[0:00] 10, 2 Samuel chapter 10. For anyone that is familiar with it, you know that we are at the very pinnacle of David's life. We are at the high point, in particular in the 9th and 10th chapter of David's life.
[0:17] Because inevitably, following the 10th chapter comes the 11th chapter, and in the 11th chapter is where we get into the great sins of David, and we get into the fall and the tragedies that are a direct result of that failure and of that fall.
[0:35] Israel has their king. Not only does Israel have their king, God has his king. We have really, it's a number of years into the kingdom years for the nation of Israel.
[0:50] We'll go back just a little bit and give ourselves a little bit of crash history. When God redeemed the nation of Israel out of Egypt, the Exodus event.
[1:02] He led them to Mount Sinai, gave them the Decalogue, which we know is the Ten Commandments, entered into a covenant relationship with them. He established the nation of Israel up as a theophany, that is, God as king.
[1:14] And the nation would follow him and obey him and submit to him in all things. And we see that kind of played out in the book of Leviticus.
[1:25] Be holy as I am holy, God says. And you have this standard of holiness, these laws that would separate them and differentiate them from everyone around them. The laws were never to be constricting, rather they were to be freeing.
[1:38] They were free to walk within the bounds of these laws so that they would be set apart as God's people among the nations in which God had put them. It's amazing when you read the history of the people of Israel, and really even when you get into the history of God's interaction with man, he was using them as an instrument of judgment upon the inhabitants of the Promised Land, but he had really clearly defined what would be their land.
[2:04] It would go from Egypt to the other side of the Jordan River. Eventually it would spread all the way to the River Euphrates. That was their land. They had never inhabited all of their land, not to this date, but they had clearly defined geographical region.
[2:22] They come into one area, and sure, they push out, but it was never God's intended plan to lead the nation of Israel to a world domination. They were to be a distinct people among the peoples, right, to be that which reflected what it looked like to live in relationship with a holy God.
[2:42] They were to be a billboard to a watching world. And as a theocratic nation, God was to be their king. He was to rule over them. Everything that set them apart from every other nation would be the fact that God was their king.
[2:56] We go through the period of Joshua, then the period of Judges, and the downward spiral, and the further man moves away from the garden, the further man goes down, and all of a sudden the desire of the nation is they want to be like everybody else.
[3:13] They want to be like the nations that are around them. They want a king that would reign over them, one that would rule over them, one that would go before them into battle and lead them victoriously. Everything they asked for in a man, God had already promised he would be as their king.
[3:25] He would go before them in battle. He would lead them victoriously. He would fight the battles for them. All these things God had promised. Israel wants to be like everybody else.
[3:36] God grants their desires and gives them a king like everybody else. We know his name is Saul. Saul is Israel's king. He has the right pedigree. His kinsmen are mighty warriors, valiant warriors.
[3:52] He has the right appearances. He's head and shoulders above everyone else. He has everything right except for his heart. He didn't even know there was a prophet in the land. He didn't, we don't really ever see him being one who sought after God.
[4:07] So Saul reigns a little while and then we understand we're not going to rehash all of it, but God rips the kingdom from Saul as Saul ripped the edge of the garment from Samuel as a direct result of Saul's disobedience, partial obedience, which was full disobedience.
[4:28] So God uses Samuel to anoint his king. His king is David at that time, a young lad who's a shepherd boy out in the field. Now David is in the place. We go through all of this because we're at the pinnacle.
[4:42] We're looking at the highest point in David's life in this chapter you'll see in just a moment. And we've been amazed at everything that we have seen because David is the right man for the right time.
[4:56] He's united the nation. The nation is no longer fighting defensive battles. They're fighting offensive battles. We'll see that in just a minute. They're expanding their territory. For the first time in the history of the people of God, they are prospering.
[5:12] They're walking faithfully. Worship is reintroduced in a proper way. The Ark of the Covenant is ushered in finally, properly. They have a king who has a heart after God and a heart for his people.
[5:26] He's the right man for the right time. But if you remember, and this is so we don't get discouraged, he is not the man for all time. He is the right man for that time, but he's not the man for all time.
[5:38] David is a type. He is a foreshadow of one that we're looking forward to. And we find that person introduced to us from the lineage of David when we move into the New Testament, who is Jesus Christ.
[5:51] We see so many types and foreshadowings of Christ in the life of David that it would be very easy to assume that this is the man. This is the hope of all mankind.
[6:04] Until we turn the page into the 11th chapter when we realize that David's a man just like us. He falls and fails. But we'll get to that. We're in the 10th chapter now.
[6:15] And we still see the activities of David's life, but we're looking at them foreshadowed. Now, I have to be just fully transparent with you. I have to filter this message also through what I'm doing Sunday morning and Sunday morning in 1 Corinthians 15.
[6:31] We speak of a kingdom there, too. We speak of a king when all things are subjected to him and placed under his feet. And there's a king that is a direct reference to the book of Daniel in Daniel chapter 7, a kingdom that has no end.
[6:44] An eternal kingdom. Which is encouraging because when we go back and we study here, we see this kingdom and all of its prosperity, but we know that it comes to an end. And it comes to a very abrupt end when man falls.
[6:58] But yet we don't look at that in despair because even in man's weaknesses in David, we see foreshadowings of Christ.
[7:12] And I hope that as we kind of read this passage, you'll think that it's kind of mundane that you'll understand. I know that's a long introduction, but I appreciate your patience. What we have in the 10th chapter is the fleshing out of what has already been told us in the 8th chapter.
[7:25] In the 8th chapter, we're told of David winning battles and expanding the kingdom. Now the author kind of backtracks a little bit because in the 9th chapter, we have Mephibosheth, right? Remember that great picture of Mephibosheth?
[7:38] A man that was so undeserving, so exalted, that he was an enemy of David. He was brought in and shown kindness. Actually, the word is hesed, the hesed love of God.
[7:51] He is exalted, he's promoted, and what a wonderful picture it is. Well, that picture continues into the 10th chapter. The Word of God says, Now it happened afterwards that the king of the Ammonites died, and Hanun, his son, became king in his place.
[8:05] Then David said, I will show kindness to Hanun, the son of Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me. So David sent some of his servants to console him concerning his father.
[8:17] But when David's servants came to the land of the Ammonites, the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun, their lord, Do you think that David is honoring your father because he has sent counselors to you?
[8:29] Has David not sent his servants to you in order to search the city, to spy it out and overthrow it? So Hanun took David's servants and shaved off half their beards and cut off their garments in the middle as far as their hips and sent them away.
[8:44] When they told it to David, he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly humiliated. And the king said, Stay at Jericho until your beards grow, and then return. Now when the sons of Ammon saw that they had become odious to David, the sons of Ammon sent and hired the Arameans of Beth-Rehab and the Arameans of Zobah, 20,000 foot soldiers, and the king of Micah with 1,000 men, and the men of Tob with 12,000 men.
[9:12] When David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the army, the mighty men. The sons of Ammon came out and drew up in battle array at the entrance of the city, while the Arameans of Zobah and of Rehob and the men of Tob and Machah were by themselves in the field.
[9:31] Now when Joab saw that the battle was set against him in front and in the rear, he selected from all the choice men of Israel and arrayed them against the Arameans. But the remainder of the people he placed in the hand of Abishai, his brother, and he arrayed them against the sons of Ammon.
[9:47] And he said, If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you shall help me. But if the sons of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will come to help you. Be strong, and let us show ourselves courageous for the sake of our people and for the cities of our God, and may the Lord do what is good in his sight.
[10:03] So Joab and the people who were with him drew near to the battle against the Arameans, and they fled before him. And when the sons of Ammon saw that the Arameans fled, they also fled before Abishai and entered the city.
[10:18] Then Joab returned from fighting against the sons of Ammon and came to Jerusalem. When the Arameans saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they gathered themselves together and Hadadazar sent and brought out the Arameans who were beyond the river, that is, the Euphrates.
[10:34] And they came to Helam and to Shobak, the commander of the army of Hadadazar, led them. Now when it was told David, he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan, came to Helam, and the Arameans arrayed themselves to meet David and fought against him.
[10:49] But the Arameans fled before Israel, and David killed 700 charioteers of the Arameans and 40,000 horsemen and struck down Shobak, the commander of their army, and he died there. When all the kings, servants of Hadadazar, saw that they were defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel and served them.
[11:08] So the Arameans feared to help the sons of Ammon anymore. This passage is directly connected to chapter 9, in that each of them are displays of kindness.
[11:23] Each of them are displays of kindness. And when we consider them together, we are reminded of the people's response to the kindness being displayed really determines the outcome of the events.
[11:38] Mephibosheth was a man who did not deserve to be shown the chesed, loving kindness of God. He was a man who was an enemy of the king. He was a descendant of Saul.
[11:49] He was a man who had a problem. He was crippled in both feet. He was a man who was in hiding, and yet David found him and brought him to himself. He was a man who was undeserving, unworthy, and unfit.
[12:02] And yet when he came into the presence of the king, he fell down on his face, and King David called him by name. Not only did he call him by name, but he raised him up and he blessed him.
[12:12] He enriched him with his possessions. He gave to him out of his own goods. David bestowed upon Mephibosheth all that he had gotten that was formerly Saul's because now David is the rightful king and it belongs to himself.
[12:26] So he gives it to Mephibosheth. And then he not only enriches him, he promotes him because Mephibosheth sits at the king's table and eats with his son. So he adopted him. That's one response to a display of kindness.
[12:40] Mephibosheth responded by that display by falling on his face. Everything that transpires in the ninth chapter really is the direct work of the king doing all the work.
[12:52] All Mephibosheth does is call himself a dead dog. He falls on his face and does nothing. The kindness is poured out upon him. The loving kindness of God is shown as a direct result of a covenant with Jonathan.
[13:06] So it is based upon a covenant. The ninth chapter shows us what it looks like when kindness is a blessing. The tenth chapter shows us what it looks like if you had to have a title when kindness is shunned.
[13:20] That is when the same king desires to show kindness to someone else and they shun that kindness. And the results of disregarding and disrespecting and dismissing the kindness of the king.
[13:34] Because just as David showed kindness to Mephibosheth, all of a sudden there is another individual who could use a little kindness as well. The king of Ammon dies.
[13:48] Now you need to understand this, that just as Mephibosheth was an enemy of the house of David, the Ammonites were enemies of the people Israel. As a matter of fact, the king that dies, King Nahash of the Ammonites, was the very king that went against the city of Jabesh-Galib, in which Saul was called out to fight his first battle.
[14:10] The first battle Saul ever fought, to be as king of the nation of Israel, was against the king of the Ammonites named Nahash. Some Bible scholars say that we probably have went 60 to 70 years since that time, so this may not be the same one.
[14:26] Maybe they just named every one of their kings that. I don't know. I tend to take a literal interpretation. This is the same man. And yet we see here that when this man dies, who is the king of the self-declared enemies of the nation of Israel, David says to himself, Now I will show kindness to his son.
[14:45] Now he's going to show kindness, the Bible tells us, as his father had shown kindness to me. You need to understand that there's no biblical record or historical record for us to see when that happened or how it happened.
[14:59] Some would say, and it's probably most likely, that during the wilderness years of David, David had entered into some type of agreement with the Ammonites, lived among their land because they bordered the nation of Israel, and therefore entered into some kind of peace agreement with them while he was fleeing from Saul.
[15:17] And he was going to be a person who kept that integrity because no one is going into anybody else's land here. No one is invading. No one's fighting any battle. David has this sincerity and says, Now I will show kindness.
[15:31] The first thing I want you to notice is about shun kindness is it is directly affected by the advice we take. The kindness of the king or the goodness of the king is directly affected by the advice we take.
[15:50] David sent his men, men from his royal courts, because it was the king's desire to show kindness to Hanan. It was the king's desire to show kindness to an individual whose father had just died.
[16:06] There are no ulterior motives. There's nothing in there to make us think that David wasn't doing this in all sincerity. But yet when he sends his messenger to show kindness, it says, So the princes of the Ammonites said to the king, Do you think?
[16:25] I don't know if you've caught the consistency in scripture, but problems always arise when the king of the land does something and the enemy always says, Do you think?
[16:36] When the enemy starts to doubt the king's motives, did God really say? All the way back into the garden. Did he say?
[16:47] When we begin to question the motives of the king, then we start entering into dangerous territory. And here we have a new king. Evidently, David knew his father.
[17:00] If this was not the same Nahash who had fought against Saul, even if it was the other one, David had known his father. David's trying to show kindness, but rather than responding to the kindness, he's listening to the people around him.
[17:14] Rather than responding to a legitimate display of kindness from the king of the land, he listens to the counselors around him. Quite often, the loudest advice comes from the people who know the least.
[17:26] That's in our own lives as well. Quite often, those who thought they knew David's motives knew nothing about him.
[17:41] And he took this advice. We read of it happening later on in the kings of the nation of Israel. Because the counsel we take is really important.
[17:54] And in this world, there are a lot of people who have a word of wisdom or advice or counsel. I have found that everybody wants to give advice about everything.
[18:06] But we have to be careful. Because what happens is when these princes say to the king, do you think that David is really showing you kindness? He's here to search out the land.
[18:17] All of a sudden, Hanun does something he should never do. He publicly humiliated the servants of David. Shaved off half their beards.
[18:27] And cut their robes up to their hips. Now, the clothing's not a big deal. You can find more clothes. But having the beard shorn is a sign of great disrespect even to this day.
[18:41] So he told them to stay until your beards grow. Now, there's danger there because all of a sudden, David hears of this. Counsel had said something else.
[18:53] The advice had said, you need to show scorn. And I've noticed that when the people give the advice, it's not really ever their problem when things go south. Because those who gave the advice never have to do anything after that.
[19:06] They gave bad advice, but it's King Hanun who has to do something. Because it says, then the sons of Ammon realized they had become odious. A word there means that they began to stink really bad in the sight of David.
[19:18] It's really a word of great offense. So now, based upon the quote unquote good advice of his princes, the king has shunned the legitimate kindness.
[19:31] The king's legitimate kindness has been shunned. And now there's a problem. Because as Mephibosheth was exalted, the Ammonites are going to be demoted.
[19:48] Same king, same kindness, different responses. Mephibosheth fell on his face. The sons of Ammon took the high-handed road and said, we don't need that kind of kindness, we shun it.
[20:03] So be careful of the advice we take. The second thing we notice from the passage is not only the advice we take, we see the alliances formed.
[20:15] The alliances formed. Because inevitably, the moment that man shuns the kindness of the king, he begins to ally himself with others.
[20:25] The moment that man makes himself odious to the king, he begins to try to find people who will stand with him. The sons of Ammon, it says, realize all of a sudden we're in trouble.
[20:40] This is David and his mighty men. So since we're in trouble with the king, we need to go start form allegiances and alliances. So they reach out to the Arameans and they start calling people from here, start calling people from there.
[20:53] By the way, it cost them to do that because the alliances and allegiances in that day came with a price tag. You had to pay them to come. So when you shun the king, it's going to cost you. So they begin to pay people and have them come in, bring in mercenaries in, and all these soldiers, and all it would be beneficial if we all kind of came against it.
[21:10] Because when man rejects the king, he always wants to find somebody that will stand with him. And they all gather together. But you know what I notice in the passage, and I notice it throughout biblical history with the nation of Israel, as long as they're following the Lord.
[21:29] It is when they fail to do this thing that they begin to go downward. But the one thing that I notice here in this passage is that while all these people are coming from all these places and they're all gathering for battle, it says, and then Joab came with David's mighty men.
[21:43] He came with the army, and he realized the battle was set before him both in the front and in the back. There is one army that didn't make any alliances. That's the king's army.
[21:56] And they didn't call for help. They didn't ask other people to join them. They realized they went to a battlefield, and they had them both before them and behind them.
[22:08] They didn't retreat. They didn't retract. And they didn't form alliances. It says, they surrendered the battle to the Lord.
[22:20] Joab took this part. He gave the rest to his brother Abishai over here. Now, Joab is a case study of a man who is tossed to and fro like the waves of the sea, the book of James would say. Joab has his high points, also has his low points, which is why David can't trust him later on, and he ends up getting demoted.
[22:36] We're not here to promote Joab, right? We're just here to look at this one scene in his life, and we see this because be careful who we put on a pedestal in Scripture because the moment we put somebody on a pedestal in Scripture, we turn the page, and they fall off that pedestal unless it's Jesus Christ.
[22:55] But here we see Joab in one of his high points doesn't try to form an alliance with anyone else, doesn't go look for more help. As a matter of fact, divides his forces and says, this is a twofold thing, right?
[23:08] Fight the battle. Be courageous. Fight for the people of God and for the cities of God, and may the Lord do what he sees best. That is, he surrenders and said, may God's will be done, but he also realizes God's will is going to be done when we do a little work.
[23:26] They still had to fight. This is faith and works working together. I'm not saying that he won it because of faith, or he won it because of works.
[23:36] This is, again, we go back to the book of James, faith without works is dead, to say that God's going to do what he wants in the battle and not do anything about it unless God tells you to be still, as we see elsewhere, would be to have dead faith.
[23:48] Here Joab decides we're going to trust the Lord. Fights the battle. It's an amazing thing. And we understand that those who had been called in, the hirelings, if you will, the Arameans, are the first to fall.
[24:00] When the Arameans fled, the sons of Ammon went into the city, and they left on their side note. They didn't go into the city because that time of year is not a good time to go into the city, just when they're fighting more than likely. They didn't want to go into that city because in the 11th chapter, during the spring, when kings go out to war, that's when Joab went back to that city and defeated the sons of Ammon, and that's when David should have been at the city, but he wasn't at the city, but that's for another time.
[24:24] They go back. But they leave them in the city. The city is well fortified, so they leave them there. But one thing you notice is though these people had shunned the king, they had formed all kinds of alliances and allegiances.
[24:35] They had all the help. They still were nothing in the presence of the king's army because a rejected king always caused people to account. David is moving forward here.
[24:51] So we notice the advice taken, the alliance is formed, but then we have to pay special attention to the last thing, the advancing kingdom. The advancing kingdom.
[25:03] Joab leaves the sons of Ammon in the city. They'll come back later. He goes back to Jerusalem. The Arameans, on the other hand, while they had fled from Joab, decide they're not done fighting, so they go and they begin to call all the sons of the Arameans together.
[25:18] This is what is spoken of in the 8th chapter where it says David had all these fortifications on the eastern side of the Jordan River. It's where we began to look at how he was expanding. And this is how it happened.
[25:29] Because the Arameans decided they didn't like losing to Joab, so they went over here and they got more help, and they got more help, and they got more help. They called all the sons of the Arameans to themselves, and they fought a battle. And it says, And then David took all of his army, gathered all Israel together, took all of his army, and went on the other side of the Jordan River.
[25:44] Now, that's good. Because now he's going to the eastern side of the Jordan River, and he's advancing. Again, they're not on the defensive, they're on the offensive. It's important. Because the kingdom with the right king is moving forward.
[25:59] And David goes with the men of Israel, and the Arameans oppose him, and they're there, and they fight the battle, and it says that they win the battle. The sons of Israel win the battle. And the commander of the Aramean army dies on the battlefield, and it says, So they surrendered.
[26:15] They gave up, the word of God tells us. It says, When all the king's servants of Hadadazar saw that they were defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel and served them.
[26:27] And so the Arameans feared to help the sons of Ammon anymore. One thing we notice here is that the king and its kingdom is advancing into new territory.
[26:40] Because the shunned king is still calling people to account. And he's setting up an enlarged kingdom. Rather than being rejected and denied by men and kind of cast off to the side, his kingdom is advancing, and he's moving into new territory.
[26:56] And he's defeating the enemies, and he's pushing them back. And the people are submitting and surrendering to him and serving him. And they're no longer willing to help the sons of Ammon. Now you say, What does all this have to do with anything?
[27:07] Well, if we follow what we've seen in David, and I'm concluding here, that David is a great foreshadow and a type of the king to come. David is not the king we're looking for.
[27:22] The king we're looking for will come from the family of David, of the lineage of David. That's the Davidic covenant, right? Your seed will build a temple.
[27:34] Your seed. We're looking for the seed of David. In this seed of David, when we carry it throughout Scripture, and we see the promises, the anticipation is for a king. A king that was set upon the throne eternal.
[27:47] A king that will have the rod of iron, and the scepter that shall never be taken from his hand. A king that is alluded to in Numbers 24, that a star shall arise, and he shall rule over the people.
[27:59] A king that all throughout the Old Testament is spoken of over and over and over again. A king from the right land, the right people, the right person, the right clan, everything.
[28:11] A king with the right pedigree, that is God's king. A king that will come and establish a kingdom that will reign eternally. And it's a king that was set upon the throne, expressing and displaying kindness to all unworthy individuals.
[28:26] And it is a king who has a desire to show the loving kindness of God to the most undeserving of people. Every one of us find ourselves on the spectrum from Mephibosheth to Hanon.
[28:41] We either know we're nobody with a problem, or we think we're somebody sitting on the throne. And the common denominator is, is that the same king has sought to show the same kindness.
[28:52] And when the king shows the kindness, people will be held accountable as to how they respond. Those who surrender to that kindness and fall flat on their face will be exalted.
[29:05] The word of God says, he who humbles himself will be exalted. Those who shun the kindness of the king, no matter how many allegiances and alliances they form, no matter how many wise counselors they may have, no matter how strong they think they may be, no matter how much they gather to fight the battle in the end, they will be defeated.
[29:25] For the king setting up his kingdom is a kingdom that will advance. You may oppose it, you may deny it, and you may reject it, but you cannot stop it.
[29:39] Because when we read the fullness of the word of God, we understand that his kingdom will be established over all the earth, and he will reign eternally forevermore. It will never be defeated, it will never falter, and it will never stumble.
[29:55] But we all find ourselves somewhere on the spectrum, from Mephibosheth to Hanan. And someday, all mankind will be held accountable for how they responded to the loving kindness of the king on the throne.
[30:12] will either be exalted and promoted to a place that we do not deserve, or we will stand and fall in a deserving judgment of condemnation.
[30:25] We have to be careful of the advice and the counsel we take. Nobody told Mephibosheth how he should respond to the king, he just responded. But we're all somewhere between those two.
[30:38] Now sure, we see these types and these beautiful pictures in David, and it's going to be sad when we turn the page and we see him fall. But don't let the failures of David tempt us to think that the king who's coming after him will do the same, because he is not the seat of man, he's the seat of a woman.
[30:57] He's totally different. His kingdom will be forever. Oh, we'll see it again on Sunday morning as we look at 1 Corinthians 15, we continue to make our way through there.
[31:09] What a beautiful picture it is. We all respond, we all stand one day on how we respond to the kindness of the king.
[31:20] Do we fall on our faces and say we're so undeserving, or do we shun it and publicly humiliate the messengers whom the king has sent to declare it to us. But one day, we will all be held accountable to how we respond.
[31:34] 2 Samuel 10. Thank you, my brothers. Thank you.
[32:26] Thank you. Thank you.
[33:26] Thank you. Thank you.
[34:26] Thank you. Thank you.
[35:26] Thank you. Thank you.
[36:26] Thank you. Thank you.
[37:26] Thank you. Thank you.
[38:26] Thank you. Thank you.
[39:26] Thank you. Thank you.
[39:57] Thank you.