2 Samuel 2:12-32     (CLICK HERE FOR BIBLE VERSES)

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 2 Samuel 2:12-32.  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 2:12-32 (NIV)
12  Abner son of Ner, together with the men of Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, left Mahanaim and went to Gibeon.
13  Joab son of Zeruiah and David’s men went out and met them at the pool of Gibeon. One group sat down on one side of the pool and one group on the other side.
14  Then Abner said to Joab, “Let’s have some of the young men get up and fight hand to hand in front of us.” “All right, let them do it,” Joab said.
15  So they stood up and were counted off–twelve men for Benjamin and Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, and twelve for David.
16  Then each man grabbed his opponent by the head and thrust his dagger into his opponent’s side, and they fell down together. So that place in Gibeon was called Helkath Hazzurim.
17  The battle that day was very fierce, and Abner and the men of Israel were defeated by David’s men.
18  The three sons of Zeruiah were there: Joab, Abishai and Asahel. Now Asahel was as fleet-footed as a wild gazelle.
19  He chased Abner, turning neither to the right nor to the left as he pursued him.
20  Abner looked behind him and asked, “Is that you, Asahel?” “It is,” he answered.
21  Then Abner said to him, “Turn aside to the right or to the left; take on one of the young men and strip him of his weapons.” But Asahel would not stop chasing him.
22  Again Abner warned Asahel, “Stop chasing me! Why should I strike you down? How could I look your brother Joab in the face?”
23  But Asahel refused to give up the pursuit; so Abner thrust the butt of his spear into Asahel’s stomach, and the spear came out through his back. He fell there and died on the spot. And every man stopped when he came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died.
24  But Joab and Abishai pursued Abner, and as the sun was setting, they came to the hill of Ammah, near Giah on the way to the wasteland of Gibeon.
25  Then the men of Benjamin rallied behind Abner. They formed themselves into a group and took their stand on top of a hill.
26  Abner called out to Joab, “Must the sword devour forever? Don’t you realize that this will end in bitterness? How long before you order your men to stop pursuing their brothers?”
27  Joab answered, “As surely as God lives, if you had not spoken, the men would have continued the pursuit of their brothers until morning.”
28  So Joab blew the trumpet, and all the men came to a halt; they no longer pursued Israel, nor did they fight anymore.
29  All that night Abner and his men marched through the Arabah. They crossed the Jordan, continued through the whole Bithron and came to Mahanaim.
30  Then Joab returned from pursuing Abner and assembled all his men. Besides Asahel, nineteen of David’s men were found missing.
31  But David’s men had killed three hundred and sixty Benjamites who were with Abner.
32  They took Asahel and buried him in his father’s tomb at Bethlehem. Then Joab and his men marched all night and arrived at Hebron by daybreak.

On verses 12-32:  Here we see a showdown between David’s men led by Joab and Ish-Bosheth’s men led by Abner.  After a dramatic and bloody standoff between 24 men at the Pool of Gibeon (v13-16), Joab’s side ends up fighting and defeating Abner’s side (v17).  Abner’s side lost 360 men (v31) while Joab’s side lost only 20 soldiers (v30).

Among all the men that died in battle that day, the most noteworthy was Joab’s brother Asahel.  Verse 18 says that Asahel was fast (“fleet-footed as a wild gazelle”).   Asahel decided to chase down the older, more experienced Abner and kill him.  Abner kept warning Asahel for his own good to stop chasing him or else Asahel would be struck down.  Asahel refused (v19-23).  So Abner thrust the blunt, less dangerous part of his spear into Asahel’s stomach — probably to inflict as little damage as he could on Asahel — but it came out through Asahel’s back, killing Asahel instantly (v23).  Because Asahel refused to accept Abner’s offer for a truce and insisted on fighting, it was his own life that was cut short.

The fighting continues until finally Abner recommends that both sides call a truce.  Joab agrees, and both sides do the long march back to their own respective camps (v24-29).

What can we learn from all this?

1.  If you’re going into a battlefield (whether it’s the industry in which you work, or the environment where you do study or do business, or the place where God has called you to serve), you need to be tough and thick-skinned.  Asahel was bent on killing Abner, but Asahel’s own skin couldn’t take it when Abner hit him with the least threatening part of his spear.   As a friend of mine used to say, Asahel was “ready to dish it out on others, but couldn’t take it himself.”  Let’s learn from Asahel’s mistake.  Don’t be oversensitive and easily hurt.  Otherwise, even the most blunt and gentle attacks — things that people say to help you and make you stronger — will end up being your downfall.

2. While zeal is important, you also need wisdom.  Asahel was very zealous in chasing his goal, but he refused to heed the repeated warnings of someone older and more experienced than him.  Thus he failed to reach his goal and was defeated.  As Proverbs 19:2 says, “It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way.”   Have the wisdom to listen to those who are older and more experienced than you are. 

3.  Have you ever been in an argument that seemed to just go on and on to no end?  Both sides seem to have unlimited ammo to fire at one another.  They keep finding more places to attack, more things to complain about and more points to bring up.  The fighting does not end until one side suggests, and the other side agrees, to stop fighting, realizing that no one is going to win in the end.

As Abner learned, sometimes the best thing you can do is call a truce.  Yes, there will be times when you definitely need to fight; that is, to talk things out and resolve things.  But sometimes the best thing to do is to simply call a truce and stop fighting so that both sides can just move on to more important things.

Holy Spirit, I pray I would not be oversensitive, but that I would be tough and thick skinned when I’m in the battlefield.  I pray for the wisdom to know when to fight, when to embrace, and when to call a truce.  As I chase after the calling you have on my life, may I do so not just with great zeal but also with great wisdom.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN!

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