NO EXCEPTIONS

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In Christ, Mark

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Just then David's men and Joab returned from a raid and brought with them a great deal of plunder. But Abner was no longer with David in Hebron because David had sent him away and he had gone in peace. When Joab and all the soldiers with him arrived, he was told that Abner, son of Ner, had come to the king and that the king had sent him away and that he had gone in peace.

So Joab went to the king and said, "What have you done? Look, Abner came to you. Why did you let him go? Now he is gone! You know Abner, son of Ner; he came to deceive you and observe your movements and find out everything you are doing."

Joab then left David and sent messengers after Abner and they brought him back from the well of Sirah. But David did not know it.

Now when Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into the gateway as though to speak with him privately. And there, to avenge the blood of his brother Asahel, Joab stabbed him in the stomach and he died.

Later, when David heard about this, he said, "I and my kingdom are forever innocent before the Lord concerning the blood of Abner, son of Ner. May his blood fall upon the head of Joab and upon all his father's house! May Joab's house never be without someone who has a running sore or leprosy or who leans on a crutch or who falls by the sword or who lacks food."

(Joab and his brother Abishai murdered Abner because he had killed their brother Asahel in the battle at Gibeon.)

Then David said to Joab and all the people with him, "Tear your clothes and put on sackcloth and walk in mourning in front of Abner."

King David himself walked behind the bier. They buried Abner in Hebron and the king wept aloud at Abner's tomb. All the people wept also.

The king sang this lament for Abner: "Should Abner have died as the lawless die? Your hands were not bound, your feet were not fettered. You fell as one falls before wicked men."

And all the people wept over him again.

Then they all came and urged David to eat something while it was still day; but David took an oath, saying, "May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun sets!"

All the people took note and were pleased; indeed, everything the king did pleased them. So on that day, all the people and all Israel knew that the king had no part in the murder of Abner, son of Ner.

Then the king said to his men, "Do you not realize that a prince and a great man has fallen in Israel this day? And today, though I am the anointed king, I am weak and these sons of Zeruiah are too strong for me. May the Lord repay the evildoer according to his evil deeds!"

When Ish-Bosheth, son of Saul, heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he lost courage, and all Israel became alarmed. Now Saul's son had two men who were leaders of raiding bands. One was named Baanah and the other Recab; they were sons of Rimmon the Beerothite from the tribe of Benjamin—Beeroth is considered part of Benjamin because the people of Beeroth fled to Gittaim and have lived there as aliens to this day.

(Jonathan, son of Saul, had a son who was lame in both feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled but as she hurried to leave, he fell and became crippled. His name was Mephibosheth.)

Now Recab and Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, set out for the house of Ish-Bosheth and they arrived there in the heat of the day while he was taking his noonday rest. They went into the inner part of the house as if to get some wheat and they stabbed him in the stomach. Then Recab and his brother Baanah slipped away.

They had gone into the house while he was lying on the bed in his bedroom. After they stabbed and killed him, they cut off his head. Taking it with them, they traveled all night by way of the Arabah. They brought the head of Ish-Bosheth to David at Hebron and said to the king, "Here is the head of Ish-Bosheth, son of Saul, your enemy who tried to take your life. This day, the Lord has avenged my lord the king against Saul and his offspring."

David answered Recab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, "As surely as the Lord lives, who has delivered me out of all trouble when a man told me, 'Saul is dead,' and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and put him to death in Ziklag. That was the reward I gave him for his news! How much more—when wicked men have killed an innocent man in his own house and on his own bed—should I not now demand his blood from your hand and rid the earth of you!"

So David gave an order to his men and they killed them. They cut off their hands and feet and hung the bodies by the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-Bosheth and buried it in Abner's tomb at Hebron.

2 Samuel 3:22-39, 4:1-12

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In the middle of 2 Samuel, chapter 3 we saw events transpire that elevated David into power as king over all of Israel. Everything seemed to be looking up for him as well as the people as God’s anointed one finally assumed the position of leadership that the Lord had in store.

But as we turn to the end of the chapter and the opening verses of chapter 4, we see things abruptly change as murderous sin enters on the scene in two different scenarios.

Unfortunately, we see this happen all too often, right? For just when it seems like life stabilizes and we’re in the midst of peace and good, here comes Satan with his evil deeds, trying to sow disruption and chaos in the midst of our solace?

Well, going back to the scriptures, we see where things start to go awry after Joab returned from a raid, bringing with him a “great deal of plunder”. And as he and his soldiers arrive, they learn that Abner had come to David, conferred with him, and then was “sent away…in peace”.

Well, Joab bristled at this news and went directly to David saying:

“What have you done? Look, Abner came to you. Why did you let him go? Now he is gone! You know Abner son of Ner; he came to deceive you and observe your movements and find out everything you are doing."

We see where Joab makes Abner’s visit seem as if it was done with an evil, scheming intent but actually it was Joab himself who was evil and scheming as he attempted to mask his own personal contempt for Abner behind a concern for Israel’s safety. In his eyes, it was far easier to paint Abner as an untrustworthy ally instead of a murderer…the one who had killed his brother Asahel.

So unable to convince David to eliminate Abner, Joab decides to take matters into his own hands. We read where he “sent messengers after Abner” without David’s knowledge and after they “brought him back from the well of Sirah” to Hebron, the scriptures tell us that “Joab took (Abner) aside into the gateway, as though to speak with him privately” and then “stabbed him in the stomach” killing him. In doing so, he felt he had avenged “the blood of his brother Asahel” but all he really did was murder Abner, plain and simple.

When it came right down to it, Abner didn’t murder Asahel. Rather, he killed him in the line of battle…and there’s a difference.

You’ll recall that Asahel was pursuing Abner and his intent wasn’t just to share pleasantries. No…Asahel wanted to slay Abner. And you’ll also remember that Abner didn’t want a confrontation with Asahel, trying to convince him to stop his pursuit but he refused to listen. So in self defense, Abner turned and protected himself against Asahel, killing him with his sword.

This was far from what happened with Joab who didn’t have the guts to challenge Abner to a fight. Instead, he made it appear as if he wanted to speak to him and then stabbed him. His actions were cunning and premeditated…and frankly, cowardly. They were also sinful and in violation of God’s commandment to not murder.

Well, we read where David later heard about Joab’s actions and proclaimed:

"I and my kingdom are forever innocent before the Lord concerning the blood of Abner, son of Ner. May his blood fall upon the head of Joab and upon all his father's house! May Joab's house never be without someone who has a running sore or leprosy or who leans on a crutch or who falls by the sword or who lacks food."

Here, we see David wanting to make it clear that he had no part in the murder of Abner. Further, we didn’t want there to be any perception that he condoned the actions of Joab. And so we see where he condemns Joab for what he did, highlighting the sinful nature of his actions before the people and the Lord. Additionally, David commands all his people and Joab to tear their clothes and put on sackcloth to express their sorrow and mourning over Abner’s death.

David particularly took the death hard as Abner was buried in Hebron. We read the words of his lament as he said:

“Should Abner have died as the lawless die? Your hands were not bound, your feet were not fettered. You fell as one falls before wicked men."

And with this, David refused to eat as he grieved, saying:

“May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun sets!"

His behavior was effective for we read where that day, “all the people took note and were pleased” with David and everything he did, knowing that he “had no part in the murder of Abner”.

The second scenario is found in chapter 4 and involved Saul’s remaining son, Ish-Bosheth. You’ll remember that Abner had appointed him as leader over Israel with the exception of Judah where David had been anointed king. But when Ish-Bosheth “heard that Abner had died in Hebron”, the scriptures tell us that “he lost courage” which led to “all Israel (becoming) alarmed”.

Now, whether this had anything to do with what took place next is unknown but nonetheless “two men who were leaders of raiding bands” for Ish-Bosheth, Baanah and Recab, “set out for (his) house”, arriving “in the heat of the day while he was taking his noonday rest”. And after slipping into the “inner part of the house as if to get some wheat”, they found Ish-Bosheth asleep in his bedroom and “stabbed him in the stomach”, killing him before cutting off his head.

Thinking they had done something noble by killing Israel’s leader so David could rule over all, Baanah and Recab took the “head of Ish-Bosheth to David at Hebron” and said to him:

“Here is the head of Ish-Bosheth, son of Saul, your enemy, who tried to take your life. This day the Lord has avenged my lord the king against Saul and his offspring."

Of course, there was only one problem with their statement. For they had never asked the Lord if it was His will that they kill Ish-Bosheth and so there was no way they could have been carrying out the Lord’s will. They were about to find out that there is a heavy price for sinning and then acting as if God endorsed it.

For we see David answering “Recab and his brother Baanah” saying:

“As surely as the Lord lives, who has delivered me out of all trouble, when a man told me, 'Saul is dead,' and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and put him to death in Ziklag. That was the reward I gave him for his news! How much more — when wicked men have killed an innocent man in his own house and on his own bed—should I not now demand his blood from your hand and rid the earth of you!"

And with that, “David gave an order to his men” to kill Bannah and Recab, cutting off “their hands and feet” and hanging “the bodies by the pool in Hebron”…a public display of the judgment anyone else would face for sinning against God by taking the life of another. Meanwhile, the “head of Ish-Bosheth” was given a proper burial “in Abner's tomb at Hebron”.

With this, a simple question:

What part of God’s commands do people have such a hard time understanding?

For when God tells His people not to do something, He expects them to do just that…not do it…period. We are to do it simply because He said so…without question…and knowing that there are no exceptions.

God commanded, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3) and yet people willingly choose to give their devotion to things of the world over Him…the One who is to have no rival.

He also commanded, “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below” (Exodus 20:4) and yet people choose to worship many worldly people and possessions as if they are gods. In fact, there’s even been a very popular television show called “American Idol” which millions watched weekly during its airing.

The Lord commanded, “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God” (Exodus 20:7) and yet not a day goes by where someone doesn’t profanely use the Lord’s name in vain.

He demanded that His people “remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy” (Exodus 20:8) and yet that day is treated just like any other day of the week.

God gave the order, “Honor your father and your mother” (Exodus 20:12) and yet people decide to disregard and disrespect their parents all the time and often at will.

He clearly said, “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13) and yet people needlessly kill others every day, showing no sanctity for human life.

In regard to marriage, He demanded that “you shall not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14) and yet husbands and wives chase after their own desires, commit infidelity, and break their marital covenant, seemingly without conscience.

The Lord commanded, “You shall not steal” (Exodus 20:15) and yet people regularly decide to take what is not rightfully theirs, even taking things from stores without paying.

God ordered, “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:16) and yet people don’t hesitate for a moment to spread gossip or intentionally lie in order to falsely accuse or smear the name of another person.

Finally, the Lord demanded that we not “covet your neighbor's house...your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor” (Exodus 20:17) and yet we are so quick to envy others who might have more than we have, unwilling to just be content with what the Lord has provided.

And so as we read about the murderous actions of Joab, Recab, and Baanah, we could always adopt the attitude that this isn’t applicable because we may have never murdered anyone or have any intention to do so. We could do this but it would be a shallow approach to interpreting the message that God is trying to convey here.

For God doesn’t expect us to just conform to one of His commandments…He commands and expects that we obey all of them.

No debate needed for we need to remember these words from Jesus’ brother James:

For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. James 2:10

And so my prayer for us all is that we’ll follow this guidance spoken by Moses when he said:

It is the Lord your God you must follow, and Him you must revere. Keep His commands and obey Him; serve Him and hold fast to Him. Deuteronomy 13:4

Here, we find the keys to keeping all of God’s commands. They include:

1. Following and holding fast to Him without compromise.

2. Revering him with the respect that He deserves.

3. When we follow and revere the Lord, He will lead us so that we obey Him and keep His commands as we serve Him with all that we are…heart, mind, body, and soul.

Friends, this is the life that God expects us to live. All we need to do is live it…with no exceptions.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.