Joab and Abner
There is the story of the Greek athlete who wanted
to excel in the public games, but there was another athlete whose
performance was much better than his. This aroused within the first
athlete that pain and resentment that a man might feel when the
advantage falls to another. Further, it mortified him when his fellow
citizens raised a statue to celebrate the victory of his rival. This
recognition caused such envy that he went out every night looking for an
opportunity to destroy that monument. After he had tried several times,
and was unsuccessful, he finally attempted to move the statue from its
pedestal. It fell. On him. And in its fall it crushed him to death.
So it is with envy.
This athlete made a bad choice.
James wrote,
James 1:13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I
am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He
Himself does not tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is
carried away and enticed by his own lust. 15 Then when lust has
conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it
brings forth death.
The athlete allowed envy to become malice and then
he permitted malice to lead to sin. That led in turn to his own death.
It was a chain of choices.
Envy destroys the one who harbors it. As the wise
man wrote in Proverbs,
Proverbs 14:30 A sound heart is the life of the
flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones.” KJV.
Jealousy accomplishes the same thing. Experience
shows that envy and jealousy are like brother and sister. And envy and
coveting are much alike.
The Bible, in the book of 2 Samuel, tells us about
Joab and Abner and how envy and jealousy destroyed them. These men made
bad choices.
Joab.
Joab was the son of Zeruiah. He had two brothers:
Asahel and Abishai. David was his uncle. (2 Sam. 2:18). How Joab had
managed to bind himself to David—the future king of Israel—the
Scriptures do not say, but we do know that Joab gave David his
unquestioning loyalty.
No task was too burdensome. He would undertake
anything for David. No shame was so base that he would not stoop to it,
if he thought David’s interests might be advanced by it. Joab had the
kind of courage that comes from a complete disregard of consequences,
and with his courage he had a fiery temper.
Joab aspired only to 2nd place in David’s kingdom.
He did not want supplant David. But 2nd place he guarded with grim
jealousy. Joab was David’s loyal lieutenant, capable of mighty love, but
at the same time capable of an abiding hatred.
Abner.
Abner was the son of Ner. Saul was his uncle. While
Saul was king of Israel, Abner was the captain of Saul’s army. He was
the warrior who occupied the 2nd place in the kingdom of Saul. Abner
held the same rank as Joab—in opposite armies. But Abner had much
greater ambition than Joab. Abner was an opportunist whose only
principle was expediency.[1]
The death of Saul and Jonathan.
The Bible in 1 Samuel 1:19 tells of the deaths of
King Saul and Jonathan, his son. This was a turning point in the history
of Israel. Their deaths removed David’s rivals for the throne of Israel.
King Saul was dead. Jonathan, his son and heir, was also dead. Moreover,
Saul’s death also greatly reduced Abner’s opportunity to greatness.
David
goes to Hebron.
The Bible story continues by saying,
2 Samuel 2:1
It happened after this that David inquired of the LORD, saying,
"Shall I go up to any of the cities of Judah?" And the LORD said to him,
"Go up." David said, "Where shall I go up?" And He said, "To Hebron." 2
So David went up there, and his two wives also, Ahinoam the
Jezreelitess, and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite. 3 And David
brought up the men who were with him, every man with his household. So
they dwelt in the cities of Hebron. 4 Then the men of Judah came, and
there they anointed David king over the house of Judah.
When David became king, his lieutenant, Joab, also
rose in power and prestige.
Abner and
Ishbosheth.
Abner could have accepted David as king. After all,
David had been anointed by God’s prophet. But Abner and the other
followers of Saul were not willing to subordinate themselves to David.
They did not just fade away either. This was their choice.
Abner, captain of Saul’s host, took Ishbosheth, the
son of Saul, and brought him to Mahanaim and made him king over Israel.
Mahanaim was the capital of Gilead. The reason for
choosing Mahanaim as the capital of Ishbosheth’s kingdom was that the
Philistines still occupied the country to the west of the Jordan. But
for the moment it appeared the Philistines were not the principal
enemies of Abner. The men of Judah were, including David.
This incident shows the power and influence that
Abner had. He was able to make Ishbosheth king. Ishbosheth was now
David’s rival. They were rival kings for the one throne.
The Field of Sharp Swords.
After the elevation of Ishbosheth there followed
the incident at the “Field of Sharp Swords.”
2 Sam. 2:12
Now Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ishbosheth the son
of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.13
And Joab the son of Zeruiah, and the servants of David, went out
and met them by the pool of Gibeon. So they sat down, one on one side of
the pool and the other on the other side of the pool. 14 Then Abner said
to Joab, "Let the young men now arise and compete before us." And Joab
said, "Let them arise."
The two men posed the question, and then
made their choice. Here begin the ages-old chain of events. The
rising tensions between adversaries—be they individuals or nations. It
is the same.
This was the incident (the
cause célèbre, the choice to act) that overcomes the natural
reluctance of the rank and file to kill their neighbors.
The story continues,
2:15
So they arose and went over by number, twelve from Benjamin, followers
of Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and twelve from the servants of David. 16
And each one grasped his opponent by the head and thrust his sword in
his opponent's side; so they fell down together. Therefore that place
was called the Field of Sharp Swords, which is in Gibeon.
That incident started the fight. Eventually,
everyone on both sides got involved. The encounter quickly escalated.
Verse 17 says,
2:17
So there was a very fierce battle that day, and Abner and the men of
Israel were beaten before the servants of David.
Joab and his
forces were the apparent victors, but that was not the end of the story.
Both of Joab’s brothers were with him—Abishai, and Asahel.
The Scripture says,
2:18
…And Asahel was as fleet of foot as a wild gazelle. 19
So Asahel pursued Abner, and in going he did not turn to the
right hand or to the left from following Abner. 20
Then Abner looked behind him and said, "Are you Asahel?" He
answered, "I am." 21 And
Abner said to him, "Turn aside to your right hand or to your left, and
lay hold on one of the young men and take his armor for yourself." .
So, Asahel had a choice. He could pursue a lesser
warrior—so to test his mettle, or he could make an attempt at victory
over the head of the army of Israel.
Asahel was no doubt a young man. He was the brother
of Joab—the captain of David’s army. Here was Abner, the captain of the
opposing army in front of him. If Asahel could strike down Abner—and
take his armor—he could make his name as a warrior. People would look up
to him.
Ambition drove Asahel into a bad choice. Asahel was
no match for Abner, but Abner had no desire to kill him. But Asahel
would not turn aside from pursuing him.
The Bible says,
2:22
So Abner said again to Asahel, "Turn aside from following me. Why should
I strike you to the ground? How then could I face your brother Joab?" 23
However, he refused to turn aside.
As it happened to Asahel, so it happens to others
in their desire for what they cannot have. Sometimes, they pursue their
own death.
Now Abner was carrying a spear—a bronze or iron
head riveted to a wooden shaft.
Asahel would not leave him alone no matter how much
Abner said to him. It was not that Abner was afraid of Asahel. Abner did
not want a blood feud with his brother, Joab. Abner knew Joab. But
Asahel was too ambitious to take the warning.
2 Sam. 2:23
… Therefore Abner struck him in the stomach with the blunt end of
the spear, so that the spear came out of his back; and he fell down
there and died on the spot. So it was that as many as came to the place
where Asahel fell down and died, stood still.
“Stood still” – from the horror of it. From the
revulsion, shock and disgust. Asahel had been no match for Abner. God
surely had better things in store for him had he made a different
choice. But he made a bad choice, and his death caused a blood feud
between Joab and Abner. And that feud remained a plague to David, and
trouble in the kingdom for a generation.
2 Samuel says that,
2 Sam. 2:24
Joab and Abishai also pursued Abner.
On a hilltop Abner and his people took a stand.
2:26
Then Abner called to Joab and said, "Shall the sword devour forever? Do
you not know that it will be bitter in the latter end? How long will it
be then until you tell the people to return from pursuing their
brethren?" 27 And Joab said,
"As God lives, unless you had spoken, surely then by morning all the
people would have given up pursuing their brethren."
“We would have chased you all night!” says Joab.
“We would not have rested until we had you!” In these words Joab reveals
his character. When his blood is up he is utterly ruthless. Yet, he had
enough common sense that Abner could appeal to him. Yet Joab did not
abandon his blood lust.
It returns later.
2:28
So Joab blew a trumpet; and all the people stood still and did not
pursue Israel anymore, nor did they fight anymore.
Abner’s ambition.
Abner led his men all that night through the
Arabah, a deeply sunken valley that extends from the slopes of Mount
Hermon to the Gulf of Akabah on the Red Sea. They crossed the Jordan,
and marching the whole forenoon, came to Mahanaim.
2 Sam. 2:30
So Joab returned from pursuing Abner. And when he had gathered
all the people together, there were missing of David's servants nineteen
men and Asahel. 31 But the servants of David had struck down, of
Benjamin and Abner's men, three hundred and sixty men who died. 32 Then
they took up Asahel and buried him in his father's tomb, which was in
Bethlehem. And Joab and his men went all night, and they came to Hebron
at daybreak.
“There was a long war between the house of Saul,
and the house of David. David grew stronger, while the house of Saul
became weaker. Yet while the tribes under Ishbosheth—called the house of
Saul—became weaker, Abner was strengthening himself within Israel. Or so
he thought!
The Interpreter’s Bible says of Abner that, “The
tragedy of Abner is the tragedy of an opportunist whose only principle
was that of expediency. Abner was an example of what might be called the
losing quality of selfishness. One of the difficulties with selfishness
is simply that it does not pay off. Selfishness is blind even to its own
best interest.”[2]
Then we read this of Abner in 2 Samuel 3,
3:6
Now it was so, while there was war between the house of Saul and the
house of David, that Abner was strengthening his hold on the house of
Saul. 7 And Saul had a concubine, whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of
Aiah. So Ishbosheth said to Abner, "Why have you gone in to my father's
concubine?"
Ishbosheth was legally right when he objected to
Abner’s taking of the concubine. It was the custom that a ruler’s wives
and concubines should be handed down to his successor. Ishbosheth had
succeeded Saul, not Abner. Abner wanted something he could not legally
have. And so he made the choice for lust and that led to his violation
of the law.
2 Samuel 3:8
Then Abner became very angry at the words of Ishbosheth, and
said, "Am I a dog's head that belongs to Judah? Today I show loyalty to
the house of Saul your father, to his brothers, and to his friends, and
have not delivered you into the hand of David; and you charge me today
with a fault concerning this woman? 9
"May God do so to Abner, and more also, if I do not do for David
as the LORD has sworn to him; 10
"to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul, and set up the
throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan to Beersheba." 11
And he could not answer Abner another word, because he feared
him.
The Interpreter’s Bible says further,
Abner had not the slightest concern for what the
Lord had sworn; Otherwise,
why did he support Ishbosheth over David?
Abner was for the house of Saul if it gave him strength and
influence. He supported Ishbosheth for his own purpose. When that
purpose led him to overstep the Law—and Ishbosheth reminded him of
it—Abner suddenly became aware of the will of God. His taking of Rizpah,
the concubine was an arrogant thing to do. He had assumed kingly power.
Absalom did this and committed treason against his father David;
Adonijah provoked Solomon’s wrath when he asked for his father’s
concubine, Abishag.” Indeed, Abner coveted something he could not
lawfully have. He coveted the concubine, Rizpah. And he coveted power in
David’s kingdom.
These were bad choices for a man to make.
2 Samuel 3 says,
3:12
Then Abner sent messengers on his behalf to David, saying, "Whose is the
land?" saying also, "Make your covenant with me, and indeed my hand
shall be with you to bring all Israel to you." 13
And David said, "Good, I will make a covenant with you.
David probably felt that a compact with Abner would
allow him to unite all of Israel under his leadership. Actually he did
not need Abner’s help to bring all Israel to his standard. He only
needed to remove Abner as Ishbosheth’s chief support. The people would
then rally to David since there was no other king. Abner’s ambition was
to rise with David as he became king.
Israel which had been ruled by Saul was declining,
but had the Israelites under Abner’s leadership rallied to David, Abner
would have proceeded to make himself strong in the house of David. This
way Abner could have placed David under obligation to himself. But the
situation between Abner and Joab would have become intolerable. David’s
throne might well have become the storm center of contending generals.
Rivalry and hatred bear fruit.
2 Samuel 3:20
So Abner and twenty men with him came to David at Hebron. And
David made a feast for Abner and the men who were with him. 21 Then
Abner said to David, "I will arise and go, and gather all Israel to my
lord the king, that they may make a covenant with you, and that you may
reign over all that your heart desires." So David sent Abner away, and
he went in peace.
Evidently, Joab was not expected to return until
David and Abner had finished their talks.
Then we read in 2 Samuel 3:22,.
3:22
At that moment the servants of David and Joab came from a raid and
brought much spoil with them. But Abner was not with David in Hebron,
for he had sent him away, and he had gone in peace. 23
When Joab and all the troops that were with him had come, they
told Joab, saying, "Abner the son of Ner came to the king, and he sent
him away, and he has gone in peace."
That kindled the fire in Joab. Suddenly all the
bitterness of Asahel’s death came back to Joab. More than that—Joab saw
a threat to his own place in David’s kingdom. For here was his rival,
Abner, another Number-Two-Man aspiring for the number-two place in
David’s kingdom. Here also we see the main difference between Abner and
Joab: Joab aspired to his rightful place, while Abner aspired beyond
his. Joab’s emotion was jealousy. He jealously desired to keep his own
place. Abner’s emotion was envy, he desired for what he did not have.
Samuel wrote,
3:24
Then Joab came to the king and said, "What have you done? Look, Abner
came to you; why is it that you sent him away, and he has already gone?
25 "Surely you realize that
Abner the son of Ner came to deceive you, to know your going out and
your coming in, and to know all that you are doing." 26 And when Joab
had gone from David's presence, he sent messengers after Abner, who
brought him back from the well of Sirah. But David did not know it. 27
Now when Abner had returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside in the gate
to speak with him privately, and there stabbed him in the stomach, so
that he died for the blood of Asahel his brother.
The Bible says that “As a man thinketh in his
heart, so is he.” In this case, Joab harbored jealousy, revenge and
murder in his heart until he committed the act.
Prov. 23:7.
2 Samuel 3:28
Afterward, when David heard it, he said, "My kingdom and I are
guiltless before the LORD forever of the blood of Abner the son of Ner.
29 "Let it rest on the head
of Joab and on all his father's house; and let there never fail to be in
the house of Joab one who has a discharge or is a leper, who leans on a
staff or falls by the sword, or who lacks bread." 30
So Joab and Abishai his brother killed Abner, because he had
killed their brother Asahel at Gibeon in the battle.
These are the fruits of jealousy and envy. Hatred,
revenge and murder harbored and nurtured in the heart bear bitter fruit.
One cannot make the choice for either of them with impunity.
David said,
2 Samuel 3:33 …"Should Abner die as a fool dies? 34
Your hands were not bound Nor your feet put into fetters; As a man falls
before wicked men, so you fell."
Indeed, Abner died as a fool dies—because he lived
as a fool lives. The fool does not believe in any other purpose larger
than his own advancement in life. The fool serves no cause greater than
his own prestige. The fool is an atheist because he does not really
believe in God—God whose sovereign purpose demands obedience of him. The
fool believes only in a purpose that serves his own interest. And so his
choices are made.
The admonition of Paul is so true,
Gal. 6:7
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows,
that he will also reap.
In the days of the Lord’s sojourn on earth…
The Jewish rabbis thought that they were the
custodians and protectors of the Law of Moses. They thought that only
they could interpret the Law—authoritatively; only they could teach its
precepts. Only they could appoint others to teach the Law. It was as
Edersheim says,
“… there was no principle more firmly established
by universal consent than that authoritative teaching required previous
authorisation.”
This is why we read of Jesus in Matthew
21,
21:23 When He entered
the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him
while He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these
things, and who gave You this authority?”
The Rabbis jealously guarded their authority. This
is also why we read in John Chapter 11,
John 11:47 Therefore the chief priests and the
Pharisees convened a council, and were saying, “What are we doing? For
this man is performing many signs. 48 “If we let Him go on like this,
all men will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both
our place and our nation.”
Their attitude rested on jealousy, envy and hatred.
It is like Mark wrote in Chapter 15 of his gospel,
Mark 15:6
Now at the feast he used to release for them any one prisoner
whom they requested. 7 The man named Barabbas had been imprisoned with
the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the insurrection. 8 The
crowd went up and began asking him to do as he had been accustomed to do
for them. 9 Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for
you the King of the Jews?” 10 For he was aware that the chief priests
had handed Him over because of envy. 11 But the chief priests stirred up
the crowd to ask him to release Barabbas for them instead. 12 Answering
again, Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Him whom you call
the King of the Jews?”
13 They shouted back, “Crucify Him!” 14 But Pilate said to them,
“Why, what evil has He done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify
Him!”
The chief priests had handed Jesus over because of
envy. They were guilty of envy, jealousy and hatred. And they used the
authority of Rome to commit their murder of the innocent.
They had two choices: Barabbas, a murderer, or
Christ, the Prince of Life. They chose Barabbas. And in the end they
lost their place and their nation to the Romans, anyway.
Nevertheless, on the cross Jesus said, “Father,
forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” Luke 23:34.
He is not jealous.
He is not envious.
He bears no malice or hatred.
His forgiveness is yours today.
If you will have it.