WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.520 2 Samuel chapter 2 verse 12. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:47.140 So that place in Gibeon was called Hekath Hazarim. 00:00:47.820 --> 00:00:52.359 The battle that day was very fierce and Abner and the Israelites were defeated by David's men. 00:00:52.519 --> 00:00:56.579 The three sons of Zariah were there, Joab, Abishai and Ashael. 00:00:57.240 --> 00:00:59.939 Now Ashael was as fleet-footed as a wild gazelle. 00:01:00.520 --> 00:01:04.459 He chased Abner, turning neither to the right nor to the left as he pursued him. 00:01:05.180 --> 00:01:08.099 Abner looked behind him and asked, Is that you, Ashael? 00:01:08.519 --> 00:01:09.780 It is, he answered. 00:01:10.359 --> 00:01:12.960 Then Abner said to him, Turn aside to the right or to the left. 00:01:13.319 --> 00:01:15.420 Take one of the young men and strip him of his weapons. 00:01:16.200 --> 00:01:18.420 But Ashael would not stop chasing him. 00:01:18.840 --> 00:01:21.879 Again, Abner warned Ashael, Stop chasing me. 00:01:22.120 --> 00:01:23.560 Why should I strike you down? 00:01:23.659 --> 00:01:25.819 How could I look your brother Joab in the face? 00:01:25.819 --> 00:01:28.419 Ashael refused to give up the pursuit. 00:01:28.419 --> 00:01:34.619 So Abner thrust the butt of his spear into Ashael's stomach and the spear came out through his back. 00:01:35.339 --> 00:01:37.079 He fell there and died on the spot. 00:01:37.539 --> 00:01:41.219 And every man stopped when he came to the place where Ashael had fallen and died. 00:01:41.219 --> 00:01:44.560 But Joab and Abishai pursued Abner. 00:01:44.739 --> 00:01:50.359 And as the sun was setting, they came near the hill of Amner, near Geir, on the way to the wasteland of Gibeon. 00:01:51.060 --> 00:01:56.420 And the men of Benjamin rallied behind Abner and they formed themselves into a group and took their stand on top of a hill. 00:01:57.359 --> 00:02:00.120 Abner called out to Joab, Must the sword devour forever? 00:02:00.120 --> 00:02:02.800 Don't you realise that this will end in bitterness? 00:02:03.040 --> 00:02:06.660 How long before you order your men to stop pursuing their fellow Israelites? 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:12.780 Joab answered, As surely as God lives, if you had not spoken, the men would have continued pursuing them until morning. 00:02:13.460 --> 00:02:16.180 So Joab blew the trumpet and all the troops came to a halt. 00:02:16.259 --> 00:02:19.520 They no longer pursued Israel, nor did they fight any more. 00:02:20.180 --> 00:02:22.740 All that night, Abner and his men marched through the Araba. 00:02:23.099 --> 00:02:26.640 They crossed the Jordan, continued in the morning hours and came to Mahanahim. 00:02:26.639 --> 00:02:30.659 Then Joab stopped pursuing Abner and assembled the whole army. 00:02:31.299 --> 00:02:34.339 Besides Ashael, 19 of David's men were found missing. 00:02:34.739 --> 00:02:38.899 But David's men had killed 360 Benjamites who were with Abner. 00:02:39.639 --> 00:02:42.839 They took Ashael and buried him in his father's tomb at Bethlehem. 00:02:43.439 --> 00:02:47.959 Then Joab and his men marched all night and arrived at Hebron by daybreak. 00:02:48.519 --> 00:02:52.359 The war between the house of Saul and the house of David lasted a long time. 00:02:52.479 --> 00:02:56.339 David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker. 00:02:57.319 --> 00:02:59.239 Sons were born to David in Hebron. 00:02:59.339 --> 00:03:02.679 His first son was Amnon, the son of Hanum of Jezreel. 00:03:03.279 --> 00:03:07.500 His second, Kiliab, the son of Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel. 00:03:08.139 --> 00:03:13.000 The third, Absalom, the son of Macha, the daughter of Tamal, the king of Geshur. 00:03:13.439 --> 00:03:15.699 The fourth, Adonijah, the son of Haggith. 00:03:15.839 --> 00:03:18.579 The fifth, Shephti, the son of Abital. 00:03:19.259 --> 00:03:22.319 The sixth, Ithraim, the son of David's wife, Egla. 00:03:22.639 --> 00:03:24.399 These were born to David in Hebron. 00:03:24.400 --> 00:03:30.740 During the war between the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner had been strengthening his own position in the house of Saul. 00:03:31.560 --> 00:03:35.659 Now Saul had a concubine named Rizpah, the daughter of Ai. 00:03:36.360 --> 00:03:39.980 And Ish-bosheth said to Abner, why did you sleep with my father's concubine? 00:03:40.700 --> 00:03:43.080 Abner was very angry because of what Ish-bosheth said. 00:03:43.080 --> 00:03:46.160 So he answered, am I a dog's head on Judah's side? 00:03:46.580 --> 00:03:50.420 This very day I am loyal to the house of your father Saul and his family and friends. 00:03:50.600 --> 00:03:55.060 I haven't handed you over to David, yet now you accuse me of an offense involving this woman. 00:03:55.840 --> 00:03:59.160 May God deal with Abner, be it ever so severely. 00:03:59.159 --> 00:04:10.300 If I do not do for David what the Lord has promised him on oath and transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and establish David's throne over Israel and Judah from Dan to Beersheba. 00:04:11.120 --> 00:04:15.060 Ish-bosheth did not dare to say another word to Abner because he was afraid of him. 00:04:15.740 --> 00:04:18.180 Then Abner sent messengers on his behalf to David. 00:04:18.180 --> 00:04:24.579 Whose land is it? Make an agreement with me and I will help bring all Israel over to you. 00:04:25.120 --> 00:04:29.639 Good, said David. I will make an agreement with you, but I demand one thing of you. 00:04:30.040 --> 00:04:34.960 Do not come into my presence unless you bring Michael, daughter of Saul, when you come to see me. 00:04:35.480 --> 00:04:44.300 Then David sent messengers to Ish-bosheth, son of Saul, demanding, give me my wife Michael, who I betrothed to myself for the price of a hundred Philistine foreskins. 00:04:44.300 --> 00:04:50.280 So Ish-bosheth gave orders and had her taken away from her husband, Paltiel, son of Laish. 00:04:50.620 --> 00:04:54.120 Her husband, however, went with her, weeping behind her all the way to Baram. 00:04:54.520 --> 00:04:57.400 Then Abner said to him, go back home. So he went back. 00:04:58.220 --> 00:05:03.980 Abner conferred with the elders of Israel and said, for some time you have wanted to make David your king. 00:05:04.080 --> 00:05:12.660 Now do it, for the Lord promised David by my servant David I will rescue my people Israel from the hand of the Philistines and from the hand of all their enemies. 00:05:12.660 --> 00:05:21.040 Abner also spoke to the Benjamites in person and then he went to Hebron to tell David everything that Israel and the whole tribe of Benjamin wanted to do. 00:05:21.960 --> 00:05:27.760 When Abner, who had twenty men with him, came to David at Hebron, David prepared a feast for him and his men. 00:05:28.540 --> 00:05:32.780 Then Abner said to David, let me go at once and assemble all Israel for my lord the king, 00:05:33.320 --> 00:05:37.580 so that they may make a covenant with you and that you may rule over all that your heart desires. 00:05:38.360 --> 00:05:41.200 So David sent Abner away and he went in peace. 00:05:41.199 --> 00:05:47.699 Just then David's men and Joab returned from a raid and brought with them a great deal of plunder. 00:05:47.819 --> 00:05:53.159 But Abner was no longer with David in Hebron because David had sent him away and he'd gone in peace. 00:05:53.779 --> 00:06:02.659 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'd gone in peace. 00:06:02.660 --> 00:06:05.920 So Joab went to the king and said, what have you done? 00:06:06.380 --> 00:06:07.960 Look, Abner came to you. 00:06:08.020 --> 00:06:09.080 Why did you let him go? 00:06:09.280 --> 00:06:10.380 Now he is gone. 00:06:11.140 --> 00:06:17.460 You know, Abner, son of Ner, he came to deceive you and to observe your movements and find out everything you are doing. 00:06:18.460 --> 00:06:24.140 Joab then left David and sent messengers after Abner and they brought him back from the cistern at Sisera. 00:06:24.139 --> 00:06:26.159 But David did not know it. 00:06:26.659 --> 00:06:32.399 And when Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into an inner chamber as if to speak with him privately. 00:06:32.560 --> 00:06:37.839 And there to avenge the blood of his brother Ashael, Joab stabbed him in the stomach and he died. 00:06:38.839 --> 00:06:46.919 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. 00:06:46.920 --> 00:06:50.840 May his blood fall on the head of Joab and on his whole family. 00:06:51.379 --> 00:06:58.759 May Joab's family never be without someone who has a running sword or leprosy or who leans on a crutch or who falls by the sword or who lacks food. 00:06:59.640 --> 00:07:04.819 Joab and his brother Abishai murdered Abner because he had killed their brother Ashael in the battle of Gibeon. 00:07:05.740 --> 00:07:12.680 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. 00:07:13.379 --> 00:07:15.460 King David himself walked behind the bear. 00:07:15.459 --> 00:07:21.639 They buried Abner in Hebron and the king wept aloud at Abner's tomb and the people wept also. 00:07:22.459 --> 00:07:24.560 The king sang this lament for Abner. 00:07:25.039 --> 00:07:29.299 Should Abner have died as the lawless die? 00:07:29.779 --> 00:07:34.599 Your hands were not bound, your feet were not fettered, you fell as one who falls before the wicked. 00:07:35.759 --> 00:07:37.359 The people wept over him again. 00:07:38.099 --> 00:07:41.379 Then they came and urged David to eat something while it was still day. 00:07:41.379 --> 00:07:48.360 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. 00:07:48.920 --> 00:07:50.980 All the people took note and were pleased. 00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:53.839 Indeed, everything the king did pleased them. 00:07:54.379 --> 00:08:01.399 So on that day, all the people there and all Israel knew that the king had no part in the murder of Abner, son of Nair. 00:08:01.399 --> 00:08:07.739 Then the king said to his men, do you not realize that a commander and a great man has fallen in Israel today? 00:08:08.419 --> 00:08:11.519 And today, though I am anointed king, I am weak. 00:08:11.739 --> 00:08:14.459 And these sons of Zariah are too strong for me. 00:08:14.919 --> 00:08:18.899 May the Lord repay the evildoer according to his evil deeds. 00:08:18.899 --> 00:08:21.399 Well, that's the Lord's word. 00:08:21.459 --> 00:08:24.139 Let me pray and ask for the Lord's help as we come to look at it together. 00:08:25.939 --> 00:08:30.620 Heavenly Father, we recognize this is a really, really long passage and a long story. 00:08:30.739 --> 00:08:31.839 So we ask for your help. 00:08:32.620 --> 00:08:34.879 We pray that you might give us the attention that we need. 00:08:35.240 --> 00:08:40.799 But even more than just attention, we pray that you give us tender hearts that love to listen to you. 00:08:40.799 --> 00:08:51.500 Thank you for this confidence that we have that when your word is preached, your spirit is at work in our hearts and our lives, bringing us to repentance and faith and renewed confidence in Jesus. 00:08:52.199 --> 00:08:53.359 Do that work in our hearts. 00:08:53.459 --> 00:08:56.399 Even this morning, we pray in Jesus name. 00:08:56.719 --> 00:08:57.139 Amen. 00:08:59.379 --> 00:09:02.859 Well, try and hold that passage open and follow along with me if you can. 00:09:03.000 --> 00:09:07.719 Like I said, on the inside of your notice sheet is an outline of the sermon in very brief terms. 00:09:07.719 --> 00:09:10.339 And you might want to scribble things in there if that helps you. 00:09:10.799 --> 00:09:12.779 Now, like I said, it's a mammoth story. 00:09:12.919 --> 00:09:20.079 It covers about two years during which Abner and Saul's son Ish-bosheth fight a civil war with David and his commander Joab. 00:09:20.620 --> 00:09:26.819 Most of the action happens between the two sides in Gibeon, which is a short distance from Hebron where David is. 00:09:27.319 --> 00:09:33.500 And a longer trip for Abner and his men, who you might remember from last week, are up north in a place called Mahanaheim. 00:09:34.139 --> 00:09:39.259 Now, my intention this morning, you will be pleased to know, is not to walk through these verses verse by verse. 00:09:39.259 --> 00:09:41.679 That would mean that we would all miss lunch. 00:09:41.819 --> 00:09:51.319 Instead, what I want us to do is just to take a closer look at the three main characters, Abner, Joab and David, and see what they have to say to us today. 00:09:51.419 --> 00:09:53.080 So let's start with Abner. 00:09:53.899 --> 00:09:55.840 Now, I don't know how you might imagine Abner. 00:09:55.960 --> 00:09:57.720 This is what Wikipedia thinks he looks like. 00:09:57.720 --> 00:10:00.779 The guy in green, shown in a medieval Bible. 00:10:02.040 --> 00:10:04.060 I'm not guessing he probably didn't look anything like that. 00:10:04.139 --> 00:10:06.259 He has an impossibly thin waist for a soldier. 00:10:07.120 --> 00:10:10.440 And he's wearing armor over his mouth while speaking to the king. 00:10:10.560 --> 00:10:11.879 So I'm sure that's not the case. 00:10:12.500 --> 00:10:18.180 But whatever he might have looked like, we know that he was a stubborn and proud man. 00:10:18.420 --> 00:10:20.620 We found that last week, didn't we? 00:10:20.620 --> 00:10:26.299 For some reason, he wouldn't give up the fight with David, even though he knew he had clearly lost. 00:10:26.980 --> 00:10:33.399 And this week, we find out that as well as being stubborn, he is also quite shrewd and wise. 00:10:34.620 --> 00:10:41.600 In fact, the verb most commonly used of Abner in the passage this morning is the verb to say or set. 00:10:42.080 --> 00:10:43.100 Now, that might sound a bit boring. 00:10:43.100 --> 00:10:47.940 But the point is that every time you meet Abner in the story, he is negotiating. 00:10:48.720 --> 00:10:53.340 He is saying something to someone to try and get a certain end. 00:10:54.480 --> 00:10:58.000 Particularly trying to talk his way out of trouble or negotiate terms of peace. 00:10:58.259 --> 00:11:00.700 Gives us a window, I think, into Abner's cunning. 00:11:01.680 --> 00:11:04.300 In the story, Abner is the man with a plan. 00:11:04.759 --> 00:11:07.720 He's the guy who knows what he wants and he's going out to get it. 00:11:08.440 --> 00:11:09.639 Let me show you a few of those things. 00:11:09.700 --> 00:11:10.600 So just walk through it with me. 00:11:10.600 --> 00:11:16.180 And in the first scene is this, the pool of Gibeon, down at chapter 2, verse 14. 00:11:16.920 --> 00:11:25.200 Abner's plan here is that instead of a full-blown war, that he would find people who would have a duel in front of them and try and settle it that way. 00:11:25.820 --> 00:11:27.200 Verse 14 of chapter 2. 00:11:27.320 --> 00:11:31.820 Then Abner said to Jab, let's have some of the young men get up and fight hand-to-hand in front of us. 00:11:32.200 --> 00:11:34.040 All right, says Jab, let them do it. 00:11:35.820 --> 00:11:36.940 Anyway, it doesn't really work. 00:11:36.940 --> 00:11:42.400 It was a clever idea, but in the 12 fights, there's no winner because they both die at exactly the same time. 00:11:43.600 --> 00:11:44.900 Each of them killing the other. 00:11:46.800 --> 00:11:48.960 It then ensues that a big battle follows. 00:11:49.100 --> 00:11:51.820 In verse 17, it's a battle that Abner and his men lose. 00:11:51.920 --> 00:11:58.520 And in the next scene, you find Abner on the run at the end of that battle from a guy called Ashael, who is trying to kill him. 00:11:58.519 --> 00:12:04.879 Now Ashael, you might remember from the reading, is Joab's brother, and he is a fast runner. 00:12:06.379 --> 00:12:10.620 Thinking, I guess, that if he kills Abner, then the whole thing will be over. 00:12:10.720 --> 00:12:13.740 So Ashael is chasing him down and is not giving up. 00:12:14.399 --> 00:12:15.939 Now Abner knows he's in trouble. 00:12:17.039 --> 00:12:19.519 Ashael is a famous runner of the time. 00:12:19.519 --> 00:12:24.500 And he doesn't appear to be carrying any weapons either, while Abner, it seems, is loaded down with them. 00:12:25.399 --> 00:12:32.559 So imagine that this is Usain Bolt chasing you down, and you've got your school bag on and your school shoes on, and he's in his running gear. 00:12:33.019 --> 00:12:34.340 You are stuffed. 00:12:34.519 --> 00:12:36.019 He is going to catch up with you. 00:12:36.559 --> 00:12:42.299 So Abner knows that, and he's trying to wheedle his way out of it with words, calling out in verse 21, saying, 00:12:42.299 --> 00:12:43.599 Turn aside! 00:12:44.339 --> 00:12:47.000 You know, stop chasing me, he says. 00:12:47.799 --> 00:12:54.019 Now of course, Abner knows that killing Ashael would be a bad move, because it would make Joab hate him even more. 00:12:54.399 --> 00:13:01.319 But Ashael won't give up the chase, and so he gets killed by Abner, who seems to just stop him with the butt end of his spear. 00:13:01.679 --> 00:13:03.419 And Ashael runs through it. 00:13:03.899 --> 00:13:05.139 Kind of gross story. 00:13:05.139 --> 00:13:14.519 Moving on, in the story, Abner is speaking again, negotiating in verse 26 to persuade Joab and his army to stop pursuing the Israelites who they're beaten. 00:13:15.659 --> 00:13:19.939 He says, you know, if you don't do it, this will end in bitterness, he says. 00:13:20.639 --> 00:13:23.319 The final words to notice are with King Ish-bosheth. 00:13:23.659 --> 00:13:31.399 Ish-bosheth, if you remember, is Saul's son, who's been installed as king over the northern tribes, while David is just ruling over Judah. 00:13:31.399 --> 00:13:38.659 Importantly, if you look down at chapter 3, verse 6, you'll tell us that Abner is getting stronger and stronger in the northern kingdom. 00:13:38.740 --> 00:13:44.100 He's not the king, but he is in charge of the army, and he is growing in strength. 00:13:44.819 --> 00:13:49.079 This is surprising to King Ish-bosheth, and he doesn't like it. 00:13:49.379 --> 00:13:56.579 He feels threatened by Abner, so he accuses Abner of taking one of Saul's concubines as his own. 00:13:56.580 --> 00:14:02.700 Presumably, I guess, in order to try and take over some legitimate claim to the throne. 00:14:03.280 --> 00:14:04.740 That's what Ish-bosheth thinks. 00:14:05.379 --> 00:14:07.540 Anyway, Abner goes mad at the accusation. 00:14:07.660 --> 00:14:10.920 He says, you know, am I a dog's head, he asks. 00:14:11.220 --> 00:14:14.259 As in, am I really a dirty dog betrayer? 00:14:14.300 --> 00:14:15.980 Is that what you think of me, he says. 00:14:16.940 --> 00:14:18.780 And then he says, I've changed my mind. 00:14:18.920 --> 00:14:22.660 I will make David king, he says, in effect, in verse 9. 00:14:22.659 --> 00:14:32.299 Now, we could say more about Abner, but the point to notice is that Abner is always speaking, always negotiating, the man with a plan, trying to negotiate terms. 00:14:32.620 --> 00:14:38.179 He even thinks it's within his power to make David king over the whole of Israel. 00:14:39.339 --> 00:14:42.779 But in the end of the story, Abner is dead. 00:14:43.199 --> 00:14:47.419 He's murdered by Joab and Abishai as revenge for Ashel's life. 00:14:47.419 --> 00:14:53.299 Now, in this song that David sings about Abner, he calls him a great man in chapter 3, verse 38. 00:14:53.659 --> 00:14:58.279 The king said to his men, don't you realize that a commander and a great man has fallen in Israel this day? 00:14:59.039 --> 00:15:06.979 But still, we're told, he dies what is as the lawless die, he says in verse 33, which really is the word for fool. 00:15:07.559 --> 00:15:10.120 He dies a fool's death in the end. 00:15:10.439 --> 00:15:12.099 The end is bitter for him. 00:15:13.159 --> 00:15:16.519 Now, the chapter here, if you like, is full of chaos, right? 00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:21.019 There are battles, there are jewels, there's wars, there's murder, there's chases. 00:15:21.299 --> 00:15:22.379 It's a mess. 00:15:22.779 --> 00:15:24.139 It's a total mess. 00:15:24.759 --> 00:15:28.759 And in the midst of the chaos and the mess, Abner stands out, doesn't he? 00:15:29.279 --> 00:15:30.840 As the man of reason. 00:15:31.819 --> 00:15:33.679 The man who uses self-confidence. 00:15:34.500 --> 00:15:44.340 You know, with everything that's going on around him, this is the man who thinks that it's within his power to make David king just by his negotiating skill. 00:15:44.340 --> 00:15:47.740 But in the end, he dies a fool's death. 00:15:47.820 --> 00:15:48.340 He's wrong. 00:15:48.340 --> 00:15:57.300 Now, I think there is not a person in this room who wouldn't in their heart of hearts like to be a little bit more like Abner. 00:15:57.680 --> 00:15:58.420 Don't you think that? 00:15:59.080 --> 00:16:00.139 Don't you want to be that guy? 00:16:00.600 --> 00:16:03.060 Don't you want to be full of self-confidence? 00:16:03.059 --> 00:16:05.739 Full of brilliant ideas. 00:16:06.039 --> 00:16:07.179 Skilled at negotiating. 00:16:08.079 --> 00:16:14.819 You know, Abner, if he was at school with you, he would be that kid at school who never does his homework but always gets away with it. 00:16:15.139 --> 00:16:18.059 You know the person just able to negotiate their way out of anything. 00:16:19.319 --> 00:16:20.479 Who doesn't want to be that person? 00:16:21.179 --> 00:16:26.019 He'd be the guy who's running the business, making lots of money, but you never see him do any hard work. 00:16:26.679 --> 00:16:28.579 Just seems to negotiate his way out of it. 00:16:28.580 --> 00:16:34.980 He'd be the voice of reason in the family argument who always gets his own way, be the guy who always seems to land on his feet. 00:16:35.759 --> 00:16:38.440 Now, there's nothing in a sense wrong with that, particularly. 00:16:38.900 --> 00:16:41.900 Almost all of Abner's ideas are good ones in the passage. 00:16:43.220 --> 00:16:46.200 Ashel, I think, would have been better off listening to Abner, probably. 00:16:46.860 --> 00:16:54.100 But the point of the story is not that Abner's ideas are rubbish, but that for all his brilliance, he died a fool's death. 00:16:55.020 --> 00:16:56.520 He died a fool's death. 00:16:56.519 --> 00:16:57.240 Why? 00:16:58.139 --> 00:17:02.779 Well, because I think the point is it doesn't matter how much self-confidence you have or would like to have. 00:17:02.860 --> 00:17:11.599 This world is cruel and chaotic, and even the greatest wisdom, even the greatest self-confidence leads to a fool's death. 00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:15.639 Abner had it all going for him, and it wasn't enough. 00:17:16.000 --> 00:17:18.379 He had everything, and he lost it all. 00:17:18.380 --> 00:17:28.040 What you need to know from the story is that human words, human skill, human negotiations come to an end. 00:17:28.680 --> 00:17:30.400 They are bitter in the end. 00:17:31.500 --> 00:17:34.560 If I put it really bluntly, you can say, can't you, from the story, 00:17:34.559 --> 00:17:44.659 If all you've got in life are your own good ideas and your own plans, then you know you will die a fool's death. 00:17:44.799 --> 00:17:45.539 That's the story. 00:17:46.579 --> 00:17:48.859 Next and more quickly, let's look at Joab. 00:17:49.419 --> 00:17:51.359 Here's Joab in his Lego character. 00:17:51.359 --> 00:17:58.319 And in contrast to Abner, every time we meet Joab in the civil war, he is being a thug or a strong man. 00:17:58.819 --> 00:18:09.679 The passage variously describes him as pursuing the enemy, blowing the battle trumpet, bringing back the spools of war, striking people, and killing people. 00:18:10.500 --> 00:18:14.219 If you look down at chapter 3, verse 22, you get an idea of how Joab works. 00:18:14.220 --> 00:18:18.259 Here, Joab has just returned from a raid on enemy territory. 00:18:18.700 --> 00:18:20.079 I love verse 22. 00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:23.720 It's one of those great verses in the story because there's no real explanation. 00:18:24.420 --> 00:18:29.100 It's so ordinary for Joab and his men to be on the raid of somewhere else. 00:18:29.180 --> 00:18:31.160 They don't even tell you where he's gone or why he went. 00:18:31.460 --> 00:18:32.539 They just tell you that he won. 00:18:33.259 --> 00:18:34.559 That's what you need to know about Joab. 00:18:34.980 --> 00:18:36.220 He is a strong man. 00:18:37.140 --> 00:18:38.059 A strong man. 00:18:38.100 --> 00:18:39.819 And he comes back with a spoil of war. 00:18:40.500 --> 00:18:41.960 Now, Joab arrives back in Hebron. 00:18:41.960 --> 00:18:45.819 He's told about David's meeting with Abner and about David sending him away in peace. 00:18:45.860 --> 00:18:47.019 And he is not impressed. 00:18:47.600 --> 00:18:49.860 Look at what he says in verse 24 of chapter 3. 00:18:50.600 --> 00:18:54.539 So Joab went to the king and said, what have you done? 00:18:55.100 --> 00:18:56.720 Look, Abner came to you. 00:18:56.740 --> 00:18:57.660 Why did you let him go? 00:18:57.740 --> 00:18:58.700 Now he's gone. 00:18:59.400 --> 00:19:00.440 You know Abner, son of Nair. 00:19:00.480 --> 00:19:04.259 He came to deceive you and observe your movements and find out everything you are doing. 00:19:05.079 --> 00:19:08.340 Joab clearly thinks that David has lost the plot. 00:19:08.339 --> 00:19:13.199 You know, you don't win at life, David, by letting your enemies play tricks on you. 00:19:13.459 --> 00:19:16.259 You don't win at life by sending away your enemies in peace. 00:19:16.299 --> 00:19:18.500 You should have killed him while you had the chance, he says. 00:19:19.959 --> 00:19:27.179 It's an interesting twist in the story that Hebron itself is one of the so-called cities of refuge that Joshua set up when he conquered the land. 00:19:27.180 --> 00:19:36.600 The cities of refuge were distributed across the land of Israel as places where you could run to for refuge, for peace and security. 00:19:36.920 --> 00:19:41.160 If you had accidentally killed someone, you could run to those places and live in peace. 00:19:41.160 --> 00:19:57.540 And the twist in the story is that Joab is calling Abner back to the city of refuge and he kills him in the city of refuge in revenge for killing Ashel, seemingly in accident in self-defense with the butt of his spear. 00:19:57.539 --> 00:20:12.500 It explains, I think, why David is so mad with Joab in verse 29 and curses his whole family, a curse which does eventually get carried out by David's son Solomon, who puts Joab to death for the murder of Abner and another murder, which we'll come across in a few weeks time. 00:20:13.819 --> 00:20:18.599 Now, the point of all this is in the contrast between Abner and Joab. 00:20:18.599 --> 00:20:26.319 You know, Abner is the man with a plan, the smooth negotiator, and Joab is the thug, right? 00:20:26.619 --> 00:20:28.119 The strong man. 00:20:28.559 --> 00:20:33.439 But in the end of the story, neither of them achieve their ends. 00:20:34.119 --> 00:20:37.579 Abner dies the fool's death and Joab is cursed. 00:20:38.980 --> 00:20:41.059 Now, our world is still full of thugs, isn't it? 00:20:41.159 --> 00:20:42.240 I don't know, maybe you're one. 00:20:42.919 --> 00:20:47.459 You probably don't slip a dagger into unsuspecting enemies when you call them into an inner room. 00:20:47.460 --> 00:20:50.680 But perhaps you just shout and yell to get your own way. 00:20:52.059 --> 00:20:54.039 Perhaps you lie and cheat at work. 00:20:54.680 --> 00:20:57.220 Maybe you put a verbal knife in behind people's backs. 00:20:57.799 --> 00:21:01.380 Maybe you stir things up to get your own way and put everyone else on edge, 00:21:02.140 --> 00:21:07.420 using whatever necessary means to push yourself forward and push others out of the way. 00:21:08.660 --> 00:21:11.620 Or maybe that all just sounds a bit too brutal and a bit too nasty, doesn't it? 00:21:11.799 --> 00:21:12.700 Maybe you're not like that. 00:21:12.700 --> 00:21:16.140 Maybe instead, like Joab, you cling on to bitterness and revenge, 00:21:16.799 --> 00:21:20.120 harboring ideas of paying people back for past wrongs, but you never follow through. 00:21:20.660 --> 00:21:21.519 But you'd love to. 00:21:22.380 --> 00:21:25.000 You look at someone like Joab and go, I wish I was a bit more like him. 00:21:25.759 --> 00:21:27.100 I wish I had to follow through. 00:21:28.080 --> 00:21:31.279 Now, Joab is here to tell you, listen, that doesn't work. 00:21:31.600 --> 00:21:32.460 It doesn't work. 00:21:34.039 --> 00:21:37.019 Abner's cunning wisdom dies a fool's death. 00:21:37.259 --> 00:21:39.840 Joab's strength is cursed in the end. 00:21:39.839 --> 00:21:45.720 If all your confidence for the future is in your own plans, you will die a fool's death. 00:21:46.179 --> 00:21:49.539 If all your plans are in your own strength, you're cursed. 00:21:49.899 --> 00:21:50.599 That's the story. 00:21:51.359 --> 00:21:52.859 You can't bully your way through life. 00:21:52.959 --> 00:21:58.659 The force of your personality or your family or the size even of your biceps will not be enough. 00:21:59.980 --> 00:22:02.759 The final character to consider this morning, though, is King David. 00:22:02.759 --> 00:22:07.220 This is what a 15th century painter thought David looked like. 00:22:07.319 --> 00:22:08.379 He's wearing a bucket hat. 00:22:08.859 --> 00:22:11.259 So he's clearly a man ahead of the fashion curve. 00:22:11.920 --> 00:22:15.980 But fashionable or not, what the writer wants you to notice about David is something rather extraordinary. 00:22:17.180 --> 00:22:20.579 David here is the success story. 00:22:20.819 --> 00:22:25.619 David succeeds in the passage where Abner and Joab fail. 00:22:25.619 --> 00:22:31.819 David succeeds in bringing the kingdom out of the chaos and under his rule. 00:22:32.339 --> 00:22:36.719 David manages to get all Israel to unite in peace and harmony. 00:22:37.579 --> 00:22:42.659 Yet, when you look at the passage, the verbs used of David are verbs like this. 00:22:43.419 --> 00:22:44.059 Wept. 00:22:45.019 --> 00:22:46.199 Wept aloud. 00:22:46.539 --> 00:22:48.159 Or lifted up his voice. 00:22:48.579 --> 00:22:50.259 Or lamented. 00:22:50.259 --> 00:22:54.799 In verse 39 of chapter 3, David summarizes his actions like this. 00:22:55.180 --> 00:23:00.660 And today, though I am the anointed king, I am weak. 00:23:00.960 --> 00:23:04.379 Literally, the word there is tender or gentle. 00:23:05.039 --> 00:23:07.640 And these sons of Zeriah are too strong for me. 00:23:07.740 --> 00:23:10.720 May the Lord repay the evildoer according to his evil deeds. 00:23:12.039 --> 00:23:15.400 Now, come back to me if you've wandered away in your thoughts. 00:23:15.400 --> 00:23:17.339 Because this is the whole point of the story, right? 00:23:18.180 --> 00:23:19.799 It's meant to be a surprise to you. 00:23:20.259 --> 00:23:21.240 Think about this carefully. 00:23:21.359 --> 00:23:22.319 Here it is in a sentence. 00:23:23.240 --> 00:23:29.879 It is David's tears and his gentleness that conquer Israel. 00:23:30.779 --> 00:23:33.960 Not Abner's wisdom and not Joab's muscles. 00:23:35.559 --> 00:23:40.579 So despite the fact that you'd be hard-pressed, I think, to find a tougher man in all of history than Joab, 00:23:40.720 --> 00:23:47.299 there's probably very few men in all of history who have killed as many people with their bare hands as Joab. 00:23:47.599 --> 00:23:49.900 He was muscles, right? 00:23:50.259 --> 00:23:52.099 And yet he failed. 00:23:52.759 --> 00:23:57.879 Abner, the shrewd negotiator, the politician, both come to nothing. 00:23:58.539 --> 00:24:03.319 Yet at the end of the story, Israel, the part belonging to Ish-bosheth, are pleased with King David. 00:24:03.519 --> 00:24:08.299 Verse 36 says it twice in quick succession, just to make sure you don't miss it. 00:24:08.299 --> 00:24:16.039 The tear-filled David does what a brute strongman and a political negotiator could not do. 00:24:16.039 --> 00:24:18.659 Now, why is that the story? 00:24:19.559 --> 00:24:24.859 Now, let me tell you that the point of the story is not, so therefore be gentle like David. 00:24:25.059 --> 00:24:26.740 I mean, that is not a bad idea, right? 00:24:26.899 --> 00:24:28.559 Gentleness has a lot to commend it. 00:24:28.819 --> 00:24:31.899 We could all do with being more gentle, and I'm sure of that. 00:24:31.900 --> 00:24:36.340 But the point of the story is not so much try hard to be a little bit more like David. 00:24:36.680 --> 00:24:42.420 Rather, the story is about this extraordinary power given to a gentle king. 00:24:43.580 --> 00:24:51.820 God's people will not be united by human force or skill, but by the gentleness of God's king. 00:24:51.819 --> 00:25:01.119 Here, you get in 2 Samuel chapter 3, you get a glimpse of what God can do through the tears of his king. 00:25:02.539 --> 00:25:07.799 I think one of the struggles that we have with these stories in the Bible is that they feel so different, don't they, to anything we experience. 00:25:08.220 --> 00:25:10.960 I mean, this is like a totally different world, isn't it? 00:25:11.779 --> 00:25:14.000 And it is, and you read that. 00:25:14.500 --> 00:25:17.859 But these ancient Bible stories have a greater purpose, don't they? 00:25:17.859 --> 00:25:21.639 They are pointing us to the bigger story of the Bible. 00:25:22.220 --> 00:25:24.599 The bigger story of what God is doing in history. 00:25:25.599 --> 00:25:29.460 The Apostle Paul tells us that they were written for our warning and our encouragement, 00:25:29.659 --> 00:25:34.779 because although we are different to them, we are in the same big story of what God is doing. 00:25:35.980 --> 00:25:42.679 So we, like them, find that actually our main battle is not with the other half of Israel or Judah. 00:25:43.139 --> 00:25:45.220 Our main battle is with sin. 00:25:45.220 --> 00:25:52.720 The big civil war in the Bible is not the civil war between the northern tribes and the southern tribes of Israel. 00:25:52.940 --> 00:25:53.680 Not at all. 00:25:54.120 --> 00:25:59.960 The big civil war in the Bible is between humanity and the God who made them. 00:26:00.339 --> 00:26:01.579 That's the civil war in the Bible. 00:26:01.579 --> 00:26:05.819 We fight God for control of our lives. 00:26:05.919 --> 00:26:10.639 We long to live our own way, to be our own gods, to rule our own lives. 00:26:10.960 --> 00:26:14.359 We long to ignore the one who made us, to the one to whom we belong. 00:26:14.859 --> 00:26:18.199 And the Bible's big question is, what will end this war? 00:26:18.519 --> 00:26:22.679 What will end the war between humanity and the God who made them? 00:26:22.680 --> 00:26:25.660 What possibly can end that war? 00:26:26.539 --> 00:26:28.200 Where will the decisive battle be? 00:26:28.620 --> 00:26:30.960 Where will the hostilities between us and God end? 00:26:31.220 --> 00:26:37.620 How can we be melted from our stubborn, proud hearts to joyfully follow God as king? 00:26:38.560 --> 00:26:42.920 Well, 2 Samuel chapter 3 says, no, it's not wheedling words that will do it. 00:26:43.860 --> 00:26:48.500 No, you can't end this conflict by saying stuff. 00:26:48.620 --> 00:26:52.080 You can't pray enough prayers or say enough creeds. 00:26:52.680 --> 00:26:56.720 You can't end this conflict with human strength either. 00:26:57.039 --> 00:26:59.620 You can't fight your way to peace with God. 00:27:00.620 --> 00:27:06.660 Instead, the decisive victory in this great war of history will be in the gentle weakness 00:27:06.660 --> 00:27:12.220 and tears of God's anointed king, Jesus. 00:27:13.360 --> 00:27:20.500 Not as he weeps over the death of his enemy, but as he dies in our place on the cross. 00:27:20.500 --> 00:27:24.859 In Matthew 11 verse 29, Jesus says this of himself. 00:27:24.859 --> 00:27:31.140 He says, I am gentle and humble in heart, and in me you will find rest for your souls. 00:27:32.000 --> 00:27:36.299 Jesus there effectively says to you, listen, I'm David. 00:27:36.779 --> 00:27:40.039 In this story, I'm David, says Jesus. 00:27:40.039 --> 00:27:42.039 I'm like David. 00:27:42.039 --> 00:27:44.539 I'm not here with a stick to beat you. 00:27:44.980 --> 00:27:47.339 I'm not here with a list of demands for you to keep. 00:27:47.659 --> 00:27:56.859 I'm here with tears in my eyes, with nails in my hands and my feet, in brokenness for your sin. 00:27:57.399 --> 00:28:02.639 I will conquer your heart with love and gentleness, forgiveness and grace. 00:28:02.640 --> 00:28:05.820 Now, there's so much you could say about that, isn't there? 00:28:05.840 --> 00:28:10.840 But I think the big point for us to see from chapter 3 is how this gentleness of David 00:28:10.840 --> 00:28:14.740 sort of lures in and draws in the people of Israel. 00:28:15.420 --> 00:28:16.280 You notice that? 00:28:16.759 --> 00:28:20.340 You know, it's in 2 Samuel 3 as the people see the tears of the king. 00:28:20.740 --> 00:28:25.860 They listen to his lament that they are sort of pulled towards him, drawn towards him, 00:28:26.500 --> 00:28:30.280 dropping their swords and their hostility, seeing in him someone they can trust and follow. 00:28:30.279 --> 00:28:35.700 And so with the Lord Jesus, I don't know what you imagine him to be like, 00:28:36.119 --> 00:28:38.279 but he's not yelling and cursing at you. 00:28:38.799 --> 00:28:41.079 He's not battering you for your rebellion against him. 00:28:41.180 --> 00:28:48.480 Instead, you find Jesus in the Gospels as a gentle saviour who dies for your sin. 00:28:49.680 --> 00:28:53.859 Jesus is not strong and impressive in any conventional way, but not because he's soft, 00:28:55.000 --> 00:28:58.279 but because he's drawing us to himself with gentle power. 00:28:58.279 --> 00:29:02.480 Dying for the bruised reed and the faintly burning wick. 00:29:03.579 --> 00:29:05.160 Sweating blood for our sin. 00:29:05.359 --> 00:29:07.319 Dying in our place and rising to victory. 00:29:08.200 --> 00:29:09.559 Drawing us in with his beauty. 00:29:11.000 --> 00:29:11.920 See, think about it like this. 00:29:12.039 --> 00:29:14.779 Imagine for a moment, you're not Abner, you're not Joab, you're not David. 00:29:15.240 --> 00:29:17.379 Imagine yourself to be one of the Israelites, yeah? 00:29:17.440 --> 00:29:18.379 Just think about it like that. 00:29:18.399 --> 00:29:19.220 You're one of the Israelites. 00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:21.599 You're trying to choose who to follow. 00:29:21.599 --> 00:29:25.859 And you see these three great characters, yeah, that you could follow. 00:29:26.759 --> 00:29:29.339 You know, here is Abner, Joab and David. 00:29:29.699 --> 00:29:32.039 You know, Abner's always got the right thing to say. 00:29:32.179 --> 00:29:33.980 He's this man of wheedling power. 00:29:34.079 --> 00:29:36.799 He seems to always negotiate his way to success. 00:29:37.839 --> 00:29:39.759 Then there's the brute strength of Joab. 00:29:39.819 --> 00:29:41.740 Maybe I'm going to follow the brute strength of Joab. 00:29:41.799 --> 00:29:43.659 That guy is Mr. Muscle, isn't he? 00:29:43.659 --> 00:29:44.279 He's amazing. 00:29:44.279 --> 00:29:52.119 But then there's the gentle King David who is weeping over the brokenness and offers you peace and kindness. 00:29:53.000 --> 00:29:53.579 Who are you going to follow? 00:29:54.200 --> 00:29:54.720 Who are you going to follow? 00:29:55.559 --> 00:29:56.740 Well, it's obvious, isn't it? 00:29:57.000 --> 00:29:58.700 You've got to follow David. 00:29:59.859 --> 00:30:05.000 And so for us this morning, the question for all of us this morning from these verses is this. 00:30:05.440 --> 00:30:07.019 Who are you going to follow in life? 00:30:07.399 --> 00:30:07.980 Who are you going to follow? 00:30:08.339 --> 00:30:09.160 Which way are you going to go? 00:30:09.899 --> 00:30:11.039 What's going to be your hope? 00:30:11.240 --> 00:30:12.359 Where are you going to put your trust? 00:30:12.559 --> 00:30:13.920 Is it going to be in your muscles? 00:30:14.279 --> 00:30:15.359 Your strength? 00:30:15.619 --> 00:30:17.399 Is it going to be in your words or the words of others? 00:30:17.460 --> 00:30:19.000 Is it going to be in politicians? 00:30:19.319 --> 00:30:21.399 Is it going to be in the YouTube profit? 00:30:21.879 --> 00:30:25.539 Or is it going to be in the strength of a robust temper or a big bank balance? 00:30:25.639 --> 00:30:26.259 What is it? 00:30:27.379 --> 00:30:33.180 Or will it be in the outstretched arms and flowing blood of a gentle Savior Jesus? 00:30:34.319 --> 00:30:36.839 Who offers you forgiveness and life eternal. 00:30:38.059 --> 00:30:42.879 Now maybe this morning you're not a Christian and you're here to see this for the very first time. 00:30:42.880 --> 00:30:46.600 Or maybe this morning you've been a Christian and you've lost your way a little bit. 00:30:46.820 --> 00:30:52.740 You'd perhaps call yourself a Christian but it's been a long time since really you were in church or even thought about the Lord Jesus. 00:30:53.980 --> 00:30:55.760 Or maybe you've been a Christian. 00:30:55.880 --> 00:30:57.900 You've been here for years and years and years. 00:30:57.900 --> 00:31:04.080 Let me invite all of us to come back to the gentle King Jesus. 00:31:05.440 --> 00:31:08.960 Let me remind you that the wisdom of the world dies a fool's death. 00:31:10.100 --> 00:31:13.380 Let me remind us that strength comes to nothing. 00:31:14.080 --> 00:31:17.500 I think this week this is particularly important for us to remember as a church, isn't it? 00:31:17.500 --> 00:31:23.220 It is not our words or even our bank balance that will win the day. 00:31:24.359 --> 00:31:26.559 It's the gentle Savior Jesus. 00:31:27.000 --> 00:31:28.180 He is all that we need. 00:31:28.319 --> 00:31:29.759 He is enough for us. 00:31:30.539 --> 00:31:34.359 The Apostle Paul puts it like this in 1 Corinthians 1 verse 25. 00:31:34.500 --> 00:31:42.619 The foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. 00:31:42.619 --> 00:31:46.279 So we go in his name and we trust in him. 00:31:46.579 --> 00:31:47.139 Let me pray. 00:31:48.399 --> 00:31:54.119 Gracious God and loving Heavenly Father, how we thank you for this brilliant portrait of the Lord Jesus. 00:31:55.019 --> 00:31:56.839 Our gentle Savior. 00:31:58.699 --> 00:32:09.059 Who with pierced hands and feet, blood flowing from his side, dies to save us from our sin before rising victoriously and ascending into heaven. 00:32:10.179 --> 00:32:11.479 Oh Lord, how we love him. 00:32:11.480 --> 00:32:13.559 How we trust him. 00:32:14.279 --> 00:32:22.120 How we turn from any confidence in our own strength or our own words, our own money, our own wisdom, our own position. 00:32:22.940 --> 00:32:24.759 And we trust in Christ. 00:32:25.920 --> 00:32:27.039 Please, Lord, we pray. 00:32:27.140 --> 00:32:33.039 Would you provide us with all that we need as we come to King Jesus, our gentle Savior. 00:32:34.240 --> 00:32:37.980 Pray especially this morning for anyone who does not yet know Christ. 00:32:37.980 --> 00:32:43.559 Please, please show them now the gentleness of your King Jesus. 00:32:44.180 --> 00:32:45.900 That they may be drawn to him. 00:32:46.599 --> 00:32:50.059 To find in him what they cannot find anywhere else. 00:32:50.660 --> 00:32:52.680 Hope and life and forgiveness. 00:32:53.900 --> 00:32:56.539 So we thank you for Jesus and we pray in his name. 00:32:57.299 --> 00:32:57.620 Amen. 00:32:57.619 --> 00:33:01.739 Amen. 00:33:01.959 --> 00:33:02.359 Amen. 00:33:02.379 --> 00:33:02.399 Amen. 00:33:02.399 --> 00:33:02.459 Amen. 00:33:02.459 --> 00:33:02.479 Amen. 00:33:02.679 --> 00:33:02.739 Amen. 00:33:02.739 --> 00:33:02.939 Amen. 00:33:02.939 --> 00:33:12.439 Amen. 00:33:12.439 --> 00:33:14.659 Amen. 00:33:14.659 --> 00:33:15.219 Amen. 00:33:15.219 --> 00:33:15.399 Amen. 00:33:15.399 --> 00:33:16.679 Amen. 00:33:16.919 --> 00:33:21.639 Amen.