2 SAMUEL 3, 19, 20; 1 KINGS 2
CHARACTER’S BACKGROUND
Joab was a man of action, an experienced soldier who demonstrated courage and strength in battle. He rose to prominence early in David’s kingship by leading a decisive victory against the enemy (1 Chronicles 11). He was also an inspiring leader, and the army of Israel was fiercely loyal to his command. While Absalom was devoted to himself, and David was (generally) devoted to the Lord, Joab was devoted to Israel. He did what he thought was best for the nation, regardless of what the Lord, or anyone else, thought about it.
A lifetime of combat tends to make a man very practical in his thinking, and Joab was no exception. He tended to look for the most expedient method of accomplishing his goals, and he pursued those goals with the same fierce zeal that made him excel in battle. He also provided strong counsel at times for the king, such as when he motivated David to overcome his personal grief and show strong leadership to his people.
But every strength brings a corresponding weakness, and Joab’s fierce zeal led him to several treacherous murders. In Study 1, we saw a young man named Asahel who courageously ran after Abner, the leader of an army that was rebelling against David early in his reign. Abner tried to persuade Asahel to stop chasing him, but in the end he was compelled to hit him with his spear, killing him on the spot. Asahel was Joab’s younger brother, and we will discover in this study that he nurtured a hatred for Abner for many years. When the opportunity presented itself, Joab took revenge.
READING 2 SAMUEL 3:20–30
A LONG-AWAITED REVENGE: After years of waiting, Joab hatches an evil plot against Abner—and executes it at the city gate.
20. ABNER: We now return to the early days of David’s reign. This passage immediately follows part of the Scripture reading in Study 1. Abner had been leading the rebellious army on behalf of Ishbosheth, the last son of Saul, but the two men had a disagreement. Abner had just defected to David as this passage opens. It will be important to remember also that Abner had killed a young man in combat named Asahel, Joab’s brother. See Study 1 for more information.
21. HE WENT IN PEACE: David had made peace with Abner, even though Abner had been leading the rebellious army against him. David’s aim was always to bring peace and unity within Israel, and he was ever ready to forgive those who repented of wrongdoing.Joab was not so forgiving, and it seems he never believed that Abner’s change of loyalties was genuine.
22. JOAB CAME FROM A RAID: To gain a balanced picture of Joab, we must also remember that he was a great man of valor, and that he served Israel faithfully throughout David’s reign. He was one of the generals who led David’s army courageously, going from victory to victory. Still, as we have already seen in Study 4, he was not above performing unscrupulous deeds, as he obeyed David’s command to murder Uriah—yet even that wicked deed was done out of obedience to his king. Joab was a man of violence, but he was also faithful to David.
24. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?: Joab was not shy about confronting David—and his confrontations were often for David’s good, as we will see in the next passage. In this case, however, he was motivated by a personal vendetta.
25. ABNER . . . CAME TO DECEIVE YOU: This was not true, although it is quite possible that Joab believed it. It is more likely, however, that Joab was trying to manipulate David in order to gain his own revenge.
27. JOAB TOOK HIM ASIDE IN THE GATE: Joab’s trick was the ultimate treachery.First, the city gate was a location of public debate and justice; it was considered a safe place for disputes to be settled. Second, Hebron itself (where this took place) was one of Israel’s cities of refuge ( Joshua 20), a safe haven for anyone who killed a person accidentally. Joab took advantage of these things to lull Abner into trusting him, then stabbed him in the belly.
FOR THE BLOOD OF ASAHEL HIS BROTHER: Joab did not have a legitimate grievance against Abner. Abner had killed Asahel in combat—and even then he tried very hard to avoid doing so.
29. LET IT REST ON THE HEAD OF JOAB: Once again we find David failing to exact justice in his own household. Joab was guilty of murder, and it was the king’s responsibility to put him to death. That sentence was finally carried out by Solomon, as we will see.
READING 2 SAMUEL 19:1–13
THE RETURN OF THE KING: Absalom is dead, at the hands of Joab, commander of David’s army. As David, who had fled Jerusalem, prepares to return to his beloved city, he also prepares to oust his commander—for a new one.
1. THE KING IS WEEPING AND MOURNING FOR ABSALOM: We now move forward to the day of Absalom’s death, which we saw in the last study. Rather than being overjoyed at his victory over the rebellion, David was overcome with grief at Absalom’s demise. He had commanded Joab to not harm his son, but Joab knew that as long as Absalom was alive, David’s throne could not remain secure. Absalom was also deserving of death, both for his brother’s murder and for his attempts on his father’s life. Joab did not care if what he did was moral. He only seemed to care if it was best for Israel, and in this case he decided that Absalom could not be allowed to live.
3. AS PEOPLE WHO ARE ASHAMED: David’s terrific grief over the death of Absalom had a profound effect on his soldiers. They had risked their lives in battle, and many had also been forced to kill their fellow countrymen and perhaps even their own kinsmen in the civil war. They expected their leader to rejoice over the victory, but instead they were filled with shame and dismay.
5. TODAY YOU HAVE DISGRACED ALL YOUR SERVANTS: Once again, we see Joab confronting the king boldly and even aggressively. As usual, Joab may or may not have had David’s best interests at heart, but he was concerned for Israel from a political standpoint. 6. you love your enemies and hate your friends: Joab could not grasp David’s commitment to mercy and unity. David did not desire revenge and bloodshed; he longed for peace and a unified nation—although his application of those priorities was not always wise, such as his failures to enact justice within his household. But Joab did not share David’s convictions; his immediate response was always to exact revenge, and he was probably sickened to see his king weeping over a fallen enemy.
IT WOULD HAVE PLEASED YOU WELL: This, of course, was a ridiculous overstatement. David was in a position where he could not avoid catastrophe: either he lost his throne (and his life), or he lost his son.
7. GO OUT AND SPEAK COMFORT TO YOUR SERVANTS: This was sound advice. David needed to honor his loyal soldiers for the cost they had paid in putting down the rebellion. Joab saw clearly that the king risked losing the people’s support otherwise. Joab was also making a veiled threat that he would personally see to it that the army defected unless David stopped mourning.
13. AMASA: The leader of Absalom’s army.
IN PLACE OF JOAB: David determined to remove Joab from his position as commander of the army because he had killed Absalom, contrary to David’s direct orders. In doing this, however, he unwittingly sealed Amasa’s fate—for Joab would surely take revenge.
READING 2 SAMUEL 20:1–10
A VERY SHORT CAREER: With Absalom dead, one would think there would be peace in the land. There was not. A rebel comes on the scene and divides the people.War breaks out between the two factions and David gives his first orders to his new commander, Amasa. They will be the last he will ever receive.
1. THERE HAPPENED TO BE THERE A REBEL: Immediately after the defeat of Absalom, a new division arose between the tribe of Judah and the rest of Israel. Many felt that the people of Judah had been presumptuous in leading David back to Jerusalem in victory; they felt that they should have been included in the victory celebration. It seems a petty quarrel, but there are always people who use minor slights for personal gain. This man Sheba was such a person, and he attempted to use the quarrel to stir up yet another rebellion.
2. EVERY MAN OF ISRAEL DESERTED DAVID: Yet again we see the tragic fickleness of the human heart.
4. WITHIN THREE DAYS: David needed the army to be reassembled very quickly, because the rebellion by Sheba could become an even worse threat than that of Absalom.
6. ABISHAI: Joab’s older brother.
8. IT FELL OUT: Joab’s sword undoubtedly slipped from its sheath by design, not by accident.
9. MY BROTHER: Joab and Amasa actually were cousins, and this greeting was an open declaration of peaceful intentions. Yet Joab literally betrayed Amasa with a kiss— just as Judas did to Jesus.
READING 1 KINGS 2:28–34
THE END OF JOAB: For years Joab had faithfully and capably served King David as commander of his army. But David, now deceased, had removed him in favor of another, whom Joab in-turn killed. Now, Joab has defected from God’s choice to lead Israel, Solomon, to serve Adonijah. It is the last mistake he’ll ever make.
28. JOAB HAD DEFECTED TO ADONIJAH: David had died, and his son Solomon had assumed the throne. Adonijah, another son of David, had attempted a rebellion very similar to that of Absalom, and Joab had helped him.
TOOK HOLD OF THE HORNS OF THE ALTAR: Joab could not claim sanctuary in the temple because he was guilty of deliberate murder, not accidental manslaughter.
31. TAKE AWAY . . . THE INNOCENT BLOOD: David, near the end of his life, had charged Solomon to bring justice to Joab (v. 5–6), perhaps regretting his own failure to do so. Here, Solomon finally brought about the death penalty on Joab for the many murders he had committed.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
1. Why did Joab murder Abner? In your opinion, was Abner deserving of death? Was Joab’s anger justified?
2. What were some of Joab’s strengths? What were his weaknesses? Why did his weaknesses gain the upper hand in his life?
3. Why did Joab kill Absalom? In your opinion, was this justified or unjustified? What were Joab’s probable motives?
4. Why did Joab accuse David of loving his enemies and hating his friends? What does this reveal about the character of Joab? about the character of David?
SOME KEY PRINCIPLES
Vengeance belongs to god.
The latter part of David’s life was plagued by vengeful people. Absalom murdered his brother to get revenge for his sister’s rape. Joab murdered two men out of a spirit of vengefulness—and neither man had actually done him any wrong. Yet both murderers undoubtedly justified their crimes in their own minds, convinced that they were accomplishing some “greater good” through their acts of violence. After all, both were avenging some perceived crime against their families—and both stood to gain personally from the deaths of their victims: Absalom removed the heir apparent to David’s throne, and Joab removed his competitor for the headship of Israel’s army.
It is easy to justify sin in our own minds, but when we do, we fail to see our lives from God’s perspective, as we have discussed in previous studies. Absalom may have felt aggrieved that Amnon was not punished for raping Tamar, but it was not his place to even the score. If he had seen the situation through God’s eyes, he would have realized that the Lord would address Amnon’s guilt in His own time. Absalom was not responsible or qualified to bring justice; only God can do that.
When we take vengeance into our own hands, we only succeed in creating another injustice. Absalom did not amend the situation by addressing Amnon’s sin; he only committed another sin—murder. Christians are called to repay evil with righteousness, not to exact justice on those who offend us. “Beloved, do not avenge yourselves,” wrote the apostle Paul, “but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord. Therefore ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:19–21).
Man’s wrath does not produce God’s righteousness.
Joab and Absalom thought they could produce justice and righteousness through their violent acts. Absalom was repaying a sin against his sister, and Joab was keeping David secure in his kingship—or so they reasoned. But their wrathful actions did not produce righteousness; they only produced more sins and more anger.
Anger in itself is not wrong; it is an emotional response to circumstances, and there is a place for righteous wrath. Anger can be an indication that something is wrong in a relationship, and it can alert us to the fact that we need to address an issue with a brother or sister. The danger lies in what we do with our anger, and all too often it leads us into sin.
We are right to be angry at sin and mad at the wickedness in the world around us. But we are wrong when we take out our anger on other people, whether by word or deed. As such, we are warned, “Let every man be . . . slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God” ( James 1:19–20) and further, “‘Be angry, [but] do not sin’: do not let the sun go down on your wrath” (Ephesians 4:26–27, emphasis added).
Our sin can produce long-term suffering, but God’s grace is greater.
We have seen in these studies the dreadful results of David’s sin. The Lord declared that David’s household would be fraught with treachery and violence, and that terrible prophecy came to pass through the sins of Amnon, Absalom, Joab, and others. David’s throne and his very life were threatened by civil strife, power lusts, and revenge—and all these things were a result of his own sins of adultery and murder. One man’s sins had a devastating effect upon his entire household, upon the family of Uriah, and on the entire nation of Israel. No one can predict what consequences may follow any act of sin.
Yet this is only part of the truth, as sobering as it is. The other part is equally important: God’s grace overcomes the sins of men. David was a sinful man, and his deeds bore bitter fruit for many—yet God still used him to bring about the birth of Jesus Christ.
The Lord declared that David’s throne would be established forever, as we saw in Study 2, and nothing could prevent God’s promise from coming to pass. And, as horrific as David’s sins were, the Bible still speaks of him as “a man after [God’s] own heart” (Acts 13:22).
This does not give us license to sin, of course, for the consequences of sin are very real, as David’s life demonstrates. Yet at the same time, we can rejoice in the fact that the blood of Christ has covered all of our sins, and Christians are redeemed from eternal judgment and separation from God. “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous. Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 5:19–21).
DIGGING DEEPER
5. Why did David replace Joab with Amasa? Why did Joab murder Amasa? What do these things reveal about Joab’s view of God?
6. If you had been in Joab’s place, how would you have reacted when David replaced you? How would you have felt toward Abner?
7. What are the dangers of someone loving their nation more than they love God? How do you see this in Joab’s life?
8. What is righteous anger? When does anger become unrighteous?
TAKING IT PERSONALLY
9. Are you harboring anger toward another person? What will you do this week to forgive that person? to improve your relationship?
10. In what ways has God demonstrated His grace toward you? How can you imitate Him in your relationships with family, friends, and co-workers?