Wisdom vs. Manipulation

Scripture: So Joab sent someone to Tekoa to bring a wise woman from there. He told her, “Pretend to be in mourning: dress in mourning clothes and don’t put on any oil. Act like a woman who has been mourning for the dead for a long time. Go to the king and speak these words to him.” Then Joab told her exactly what to say. 2 Samuel 14:2-3

Observation: Joab wants to manipulate David to reinstate Absolom as a prince. To do this, he hires a woman to play-act a false event, trick David into swearing out a judgment, then convince David that Absolom's situation is identical. To be very, very clear ... it is not identical. Absolom killed his brother in anger and through an intentional plot, not by accident; There is no innocent-victim widow who will starve if Absolom dies; Absolom is himself in no danger of dying as he is living fine in his new city.

Joab has woven a metaphorical tale that is based on the law of Moses ... it explicitly aligns to laws concerning accidental manslaughter and proper care for widows. Joab then convinced someone to completely lie about the facts and manipulated it to make another situation seem the same, creating a logical fallacy. This is NOT what Nathan did when David sinned with Bathsheba. Nathan told a hypothetical situation that did not leverage the convoluted law but rather relied on only the foundational truth of the Lord's nature (love others), allowed David's love of God to understand God's heart in that matter (there should be justice), then made the connection to David's life using truth and facts.

The difference between Nathan and Joab seems clear. Nathan is a man who follows the word of the Lord, listening for divine instruction that aligns to the very nature of Yahweh, and then with courage speaks that truth. Joab is a man who follows his own ambition and objectives, claiming that his thinking is wise because it invokes the laws of the Lord while also playing upon human logic and emotion, and then manipulates circumstances to deliver the false wisdom, maintaining just enough deniability that - if received poorly - he could avoid personal punishment.

Application: Last night, my wife and I were having another conversation about the woman in our church whose adult daughter died. I know this woman is a faith-filled believer in Jesus Christ. There is no denying this. However, she also is the woman from Tekoa ... she is listening to false prophets and manipulators, adamantly believes the logical fallacies, and is even complicit in propagating the lies as she herself declares them to be of God.

What hope do we have against the manipulation of false prophets, when such tactics even worked against David?

How can we lift up and show others the wisdom coming from true prophets, when both the true and the false use similar techniques, tools, and scriptural authority to declare their messages?

Prayer: Lord, we are in a time that is confusing and convoluted beyond any other time in the history of your creation. It is so difficult for your believers to understand the word, even when we call upon you for clarity. I know the answers to my questions are found exclusively in you, Jesus. May I help others, somehow, if you would have me to, and only, please, if I can be like Nathan with your own truth, and not anything of my own mind. Amen.