Resolved. For Jesus and His Church, So help me God.

The Battle of the Ages

(1 Chronicles 19, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, February 4, 2018)

[1] Now after this Nahash the king of the Ammonites died, and his son reigned in his place. [2] And David said, “I will deal kindly with Hanun the son of Nahash, for his father dealt kindly with me.” So David sent messengers to console him concerning his father. And David's servants came to the land of the Ammonites to Hanun to console him. [3] But the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun, “Do you think, because David has sent comforters to you, that he is honoring your father? Have not his servants come to you to search and to overthrow and to spy out the land?” [4] So Hanun took David's servants and shaved them and cut off their garments in the middle, at their hips, and sent them away; [5] and they departed. When David was told concerning the men, he sent messengers to meet them, for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, “Remain at Jericho until your beards have grown and then return.”

[6] When the Ammonites saw that they had become a stench to David, Hanun and the Ammonites sent 1,000 talents of silver to hire chariots and horsemen from Mesopotamia, from Aram-maacah, and from Zobah. [7] They hired 32,000 chariots and the king of Maacah with his army, who came and encamped before Medeba. And the Ammonites were mustered from their cities and came to battle. [8] When David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the army of the mighty men. [9] And the Ammonites came out and drew up in battle array at the entrance of the city, and the kings who had come were by themselves in the open country.

[10] When Joab saw that the battle was set against him both in front and in the rear, he chose some of the best men of Israel and arrayed them against the Syrians. [11] The rest of his men he put in the charge of Abishai his brother, and they were arrayed against the Ammonites. [12] And he said, “If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me, but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will help you. [13] Be strong, and let us use our strength for our people and for the cities of our God, and may the LORD do what seems good to him.” [14] So Joab and the people who were with him drew near before the Syrians for battle, and they fled before him. [15] And when the Ammonites saw that the Syrians fled, they likewise fled before Abishai, Joab's brother, and entered the city. Then Joab came to Jerusalem.

[16] But when the Syrians saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they sent messengers and brought out the Syrians who were beyond the Euphrates, with Shophach the commander of the army of Hadadezer at their head. [17] And when it was told to David, he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan and came to them and drew up his forces against them. And when David set the battle in array against the Syrians, they fought with him. [18] And the Syrians fled before Israel, and David killed of the Syrians the men of 7,000 chariots and 40,000 foot soldiers, and put to death also Shophach the commander of their army. [19] And when the servants of Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with David and became subject to him. So the Syrians were not willing to save the Ammonites anymore.

A serious misinterpretation becomes a little world war.

1 Chronicles 19 tells the story of the relationship between King David and a foreign power, the Ammonites. When one Ammonite leader died and his son took his place, the new king's advisers steered him in a very foolish direction. They planted within his mind a very serious misinterpretation of David's motives, assuming that an expression of diplomatic sympathy was only a cloak for espionage and malicious intentions.

Their actions based on this false assessment proved to be devastating for their own future. They chose to humiliate the envoys that David had sent by shaving off some portion of their beards and turning their dignified clothing into humiliating costumes in a grievous insult against the Lord's people, making Israel into an adversary.

The Lord gives victory to David and Israel.

The Ammonites did not humble themselves before David after making this serious miscalculation, but went further in the direction of war by sending to the Syrians in order to hire troops from the north to aid them in their anticipated war with Israel. This in turn caused an escalation of the conflict “when David heard of it,” and the king of Israel “sent Joab and all the army of the mighty men” who walked right into an ambush. The Israelites “drew up in battle array at the entrance of the city” while the Syrian forces who had been hired for service were “in the open country,” leaving Joab and the mighty men with the Ammonites ready to attack and destroy them from one direction and the Syrians seeking to do the same from the other.

Joab divided his forces and turned to Almighty God, with the hope that the Lord would grant victory on at least one of the two fronts, so that they could quickly join forces again and attack the remaining enemy. Joab's words at this difficult moment proved to be inspiring. They echoed the battle cry of men like Moses and Joshua from earlier centuries, and they ring down through the ages to us today. (1) “Be strong.” They were to be firmly resolved rather than internally conflicted. (2) “Let us use our strength for our people and for the cities of our God.” (3) “May the Lord do what seems good to him.”

The result of this plan was amazing. First the Syrians fled, and their fear then infected the Ammonite army who also ran away to the safety of their city. The defeated Syrian tribes called for an expanded group of allies, again provoking David to an escalated response. Finally, the Syrian soldiers were “defeated by Israel” and they “made peace with David” and “were not willing to save the Ammonites any more.”

May the Lord do what seems good to Him!

The Lord has appointed civil authorities as agents of justice as well as mercy. It is right for rulers as they seek the Lord of nations, to (1) “be strong,” and (2) to use their strength to defend their people and their cities, with the confidence that (3) the Lord will do “what seems good to Him.” The kingdom of God will not come by the use of the weapons of this world. As we do the work of the church, Christians do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but “against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12)

How do we fight the battle of the ages? We must prayerfully follow the instruction and example of our King (1, 2, & 3 applied to the cross), who has won the victory already for us. Expect to face many dangers and troubles, but (1) stay strong in the Lord of the resurrection, (2) love the King who died for us and the city of God that He is building, and (3) Keep the faith. Our God will do what seems good to Him. (Ephesians 3:20-21)

The best practical advice for those heading into spiritual warfare:

Resolved. For Jesus and His Church, So help me God.

Old Testament Reading—Psalms 42 and 43 – The Battle Within

Gospel Reading—Matthew 12:1-8

[1] At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. [2] But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” [3] He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: [4] how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? [5] Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? [6] I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. [7] And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. [8] For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”