Observation: Joab regularly disregards David's orders, thinking his judgement in what is best for David is better. Despite David's order to bring Absalom back alive, Joab intentionally killed the trapped Absalom. As David now mourns the death of his son, Joab takes that as an offense against the rest of the army ... that by loving Absalom the traitor, David hates the men who were loyal to him.
Joab is a man who regularly thinks in terms of love and hate. He loves those who are on whatever side he is on, and hates those on the other side of an issue or conflict. He can also flip-flop on this, changing his mind and his position and suddenly loving the new allies. As a soldier, these conflicts become deadly, and he has no issue working up the emotional anger to kill those he hates, even (in this case) when such action is opposed to the orders he received from his king. David does see through this, and in a matter of days will relieve Joab of his command.
Application: We talk about the division of our society today regarding so many topics, and most people have an attitude like Joab ... love vs. hate. They love the people on their side of debate and hate those opposed to it. This is so embedded within them that they assume that 'oppose' and 'hate' and synonyms ... they fully believe that if someone is opposed to their position, that person must hate them.
This is the fine line I need to walk, along with all Christians, when it comes to opposing the norms of today's society. We have to be like David, opposing and even fighting the issue, but loving those who believe in that issue. We must not be like Joab, hating them mostly because we disagree with them.
Prayer: Lord, you know the confusing times we live in, for you have seen similar times throughout the history of humans. I ask that you give your believers the wisdom we need, with a healthy dose of your own love in our hearts, to stand firm against issues that grieve you, while we also love those who take up such issues. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment