2 Samuel 10 (Part 2) Bible Study (David Defeats Ammon and Syria) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Good evening. Yes. I greet you in the name of the resurrected Jesus Christ. It's good to see you on a Friday evening. It's good to see that there's not some, but many Christians who aren't afraid of the cold.

I hope that will continue. I saw a funny somebody sent me a funny thing where it was a I guess it was a meme where in one side somebody said, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And the next section says, you can't even go to church when it rains. I think there's some truth to that. All joking aside, meet me in the book of second Samuel in chapter 10.

And as I said during the announcements, we weren't here together last week, so it feels like more than a week. It feels like a month. And so there is there is importance in reflecting on what we touched on in this chapter before we continue. So let me give you a summary. David king David was on a quest of kindness.

He showed it to a man, Mephibosheth, in chapter nine, but didn't stop with Saul's descendants. Didn't stop just with his covenant made with Jonathan. He wanted it to go beyond the borders of Israel. And so he reaches out to the Ammonites, and he reaches out to the king of the Ammonites, Hanun. And his father passed away, and so David longed to send ambassadors to console him from a genuine place.

But unfortunately, Hanun had some advisers who poisoned his mind by assuming that David had ill motives and was attempting to spy instead of really show love. And, unfortunately, the king believed that, and he does something very humiliating. He takes David's ambassadors. He cuts off half their beards, and he, trims their clothing in a very embarrassing way, and then kicks them out and tries to send it back into Jerusalem, blushing. David recognizes what was done.

He tells him to wait in a specific location, namely Jericho, until they grow back their beards and they come back to Jerusalem as though nothing had happened. And that's where we stopped. We learned a lot in those few verses, but where we are beginning tonight is in verse six, and we will read the next few verses. I'm going to ask you what you see. I'm not gonna read the the remainder of the chapter, just the first few verses, and we're going to explore what we see, what gems sparkle on a surface level reading, and then we will dive in in a deeper way, and we will trust that God has much to say to us.

And so with that in mind, your bibles are open before you, I trust. Let's come now to verse six of second Samuel chapter 10, and let's read. When the Ammonites saw that they had become a stench to David, the Ammonites sent and hired the Syrians of Beth Rehob and the Syrians of Zobah, 20,000 foot soldiers, and the king of Maacah with a thousand men, and the men of Tob or Tob, 12,000 men. And when David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the hosts of the mighty men. And the Ammonites came out and drew up in battle array at the entrance of the gate, and the Syrians of Zobah and of Rehob.

And the men of Tobin, Maacah, were by themselves in the open country. When Joab saw that the battle was set against them both in front and in the rear, he chose some of the best men of Israel and arrayed them against the Syrians. The rest of his men, he put in charge of Abishai his brother, and he arrayed them against the Ammonites. And he said, if the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me. But if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come and help you.

Be of good courage, and let us be courageous for our people and for the cities of our God. And may the Lord do what seems good to him. This is the word of the Lord. Is Is there anything that stands out to you in these in these verses? Remember, Friday nights are training nights.

We want to train our eyes to know how to read the scriptures, especially the old testament. What stands out to you? Do you have something? Okay. Yes.

Okay. So here we have Joab saying, may the Lord do what seems good to him. And, is he is he is he missing something? Is he not inquiring of the Lord? Perhaps.

But that that phrase we're gonna touch on, because I think it's something we should admire about Joab. So we we will visit that. Yes. Great observation. Anything else?

Yes? Vivian? So Joab says to his brother, listen. If I'm being overwhelmed, you gotta come and help me. And if I see that you're being overtaken, I'm here to help you.

That's good. Oh, that's really good. There there's so much in there for the believer. Let me say this. There's so much in there for believers.

You got it. Good. Anything else? Great. Great observation.

Maybe a couple more and then we'll continue. Uh-huh. The second time. Yes. That's a good observation too.

So he he sends Joab out the first time, but when the Syrians come back again, David himself faces his enemies. And I think that's gonna be more important for next week or the week after. I don't know. Next week, do we have a Bible? Yes.

I think so. We do. We do. Yes. Next week when we explore chapter 11, we were gonna see that David doesn't go to war again.

So this is not a good habit that David is developing, but we're gonna save that for next week. Good observation. One or two more maybe. One more definitely, maybe two. Anything else?

Yes. Very good observation. What he had just said was that there was a promptness on David's end on how to deal with the Ammonites and the Syrians. Very good. Yes.

So there was a quickness. There was a there was a immediacy of his action to dealing with a potential threat. One more and then we'll we'll continue. Anything else? These were wonderful observations.

Yes. Yeah. That's a that's a good question. So some translations will look at it differently in terms of, well, we'll get to I think at one point, we'll do, like, a huge segment on translations because, which translation do you have if you don't mind me asking? Nineteen eighty four Nineveh.

Yes. So, when it comes to the different kind of groupings, it it can be a manuscript thing where different families of manuscript might say something else. But when it comes to the ESV, we have the Syrians, and some believe that they could be somehow connected, that they're from that general area. But we're gonna do a session one day about translations and why things say things differently. So I'm gonna reserve a longer answer for that, if you don't mind, for a a particular time, maybe a future q and a that we'll do sooner than later.

Okay. Ready? Now we're coming to this text. We've already made great observations, but let's look back at verse six together. We see that the news of David's displeasure about what the Ammonites did to Israel's ambassadors came back to Hanun and his fellow leaders.

And now here's what's what's impressive to me at least, that David here is not giving any indication of retaliation. Right? David is not now arming himself and getting his troops to go out and fight against the Ammonites for what they did to his representatives. If there's anything that I see here is that David is in fact restraining himself. And this will make more sense when you have your rear view mirrors up in the Old Testament and you think back to David's development throughout the years.

This is the beauty of being in a series because you you have something to work with in terms of character observation or development. Do you remember what David's response was like when he sent servants before he was a king, but when he had his little band of men, he sent servants out to a man named Nabal or Nabal. And, he took care of some of his property. He expected some kind of favor in return. And Nabal, he belittles him.

He humiliates him. He insults him. And what does David do? The moment he hears that his servants came back with with that response. I'm just gonna read it to you.

It's in first Samuel twenty five thirteen. David says to his men, every man strap on his sword. And every man of them strapped on his sword, David also strapped on his sword. Like, he in his next breath, the moment his servants return and says, this is what this is what he said about you. He says, round up the boys.

Get your swords. We're gonna punish this man. And now years go by, and I see David as a king, and he is insulted, and yet there isn't any reaction. There is a silence. There's a calmness.

I argue there is an inner strength that David grew into, which is a mark of spiritual progress. See, because if you read carefully, it's that when the Ammonites saw that they had become a stench to David, the Ammonites wanted to go to war. They were the ones that grabbed their troops and were preparing for an attack. It it would have made sense to me to say that when David smelled what they did, he was insulted, and he round up his troops to come against the Ammonites, but we don't see that. There is this wonderful picture here of a man who has developed in the area of offense.

And it would be wrong, it would be unrealistic to say that David was not hurt by what Hanun did to him through his ambassadors because we're told that it was a stench. It was an insult. And it would be unrealistic for me to say to to even a believer that when someone says or does something to hurt you, that it it's not gonna hurt. To say that a mark of spiritual maturity is that you don't feel the sting when someone sins against you is not fair. But the genuine mark of maturity is that in the face of such a thing, you respond in a manner that reflects the beauty of Jesus Christ.

That's the difference. David's pain here perhaps is even greater than what it was when he was trying to deal kindly with Nabal. But his response, his reaction, his reflex is is is totally different. And you can see this throughout the scriptures. This stumbled to me the other the other week, and it's been simmering in the back of my mind.

And I wanna show it to you because it fits perfectly with what I'm trying to say. I need you to turn to two places though if you wanna see the beauty of this. So the first place is in Acts 23. Right? And you're gonna go to verse two.

The second place is in John 18, and you're gonna put your finger there in verse 22. So acts 23 and verse two, we have the apostle Paul standing before the high priest of his day because there are accusations against him, his his ministry, his message, and what he is doing to the Jewish people. And I want you to see what happens as he is being investigated by the high priest and the spiritual leaders of his time. So verse two, he he said something. He he he's now making his defense.

And before he can get out another word, it says here in verse two of acts 23, and the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth. Then Paul said to him, God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall. Are you sitting to judge me according to the law, and yet contrary to the law, you order me to be struck? Let let me pause there to say, how many of you would respond very similarly if you are brought before a judge, and before you finish making your case, he has one of the security guards or the officers slap you on the mouth? Not only is that insulting in itself, it's actually illegal according to the law.

No such punishment should be made until someone was proven guilty, and yet they could not help themselves, but but harm this man who's been harassing them, so to speak, with his gospel. But look at verse four. Those who stood by said, would you revile God's high priest? And then Paul after this apologizes because according to the law, we are commanded to not revile the leadership that God has established. So Paul apologized.

Let me say it this way. Paul was wrong in what he did. Yes. It was wrong in what they did, but he was wrong in his response. Now I want you to see our lord Jesus.

In the very same predicament in John eighteen twenty two. He is before the high priest. He was asked a question. He answered. He answered in such a way where he really unmasked the high priest's lack of logic and his hypocrisy in this whole ordeal.

In John eighteen twenty two, it says, when he said these things, one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hands saying, is that how you answer the high priest? Now look at verse 23. Pause there. Do you remember Paul's response? God is going to strike you.

God is coming for you, my friend. Now here's here's the Lord standing before high and somebody hits him in the mouth, and here's his response. Verse 23. Jesus answered him, if what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong. If what I said is right, why do you strike me?

Do Do I need to even explain anything here? If I just put those two scriptures beside each other, do you do you see the elegance of Jesus? Do you do you see his strength? Do you see his self control? Do do you see the honor and the integrity that the master carries?

Do do you sense the fragrance? I mean, the apostle Paul was a mighty man of God. A mighty man of God, but a man still. And in the same situation, he could not help but erupt. And here's the Lord still, not shaken, strong, straight as an arrow.

And you know, when I was reflecting on those two scenes, you know what came to mind? Lord, I wanna be like you. I really, really wanna be like you. I don't wanna give in to the impulses of my emotions. Lord, I want to know what it's like to be such a reflection of the person and character of God.

Can I ask you something? What's manlier? You men in this place. What's manlier when you compare those two answers? Paul?

God is gonna strike you or Jesus if what I did was wrong, what I did was right. Do you see? We we need a whole new definition of what manhood really is. A whole new definition of what it means to be like Jesus. Read beyond, please.

In our sanctification, we need to read beyond just tenets of our faith. Justification means this. Sanctification that's great. That's important. I'm not trying to mock that.

What I'm saying is the Holy Spirit includes these examples for us so that we can look at ourselves. And and look, I read that. I go, I I'm more like Paul. I'm gonna be honest, but I wanna be like the Lord. I wanna be like the Lord in every situation that would try to stir my flesh that I would be like him.

And so we come back to David and we see that there is a growth here. Now I want you to go back to verse six of second Samuel 10. Now look at it from the perspective of Hanun. When the Ammonites saw that they had become a stench to David, the Ammonites sent and hired the Syrians. Now here's the thing.

When this man learned that what he did was an absolute embarrassment, and insult and offense to David and realized that he did nothing in return on top of that, what should he have done? What any what what kind what sensible person would have done blank? Thank you. Forgive me. I I listened to the wrong advice.

I I I misjudged what you were doing. Can can we build this bridge again? That would have made the most sense. I mean, I'm baffled by how this man did not see how the counsel he received was totally off base. David proved the purity of intentions not just in his initial visitation, but in the fact that he does not come after him with with a vengeance.

Shouldn't that be enough of an apologetic for you to be convinced that that you're wrong and that, he was right in what he was saying initially? But what we see here is the opposite. This man actually foolishly hires mercenaries, and he declares war. We're going to war. And I think when you just reflect on that, there's a couple of principles there in regards to sin that I I hope you will never forget for the rest of your life.

The first lesson is this. Right? So he learned that his actions it it was a stench. And so what does he do? Well, he continues to sin.

And here's principle number one, sin, unrepentant sin will always lead to greater sin. K? Unrepentant sin will always lead to greater sin, and we're gonna see that played out in David's personal life in the next chapter. Because David is going to commit adultery, and he chose the path of concealment instead of confession. And what does it do?

It only encourages him to do even worse things. Commits murder, he lies, does all these horrific things, because unrepentant sin will always lead you down to a darker path where you will entertain sins that you never planned to initially. Hanun here, he he insults the man. And what does he do now? He wants to go to war with the man.

And so he wants to commit even more iniquity, more rebellion against David. And the outcome of entertaining sin is always the same. Always. That when you try to hold on to it and try to control it and try to conceal it and try to justify it, it's gonna take you further. Whenever we do wrong, whenever we stumble, whenever we we do something we know that is contrary to the word of God, whenever we do something that stinks in the sight of God, if I can use that language, there's only two paths to take every single time.

The first one is to conceal it, which includes justifying it. So you hide it, you convince yourself you can do it, and then that will lead to more trouble. The second path on this crossroads is confessing and forsaking it. Those are two paths. That's not my idea.

That's a proverb. If you want a life proverb, here's a good one. Proverbs twenty eight thirteen. It's a very simple one. It's easy to memorize.

Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but the one or he who confesses and forsakes it or them will obtain mercy. Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. That's a wonderful truth to remember. In the case of Hanun, he thought that he could prosper by continuing to harass David, and he's gonna learn that that's not going to be the case. He's gonna do more evil, and it's gonna cost him much more than he intended to pay, which is the second point.

The first one was sin. Unrepentant sin will always lead to greater sin. Here's point number two in regards to this. Unrepentant sin will always ask of you something that you did not intend to pay. In other words, make it even more simple, unrepentant sin will cost you more and more, and you can't determine what the price is.

So here's what's amazing. Notice that when he wants to go to war with David, we have to read carefully, he hires the Syrians. He hires them. And it's only when you go to the chronicles account of the same scene where you get the exact receipt. He had to pay a thousand talents of silver.

One talent is estimated to be around £75. £75,000 of silver to hire this coalition of armies to join him and to fight against the anointed one. That's pricey. So is the pursuit of sin. It always will come with a check, and you will have to pay it at one point or another.

And here's the thing when it comes to the price of sin. As I said earlier, you can't determine what you have to pay. You can't. It it will always rob you of your blessings in God, always, But sometimes it will tax you emotionally, and sometimes it will demand something from you physically. And here's the worst thing, if you're outside of Christ, the ultimate prize is eternity.

Eternity. When you want to make a willful decision of walking against the one that God chose in the person of Jesus Christ, then you will actually have to pay a price. And the Proverbs said it very clear. Whoever conceals, whoever holds on to, whoever hides, whoever justifies his transgression will not prosper. It will cost you something.

So never forget those points. Never forget those two realities. So we come down to verse seven. What do we see? He hires these thousands of foot soldiers, these chariots.

He goes to neighboring places. And in verse seven, we read, and when David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the hosts of the mighty men. The moment he heard about it, he says, we gotta do something about it. So he has this intelligence agency. He gets a report.

Hey. The Ammonites are coming into partnership with the Syrians, and and they're they're up to something, David. There there is something brewing here. And what David does here is he does not wait because he knows that if he waits, the problem can get so great, it will be too difficult to confront. Had David delayed, what would have happened was that, there could have been more men hired, or there could have been a very sophisticated strategy that would be implemented that would make make this whole thing much more complex than it could have been if he had done it just earlier.

The attitude of David here in warfare must be must be interpreted in view of our spiritual war. What David is doing here is absolutely an inspiration to the believer who is in spiritual warfare day and night, and it's wisdom. And here's the wisdom, that David here does not delay because success in strategizing over Satan's tactics is doing what? Dealing and snuffing out sparks before they become wildfires. Not waiting, not hesitating to come and resist evil before it becomes something much more difficult to overcome, and that can be anything.

That can be everything from an inappropriate thought that constantly visits you and and you having to snuff it out, you having to deal with it before it becomes persistent and before it becomes material. Everything from something as harmless as a thought that can become harmful to you approaching a brother, you in humility approaching a sister, and communicating because there's unexplained tension, and you don't wanna you don't wanna leave room for speculation or suggestions from Satan against your brother or sister. Again, if David waited too long, things would get much more complicated. And in the same way, the effort becomes much more when we delay in our response to formation of temptation and trouble. I've seen what delay can do.

I I've seen it in so many cases. I've seen what it can do in somebody's personal life, and I've seen it especially what it can do relationally between between family members in Jesus. It, it creates suspicion. It creates hurt in friendships and marriages and even in local churches. And so you have such wise instructions, not just by way of example like this, but even in the very clear teachings of Jesus who you know this in Matthew five twenty three that if you have a gift and you're coming to the altar to give an offering to the Lord, but you remember, you remember that someone has something against you.

Drop the gift and go and and pursue reconciliation. And here's the thing about that. What I take from that teaching is mending something that is potentially ripping apart is emergency protocol. Emergency protocol. It's not something to wait until tomorrow.

It's something that must be dealt with. And and listen. This is what the Lord is saying. This is so crucial that it trumps over even offering your sacrifice on the altar during a feast holiday. Consider that what the lord is saying.

Don't delay. And I've witnessed the great blessing on in so many examples. Let me give you the positive element of this. When somebody might approach me, call me, whatever, and say, well, you know, so and so said this, so and so did that, or so and so is acting in a certain way, and it's hurting me. It's confusing me.

You know what my answer is? Go and tell them. Don't wait till the smoke becomes fire. Don't let your mind be open for Satan to say certain things and suggest certain things and confuse you and begin to accuse that person through your thinking. Just clear the air as soon as you can.

I'm telling you, so many fires could have been put out in so many local churches that they just took what Jesus said seriously. Right? And David is doing that in in terms of real war. He hears that something is happening, and he's not waiting before he deals with it. He's going to act upon it immediately, and so he does.

And what happens? We read here as we scroll down to verse 11. And he said Joab goes out, and he said to his brother Abishai, if the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help you shall help me. But if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come and help you. Here's what's here's the scene now.

Between verse eight and nine, Job is sent with his men, the mighty men, and they realize the the seriousness of the situation. The Ammonites are before them. The Syrians are behind them. They're surrounded. They're surrounded.

They're outnumbered perhaps, and so this is a very dangerous predicament, and so the strategy is very straightforward. What he says here is that I'm going to place myself to fight the Syrians, and we're gonna pick place those who are weaker, the the the Abishai and his men, before the Ammonites. And there's much to say about that, which I won't say, but it's it's it's very simple that according to one's qualifications, they will be placed in certain positions. But instead of touching on that, I wanna draw your attention to what he says in verse 11. If they're too strong for me, come and help me.

If they're too strong for you, I'll come and help you. K. So let's stay in that theme of of obtaining wisdom and and successful spiritual warfare. Here here's another one. A call for mutual support in the fight of faith, a call for mutual collaboration, cooperation in the fight of faith.

And you and I know this. That's why many of you are members of a local church. Christians should be inspired to see how these these brothers, literal brothers, are locking their arms with one another because of the revelation of of how great of a danger they are in. They are surrounded by it. We need to come closer to each other.

How much more us? Listen. How much more us in a day when evil, perversion, confusion, false teaching, deception is closing in on the remnant of God? I, Abia, I don't know how people can claim that they can weather this storm, and it's only gonna get more intense while distancing themselves from the people of God. It it just it's mind boggling.

Intentional fellowship, intentional accountability, intentional relationships with one another, and we can amen that. We can say amen because the principle, you can't disagree with it. We all agree with it. Amen. But the blessing, the reaping of reward is when we put it into practice in the particular ways that we see in the bible, including what we see here.

And what do we see here? We see that what Joab is setting as a rule is impossible. It doesn't work unless both he and his brother Abishai, you ready for this, are aware of one another's conditions. How is Abishai going to come and help Joab if he doesn't know that Joab needs help? How is Joab supposed to help his brother if he doesn't know that his brother needs help?

How is your brother supposed to help you if he doesn't know that you need help? How is your sister supposed to know that your she's supposed to help you unless how? You can't. So you know what this means? You ready for this?

Oh, this is good. This means that those who want to show themselves strong before other believers, They can't they can't fathom the thought of another believer finding out that perhaps you are struggling or that you need help or that you were you are you are going to war. If you want to know the the blessings of the mutual support that God has designed for the army of God, you're gonna have to humble yourself. Wouldn't it be so silly to see Joab smothered by soldiers and him refusing to call out for help from his brother Abishai because he doesn't wanna be perceived as weak? Can you imagine that?

We would we would say, how foolish. What's wrong with you? I want you to see yourself in that same light when you feel the temptation in your in your struggle, in your trials, in your tribulations to remove yourself instead of throwing yourself at the hands of merciful brothers and sisters in Christ. It's just as silly. It's just as silly.

And what often is the thing that holds people back from receiving the balm that God has deposited in those that he's providentially brought into your life is pride. It's spiritual pride. So you won't ask for counsel, you won't ask for prayer, you won't come to the house of God to know the healing that comes from the gifts that God has put into that church. Because you wanna be you wanna be a mighty man, a mighty woman. You're just as much in trouble as Joab would be if he was overcome by soldiers and refused to call out to his brother Abishai.

But it also means something else, And that is a willingness for you and I to what? Give ourselves to others, to cooperate, and to contribute. Galatians, you heard that at Maranatha, Galatians six two, that we are to bear one another's burdens. This is the law of Christ. And you know what is unfortunate, and I praise God that it's not the case here.

I hope it would never be. That a lot of people view the local church as a charity in this way. They can take, but God forbid they would give. God forbid they would give. And so they have no issue reserving their resources, reserving their presence, reserving their participation, reserving their voice, reserving their whatever it is that you're called to bring into the church.

They have no problem, but, oh, they will get vocal if they don't get what they think they deserve. And they have no issue. They have no issue arriving and coming when they need a good old pick me up. Right? But when it comes to them investing in others, it's not a reality.

You know what Joab didn't say? If the Syrians overcome me, come and help me. Full stop. He didn't say that. He added, and if you need help, I'm here for you, brother.

You see, it's this this mutual responsibility and accountability. It's not this vacuum where you you get to suck as much as you want, this consumer mentality, and then leave wiping your mouth. No. I I pray that that would never be the case. We will see miracles take place.

We will see a strength, and and we will see a a a wonderful longevity in our spiritual health when we lock arms in the way that these brothers are, and we're saying, we're gonna do this together. We're gonna do this together. So you and I need to understand that. Okay? It's okay to be broken in the house of God.

The days are difficult, and I know that I I'm gonna stay here. I know that this ministry preaches a strong word because we need to. We need to preach repentance. We need to preach the fear of God. We need to preach the whole counsel of God.

But I want you to know something as well. As much as we strive for holiness and we strive to be godly, I hope that not one person in here would ever interpret that we do not have grace in our hearts. I pray that you would see that as we pursue this together, there is so much mercy available, so much grace, so much forgiveness, so much understanding. So that if you do fall, you can get right back up, and you have a leadership, and you have a church that says, get up, brother. Get up, sister.

Keep going. Keep going. Keep pursuing that prize. Keep pursuing that mark. And so you have to understand, Joab, Abishai, they were warriors, but they knew their weaknesses.

They knew their weaknesses, and they gladly confessed when they were weak. They gladly opened up and they said to one another when they needed a helping hand. What's the point of all of this if that's not the case? So be built up and be encouraged to know that in this place, there's so much encouragement reserved and ready to be shared, and I and I pray and I trust that many people can attest to that. Now Joab doesn't end there.

Let's go back to verse 12. He continues in a way that maybe surprises us because Joab has disappointed us in the past, but we can we can applaud him tonight. Okay? We can give Joab some some grace, because look what he says. Be of good courage.

He's speaking to his brother. Be of good courage, and let us be courageous for our people and for the cities of our God. And may the Lord do what seems good to him. Oh, we could take that and chop it up and break down every single portion of what Joab said, but I want us to focus on the latter part. And may the lord do what seems good to him.

Now go back to verse nine, because I want you to see what Joab did before this. When Joab saw that the battle was set against them both in front and the rear, he chose some of the best men of Israel and arrayed them against the Syrians. Joab did everything that he could to prepare and plan for victory. He organized. He delegated.

He directed. He encouraged. He did all these things that any commander would do, and yet he came to a point before running into that field by declaring an ultimate trust and faith that the outcome belongs to God. Whatever God is gonna do, he will do it. And that's an important truth because you and I believing in God's authority over all things and his power over all affairs does not negate our intense participation in the process.

Right? If the doctrine of the sovereignty of God makes you lazy, you're not learning it right. If it makes you less zealous to be obedient, to be evangelistic, to be prayerful, you're not interpreting that doctrine right. Joab did so much, and guess what? God considered it.

He considered his wisdom. He considered his strategy. He considered all that he did, and he would work with him in this. And he relied on him, and that should comfort every person in this place who who who has a desire. Lord, I wanna be dead center in the will of God.

Here here's my encouragement to you. Ready? That as you do everything that God's called you to do, just like what Joab did, you can rest in the outcome because it belongs to the Lord. Right? So I'll use myself as an example.

I'll just use any pastor as an example. As long as they honor God's word, they preach, they they have a holy life, they're serious, they're repentant, They're walking in humility, and they're doing all their duties. Regardless of what happens in that ministry, that's not up to him. That's up to him. It's the Lord.

Right? Take that for anything that you do in the in your life for the Lord. Job here presents a wonderful, wonderful lesson for all of us who'd really desire to obey him but cannot determine the fruit. You can't determine the fruit. Rest in that.

So now we see there's so much that we can say, but I wanna continue in verse 13. Joab and the people who were with him drew near to battle against the Syrians, and they fled before him. And when the Anomites saw the Syrians that the Syrians fled, they likewise fled before Abishai and entered the city. Then Job returned from fighting against the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem. Here's what's fascinating.

Remember we we heard in the beginning that there was a principle about sin in relation to the Ammonites and the Syrians? Check this out. What we learned was, if you're going to pursue sin, it's gonna cost you more than you plan to pay. It's gonna take you into greater sin. And here's another principle.

Here's another principle. When Joab and his men arrived on the scene, the Syrians fled. The Ammonites saw the Syrians. They they fled. And I can't help but think this.

If I was Hanun who paid £75,000 of silver for these guys to come and to help me do what I desire to do, wouldn't you be disappointed? That's a letdown. Not one arrow was shot. Not one sword was swung. Nothing.

Not one shield was lifted up. They turned around and fled. That's pretty disappointing stuff. And let me tell you, it's the same for sin. Sin will disappoint you.

Disobedience will disappoint you. Pursuing what god says not to pursue will fail you. And it's it's it's a truth that we know from the beginning that that glistening apple well, it's not an apple. We don't know. It's a fruit.

That fruit that promised so much ended up becoming bitter. And when we think about temptation, when we think about all these different patterns in life that our culture suggests, it always asks you, throw away your youth, throw away the strength of your youth, throw away your money, throw away your time, throw away the blessings of God. Right? And so many people bite, and it bites back. Because when it comes to the moments where you think that that thing that promised so much happiness and security and strength was going to deliver, it failed to execute the way you thought.

That's exactly what we see here with the the Syrians and the Ammonites. They expected so much, and they were let down. And Paul used that as an example when he's preaching on holiness in Romans six. He says there in Romans six, hey. What fruit were you getting at the time of the things of which we are now ashamed?

Like, what benefit was there in your previous life? And I always tell this to people. When you are tempted with a particular sin, maybe a sin that you crucified when you came to Christ, don't think about what it makes you feel. Think about how it let you down, and let that live before you. And so when that temptation comes up, you say, I can see right past through this mask.

I know what that is. That it that's not an oasis. That's that's just a pile of sand. And so even we see here that though these men pursued greater wickedness, thinking that it was gonna profit them and give them victory, and in fact turn to slap them in the face. So it is with sin.

Now we come, and what do we see here in verse 15? Well, they fled. The Ammonites fled. So Joab goes back to Jerusalem. And when he goes back to Jerusalem, something interesting happens, and we haven't read this yet together.

But when the Syrians saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they gathered themselves together, and Hadadezer sent and brought out the Syrians who were beyond the Euphrates. They came to Hilaam with Shobak, the commander of the army of Hadadezer, at their head. And when it was told David, he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan, and he came to Hillem. The Syrians arrayed themselves against David and fought with him. Let me pause here because I've been talking a lot.

What do you take from that? With the theme of sin, with the theme of rebellion, with the theme of wickedness, with the theme of stubbornness, what do you see here? Well, Joab goes back, and the Syrians, they gather themselves again. I mean, you're foolish. This is stupid.

You know what I see from that? Before we're quick to criticize, were we any different when we were in sin? Were we any different? Sin spooks us. It makes us just look absolutely absurd.

We've embarrassed ourselves. We feel filthy. We had a near death experience. We severed so many relationships. And just like these men, the moment things calm down, we go right back to the vomit that we just threw up.

And sometimes we go even harder than when we did it first. So we see the stubbornness we see the stubbornness of the Syrians no different than the stubbornness of the sinner who will just put their head down and continue to ram it against the same wall. And when I look at this, I think to myself, how can this be? How how can you go back to the very thing that spooked you, that that exposed your weakness, and how small you were? Well, that's what happens when a heart does not have the rule of Christ in it.

Sin makes people stupid. Can I use that language? Is that okay? It it just makes people lose their judgment, lose their ability to reason, and we're gonna see that in in the next chapter. And we're gonna talk about the sin of adultery.

Proverbs six tells us that he who does it has no sense because they don't consider the consequences. They don't consider what can happen as a result of that law breaking. And just like the sinner, it doesn't matter if you were warned. It doesn't matter if you escaped death. It doesn't matter if you've experienced serious loss.

It doesn't matter if you just it doesn't matter what fearful fate might come before you. You have people who will spring right back into action even after they realized that this can potentially destroy them. And what was the blow that they would suffer? Look at verse 18. And the Syrians fled before Israel, and David killed of the Syrians, the men, 700 chariots, 40,000 horsemen, and wounded Shobak, the commander of the army, so that he died there.

The chapter doesn't end. Right? It doesn't end because as crazy as these Syrians are in this text, we can actually applaud them because they learned their lesson. They learned their lesson only after experiencing a severe blow, and there's two things that they did that was right as a result of this failure. The first thing is here in verse 19.

And when all the kings who were servants of Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel. Good job. Should've done it earlier, but better late than never. They made peace with Israel. You wanna know the sec second thing?

And became subject to them. Here it is. So the Syrians were afraid to save the Ammonites anymore. We will no longer associate with you Ammonites anymore Because every time we hang out with you, you just lead us into greater trouble. We're done.

K. I'm gonna end here. Oftentimes, what it takes for the sinner to make peace with the son of David, who is Jesus Christ, and to cut themselves off from the influences of sin is to get burned. It's only after you get beaten up by your decisions in rebellion. And and not just light taps, because they ain't got a light tap.

The light tap was just this they they they were fearful, and they ran off. The sight of Joab and those mighty men was terrifying enough, and it and it caused them to run-in the other direction. But it wasn't until the Syrians knew serious loss that they changed their ways. This breaks my heart, but it's true. Unfortunately, for some, a sermon won't mean anything until they're crushed by life.

And I I see this particularly with young people. When I go and I speak at youth conferences, most difficult audience to deal with because they haven't been through life long enough. That's that's what really it is, I think. I've seen I've seen young people fall on their knees and cry and repent genuinely and change their course because of the grace of God. And I've seen other people that there's just a smugness, and there's there's a sense of I'm invincible.

You're 18. Just live a little bit longer. Once you have to leave your house and you can't eat mom's home cooked meals and you don't have a nice bed warmed and ready for you, once you go onto the real world and, you no longer have to be forced to come into church and you actually have to make decisions on your own and and Satan is right there waiting to give his options to you. Just wait till then. Just wait till then.

And so sometimes what God will do instead of giving you a sermon is put you on a sick bed. It doesn't have to be that way, but he can do it that way. He can he can and he has broken many bones, and I'm not talking about I'm not talking about psalmist language here of what it feels like to be convicted of sin. I'm talking about real broken bones. And if you think I'm coming up with my own ideas here, I want you I want you to see what I'm saying in in the final verse verses of our study tonight.

It's It's in the book of Job. It's in chapter 33, and I want you to see what is said here about the ways of God. Job is a very tricky book to teach from because a lot of the things that Job's friends say were were were right but applied wrongly, and some things are off. So you have to be you have to be very careful of how you teach and preach from the book of Job. And the best way to know what to use is to see how the rest of the scripture uses that same truth.

Right? But look at Job 33 verse 19. I think this is incredibly insightful. In verse 19, we read, man is also rebuked with pain on his bed and with continual strife in his bones. Who's doing the rebuking here?

God is doing the rebuking here. So that his life loathes bread, meaning you're so battered that you have no appetite. And his appetite, the choice is food. His flesh is so wasted away that it cannot be seen. And his bones that were not seen stick out.

Remember what I told you? It's often it's not the light taps in life that that get our attention. It's it's the major interventions. Look at verse 22. His soul draws near the pit and his life to those who bring death.

This is serious. And the spirit is attributing this as a work of God that God can rebuke a man in such a way to get his attention to get his attention. Notice the words in verse 19 carefully. Man is also rebuked, meaning this is just one of his ways of rebuking. And I think that this kind of rebuking is reserved for the ones who when they're rebuked in in this way, right, hey.

Hey. Hey. Repent. Be careful. Surrender.

Time is short. When they don't get that rebuke, that's just fine. You're not gonna listen? And he allows providence to have his way, and he brings a man or a woman to the very brink of death itself. You read the remaining verses.

You can do that on your own time. There's a redemptive element to this. But look at verse 29 quickly. Why does god do this? Behold, god does all these things, just in case you thought I was adding that, twice, three times with a man.

So patient. And you know what tells me? How stubborn of us. I've had a handful of conversations with with people who've reached out to me to ask me, I need to sit with you. I need to tell you what happened to me.

I said, fine. Come sit. They sit with me, and they tell me of how they almost died, near car accident, near death experience, something, whatever, overdose. I don't know what it is. So many different things.

And they look at me, and you can see this concern on their face, how they've come so close to meeting their maker only for the gospel to be given to them, for them to be somewhat receptive to it, to get back, and to never be seen again. Behold, God does all these things twice, three times with the same person. You know, there's some people who just, like, won't die even though they should be dead. I know a couple of those people. It's like, how are you alive?

You fell off that roof. You got hit by this car, and they're just they don't know. And it's like, well, what do you need to wake up, man? Right? Twice, three times with a man.

For what purse purpose? Verse 30. To bring his soul from the pit. See, God is willing to crush you now before you spend eternity away from him, suffering under his judgment, under his wrath. That's why it irks me sometimes when people really have the strong stance about suffering in the world.

Well, how can God do this and how can God allow this? Well, listen. If you keep it in light of eternity, you're not gonna have that much objection. When you realize the suffering in this life oftentimes is God's megaphone to get the attention of a generation, then then you're gonna understand that suffering in light of eternity is actually merciful. It's merciful.

I know that's controversial, but I believe this book, not popular opinion. And so we see here that he does it to bring his soul from pit from the pit that he may be lighted with the light of life. Yes. He will make your days dark so that you could come to this light of life. Does he have to with some?

Can god avoid using this? Absolutely. It's contingent upon the hardness of your heart, though. Look back at verse 14. For god speaks in one way and in two, though man does not perceive it.

What what the what this text is saying is God has many ways of communicating to people. That's not to say that the word of God is not sufficient. It's that God uses the truths of the word of God to be made known to you through different avenues, including sticking you on a sick bed to help you realize that you are but a man. You are but dust and ashes. I hope that everyone in here knows the Lord.

I trust that, especially for those that I know. But maybe somebody will watch this bible study months from now, weeks from now. Maybe they're watching right now. Or maybe you're in this place and I don't know you, and you don't know Jesus. God speaks in one way, into, though man does not perceive it.

I don't want you to have to get beaten up by sin before you realize you need a savior. Why don't you realize it now, and perceive that in God's providence, he's getting your attention tonight? Yeah? Yeah. That he really wants to save you and make a treaty with you and be in alliance with you and adopt you and redeem you and fill you with his spirit so that not only would you be saved from his wrath, but that like we heard earlier, you would be conformed to his son's image.

So that even in moments where you know that you would act in a certain way, had it not been for Christ, he would receive so much glory in your life. And so we conclude today with a very, very sobering reality of not just the Syrians, but of sinners. Oftentimes, the sinner needs to be awakened to realize I need to make peace with my God. And I need to do this. Ready for this?

Some of you, your fellowship will not be distasteful until you realize the heartache of what it's like to be with somebody who's not in Christ, relationally and in friendships. Right? They told the Ammonites, we're done here. We're done here. Why don't you just trust God's wisdom beforehand?

Why don't you just trust God's wisdom beforehand before you see what somebody who is not yoked to Christ can do to you who was and who is yoked to Christ? Avoid it. Avoid it now. With all that being said, let's pray. Lord, we ask you that the truths that we heard in this this study would be chained around our hearts.

And we ask Lord that all these principles would play out in real life situations. We are forgetful. We we are creatures that need to hear the same truth over and over again. But we just prayerfully with genuine hearts, Lord, we ask that your Holy Spirit would keep us from losing sight of what we saw in your word. And Lord, for the person who doesn't really know you, and they're not even concerned about knowing you because they're very comfortable in life, oh Lord, we just pray that you would have mercy on them to get their attention in any way possible if it will open them up to giving their souls to you.

And, Lord, for us as a church and for the different ministries represented here, may we implement the wisdom of David in actual warfare and our spiritual warfare to be quick to see temptation and to deal with it, to be quick to see potential trouble in our relationships, and to deal with it, to confront it, to to communicate it. Lord, we need you in so many things. We need you. And, Lord, when sin tempts us, and it may even tempt us the very moment we say amen to this prayer, sin is right there to whisper in our hearts. May we never forget that unrepentant sin will always lead us into greater, more unthinkable sin.

And unrepentant sin will always bring with it a price that we we don't wanna pay, but we will have to pay. So Lord, as we go into this dark, evil, lying world, may your truth be louder than every other voice. And finally, may this brief study cause us to see the value of one another and to say, I'm here for you. Would you be here for me? And when I'm weak, would you not judge me and hurt me, but would you lift me up?

And when you're weak, I will be there to pray for you, to speak to you, to to help you in any way that you need. Lord, may that be the culture of Maranatha Bible Church and every other church that is visiting here. We give you glory and we sing to you because your word is incredible. And you are awesome. And so receive our praise on this Friday evening.

In Jesus' name. Amen. Let's stand, church. Let's worship the Lord.