Over the past couple of months we’ve been looking at the people God used in the life of King David and today will be our last sermon in this Agents of Grace series. Of all the people we learned about, which one do you most identify with? Are you a Samuel, a mentor to younger believers? Are you a Jonathan, a good friend who doesn’t mind being the Robin to someone else’s Batman? Are you an Abigail, quick to head off trouble with well thought out words and actions? Are you a Nathan, not afraid to point out sin so that you can also point people to their Savior? I hope that you’re not a Goliath, a King Saul, or an Absalom—unbelievers, whom, nevertheless, God used to refine David’s faith.
Perhaps you don’t identify with any of the people we’ve studied so far because they either seem too righteous or too evil! Well the person we’re going to learn about today falls somewhere in the middle of the two groups. This individual was a life-long companion of David, and was in fact related to him. He was a believer, but his trust in God’s ability to rule the world well was not nearly as strong as David’s. On a number of occasions David wished he could rid himself of this individual’s influence, but at the same time he realized that this individual was a valuable ally. Who was this complex person? It was Joab, the general of David’s army. He’s also a man that we sinner/saints can identify with. Let’s find out what Joab can teach us about ourselves, and about the sinner/saints around us.
Joab was David’s nephew—one of three sons born to David’s sister Zeruiah. Joab’s brothers were Asahel and Abishai. That’s worth knowing because Abishai and Joab were often co-commanders of David’s armies, and it seems that all three brothers had been with David from the time he was pursued by King Saul. In other words, they had been through a lot with David. Abishai had been the one who wanted to thrust a spear through Saul when he and David crept up on the sleeping king. David, demonstrating his trust in the Lord to deal with Saul, stayed Abishai’s hand.
This ruthlessness that Abishai voiced was also present in his brothers, along with the characteristics of impetuousness and cunning. Joab demonstrated ruthless cunning when he murdered the generals Abner and Amasa. Abner had been general for King Saul, while Amasa had been the general for Absalom, so you might think it was good that Joab killed them, after all they had been David’s enemies. But Joab killed these men after they had come over to David’s side. While David thought that Abner and Amasa would be useful in helping him unite the nation and could be trusted to do so, Joab was angry that they would be taking his spot as top commander. Besides, how could David be so naïve to think that these men could be trusted? That’s just not how things worked in the “real” world. So while David trusted that the Lord would not let these men take advantage of him, Joab trusted in his cunning to stay one step ahead of them. With both men Joab acted like he was going to greet his rivals warmly, but this was only so he could draw close enough to thrust a dagger into their bellies. After Abner’s murder David lamented: “…though I am the anointed king, I am weak, and these sons of Zeruiah [Joab and Abishai, Asahel had been killed by Abner] are too strong for me. May the LORD repay the evildoer according to his evil deeds!” (2 Samuel 3:39)
David saw Joab for what he was and yet he felt there wasn’t much he could do about the situation at the moment. Perhaps David felt this way because Joab was family and was loyal. He also had proven himself to be an effective military commander. What David did do was make Joab tear his clothes and walk in front of Abner’s funeral procession. Then years later David commanded Solomon that after he became king, he was to punish Joab for his sins of murder.
Another reason David didn’t just depose Joab was because the general could, from time to time, prove to be a humble servant who trusted in the Lord. For example when the Israelites were fighting the Ammonites, Joab could have finished the job and would have been given credit for the victory. Instead he called in David to make the final push so that the king would get the glory (2 Samuel 12:26-28). Another time when Joab and Abishai were fighting the Ammonites and Arameans and were greatly outnumbered, Joab encouraged his brother with these faith-filled words: “If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you are to come to my rescue; but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come to rescue you. 12 Be strong, and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The LORD will do what is good in his sight.” (2 Samuel 10:11, 12). There was even a time when Joab acted more righteously than David. This happened when David ordered Joab to count how many men were available to serve as soldiers. While this seems to be an innocent request, Joab saw that David was motivated by pride. Like a rich man who counts his money every day to revel in his riches, David was reveling in the fact that he had a big army rather than rejoicing that he had a big God who had made David’s armies successful no matter what their size! Even Joab saw the sinfulness of David’s request and tried to talk him out of it (2 Samuel 24).
But Joab wasn’t usually so concerned about David’s spiritual well-being. Remember how Joab had been a willing participant in the death of Uriah. Instead of questioning David’s order to put Uriah, a valued soldier, in the heaviest part of the fighting and then to pull back to leave him exposed, Joab went along with the plan. Perhaps Joab was secretly happy that the “righteous” David was now getting his hands dirty as Joab had already done in the case of Abner.
The bottom line is that Joab was both a sinner and a saint. He seemed to have saving faith in the God of Israel, but he also seemed to think that a soldier living in the real world had to use “real-world” tactics to succeed. And that meant that you didn’t trust your enemy, ever. David, on the other hand, was more interested in saving his enemies. Perhaps the reason he wept so bitterly when his son Absalom died was not just because Absalom was his son, but because Absalom would not have the chance to repent of his sins. If David was going to err, it was going to be on the side of showing mercy. Joab, on the other hand, was more apt to trust in his sword of steel to carry the day rather than the Sword of the Spirit.
Do you see what I mean when I said at the beginning of the sermon that we probably can identify best with Joab? Like the general, we’re sinner/saints who more often rely on our cunning rather than on our Lord to take care of life’s problems. For example when we post something on Kijiji, we may not be forthcoming about the item we’re selling. We may not list all the problems it has because, well if we did, no one would ever buy it! But then we’ll show flashes of faith-filled brilliance when we hear about someone in need and give them the money we had be saving for that special trip. In the morning we’ll pick on our siblings and criticize them, but come the afternoon we show them genuine love when we help them with their chores and homework. At a congregational meeting we’ll object that we’re sending away too much money to missions, but later when the call comes for a special offering so our church body can do more mission work, we dig deeper into our wallets.
Why do we swing so often between sin and righteousness? Because even though through baptism we have been given the new man which delights in God’s will, our sinful nature never stops trying to take back our heart. That makes believers complex people who at times do what God wants and at other times seem like they’re in league with the devil! Even David had these struggles, and that’s perhaps another reason he put up with Joab as long as he did. That’s a good reminder when we think about the Joabs in our life. How do you treat those individuals who keep struggling with substance abuse, and yet continue to profess faith in Jesus? You treat them with patience, aware that while you may not abuse alcohol or drugs, you often abuse the kindness of others. That sin is in just as much need of repentance as any other sin.
David and Joab’s interaction also reminds me of the interaction one often finds in the church. God aims to spread his kingdom through the preaching of the Word, but it’s easy to think, “Does that really work? Do we perhaps need to treat the church more like a business?” In regard to some of the building challenges we faced this past year, it was tempting to pursue matters as people of the world would have done rather than as people of faith should. Sure, Jesus said be as shrewd as snakes, but he also added, “and be as innocent as doves!” In other words we are to make plans that demonstrate trust in the Lord, rather than plans built on our cunning.
At the end of David’s life, Joab supported Adonijah as the next king instead of Solomon. So when Solomon took control, Joab fled to the tabernacle and grabbed on to the horns of the altar—a way to ask for mercy. But Joab didn’t receive any mercy because he had refused to show mercy to those he had ruthlessly murdered. Still, we pray that in his final moments Joab repented of his sins so that we may see him in heaven.
Joab’s act of grabbing on to the horns of the altar reminds me of how you and I ought to go through life: firmly holding to the cross of Christ, for without Jesus we are lost. That’s because we have nothing else to offer God that he would accept for entrance into heaven. We can’t offer God our riches or our accomplishments. We can’t even offer him our “good” works. God wants a heart that has been pure of sin. The only heart like that we have to offer God is the heart of our Savior Jesus. Don’t ever let go of him.
I hope this Agents of Grace sermon series has reminded you how we have a God who remains active in our lives. He’s not far away, but continues to send people into our lives to refine our faith. And he sends people into our lives who need us. Keep your eyes open for opportunities to be agents of God’s grace. Amen.
SERMON NOTES
List at least three things you learned about Joab.
What does it mean that Joab, David, and we are all sinner/saints?
Since Joab could be such a pain, why didn’t David just get rid of him?
There are Joabs in our lives too. How does God want us to deal with them?
Joab tried to save his life by grabbing on to the horns of the altar and begging for mercy for his act of treason against Solomon. That didn’t work, however. In the same way, we seek mercy by holding on to the cross of Christ. Why can we be confident that this will “work”?
Think about the people we covered in this sermon series (Samuel, Jonathan, Abigail, Nathan, Goliath, Saul, Absalom, and Joab). How was each an agent of grace to David? How can you be an agent of grace to others?
