A Time For War
As
chapter 20 opens, we see that there is a time for war. The spring of the year – when the crop is in
the ground and there is little else to do, the fields can tolerate a little
neglect while the men go off to war. Kings
would round up the men, head of to war, do battle until no later than the
middle of summer when the armies would return home and tend the harvest that
was about to come in.
Here’s
what we can learn from this portion of the story. In many instances there is an appropriate
time for doing things. There are times
that make sense. There are seasons that
make sense. And of course, there are
seasons that don’t make sense.
Only a
foolish king – or a king with incredible stockpiles of surplus – would hold
their troops in foreign territory when the harvest was coming. Additionally, it makes sense to go to war in
the spring as we all know that people with little to do will find things to do
and often those things are less than productive to the functioning of society.
This also
tells us that in spite of what leaders may say, there is a hierarchy of needs
in life and everyone knows it. Food and
water are pretty high on the list. War
may occasionally be necessary, but it is not more necessary than food and
water. Not only do we need to evaluate
the season of an event, we should evaluate the significance of the event. An event that is either out of season or
displacing an event of a higher need should be avoided. Good leaders understand this principle.
A Trophy
I had to
smile as I read the passage about David taking the city. If you are curious how David could have
stayed in Jerusalem and conquered Rabbah, read the account listed in 2 Samuel 12:26-29. Joab takes the hard outer defenses and David
comes and finishes the task.
So David
is victorious, and he takes the crown of the king. {Note:
the Hebrew word for king here is ambiguous and it could mean Milcom, the chief
god of the Ammonites, which might explain the weight.} Can you imagine putting some heavy metal
crown weighing 75 pounds on your head! I
feel bad for David’s neck!
The point
of this act, however, is not for David to wear the crown. He already has a crown that marks him as the
king of the Jews. The point is that
David has defeated the highest authority in the land. That makes him the authority over the
Ammonites. They now are subjected under
him. As such, David turns them into
laborers. They become part of David’s
great building machine. He subjects them
and heads back home, victorious. Again
we see David made prosperous in his pursuits.
Philistines
You might
recall that the chronicler began David’s wartime account with a note about the
Philistines. Now the chronicler ends an
accounting of David’s wartime activities with another account of the
Philistines. The Philistines were the
arch enemy of David. They were the
perpetual thorn in David’s side, yet David routinely got the better of them.
As we
look at these Philistines, note the continued comment about their physical
stature. We know about David and the
giant, Goliath. Here in this passage we
also hear about Sippai, Lahmi, and the nameless giant struck down by
Jonathon. In fact, we have the word “giant”
mentioned 5 times in 5 verses! Let’s
also not forget that the Hebrew people weren’t exactly known for their height.
What is
the chronicler saying? Physical stature
can only get you so far. Yes, size is an
important first indicator. But aspects
such as quickness, cunning, and strategy can actually be more important than
physical size. The chronicler appears to
be making the point that we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.
The
chronicler is also making a point that human stature is nothing when compared
to God’s will. God desired to prosper
David. God desired to bring success to
David and the Hebrew people under David’s leadership. What are a few stout, strong, and large men
in the face of the will of God? I think
this is a lesson that most of us can stand to learn again and again. What are human obstacles when compared to the
will of God?
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