2 SAMUEL TEN
2 SAMUEL TEN
JT To see the bearing of this chapter we should hold in view what came out last week. The ninth chapter sets out grace. The eighth chapter is the epitome of David’s military exploits, and the arrangement of the different departments in his kingdom.
In the ninth there is grace to show the character of the kingdom: “Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness?”(2 Samuel 9:1)
[p. 78] Then this chapter records wars that have already been alluded to in chapter 8 only that they are brought in here in detail, evidently to show how men do despite to the spirit of grace, as manifested in chapter 9.
It is what the kingdom is here. It is followed up by the further expression of grace towards the children of Ammon, and the king of Ammon despises it.
Rem The expression of grace is always a test to a man. Mephibosheth responded to it wonderfully.
Rem The Ammonites were related to Israel. That would make it more serious.
JT It is a serious thing to despise grace. Mephibosheth appreciated it and carried his appreciation right through.
Ques Did David show kindness here on account of kindness that had been shown to him?
JT It is not recorded anywhere else. It would show that he himself had a great appreciation of grace. There is no record of what this grace was, the kindness that the king of Ammon had shown. It would bring out that David had the good sense to reciprocate, showing what he was in that way, how he would remember. It may have been a small matter, possibly, when he was rejected and fleeing from Saul, but anyway he was a man who would bear in mind what good was shown him, a very important trait in any one of us.
Ques Do you think the wells of grace were springing up in David’s heart? Grace was always there ready. Mephibosheth had no title to it and yet he pours it out on him, and now it flows out toward this person.
JT It seems as though that is the point, to bring out a beautiful trait in David, what he was as representative of God. Grace acts of itself as in chapter 9, but it also acts reciprocally, which is an important thing, because we are likely to forget kindness shown [p. 79] to us. So that these chapters, 9 and 10, are to bring out in detail what the kingdom was. We have the establishment of it and then what it was as represented in the king’s overtures to Mephibosheth, an undeserved expression of grace. Here it is deserved, at least if Nahash the king of Ammon is taken to represent the Jews. Perhaps it suggests what Israel had been on the historical line, what the fathers had been and so forth. But now this young man is reigning, he had come to the throne recently; he had no sense of grace at all, but is rather imputing evil motives, so that we are in the presence of a very serious state of things. No doubt the anti-type is in the Acts where the overtures of God to Israel are reciprocated by some.
Rem These evil motives are imputed by the princes of the children of Ammon. Are they representative of Christendom?
JT I suppose so. It is his kingdom over against David’s kingdom. “I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father showed kindness to me. And David sent to comfort him by the hand of his servants for his father. And David’s servants came into the land of the children of Ammon. And the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanun their lord, Is it, in thine eyes, to honour thy father that David has sent comforters to thee? Is it not to search the city and to spy it out, and to overthrow it, that David has sent his servants to thee?” He takes their advice without question. It is a state of things that makes the rendering of help impossible. There is no ground for this suspicion, so that it seems an impossible state of things; and what ensues is very solemn and searching because it seems to be the most severe of David’s contests, a very severe part of his military operations. We have to meet this kind of thing in brethren and the conflict is bound to be severe, because we are dealing with suspicion.
[p. 80] Rem Perhaps these servants of David would represent some of our brethren who are on the line of shepherding.
JT It made the attitude of the king of Ammon all the more serious because they were there. Did they look like spies? That is the point. These men were representatives of David, and the Ammonites were imputing motives to them.
Rem It is like the early chapters of Acts where they mistrusted the approach of God in grace. The religious leaders and princes were along these lines, throwing back the grace of God.
JT If we were to look for the antitype it would be, I suppose, as a response in the remnant, represented in Mephibosheth, who responded; and on the other hand as rejection in the Jews, represented by these Ammonites. They were distant relatives to Israel as the Jews were to the Christians, but instead of response to grace and the appreciation of it, there was suspicion and persecution.
Ques Paul refers to the princes of this world having crucified the Lord of glory; (1 Corinthians 2:8). Would it be something akin to this?
JT Quite so, they are princes of this world.
Ques I wondered whether that would be the treatment John and Peter got from those men in the early part of Acts. It was very undignified treatment to give on the presentation of grace. They had cured the crippled man and done other acts that brought grace forward but they were imprisoned as a result.
JT And then there was Stephen, he went further. All that you speak of led up to him. Chapter 5 brings out perhaps the most ignominious attitude of the authorities, they “put them in the common prison”, (Acts 5:18) they evidently gave them no respect at all. They were not common felons, there was no charge to be sustained. Gamaliel’s warning, “take heed to yourselves as regards these men what ye are going to do”, etc. (Acts 5:35), was some evidence that they were representatives of God, yet they were put into the common prison.
Ques Did David’s move mean the overthrow of the cities? Does grace approach men like that to secure them for its kingdom?
JT By what they say about the city they apparently mean to convey that David’s profession of favour is unreal. Their thought is merely political. Is it not unfair that people, when grace is proposed, should take up the attitude that you have some sinister motive in what you are doing? “These men utterly trouble our city”, they say in Acts 16:20.
One might have thought they were going to overthrow it! But in what sense could it be overthrown? To convert people in a city would do no harm. What could there be but goodness behind all this?
Ques Does not their treatment of the servants of David mean emphatically that they wish to give a one-sided impression?
JT You mean that the very appearance of the servants of David would indicate that they had been one-sided?
Rem Well, it would give that impression.
JT I suppose it was a form of indignity, a well- known method of heaping scorn and reproach on people. They were certainly most unsightly. It was designed. They “insulted the Spirit of grace”,
(Hebrews 10:29). It was really uncalled for, because the matter was not proved, it was all suspicion, anyway, a poignant thrust at David. They said in effect, That is what we think of your attitude. And of course it was readily understood by David, because they saw that they had become odious in his sight. “Behold, ye despisers, and wonder and perish”, Acts 13:41. That sort of thing came out particularly against Paul; “for I work a work in your days, a [p. 82] work which ye will in no wise believe if one declare it to you” (Acts 13:41).
Ques Do you think they were acting on what David had done to other kings, forgetting what Moses had written, that Israel should not take any of the land of the Ammonites?
JT Well, David was not taking it. He certainly was very gracious to them. There is not the slightest intention on his part of taking their land. He did ultimately, but this is the provocation. This chapter is to bring out how unfair they were and how they brought on their own judgment, and so it is a fine chapter for the gospel.
Rem The servants of God have no thought of overthrowing the nations.
JT This was a very simple offer of grace, it just expressed kindness, or congratulations or sympathies.
Rem They terribly misconstrued the feelings of David in his approach to them in the desire to show kindness, and the way in which they treat his servants shows that they wanted David to understand fully how they felt about it.
JT It is the reproach entering into it. If they had put them to death it would hardly have been so bad, as such an indignity!
Rem The emissaries act like true servants of David, they did not contend. “He shall not strive”, Matthew 12:19. They just gave David’s message.
Ques Is the extension of the administration of the kingdom by ambassadorship?
JT That is what Paul calls himself, “We are ambassadors therefore for Christ”, 2 Corinthians 5:20. I think it must mean the unfair, inexcusable attitude of the Jews. There was testimony in some of a response to this grace, some valued it, like Mephibosheth, but others did not, and professed to think there were sinister motives behind it. It comes out in the way they acted toward [p. 83] Paul.
Rem These people hired the Syrians.
JT Quite so. David does not attack them at once, but he sent to meet the messengers, “for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, Abide at Jericho until your beards he grown, and then return”. That is all it says. There is no evidence that David was preparing to attack the Ammonites, he was not revengeful. Grace is grace, and it reigns, it does not come down off the throne. David does not prepare to attack them until they prepare to attack him.
Ques Is that conveyed in the idea of his telling the men to abide at Jericho. If reproach is put upon them they accept it.
JT Quite so, and they had the power of life to remedy the thing. They could grow their beards. As regards their clothes, that could easily he met, the clothes of gracious people can easily he replaced. “Let thy priests he clothed with righteousness”, Psalm 132:9. So that the whole position is remedied in the way they return to Jerusalem, the whole position is unimpaired. The attack is from the Ammonites’ side, they followed up the indignity by preparing for war. Paul and Silas were unaffected by the sufferings of Philippi; Acts 16.
Ques Is there any suggestion of taking on Nazariteship?
JT It is not Nazariteship here, it is full-grown beards. I think the beards and proper dress represented David, ambassadors of David. Ammon did despite to David by disfiguring these men, but life would remedy all that. David would feel the shame of it and gain through it, so that what we ought to see here is that grace is on the throne unimpaired. David is not retaliating, he tells them to stay at Jericho until their beards are grown; the whole position is rectified. The insinuation of evil is in the Ammonites and it is their own judgment that [p. 84] they were odious to him. Perhaps their judgment was right.
Rem They had a guilty conscience.
JT Quite so.
Rem After persecutions in the Acts the assembly became stronger. Is not that important today? We grow under pressure.
JT We are told the number added in Acts 4 and then in chapter 9 we are told that after the great pressure put upon them by Saul the assemblies were edified and increased; verse 31.
Rem “In pressure thou hast enlarged me”, Psalm 4:1.
JT David did not lose the sense of grace, that is the great thing in dealing with these hard-hearted conditions. He retains his balance and these men come back to Jerusalem to hold the position as it was. That the Ammonites were odious to David we learn from themselves.
Rem Now they realise that they have made a mistake.
JT And then they go to hire people. That is not a principle with God, to hire people to fight for you. Under these circumstances they have allies and pay them.
Rem So that Christendom has its hirelings today.
JT Yes, these people finding they were odious could have made amends, but instead of that they proceeded to war. Where we resent grace we have to cast about to keep ourselves secure.
Ques Does not the attitude of grace and the refusal of it work amongst ourselves as well as in the gospel?
JT You may be sure that if I refuse the overtures of grace and my conscience smites me I shall make it appear that I have been offended! Our eyes are so dim that these things come up and we think we are the wronged ones. How did they know that they [p. 85] were odious? They are impugning the great system of grace that is set up. Then the next thing is that we link on with others, so that they hire these people, whereas they might have settled it all if they had humbled themselves and confessed to David. The lesson to be learned is that David is David still, and his servants are the same. There is no resentment, David just instructed them to go to Jericho and they went.
Rem They expect sudden judgment, but the thing is pending, grace is on the throne. “For where we sin wilfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there ... remains ... a certain fearful expectation of judgment”, Hebrews 10:26, 27.
JT I think that is the passage that corresponds. David is maintaining his ground as on the throne of grace, and they are taking the initiative, they are hiring soldiers. David is not even marshalling his army until they do something against him.
Rem That comes at the return of the year in the next chapter.
JT Yes, but here in verse 7, “David heard of it”; and then we are told in verse 15 that “when the Syrians saw that they were routed before Israel, they gathered themselves together. And Hadarezer sent, and drew forth the Syrians that were beyond the river; and they came to Helam; and Shobach the captain of the host of Hadarezer went before them. And it was told David”. They take the initiative and he hears this. Then comes the supreme moment. It says, “it was told David; and he gathered all Israel”, as if it were a supreme matter. In fact it is; I do not know that you get such an impression as this before — “all Israel”.
Rem David did not slay anyone, they fled before him, but in the last section you get certain ones slain.
JT I think we learn about the tremendous slaughter from verse 18. “David slew of the [p. 86] Syrians seven hundred in chariots, and forty thousand horsemen”.
Ques Is it the spirit of the organised religions around us at the present time?
JT It seems so. This hiring soldiers under these circumstances is a most distressing feature; to reach out for aids and allies to meet conditions, where grace is despised, though in truth there is nothing to meet, it is pure grace.
Rem Saul of Tarsus really did despite to the spirit of grace and yet in the ninth chapter of Acts we see grace still reigning. The Lord did not change at all.
JT Quite so. Chapter 9 is a wonderful chapter of grace: “why persecutest thou me?”, Acts 9:4. And then there is this question of hiring; we are not sensible of the grace that would give us something for nothing. We think things have to be bought and paid for. It is the feeling that you serve me and I will serve you, I am indebted to you. These people go a long way with it, they get the Syrians from beyond the river.
Ques Is this the situation when the ministry is refused?
Rem We might get allies against the truth. It is a serious thing when we get allies against the servants of the Lord, combinations against certain ones.
Ques Do we not come into the blessing of grace individually? Repentance is an individual affair.
Ques Would you not say that where the government of God applies against an individual or a group, the tendency is to put the blame on someone else, as they did on David here?
JT They saw that they were odious in David’s eyes, but he had not said so. That is a common sort of thing. One may say, See how that brother treats me now! Perhaps the trouble is with one’s own judgment.
Rem David does not recede from his original [p. 87] attitude until they compel him to do so by their own action.
JT They make great preparations. It is really one of the most serious conflicts with which he had to do. Where grace is despised war of peculiar magnitude arises all the way through. “And the children of Ammon saw that they had made themselves odious to David; and the children of Ammon sent and hired the Syrians of Beth-Rehob, and the Syrians of Zoba, twenty thousand footmen, and the king of Maacah with a thousand men, and the men of Tob twelve thousand men” — a big array! David is doing nothing, but when he heard of all this array of power he sends Joab and the mighty men. “And Joab saw that the front of the battle was against him before and behind”. This is a serious matter, the men mean war, and they are searching out all the allies they can get. It is a wide spiritual matter.
Ques Do you look at Joab’s strategy as commendable here? It is wonderful the way he manoeuvres his army in verse 11, so that it is working together. As far as we can see the Israelites’ position is united, they can move this way or that way together. The others are separate, they are making a show of their allies. Joab says: “Be strong, and let us show ourselves valiant for our people and for the cities of our God”.
JT Joab is thinking of the divine heritage that would be threatened by this attack.
Rem The combination is broken.
Ques Does the intervention of God on behalf of David cause the Syrians to realise their own mistake?
JT Quite so. The allies saw their mistake; but this is a remarkable conflict, I do not think there is a more severe one in the whole record.
Rem The choice men are set against the Syrians. They apparently were stronger. The Ammonites [p. 88] run off. They do not fight. They are just governed by others, and are not fighters at all.
Rem The Syrians are dealt with in this chapter and the Ammonites in the next. The Syrians are dealt with summarily, whereas Ammon waits.
JT They seem to be very powerful. They represent the element among us which, if a deflection takes place, is always ready to be drawn into it. They are historical enemies of Israel.
Rem In an earlier remark Joab said: “and Jehovah do what is good in his sight”. It seems that the grace of David was really imparted to Joab.
JT One has often seen it where God is working in a meeting that brothers you might expect would be difficult are not so. They are brought under the power of grace.
Rem Sometimes in a locality you find gracious feelings misconstrued. It might seem a very simple matter at the beginning, but Satan is there ready to augment the trouble, and a small matter develops into a warfare and a serious issue.
JT The way that David holds his ground in grace is a lesson for us, not to be drawn into the thing. Grace reigns in our dispensation and our attitude should not be warlike. David does nothing, they take the initiative in every case.
Rem These ambassadors are like David. That spirit should be with us.
JT I suppose if you met them coming up from Jericho they would look better than when they left. They would have gained ground through that experience and would be ready for any enterprise like this and would do still better.
Rem These men at Jericho would have grown morally. The Lord came into Jericho and passed through; what did He think? This is what they would learn, they would be greater men than [p. 89] before.
JT I am sure of it. They would augment David’s position. Nothing brings out the moral power of the kingdom more than what is seen in Christ in Matthew 26 and 27, and the corresponding chapters in the other gospels. How utterly unaffected He was by what happened! He is Himself. Even on the cross He is Himself: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”, Luke 23:34. We get irritated when grace is refused and are likely to discredit what we represent, but with Christ it was never so. Even Paul and Silas, wonderful as they were, said when the time came for their release, “let them come themselves and bring us out”, Acts 16:37. It seems as if they dropped a little bit there, They said, as it were, We are Romans and they have imprisoned us unfairly. Well, Romans are not characteristically men of grace, heavenly men.
Rem The Lord referred to the spirit, “Ye know not of what spirit ye are”, Luke 9:55.
Rem The Lord in reading the Scriptures closed the book at the proper moment.
JT That shows how the Lord officially fixed the position, what is called the “acceptable year”: “to preach the acceptable year of the Lord”, Luke 4:19. That year finished where He stopped.
Ques How much judgment do you bring into gospel preaching?
JT Of course it has been revealed from heaven. Romans merely puts it that it is revealed, “in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God”, Romans 2:5. He is not saying it is operative, that is the position. It is grace to remind men that this is so. That is how it stands in Romans.
Rem They are treasuring up wrath.
Rem There was no judgment executed on Ammon until the return of the year. We see the extension there.