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Joab the Politician
Second Samuel 13 tells the story of Absalom’s premeditated murder of his half-brother Amnon. Absalom flees the country and bides his time. David is once again in a difficult situation. Amnon was guilty of the rape of his half-sister Tamar, Absalom’s sister. It seems that David—paralyzed by the memory of his own sin—is unable to administer justice. By taking things into his own hands, Absalom avenges the rape of his sister and restores the family honor. (Honor and shame were two very important elements of the value system during the time of David.) Second, and as a nice benefit, once Amnon, David’s oldest son, is dead, Absalom is now in line to inherit the throne. David’s heart is torn between his grief for his dead son, his love for Absalom, and the keen knowledge that all of this mess is somehow rooted in his own sin.
Amid all this, Joab decides to become involved. However, since he does not see a direct way to put this item on the agenda of King David, he resorts to cunning and uses a wise woman of Tekoah.
Read 2 Samuel 14. What does the woman of Tekoah’s story communicate about God’s love and forgiveness? At the same time, what does this passage also tell us about Joab?
The story that Joab put into the mouth of the woman suggests that Joab knew about God’s great love toward the sinner. His theology was correct. Unfortunately, for Joab this remained head knowledge only. His own life continued to be characterized by revenge and a lack of forgiveness. Joab had become immune to God’s love in his own life. For him, everything, even religion, had a political end and could be used for self-promotion. Joab recognized Absalom’s potential and wanted to begin to ingratiate himself with the future king. It seems, however, that Joab met his match in Absalom. Joab receives no thank-you notes for his initiative in bringing Absalom home. Absalom simply wants to use him and quickly shows Joab that he can be every bit as cunning and dangerous as Joab can be. He did this by burning Joab’s fields in order to force him to arrange a meeting with David (2 Sam. 14:28–33). The point is that thanks to Joab’s interference, the stage was now being set for an awful rebellion that would lead to civil war.
How easy is it to let personal ambition, pride, and desire for self-supremacy motivate your actions? How can you learn to recognize these things in yourself? How can you through God’s grace defeat them before they lead to your ruin?
| TUESDAY | November 16 |
Second Samuel 13 tells the story of Absalom’s premeditated murder of his half-brother Amnon. Absalom flees the country and bides his time. David is once again in a difficult situation. Amnon was guilty of the rape of his half-sister Tamar, Absalom’s sister. It seems that David—paralyzed by the memory of his own sin—is unable to administer justice. By taking things into his own hands, Absalom avenges the rape of his sister and restores the family honor. (Honor and shame were two very important elements of the value system during the time of David.) Second, and as a nice benefit, once Amnon, David’s oldest son, is dead, Absalom is now in line to inherit the throne. David’s heart is torn between his grief for his dead son, his love for Absalom, and the keen knowledge that all of this mess is somehow rooted in his own sin.
Amid all this, Joab decides to become involved. However, since he does not see a direct way to put this item on the agenda of King David, he resorts to cunning and uses a wise woman of Tekoah.
Read 2 Samuel 14. What does the woman of Tekoah’s story communicate about God’s love and forgiveness? At the same time, what does this passage also tell us about Joab?
The story that Joab put into the mouth of the woman suggests that Joab knew about God’s great love toward the sinner. His theology was correct. Unfortunately, for Joab this remained head knowledge only. His own life continued to be characterized by revenge and a lack of forgiveness. Joab had become immune to God’s love in his own life. For him, everything, even religion, had a political end and could be used for self-promotion. Joab recognized Absalom’s potential and wanted to begin to ingratiate himself with the future king. It seems, however, that Joab met his match in Absalom. Joab receives no thank-you notes for his initiative in bringing Absalom home. Absalom simply wants to use him and quickly shows Joab that he can be every bit as cunning and dangerous as Joab can be. He did this by burning Joab’s fields in order to force him to arrange a meeting with David (2 Sam. 14:28–33). The point is that thanks to Joab’s interference, the stage was now being set for an awful rebellion that would lead to civil war.
How easy is it to let personal ambition, pride, and desire for self-supremacy motivate your actions? How can you learn to recognize these things in yourself? How can you through God’s grace defeat them before they lead to your ruin?
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