby win the greatest friend and ally in Jesus Christ, or like Hanun we can be skeptical of God’s kindness, wage war against Him and find ourselves defeated in the end. The choice is ours.
2 Samuel 10:5 (NIV)
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.”
On verse 5: David comforts and covers his messengers when they were ashamed and distressed. Instead of encouraging them to take revenge, He helps them toward their restoration and fights for their honour. Likewise, Jesus comforts and covers us in our shame and distress. He works for our restoration, avenges us against our enemies and fights for our honour.
2 Samuel 10:6-8 (NIV)
6 When the Ammonites realized that they had become a stench in David’s nostrils, they hired twenty thousand Aramean foot soldiers from Beth Rehob and Zobah, as well as the king of Maacah 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 to their city gate, while the Arameans of Zobah and Rehob and the men of Tob and Maacah were by themselves in the open country.
On verses 6-8: When Hanun and the Ammonites realized that they had responded to David’s kindness in the wrong way, they could have (and should have) repented and asked David for forgiveness. But instead of humbling themselves, they exalted themselves and became even more hard-hearted, getting ready for a much bigger fight. It was the wrong choice: they would end up losing a lot more and be far more humiliated because they chose to fight instead of to ask for forgiveness.
Have you ever done that? You realize you have wronged someone, but instead of admitting your mistake and apologizing, you puff up, harden your heart and get ready for war. If you do that, then you’ll be just like Hanun and the Ammonites: you’ll only find yourself in a war that you cannot win and end up losing a lot more than just your face. How much better, easier, and more peaceful it will be for you if you just admit your mistake early and ask for forgiveness. Let’s be quick to admit our mistakes rather than letting the situation fester.
2 Samuel 10:9-12 (NIV)
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.”
On verses 9-12: Joab, the commander of David’s armies, was far from perfect, but here we see Joab at his best: brave, decisive, trusting in God, and highly effective in defeating David’s enemies the Ammonites and Arameans. I pray the same for you and me: may we be strong and fight bravely today against our enemy Satan, trusting the Lord to “do what is good in His sight” (v12).
Also notice that when Joab had multiple enemies to contend with – both the Ammonites as well as the Arameans – Joab didn’t try to face them alone, but he got the help of his brother Abishai. Joab assigned Abishai to fight the Arameans while Joab fought the Ammonites. Don’t try to fight your battles alone. Learn to delegate wisely and to enlist the help of others.
2 Samuel 10:13-19 (NIV)
13 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. 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 River; they went to Helam, with Shobach 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 Shobach the commander of their army, and he died there.
19 When all the kings who were vassals of Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with the Israelites and became subject to them. So the Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites anymore.
On verses 13-19: Notice that David’s victory over the Ammonites and the Arameans didn’t happen all at once. Victory came in stages. Are you fighting a battle? Be patient. We all want complete victory right now, but more often than not victory comes in stages. You battle and you seem to be gaining the upper hand, then the enemy regroups and comes back at you again with unexpected force. Then you battle again, and you keep on battling until hopefully, finally, the enemy surrenders. So if it feels like you’re in a war right now and it’s going on much longer than you expected, don’t give up. Remember, victory comes in stages to those who trust in the Lord and who persevere.
Lord Jesus, thank You for being the One who covers my shame, restores my confidence, and fights for my honour. May I respond to Your kindness not with pride and skepticism, but with gratitude and humility. May I be quick to admit when I’ve made a mistake. May I be brave and not give up fighting the battles You have called me to fight. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
Copyright © 2022 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.
