As we closed yesterday's study we found David sending his army commander, Joab, out with all the fighting men to the Ammonites' capital city of Rabbah. The Ammonites wanted to make war with the Israelites so the Israelites have brought the war to their doorstep. But Joab finds himself and his soldiers surrounded as all the Ammonites spread out in battle array in front of them and the Ammonites' 33,000 hired Aramean soldiers spread out in the field behind them.
"Joab saw that there were battle lines in front of him and behind him; so he selected some of the best troops of Israel and deployed them against the Arameans." (2 Samuel 10:9) Job expects the Aramean mercenaries to be more difficult to fight than the Ammonite soldiers. He is going to lead the charge against them himself with his fittest, most experienced soldiers.
He puts his brother Abishai in charge of the remaining men. "He put the rest of the men under the command of Abishai his brother and deployed them against the Ammonites." (2 Samuel 10:10)
Now Joab makes a short but inspiring speech. "Joab said, 'If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you are to come to my rescue; but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come to rescue you. Be strong, and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The Lord will do what is good in His sight.'" (2 Samuel 10:11-12)
He says something like, "Let us do our best and let God do the rest. If you, Abishai, and your men see the Arameans getting the upper hand over me and my troops, you are to come to our aid. If I see the Ammonites prevailing over you and your troops, my men and I will come to your aid. We must be brave for there is much at stake here. If we lose this war, we lose our status as a sovereign nation. We will no longer be free but will become a vassal-state of the Ammonites. Fight for your king and country! Fight for your wives and your children! Fight for your homes and your livelihoods! Fight like men who know Almighty God is on your side!"
After being reminded of all they have to fight for---and all they stand to lose---the men charge toward the enemy soldiers. "Then Joab and the troops with him advanced to fight the Arameans, and they fled before him. When the Ammonites realized that the Arameans were fleeing, they fled before Abishai and went inside the city." (2 Samuel 10:13-14a) The soldiers-for-hire quickly abandon their employers when they see the ferocious men of Israel charging at them in the confidence of their God. When the Ammonites realize their paid fighters have fled, they retreat inside the walls of their city. The Bible doesn't say that the Israelites had to fight anyone on this occasion and I think it's very likely they didn't.
"So Joab returned from fighting the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem. After the Ammonites saw that they had been routed by Israel, they regrouped. Hadadezer had Arameans brought from beyond the Euphrates River; they went to Helam, with Shobak the commander of Hadadezer's army leading them." (2 Samuel 10:14b-16) In Chapter 8 we were told that Hadadezer was the king of Zobah (an Aramean kingdom) and that he had gone down to the Euphrates River to strengthen his control over that area. Instead David and his men fought and defeated Hadadezer's soldiers in battle by the Euphrates and David gained control of that region. Many more Arameans came out to help Hadadezer after his men lost the battle but the Aramean soldiers were defeated. It could be that Hadadezer's forces were so easily overwhelmed because he had spread them too thin; Chapter 8 informed us that at the same time he was also at war with the king of Hamath. But after the Ammonites and their mercenaries lose the battle at Rabbah in our current chapter, they regroup and King Hanun of the Ammonites teams up with King Hadadezer and hires his army to help him make another attempt to defeat the army of Israel.
"When David was told of this, he gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan and went to Helam. The Arameans formed their battle lines to meet David and fought against him. But they fled before Israel, and David killed seven hundred of their charioteers and forty thousand of their foot soldiers. He also struck down Shobak the commander of their army, and he died there. When all the kings who were vassals of Hadadezer saw that they had been routed by Israel, they made peace with the Israelites and became subject to them. So the Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites anymore." (2 Samuel 10:17-19) The Ammonites are too few in number to face down the army of Israel all on their own. They need allies and extra soldiers to successfully wage war. But their war with Israel has so far been disastrous. Their hired soldiers keep running from battle. They keep losing their vassal states who are now placing their allegiance with David. Instead of defeating Israel in battle and making Israel a vassal-state of the Ammonites, the nation of Israel has gained new vassal-states of its own.
The fame of King David is known far and wide. The fear of the army of Israel is spreading far and wide. This may be why David commits such a shocking sin in the next chapter. When the rainy season ends and the army of Israel is able to get back to the work of completely defeating the Ammonites, David doesn't go out to war with his army as kings typically do. Joab and his men were so successful in routing the Ammonites in Chapter 10 that David doesn't think they need his guidance. He becomes overconfident, not only in automatically assuming that the Lord will always fight on his people's side but in assuming he is strong enough to fight spiritual battles on his own. He stays behind in Jerusalem and gets in trouble.
We've noted before that spiritual lows often follow spiritual highs. One of the reasons for this---perhaps the main reason---is that this is when we're most likely to let our guard down. I think David lets his guard down, which leads him to the deepest spiritual low of his life.
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