2 Samuel 10 - The Courage and Faith of a General

Previously in 2 Samuel, we saw how David kept a promise he made to Jonathan, Saul’s son. Mephibosheth was Jonathan’s son, and he was lame in his feet. He was hiding out in Lo Debar, probably trying to avoid being executed for being heir to Saul’s throne. When David found out about him, he brought Mephibosheth to his own house to eat bread at his table continually, and he restored to him all of his grandfather Saul’s land. David then told Ziba, Saul’s servant, that he and his sons and servants should work the land and bring in the harvest for Mephibosheth. Not only was David not wiping out a potential heir to Saul’s throne, he was going above and beyond the call of duty by blessing Mephibosheth in this way. Picking up in chapter 10, we will see another battle highlighted that some believe to be a further expounding of the battle in chapter 8.

Nahash, the king of the Ammonites, died, and his son, Hanun, took the throne. If we recall from 1 Samuel, Nahash had gone to war with the inhabitants of Jabish Gilead (Israelites), and Saul had come to their rescue. Somehow between then and now, Nahash had showed kindness to David, and David wanted to return the favor by sending comforters to Hanun after his father’s death.

When David’s servants came into Ammon, Hanun’s servants were suspicious of them, and accused David of sending them as spies to overthrow the city. So, Hanun took David’s servants, shaved off half their beards, cut off their garments at their buttocks, and sent them away. In the eastern culture, a beard was a sign of manhood, so this was a big insult. David chose not to act hastily, but told the men to stay at Jericho until their beards grew back.

The Ammonites, seeing that they had made themselves repulsive to David, hired 20 thousand footmen of the Syrians of Beth Rehob and Zoba, one thousand men from the king of Maacah, and 12 thousand men from Esh-Tob. When David heard of it, he sent Jobb and all the mighty men to go to Ammon. When they got there, the Ammonites had set the battle in the city gate, and the others were in the field.

Joab, seeing that the battle was before and behind him, divided his army into two groups. He picked some of the best soldiers to go with him to fight the Syrians, and left the rest of them with his brother, Abishai. He told him that if the Syrians were too strong for him, then Abishai could come help him, but if the Ammonites were too strong for Abishai, then he would help his brother. It is interesting that Joab did not accept total defeat as an option, but was confident that between the two groups of soldiers they would be victorious. This could be because he knew the potential of his own men, or that he was confident in the Lord’s protection and strength. What he says next makes me believe the latter when he says, “Be of good courage, and let us be strong for our people and for the cities of our God. And may the Lord do what is good in His sight.” Joab, despite his many faults, was displaying great courage and faith here, and this is what made him the general of David’s mighty men.

When they drew near to the battle, the Syrians fled from before Joab, and the Ammonites followed suit. Joab could have pursued after them, but perhaps thought it better to walk away from the fight. Again, it was David’s goal originally to show Hanun kindness. We should always seek to walk away from a fight if possible, but when it is not possible, then we should seek to win quickly and decisively.

The Syrians, however, were not willing to walk away from the fight. Instead of accepting defeat, they sent for re-enforcements as far as the Euphrates River, and came to Helam to fight. This time David went with the army, and he took all of Israel to fight with the Syrians.

Again, the Syrians fled before David and his men, and David killed 700 charioteers, 40 thousand horsemen, and struck Shobach the captain of their army who died there. When all the kings who served Hadadezer of the Syrians saw that the Syrians were defeated, they made peace with Israel and served them. The Syrians were also afraid to help the Ammonites anymore. This battle left some unfinished business in Rabbah of the Ammonites that David will choose to tackle the following Spring.

To say that we are in a battle today as Christians is an understatement. Truthfully, we are surrounded by evil, trying to swallow us up along with the rest of the culture. Is our tendency to simply retreat and accept defeat, or to be like Joab who put his trust in the Lord and fought anyway? Men, we may have many faults, but we are the generals of our homes, and this requires great courage and faith     on our parts. Let us be of good courage, be strong for our families and our communities, and may the Lord do what is good in His sight.

 

Psalm 1 - Blessed Is the Man

 

If you would ask them, most people would answer that they want to live a blessed life. The question is then, how does one go about living a life that is blessed? I think the first Chapter of the book of Psalms gives us some definite insights. It states:

“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.  But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.  And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.  The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.  Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.  For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.”

The word “blessed” here means How happy, (how happy is the man). Interesting that the Lord wants us to be happy in life: Being a Christian doesn’t mean being somber, depressed, and in a bad mood all the time. He wants us to fully enjoy life.

When a former pastor of ours was teaching through the book of Psalms, one of the things he pointed out in Psalm 1 is that it starts out by saying the man is blessed who does not do certain things. There are both positive and negative commands in the Scriptures: We may not always like the negative commands, but The Lord begins here by saying we must not do certain things to enjoy blessing.

The first thing the Lord tells us is, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly”. Counsel is not the giving of instruction, say for example, in teaching someone how to change the oil in his car, otherwise, we would not be able to go to school, work, or anything in which we would learn something unless they were Christians. Counsel is the giving of advice, and by its nature, involves discerning the difference between right and wrong or wisdom and foolishness. The ungodly, in the most basic sense, are nonbelievers, and are contrasted with the righteous, believers who are submitted to the word of God. However, we do need to use caution, for sometimes this bad counsel can come from believers who are not submitted to the word of God themselves or those who merely profess to be believers. This can be more dangerous, since we have a tendency to trust people more who sound spiritual. Many people (believers included) seek advice from worldly sources such as an unsaved co-worker, college professor or humanistic psychologist instead of finding guidance through the Scriptures. They then wonder why things do not turn out as they had hoped. The Bible contains answers to all the important questions in life that we need. Therefore, our primary source for counsel/advice should come from God’s Word and the Holy Spirit who teaches them to us. The Psalmist wrote, “Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counselors.” (Psalm 119:24) Jesus told His disciples, “But the Comforter (Counselor), which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” (John 14:26)

Our second source of counsel should be from those individuals who hold God’s Word in high esteem. It’s not that a nonbeliever always will give bad advice, but their entire outlook on life is different. This will have an overall effect on their world view, and consequently on the advice they will give. If you or I am receiving counsel from someone who is not a believer and not using the Scriptures as the foundation of the advice they are giving us, we need to stop listening to them. Solomon wrote, “Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words of knowledge.” (Proverbs 19:27) When it involves matters of right and wrong or wisdom and foolishness, we need to seek advice from those who are believers, and will use the Scriptures as their primary source of direction.

The next step after walking in the counsel of the ungodly is to stand in the way of sinners. At this point the person is no longer just following bad advice from an ungodly person, but they are standing with them. This implies a fellowship taking place. Instead of surrounding themselves with godly persons who love the Lord, they surround themselves with sinners as their close circle of friends. When you or I are walking in sin, we naturally do not want to hang out with those who are doing right because their doing right shines light on our sins. People who do not want to walk in godly counsel will often seek the person(s) that will tell them the thing they want to hear, as if to attempt to justify their behavior. Unfortunately, this only serves to take them down a path leading them further away from the Lord, and will only lead to more compromise on what they know to be right. As we read in Romans 1, they become futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts are darkened. They become more hardened to the conviction of their sin, and as a result do not see the need to accept the Gospel. Almost synonymous with hardness of heart is unbelief. They refuse to believe the truths found in the Scriptures, and the Lord is far from their thoughts. This can only lead to more foolishness, since at the heart of foolishness is unbelief. For a believer, they also become hardened to the conviction of the Holy Spirit, and will end up in a backslidden state. The apostle Paul wrote, “Be not deceived: evil communications (company) corrupt good manners.” (1 Corinthians 15:33) So, as we can see, it is important that our close circle of friends are believers who want to obey the word of God.

Close kin to being foolish is being scornful. A fool rejects biblical truth, while a scorner both rejects it and mocks it. He also mocks at anyone that attempts to live their lives according to the Truth. The third part of verse 1 states that the person sits in the seat of the scornful. This is speaking to sitting in the seat of judgment. This is not true or righteous judgment, but a hatred and condemnation for those who seek to do what is right. They have now become scornful, and seek to place judgment on those who do not follow in the same path as they. Even when they want to get wisdom, they are unable to obtain it. Proverbs says, “A scorner seeketh wisdom, and findeth it not: but knowledge is easy unto him that understandeth.” (Proverbs 14:6) The book of Proverbs has a lot to say about the scornful man, and when a person reaches this point there is no reasoning with them. Many times, the only thing that can be done to them is to punish them. If they continue in this state, they can only expect to face the wrath of God on judgment day. When a believer becomes scornful, they will often find themselves in a state of discipline from the Lord.

Notice how this is a natural progression that a person follows: You first walk with someone, when you arrive at your destination you stop/stand still, and then you sit down. The walking in ungodly counsel leads to the standing with/fellowshipping with sinners, and the standing with sinners leads to the sitting in the scornful seat with them. We begin investing time and emotion into these relationships, and do not want to give them up.

In contrast, if a believer does not walk down the path of the ungodly, and delights in the Lord’s Word, He promises blessing. Verse 2 says that the man delights in the law of the Lord, and meditates on it day and night. The Word meditate means that he is chewing on it, like a cow that chews the cud. Moses stated the following in Deuteronomy: “these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” (Deuteronomy 6:6-7) The Lord and His Word should constantly be on a believer’s mind and heart. If they are constantly renewing their minds with God’s Word, it becomes more and more difficult to think on worldly things. It is also important to study all of God’s Word. The apostle Paul told the Ephesian elders, “For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.” (Acts 20:28) Studying the whole counsel of God’s Word helps believers compare Scripture with Scripture, so that they do not take it out of context. Studying the entire Bible, comparing Scripture with Scripture, is one of the best protections against false teaching. If you have never read through the whole Bible, I would strongly encourage you to do so. You can read through the whole Bible in a year if you read three chapters a day, and five on Sundays. Once you have finished, start over and read through it again. This is by no means the only way to read and study the Bible, but I cannot think of a better way for new believers or believers who are not familiar with the word to know the whole Counsel of the Scriptures.

Not only is it important to study and know God’s word, but believers need to obey what it says. Jesus told His disciples, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15), and “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love (John 15:10).  James says, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.  For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.  But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed” (James 1:22-25).

When believers delight in and walk in obedience to the word of God, there is a natural blessing that takes place. “And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” If a person delights in God’s Word, they will soak it up like water and put it into practice in their lives. They will then bring forth fruit in the Lord’s timing, they will not wither or dry up spiritually, and whatever they do will prosper. The Lord told Joshua, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” (Josh 1:8) This is a cause-and-effect relationship: Because of the work Jesus accomplished at Calvary, believers are blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ, and by obeying the Word they put themselves in a place where they can enjoy these blessings to the fullest.

The ungodly are not like this tree planted by the rivers of water, but are like chaff driven away by the wind. The chaff is the outer shell or hull of grain, that once separated from the kernel, was thrown into the air, and the wind blows the chaff away. On the day of judgment, the ungodly will be found to have no substance or value in their works, and as a result, will not be able to stand before God. Sinners (those who have rejected Jesus Christ) will not be able to stand in the congregation of the righteous, for they have rejected the only provision for their sin in exchange for their own filthy rags. This will leave them weighed in the balances and found wanting. The Lord knows the way of the righteous; He knows those whose names have been written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, who have had their sins washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ. He also knows the ungodly who will perish. The books will be opened, they will be judged according to their works, and be thrown into the lake of fire (Rev 20:11-15).

In closing, let us consider what path we are on. If you are not a Christian, you are clearly on the path of the ungodly. You will be carried away on the day of Judgment, and cast into Hell, along with the devil and his angels. Repent and believe the Gospel! Place your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and trust that what he did on the cross is sufficient to pay your sin debt in full. You will then be forgiven of all your sins and receive eternal life. As believers, we have all been on the path of the ungodly at one point. We need to pray that we can quickly recognize when we begin to go astray, and then to repent as well.   We need to delight in God’s word, meditate on it day and night, and obey what it says. Then we will be like the tree by the rivers of water, and we will bring forth fruit in God’s timing. We will not wither or dry up spiritually, for we have drunk from the water that Jesus said, if a man drinks, he will never thirst again. As we come to know the Scriptures, they teach us the right way to go, so that whatever we do we will prosper. How happy we will be in life, in death, and in eternity to come.

Romans 16 - The Revelation of the Mystery

        Previously in Romans, Paul finished up his discussion on Christian liberty. Believers who are strong are to bear with the weaknesses of other believers, and put their needs ahead of their own. This is to follow in Jesus’ example who went to the cross for you and me. We serve a God of hope who wants to fill us with joy and peace by believing, that we may also abound in hope through the Holy Spirit. In closing his letter, Paul expressed his desire and plan to come see them on his way to Spain, but his desire was not fulfilled in the way he had expected. In chapter 16, he will finish his closing by giving several greetings.

He begins by commending Phoebe who was a sister in the Lord and a servant of the church in Cenchrea. She was headed to Rome, and was probably entrusted with delivering this epistle to them. The word for servant is translated as deacon in other passages, but probably is not referring to the office of deacon since Paul addresses the qualifications for deacons and their wives in 1 Timothy 3:8-12. Also, when the apostles chose the first deacons, they chose seven men (see Acts 6:3-4). However, she was a willing servant to the Church, and apparently had been of great help to Paul and many others. The fact she was being entrusted to take Paul’s letter to Rome demonstrates she was thought highly of by the Church. Paul instructed them to receive her in the Lord in a worthy manner as other saints, and to assist her in whatever business she had need of.

Next, he tells the Church to greet Priscilla and Aquila, his fellow-workers in Christ Jesus. Paul had met Priscilla and Aquila on his second missionary journey when he arrived in Corinth. They had come to Corinth because Claudius Caesar had commanded all Jews to leave Rome. He, being of the same trade as them,  worked with them in  tent-making (Acts 18:1-3). As a side-note, Paul did not view himself above hard work as an apostle and minister of the Gospel. Ministry itself is hard work, but he also had a trade that he used to provide for himself at times on his missionary journeys. As a former Jewish rabbi, it would have been standard practice for him to have a trade. He probably did not do this all the time, but he did use it as a fallback on occasion to avoid being a financial burden to others and the accusation that he was preaching for gain. Some pastors enter into the ministry with the notion that the Church should provide all their needs, and this is certainly nice when it works out that way. However, sometimes this is not possible, especially in rural communities. Most pastors I know have to work, at least a little bit, in order to provide for their families because either their churches are just too small, or, in some instances, people do not want to give.

Prescilla and Aquila were a husband-and-wife team who ministered with Paul in Corinth, who left Corinth when Paul did, and stayed in Ephesus for a time. Apparently, they were back in Rome at the time of this epistle. They are mentioned several times by both Luke and Paul in the New Testament, some listing Aquila first, and others listing Priscilla first. Some like to read more into this, even going as far as to say that Priscilla was the leader of their home church. However, there is no Biblical precedence for this view, and would contradict Paul’s instruction to Timothy in 1 Timothy 2:12-14. Other contemporary documents show that a person’s first mention indicates his/her social prominence or conversational initiative rather than a role reversal. Paul may have been doing it as a way to demonstrate the equal spiritual standing of men and women who are believers (Galatians 3:28). Another possibility is that some believe Priscilla was a Gentile, and Paul may have addressed her first since he was writing to a gentile audience. He credits them with risking their necks for him, possibly referring to his legal troubles in Corinth (Acts 18:12-17) or the riot in Ephesus (Acts 19:21-41).

They also had churches that met in their home in both Ephesus and in Rome, so they were working together to encourage believers to grow in their walks with the Lord. The early church regularly met in homes, and did so until the mid-third century. As believers we are told to be in the habit of assembling together, but the Scriptures do not say where. That means it is up to us to meet in the place that suits us best, and homes can be a very practical place for this, especially in times of persecution. However, these home churches had elder leadership (Acts 14:23 and Titus 1:5). From these passages and others, we can see that there was more than one elder appointed in a city. This could be that any given gathering had more than one elder present, or that as the number of believers grew, there would have been several home meetings taking place, each of them needing at least one elder. In summary, this was a powerful husband-and-wife team who were devoted to advancing the Kingdom, and were willing to lay their lives on the line for Paul. These are the type of people you want in your corner, especially in the ministry.

Paul gives greetings to several more individuals, and he has something good to say about many of them. He was good at building up others, even the Corinthians whom he had to severely correct. They were greetings to ordinary people like you and me who loved the Lord and served Him with the gifts He gave them. Out of the persons listed here, seven of them mentioned by name were women. Everywhere the Gospel has gone it has promoted women as one in Christ and heirs of the promise of God, the same as the men. Some of them, Andronicus and Junia, were Paul’s countrymen and fellow prisoners, and were apostles. This was not of the original 12, but of others listed such as Silas, Barnabas, and others. Some like to interpret Junia to be a woman apostle since the name can be masculine or feminine, but this, again, would not be in keeping with Paul’s instruction in his other epistles. Some of the individuals listed are recognized for laboring for the Lord, and some of them are recognized for laboring much. Out of the 24 persons listed, 13 of them appear in inscriptions or documents connected with the emperor’s palace in Rome, so Paul could have been greeting servants of Caesar’s who became Christians. He tells them to greet one another with a holy kiss, a common way of greeting someone in that culture. Different cultures have different forms of greeting one another, but the idea is it should be a warm friendly greeting that shows we are genuinely glad to see them. And, “the Churches of Christ greet you.”

As a matter of importance, he urges them to note (mark) those who cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine they had already learned. These are those who do not adhere to sound doctrine, those things that make Christianity true Christianity. This is much of what Paul taught in the book of Romans, the first five chapters in particular. A believer can be wrong about things in subsequent chapters of the book, but it can be detrimental to their Christian walk. For example, if a believer does not understand the truths found in chapters 6-8, they will be saved, but walking in defeat as it relates to their sin. A person does not have to have a correct view on God’s plan for Israel in order to be a Christian, but so often, this descends into antisemitism and an out-right hatred of the Jew. When you see professing believers spew out hatred for the Jewish people (or any people group for that matter), you do have to wonder.

These individuals who do not adhere to essential doctrines are not true believers, but are serving their own bellies (desires). We are not to give place to these individuals because they use smooth words and flattery to deceive those who are immature in the faith. They are seeking to draw a following, and it causes confusion and division in the Church. When we encounter these types of individuals, Paul says we are to avoid them. He also wrote to Titus, “Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition, knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned.” (Titus 3:10-11)

He was glad for them that their reputation for obedience to good doctrine was known to all, but he wanted them to be wise (skilled) in what is good and simple (innocent) concerning evil. We do not have to be an expert on sin to preach against it; we just need to be an expert on what is right. He reminded them that the God of peace would crush Satan under their feet shortly. We have to endure his wrath for a time, but we overcome through our faith in Jesus. The Scriptures state, “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. “(Rev 12:11) A time is coming, however, when we will have to deal with the devil no more. After the 1,000-year reign of Christ, there will be one more Satanic Rebellion, and then the devil will be thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone forever.

Paul ends by saying, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. He then includes greetings from others with him in Corinth such as Timothy, Paul’s close associate and “true son in the faith”; Tertius, Paul’s professional secretary who wrote the letter; Gaius, Paul’s host while staying in Corinth; and Erastus, the treasurer of the city of Corinth, a godly man in a secular profession. They gave the same valediction, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.”

In typical Paul fashion, he does not end with his original closing, but goes on to give a benediction: “Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith— to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.” God is able to make us stable, strengthen us, and make us to stand firm, and He does this through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel, the good news that was kept a mystery (hidden) since the world began, is now revealed, and was foretold by the prophetic Scriptures to all nations. This was according to the commandment of God, in order that mankind may place their faith in Jesus Christ. It is our faith in Christ that has delivered us from the guilt, punishment, and power of sin, and has made us more than conquerors in Him. It is through our faith that we are children of God and loved by Him with a love from which we cannot be separated. It is through our faith in the Lord that we receive His promises just as Israel will receive His promises by that same faith. It is through faith that we yield our bodies as a living sacrifice, operate in spiritual gifts, and love one another. It is through faith that we serve a God of Hope, and are recipients of His joy and peace. This is the Gospel, folks! As Paul began the epistle, we should not be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, because it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes. It is in the Gospel that the righteousness of God is revealed, and it is through faith, from beginning to end. We are not just saved by faith, but we live by faith. Lastly, Guzek writes, “If there is anything that the Book of Romans explains from beginning to end, it is the greatness and glory of this plan of God that Paul preached as a gospel – as good news. It’s entirely fitting that Paul concludes this letter praising the God of such a gospel. The good news Paul preached presented the God who chose to glorify Himself through the person and work of Jesus Christ, and who will glorify Himself that way forever. Amen!”