2 Samuel 20:3-13

2 Samuel chapter 20 I’m going to read verses 1 to 13 we have looked at the first two verses last week but we’re going to read them to maintain the continuity of the passage and there happened to be there a man of Belial whose name was Shiba the son of Bickri a Benjaminite and he blew a trumpet and said we have no part in David neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse. Every man to his tents, O Israel. So every man of Israel went up from after David and followed Shiva, the son of Bickory. But the men of Judah clave under their king, from Jordan even to Jerusalem. David came to his house at Jerusalem and the king took the ten women, his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house. put them in ward and fed them, but went not in under them. So they were shut up under the day of their death, living in widowhood. Then said the king to Amasa, assemble me, the men of Judah, within three days. Be thou here present. So Amasa went to assemble the men of Judah, but he tarried longer than the set time, which he had appointed him. David said to Abishai, now shall Sheba, the son of Bickory, do us more harm than did of Absalom. Take thou, thy Lord’s servants, pursue after him, lest he get him fence cities, and escape us. There went out after him, Joab’s men, and the Cherathites, and the Pellethites, and all the mighty men, and they went out of Jerusalem to pursue, after Sheba, the son of Bickory. When they were at the great stone, which is in Gibian, Amasa went before them. Joab’s garment that he had put on was girded unto him, and upon it a girdle with a sword fastened upon his loins in the sheath thereof, and as he went forth, it fell out. Joab said to Amasa, art thou in health, my brother? Joab took Amasa by the beard with the right hand to kiss him. But Amasa took no heed to the sword that was in Joab’s hand, so he smote him therewith in the fifth rib, and shed out his boughs to the ground, and struck him not again, and he died. So Joab and Abishai, his brother, pursued after Sheba, the son of Bikri. And one of Joab’s men stood by and said, he that favor of Joab, he that is for David, let him go after Joab. And Amasa wallowed in blood in the midst of the highway. And when the man saw that all the people stood still, he removed Amasa out of the highway into the field and cast a cloth upon him, when he saw that everyone that came by him stood still. When he was removed out of the highway, all the people went on after Joab to pursue after Sheba, the son of Bickrigg. May God bless to us, he is sacred and holy word this evening. Before the pilgrims set sail for America on the Mayfowar, one of their number, a man named Robert Cushman, wrote a disturbing letter to his friend. And in this letter, he said, the look out for this venture, he said, is bleak. He said, the outlook for this is bleak. If we ever make a plantation in the new world, he said, God works a miracle. He said, this is especially true considering how few vituals or how much food supply that we have. And most of all, he says, because we’re ununited among ourselves. There were a lot of divisions among the people. And he said, if I should write you of all the things which promiscuously forerunited ruin, I should overcharge your weak hand and grieve your tender heart. Only this, I pray. He says, prepare for evil tidings of us every day. Pray for us instantly. I see not in reason how we shall escape. But of course, God’s providence was working, and we know that they did settle in the new world, and God sustained them. And that is what took place. Sometimes you feel like Robert Cushman, when it comes to the outlook for the kingdom of God, often there are so many problems that are associated with it and besetting it that you fear for its survival. But God’s providence always sustains his kingdom so that it always continues. He will not allow its demise. Our text, of course, is a case in point. We talked about this last week. David’s kingdom is really a foreshadowment of the kingdom of Christ in the New Testament. David, the king, of course, is a foreshadowment of the son of David, the Lord Jesus Christ himself. And so we look at the strife and the turmoil that was in the kingdom last week, chapter 19 in the first two verses of verse 20. And that had to be distressing for those who were true believers among the Israelites to see such division and strife. After the whole Absalom rebellion, to see that even afterwards there was this dispute among the 10 northern tribes and the tribe of Judah in the South. The same is true, we said, with the regard to the state of God’s kingdom today. and yet God’s hand remains firmly on his kingdom so that no problems overwhelm it. I want to look at some problems faced by the kingdom of God from this passage tonight. The first is this. You have people whose lives have been ruined by the sin of others. And we see this in the case in verse 3 here of the concubine wives of David. So, sad situation we find here for the concubine wives. This is not filler information. The first thing we’re told about when David finally gets back to Jerusalem are these wives who have been defiled by Absalom. And we find that it’s given prominence in this section. David is informed about Absalom’s afternoon with these concubines. and certainly as we look back, we know this was part of God’s chastening of David because of his sin with Bashiba. God had told him in chapter 12 of this book of 2nd Samuel. He said, I will take thy wives before thine eyes and give them unto thy neighbor, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of the sun. And remember he did it on the rooftop. where others would realize that he was going into the tent with these women. The misery of these women was occasioned not because they were sinful, but because of David’s sin and certainly because of Absalon’s wicked heart. That’s the reason for it. Now, they’re not left homeless. David situated them in secluded quarters here. were told there’s a sense in which they were isolated. He never went into them again. He made sure, of course, that they weren’t starving or destitute. He took care of them. But can you imagine how it must have been for them? And the blow it must have been for them to have this happened to them. Out of no fault of their own, and they’re doomed to this fate. because of the wickedness of others. Let me say tonight that you find sorrowful people in the kingdom of God that are overwhelmed by their grief. Multitudes of God’s people know what it is to be in a bleak and gray state because of the sins of others and how that it affected them. There is the Christian woman who perhaps has a cheating husband who runs off with another woman and she is left not only in financial difficulty, but it leaves a scar that such a thing would happen in her life. And the sin of the adulterous husband haunts her. There’s a definite sadness that sticks with her because of someone else’s sin. You know, a con artist comes along and maybe cheats an elderly Christian couple out of their life savings. Takes all their money, leaves them destitute. And it is a difficult situation you find happen in our world today. Maybe a spouse gets involved in drugs with devastating effect upon the family and the marriage itself. There are young, you know, teen. or girls in a Christian family perhaps get raped or are even murdered by those in this world today. They are very perverse and wicked men in this world. And no one is exempt from these types of evil activities that take place. And so I can go on and on, but you understand the situation. You know what happens. You can’t read the front of a newspaper or listen to the news without realizing that this is the world in which we live. That even those who are innocent of sin themselves in regard to this kind of terrible thing happening to them, that’s not the reason it happened. But it does happen to them because of the wickedness of those around them. These people sometimes are paralyzed by grief. It’s problematic for the kingdom of God, for their circumstances. service sometimes is limited. There’s little that you can do to help directly at times. We have to guide them to the one who can bind up the brokenhearted, the Lord Jesus Christ, because who else can help them. You remember the book of Job and how that Job was a perfect and upright man. He was a judge, respected, highly honored judge at the gate of the city. in which he lived. And you recall that all of a sudden his wealth is taking away from him. You know, people come and rob him of his cattle and his herds and his camels and his asses and so forth. And he loses the prestige of being a judge. And you find him on the ash heap. Isn’t that sometimes where we feel that we end up something? Sometimes we’re on the ash deep with Job. And you’re isolated. You’re overwhelmed with grief. And yet he was an innocent man. All the charges that were thrown against him were false. They weren’t true. He had not committed a great sin and some terrible sin that brought this judgment upon him. But he looked to his Redeemer. And in that, he found hope and was lifted up. And in the end, we find that the Lord. of course, restored him. And he got the honor back and his wealth back. And even his family was restored to him. And so our encouragement for those who go through these life experiences that scars the family or scars you as an individual, let’s look to the Savior. Look to the one that can lift us up and give us comfort and our hour of affliction. We may not always understand why God has, brought this into our lives. We don’t understand all that God does. Some of the most bitter things happen to good Christian people. But interestingly enough, I have seen this over the years, that even the most bitter things that happen to Christian people often makes them the most sweet, the sweetest people in the world. That God uses this terrible thing that happens to benefit them. in the long run spiritually. So that their whole spirit, their whole demeanor is different than it was. And it’s better, it’s improved by this hardship. For God has a good purpose and even bringing these kind of evil and just seemingly hard to imagine things into people’s lives who are his people. But you have people whose lives have been ruined by the sin of others. And we see that. in the kingdom of God today as well. My second point is this. You have people who boast of a personal relationship with a king are reluctant to risk anything on his behalf. We see that in verses 4 to 7 here in this passage. It’s interesting here that you find few people engaged in escorting their king who are willing to fight for him. Now, they’re in this parade back with the king to bring him back to the Jordan, you know, and cross the Jordan over into Jerusalem. So he has this parade of people from the men of Judah and also some at least, as we saw last week, from the Israel northern tribes of Israel. And we find that few, however, were willing to help him put down this. rebellion by Shiba, this revolt. He didn’t want to see this mushroom and get worse and worse and worse. So he had the same thing he had with Absalon. So he orders Amasa here, his newly appointed military chief, to gather an army from the men of Judah. They’re the ones that stuck with him when the others, the men of Israel, left and deserted him and went after Shiva. But it appears that many of them must have just returned to their homes. And they were looking for perhaps comfort and safety. But here was a time when the king needed their help. And they’re not willing to help. We find here that when Amasa goes out to gather them, even though, they claim they have the closest relationship to the king. Remember we studied last week in chapter 19 and verse 42. They were adamant by how close they were to the king. He’s our kinsmen. But when it came time to fighting and helping all of a sudden a mass who’s a competent commander here, he’s not incompetent, he can’t get enough people in the three days time to join him to put down this rebellion. They were reluctant. This delay couldn’t be tolerated. So Abishai is sent out. He’s sort of a sub-commander. He’s one of the David’s mighty men. And he takes charge. He’s the temporary commander. He takes the seasoned soldiers, the ones that were led by Joab prior to this. The Royal Guard, if you would. And those that were available at Jerusalem, and he pursues Shiba in verses 6 and 7. Let me say here that you find people today who bolster their relationship with Christ the king, often reluctant to risk anything on his behalf. There are many who claim Christ as their king, and they publicly proclaim that there are followers of Christ, but it doesn’t bode well for the health of the kingdom of God. When it comes to the service of Christ, they don’t show us. up. They’re not willing to put any effort, any blood, sweat, or tears into advancing the kingdom of God on this earth. Christ may be acknowledged as their captain, and they may appear to be soldiers in the Christian army, but when there’s a call to fight, some who claim to be the people of God are AWOL, and you don’t see them willing to step up. Now, we’ve all heard or read about people who dawned on a military uniform and claimed that they had served their country, and they brag about their exploits and their valor, and they may even have their metals pinned to their uniform, but eventually it’s discovered that they were never in the military at all. They had bought this uniform somewhere, you know, from military supply somewhere, and it was all a sham. They were, they were, they were, they were, they were, you know, they were, you know, they were, you know, you know, putting on a front to get sympathy or whatever the case may be. They wouldn’t know the stock from the business end of a rifle, perhaps. There was no substance to their claim. Sadly, there are professing Christians who like that who enjoy the benefits of Christ’s victory, at least they claim to, and yet they’re not willing to lift a finger when it comes to serving Christ in the kingdom of God. You know, people want all the good things. associated with the Church of Christ, maybe they want to come to the worship, they want to be involved in the fellowship, or the council, or the activities of the church, but all they want to do is sit in the pew. They don’t want to ever speak for Christ, or they never want to witness for Christ, or be involved in any way in helping financially with regard to the church of Christ. Remember what Jesus said, that he said, if any man, come to me. and hate not his own life. He cannot be my disciple, Luke 1426. Many love their own lives, and therefore, they’re unwilling to sacrifice anything for the kingdom of God. There is no neglecting or forsaking of anything for the sake of the kingdom of God. They don’t count the cost, and there is a cost to following Christ, and they’re not willing. willing to pay any cost at all. So you have people who boast of a personal relationship with a king who are reluctant to risk anything on his behalf. You have people who put their own personal agenda above the good of the kingdom. This is my third point that we see in verses 8 to 10 here. And here we have the account of Joab’s murder of Amasa in this text of Scripture. You find Joab here extracting personal revenge, putting his own personal agenda above the interest of the kingdom. David’s choice of Abishai to be the temporary army commander in a mass’ place who’s out rounding up the men of Judah indicates to us that he had pretty much determined that he was done with Joab as the army commander. Abishi takes the veteran soldier. and as we said he goes out after Shiba, Amasa, when he finally does get some troops together, he catches up with Abishai, about six miles northwest of Jerusalem and assumes the overall command. At this point, Joab moves to the forefront again, as the narrative here provides some details with regard to Amasa’s brutal slaying. We see how deceitful Joab here is. here he is in his approach to Amassan, you know, he’s talking to him as if they were the best of friends, and he’s going to kiss him, and reaches out for his beard, I guess, to pull him close to kiss him. But his sword had fallen out as he’s walking up, and he must have picked it up with his left hand, and so Amasa is not on his guard, because it’s not in his right hand. It’s in his left hand, but we see that Joav is pretty lethal with either hand when it comes to the sword, and he puts it under the fifth hand. for him here and kills Amasa and then Joab and Abishai his brother pursue after Shiba business as usual as Joab assumes again his position as army commander he wasn’t going to get allow anybody to take his place what stands out here is that Joab is seeking personal revenge and the restoration of his position despite the negative fact of a mass’s murder on the kingdom at this particular time. It’s all about Joab’s interest, not what’s best for the kingdom. Let me ask you, do you put your personal agenda above the good of the kingdom of God? Because that’s what Joab was doing at Trey Falgar off the southwest coast of Spain the decisive naval battle had taken place in the Napoleonic Wars in 1805. The Lord Nelson of England utterly defeated the French Navy. It was a tremendous triumph that he had. However, there were problems because not all the English commanders were an agreement as to what they should do. They didn’t want to risk the fleet and engage the French. And at one point, Admiral Nelson, came on the deck of the ship and he found two British officers in a heated quarrel. He went up to them, put his hands on their shirles, rolled them around, whirled them around, if you would, pointed them out toward the ocean, took his finger and pointed this way at the French ships and said, there is where the enemy is. In other words, don’t fight among yourselves. There’s the enemy out there. And friends, it’s disobey. disappointing that Christians are often engaged in fighting one another rather than the enemies of the kingdom of God. You remember in the book of Corinth, or the Corinthians, I mean, to the Corinthians, were taking one another to the law courts, suing one another. Paul says, what are you doing here? Why are you fighting with one another? This is a terrible testimony before the world. And yet we see. this kind of thing happening at times in the kingdom of God among the Christian professing Christians. And some people are more concerned about having the preeminence, having some type of position or power in the church, and they are ruthless in their way they get there. Demetrius in the New Testament, deatrophies in the New Testament, excuse me, is an example in third. John. So unless you think that Joab may be an extreme case, I remind you of the teaching of John. Look with me here at 1 John chapter 3, verses 11 to 16. He says here, for this is the message that you’ve heard from the beginning that we should love one another, not as Kane, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother, and wherefore slew him? because his own works were evil and his brother is righteous. Marvele not my brother, and if the world hate you. We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brother, he that loveth not his brother, abideth in death. Whosoever hated his brother is a murderer. You know that no murderer hath the eternal life abiding in him. Hereby perceive we the love of God because he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brother. Here we see that the rebuke of those who would be like Cain and hate their brother. He said the mark of the true believer is that he loves his brother. But he sees that this is a bad situation that some would show this animosity and hatred toward those who professed to be brothers in Christ. also with me, chapter 4, verses 1 and 2. Well, here in the New Testament. Here’s what else the people of God are told. James 4, verses 1 and 2. From whence come wars and fighting among you, come they not hence, even of your lust, that war in your members. You lust and have not, ye kill and desire to have, and cannot obtain. You fight in war, yet you have not because you ask not. Here is what he has to say to Christians. What is all the warring about? What is all the battling about here among you? And so we see here this seeking of personal revenge, this seeking of getting even with our fellow believers in Christ. This spirit of animosity is not something that is beneficial to the kingdom of God. Things are so bad at times you will. wonder how the kingdom of God will continue. But of course, God always sustains his kingdom. So you have people who put their own personal agenda above that of the good of the kingdom. My fourth point tonight is this. You have people who claim to follow the king and yet do not obey his commands. In verses 8 through 11 here, we find the account, of course, of Joab killing his fellow commander that David has appointed, which is Amasa. It was very ruthless, but he was going to brook no rivals. The king had specifically given the army commander positioned to Amasa. Job doesn’t care. He doesn’t care what the king thinks. He is going to get his job back no matter what. He doesn’t fear God nor man. And he executes anyone who gets in his way, whether it be Abner, Absalom, or here amass. David seems to have made a determined effort to strip Joab of the power that he had. But Joab forced David in this regard. I guess he felt that if he suppressed the rebellion that day and the other commander is dead, well, then I’ll just ease back into my position. as the army commanders. So he reasserts his leadership against the king’s command. You know, people often claim that they are following Christ, and yet we find they don’t obey his commands. The attitude of Joep still lives. You may acknowledge the king’s sovereignty, and yet at the same time disregard his will. Interestingly, Jesus says in Luke chapter 6, verse 46, Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, sovereign king, if you would, and do not the things which I say? He’s dealing with those who would profess to be his followers, but at the same time, not doing what he has commanded them to do. It depends there are scores of Joavs on church. membership rules, people who want to be counted in the kingdom, and yet for some reason, rather, they don’t seem to be willing to obey the king. Many who profess to be Christians built upon sand, and they have no foundation for their profession that they have. It’s not that they deny Christ altogether. There’s not that they deny his deity or that he’s Lord and Savior. They may even readily confess that. Why do you call me Lord Lord? Jesus said. They’re willing to call them that. But when it comes to their daily life, they’re not practicing the Christian faith. Jesus indicates that this will prove disastrous in the end. I want you to look with me to the book of Ezekiel, if you would, Chapter 33. It’s an interesting statement that’s made here about Jeremiah and his teaching of the people, his preaching of the word. Chapter 33 and verses 31 and 32. God says this, and they come unto thee, unto Ezekiel, as the people cometh. And they sit before thee as my people people. They say they’re following the Lord God, and they hear thy words. You’re preaching to them. But they will not. not do them. For with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness, and lo thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument, for they hear thy words, but they do them not. It wasn’t that these people weren’t willing to come to church, so to speak. It wasn’t that they weren’t willing to hear what Ezekiel had to say. They weren’t willing to do. They weren’t willing to do what God commanded them to do through Ezekiel, the prophet. And so we see what we find in the Old Testament is what we find in the New Testament. As the Scripture talks about this, and Jesus in particular has mentioned it. It’s a disease that never ceases to be among those who profess to be in Christendom. Profession without actual practice. And this is condemned, of course, by the Lord. So you have people who claim to be following the king, and yet they don’t obey his commands. And lastly tonight, you have people who think that sin can easily be covered up and not addressed. In verses 12 and 13 of our text, we have the account here of the people in the army who are coming by and seeing a mass of, we have the account here. wallowing in his blood on the road here on the pathway and stopping. So the solution that the commander at the time makes, who’s there, is we better get a master off the road into a field somewhere and cover him up. So no one will see him, or at least they won’t know what’s going on, and they’ll just walk past and continue on after Joab and Abisha. For Joab, he can brutally murder a massa, and then go on with business as usual. No big deal to him. No need to cry over spilled blood. And he proceeds as if nothing happened here. It’s a very clinical matter for Joab. Just get rid of this guy that’s in the way, and we’ll just go on as business as usual in the Army. So they’ve got the military traffic moving again, and Joeb could go on with his task. We find one of the things that plagues the kingdom, the professing people in the kingdom, is that sometimes they will commonly cover up their sin and never actually address it. Scripture says, He that covereth his sin shall not prosper, but whosoever confesseth and forsaketh them, shall have mercy. Proverbs 2813. You know, both God and man cover sin. God covers sin by having Christ die as a sin. God covers sin by having Christ die as a sin. substitute to pay the price for the sin in the place of the sinner so that the man can be forgiven and divine justice may be satisfying. That’s how God covers sin. But man covers sin by simply attempting to hide it, to put it out of his mind to banish all serious thoughts about it. God warns that man’s way of covering sin shall not prosper will be no more successful than Adam and his fig leaves back in the garden in the beginning. God’s way of covering sin involves the mercy that he grants through Christ to the sinner, who confesses that he has done the wrong and is willing to forsake his sin. Sadly, there are many people who simply like to keep the wrong. their sin hidden. Go on with their life like nothing really happened. Well, my friends, that’s being just like Joab here. We should be troubled by our sin. We should be concerned about God thinks about our sin. For an all-seeing God is certainly one that will meet out punishment. And man, of course, thinks he can get away with it. if you consider the account of Aiken in the book of Joshua, here was a man who, when God said that Jericho was off limits to anyone, they were not supposed to take any of the goods or supplies that were found in the city. They were to utter destroy the city. It was a cursed. But one of the Israelites soldiers, we read Aiken, decided that when he saw the nice Babylonian garment and the wedge of gold and the 200 shekels of silver that he just had to have them. He coveted them. He took them, took them back, hid them under his tent. He buried them under his tent. And he thought, no one would know. And he thought, I’d just go on as usual. But, of course, as the scripture indicates, be sure your sin will find you out. And God, of course, sorted him out among the masses of Israel. And he paid for you. for his sin. He and his family were put to death. And so we see this occurring. Be sure your sin will find you out. Numbers 32, 23. Joab eventually is found out also. And he will be executed by Solomon early on in First Kings. So his day comes. And we see the king setting aside a determination before he dies. Make sure you bring Joab’s head down to the grave in blood. So when the pilgrims set sail for America, the outbook may have looked bleak and people were thinking, boy, we don’t know if his enterprise is going to even work. Sometimes despite all the negatives, and we look at the kingdom of God and we say, how is this ever going to work with all the people that entered, it seemed like they’re not doing what they should be doing, yet God continues to work. He always has a remnant. He always has a true people. It sustains the kingdom on this earth. But sometimes you feel like the pilgrims when it comes to the kingdom of God. There are a lot of blemishes, and you fear for its survival. But our text here is a case in point. Nothing has changed in many ways among those who profess to follow the Lord or the king. And we find that there are many who fail. in the way they handle themselves. And this is a sad testimony with regard to those who profess faith in Christ at times. Let us not be like that. Let us not be hypocritical in our faith. Let us do our best to be honest and faithful to our king in the way we live our lives and faithful to our king in the way we live our lives and handle ourselves.