JOAB, THE PROFITEER

JOAB, THE PROFITEER

2 Samuel 3:20-30 (KJV)

So Abner came to David to Hebron, and twenty men with him. And David made Abner and the men that were with him a feast.

And Abner said unto David, I will arise and go, and will gather all Israel unto my lord the king, that they may make a league with thee, and that thou mayest reign over all that thine heart desireth. And David sent Abner away; and he went in peace.

And, behold, the servants of David and Joab came from pursuing a troop, and brought in a great spoil with them: but Abner was not with David in Hebron; for he had sent him away, and he was gone in peace.

When Joab and all the host that was with him were come, they told Joab, saying, Abner the son of Ner came to the king, and he hath sent him away, and he is gone in peace.

Then Joab came to the king, and said, What hast thou done? behold, Abner came unto thee; why is it that thou hast sent him away, and he is quite gone?

Thou knowest Abner the son of Ner, that he came to deceive thee, and to know thy going out and thy coming in, and to know all that thou doest.

And when Joab was come out from David, he sent messengers after Abner, which brought him again from the well of Sirah: but David knew it not.

And when Abner was returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside in the gate to speak with him quietly, and smote him there under the fifth rib, that he died, for the blood of Asahel his brother.

And afterward when David heard it, he said, I and my kingdom are guiltless before the LORD for ever from the blood of Abner the son of Ner:

Let it rest on the head of Joab, and on all his father's house; and let there not fail from the house of Joab one that hath an issue, or that is a leper, or that leaneth on a staff, or that falleth on the sword, or that lacketh bread.

So Joab and Abishai his brother slew Abner, because he had slain their brother Asahel at Gibeon in the battle.

As I promised, the series of messages I am calling “Bad Men of the Bible” is coming to an end.

·   I want to bring a message tonight on Joab.

·   I am praying about bringing one last message on Jeroboam in two weeks.

Next week will be a message designed especially around my annual presentation.

I thought, though, it might be good to try to explain, Why Joab Now?

I’m skipping over several men who could easily be used as sources of material about bad character:

King Saul is a bad character 

But he needs his own series of messages

Amnon and Absalom might be considered bad men, 

But they were the sons of David and his own response towards them tells me that there is more to their story than bad character.

Ahithophel, though a great disappointment to David, was not a bad character. 

He was David’s friend who made a very bad decision.

Adonijah was King David’s son and, though a man of bad character, 

I will leave him off because he is the king’s son

Shimei, wasn’t so much a bad character as loyal to the losing side.

Joab on the other hand, demonstrated throughout the narrative of David’s life that he was a man of bad character.

In my opinion, the worst of them all.

Joab was born in Bethlehem, the same as King David.

The Bible never tells us his father’s name but his mother was Zeruiah, David’s sister.

Joab and his brothers, Abishai and Asahel, were David’s nephews.

Joab was David’s main general and appears to have done some great exploits in combat, but he is not a man of good character.

Interestingly, Abishai[1] and Asahel are named among David’s mighty men.

Joab is not.

·   Asahel died early in battle.

·   Abishai served David in some very famous situations.

Abishai snuck down into Saul’s camp with David and took Saul’s spear and bolster of water as Saul slept.[2]

Abishai is the guy who rescued King David from the giant when, in his old age, David fainted in the fight with him.[3]

Another interesting thing to note is that, while Abishai was one of the hand full who followed King David while Saul chased him, Joab is never mentioned as following David until after Saul had died.

Joab was brave in battle, but he was never really loyal to the king.

Joab was only loyal to King David when he could benefit from it.

Joab was a profiteer.

I’m not going to focus on the heroic things Joab did because, really, David didn’t.

David put up with him, leaving him in the hands of the Lord. 

But David never trusted him, or approved of him.

We first learn of Joab in 

I. JOAB VS ABNER

2 Samuel 2:11-17 (KJV)

And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.

And Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ishbosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.

And Joab the son of Zeruiah, and the servants of David, went out, and met together by the pool of Gibeon: and they sat down, the one on the one side of the pool, and the other on the other side of the pool.

And Abner said to Joab, Let the young men now arise, and play before us. And Joab said, Let them arise.

Then there arose and went over by number twelve of Benjamin, which pertained to Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David.

And they caught every one his fellow by the head, and thrust his sword in his fellow's side; so they fell down together: wherefore that place was called Helkathhazzurim, which is in Gibeon.

And there was a very sore battle that day; and Abner was beaten, and the men of Israel, before the servants of David.

Whether Joab was with David while he fled King Saul, we do not know.

We do know that the first time he is mentioned in any significant way.[4]

Consider the situation:

·   David was well known as having been anointed to be king

·   He has successfully led his small band until Saul was defeated by the Philistines

·   David is now king in Hebron and

·   There was a contest brewing between the servants of David and the servants of Ishbosheth, Saul’s only living son.

Joab stepped to the forefront to make a name and a position for himself.

He sees that, if he can defeat Abner, and Ishbosheth, he can become a pretty powerful person in this upcoming kingdom.

Whether he was a believer I do not know.

He could pretty well see where the people who believed God had favored David were riding the incoming wave.

He’s fighting for David because David’s the winning team.

When Abner killed his brother, and David was willing to overlook that.[5]

Joab did not dirty, underhanded, unethical thing and murdered Abner.[6]

David placed the guilt squarely on the shoulders of Joab.

2 Samuel 3:28-29 (KJV)

And afterward when David heard it, he said, I and my kingdom are guiltless before the LORD for ever from the blood of Abner the son of Ner:

Let it rest on the head of Joab, and on all his father's house; and let there not fail from the house of Joab one that hath an issue, or that is a leper, or that leaneth on a staff, or that falleth on the sword, or that lacketh bread.

II. JOAB AND THE WOMAN OF TEKOAH

2 Samuel 14:1-19 (KJV)

Now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king's heart was toward Absalom.

And Joab sent to Tekoah, and fetched thence a wise woman, and said unto her, I pray thee, feign thyself to be a mourner, and put on now mourning apparel, and anoint not thyself with oil, but be as a woman that had a long time mourned for the dead:

And come to the king, and speak on this manner unto him. So Joab put the words in her mouth.

And when the woman of Tekoah spake to the king, she fell on her face to the ground, and did obeisance, and said, Help, O king.

And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, I am indeed a widow woman, and mine husband is dead.

And thy handmaid had two sons, and they two strove together in the field, and there was none to part them, but the one smote the other, and slew him.

And, behold, the whole family is risen against thine handmaid, and they said, Deliver him that smote his brother, that we may kill him, for the life of his brother whom he slew; and we will destroy the heir also: and so they shall quench my coal which is left, and shall not leave to my husband neither name nor remainder upon the earth.

And the king said unto the woman, Go to thine house, and I will give charge concerning thee.

And the woman of Tekoah said unto the king, My lord, O king, the iniquity be on me, and on my father's house: and the king and his throne be guiltless.

And the king said, Whosoever saith ought unto thee, bring him to me, and he shall not touch thee any more.

Then said she, I pray thee, let the king remember the LORD thy God, that thou wouldest not suffer the revengers of blood to destroy any more, lest they destroy my son. And he said, As the LORD liveth, there shall not one hair of thy son fall to the earth.

Then the woman said, Let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak one word unto my lord the king. And he said, Say on.

And the woman said, Wherefore then hast thou thought such a thing against the people of God? for the king doth speak this thing as one which is faulty, in that the king doth not fetch home again his banished.

For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.

Now therefore that I am come to speak of this thing unto my lord the king, it is because the people have made me afraid: and thy handmaid said, I will now speak unto the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his handmaid.

For the king will hear, to deliver his handmaid out of the hand of the man that would destroy me and my son together out of the inheritance of God.

Then thine handmaid said, The word of my lord the king shall now be comfortable: for as an angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good and bad: therefore the LORD thy God will be with thee.

Then the king answered and said unto the woman, Hide not from me, I pray thee, the thing that I shall ask thee. And the woman said, Let my lord the king now speak.

And the king said, Is not the hand of Joab with thee in all this? And the woman answered and said, As thy soul liveth, my lord the king, none can turn to the right hand or to the left from ought that my lord the king hath spoken: for thy servant Joab, he bade me, and he put all these words in the mouth of thine handmaid:

Rather than trying to tell the whole story

Absalom, the son of King David, had conspired to kill his half-brother Amnon.

Having succeeded, he fled the country.

He was gone for three years.

And the Bible says King David mourned for his son every day.[7]

But he didn’t go after him.

I don’t know how to explain all of that, but I can say that some things need to be left alone.

·   They are either going to work out the way we hope

·   Or else they are not going to work out the way we hope

But if we get involved, we will get in the way of it working out the way GOD intends.

Mourning and praying and leaving things to God is a Davidic practice more Christians could learn from these days.

But Joab sees an opportunity to turn this into his favor.

He hires a woman to speak to the king and talk him into doing what he was not inclined to do.

(Reminds me of the brother who has his sister ask dad for the ice cream.

Dads have a harder time saying No to their daughters than they do their sons.)

What I want you to notice is the end of this exchange, 

2 Samuel 14:18-19 (KJV)

Then the king answered and said unto the woman, Hide not from me, I pray thee, the thing that I shall ask thee. And the woman said, Let my lord the king now speak.

And the king said, Is not the hand of Joab with thee in all this? And the woman answered and said, As thy soul liveth, my lord the king, none can turn to the right hand or to the left from ought that my lord the king hath spoken: for thy servant Joab, he bade me, and he put all these words in the mouth of thine handmaid:

Joab was a profiteer.

Everything he did, he did only for his own advancement.

He was loyal to the kingdom, and to the king, only when and because it was to his advantage.

But David knew it.

And David did not trust him.

III. JOAB VS ABSALOM

2 Samuel 18:5 (KJV)

And the king commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Deal gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom. And all the people heard when the king gave all the captains charge concerning Absalom.

2 Samuel 18:9-15 (KJV)

And Absalom met the servants of David. And Absalom rode upon a mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak, and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was taken up between the heaven and the earth; and the mule that was under him went away.

And a certain man saw it, and told Joab, and said, Behold, I saw Absalom hanged in an oak.

And Joab said unto the man that told him, And, behold, thou sawest him, and why didst thou not smite him there to the ground? and I would have given thee ten shekels of silver, and a girdle.

And the man said unto Joab, Though I should receive a thousand shekels of silver in mine hand, yet would I not put forth mine hand against the king's son: for in our hearing the king charged thee and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Beware that none touch the young man Absalom.

Otherwise I should have wrought falsehood against mine own life: for there is no matter hid from the king, and thou thyself wouldest have set thyself against me.

Then said Joab, I may not tarry thus with thee. And he took three darts in his hand, and thrust them through the heart of Absalom, while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak.

And ten young men that bare Joab's armour compassed about and smote Absalom, and slew him.

In absolute disobedience, and in complete disregard for his king’s feelings, Joab killed Absalom.

Joab has one and only one head – himself.

·   I do not believe he loved David

·   I do not believe he loved Israel

·   I do not believe he loved God

Joab loved Joab.

And everything else was a pretense to advance himself.

So what does that have to do with us?

It has to do with us because churches are filled with profiteering people.

Who made a profession of faith because they saw how it advantaged them.

·   They did not want to go to hell

·   They did not have to sacrifice to be saved from hell

·   They could even live a better life if they made a profession of faith

Who embrace Christian teaching because they saw how it could benefit them.

·   Their marriages could be better

·   Their kids could turn out better

·   Their friendship could be better

Who stand on Christian politics because they saw how it could benefit them.

·   Capitalist politics favor rewarding the hard working

·   Conservative politics favor letting the hard working keep their earning

But here’s the thing…

These kinds of Christians turn ugly and mean whenever they don’t get their way.

·   They attack preachers

·   They split churches

·   They gossip about one another

And they will quit church if they don’t see any profit in it anymore.

For the first 1800 years of the Christian faith our forefathers suffered every day for being Christians.

There was very little profit in it.

·   They watched their husbands and their children be burned at the stake or drowned in the river for their faith

·   They lived in caves and worshiped in secret for fear of being captured and tortured.

·   They were hunted from town to town and country to country, never feeling like they found a safe home

Some of them had their own children turn them in to the authorities and were executed.

But they stayed faithful

Because 

·   They were not Christians because they could profit.

·   They were Christians because Jesus was the way, the truth, and the life.

IV. JOAB VS SOLOMON

Shortly before he died, King David told his son, Solomon,

1 Kings 2:5-6 (KJV)

Moreover thou knowest also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, and what he did to the two captains of the hosts of Israel, unto Abner the son of Ner, and unto Amasa the son of Jether, whom he slew, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war upon his girdle that was about his loins, and in his shoes that were on his feet.

Do therefore according to thy wisdom, and let not his hoar head go down to the grave in peace.

As David neared the end of his life, one of his sons, Adonijah lifted himself up to succeed his father as king.

Adonijah was the eldest and Joab may have believed he was the natural successor to the throne. Joab thought he knew who should follow David.

But Adonijah wasn’t God’s man.

Joab never was about letting God have his way. Only about doing what could give Joab the most profit.

God overthrew the plans of Adonijah, and Joab and Solomon was crowned.

David had several parting words of instruction to Solomon. One of them had to do with Joab.

·   David was patient

·   Solomon was wise.

Not long after David’s death, Adonijah made another bid for the throne.

·   Adonijah

·   Abiathar the priest and

·   Joab 

were about to go on death row. 

1 Kings 2:28-35 (KJV)

Then tidings came to Joab: for Joab had turned after Adonijah, though he turned not after Absalom. And Joab fled unto the tabernacle of the LORD, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.

And it was told king Solomon that Joab was fled unto the tabernacle of the LORD; and, behold, he is by the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, fall upon him.

And Benaiah came to the tabernacle of the LORD, and said unto him, Thus saith the king, Come forth. And he said, Nay; but I will die here. And Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.

And the king said unto him, Do as he hath said, and fall upon him, and bury him; that thou mayest take away the innocent blood, which Joab shed, from me, and from the house of my father.

And the LORD shall return his blood upon his own head, who fell upon two men more righteous and better than he, and slew them with the sword, my father David not knowing thereof, to wit, Abner the son of Ner, captain of the host of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, captain of the host of Judah.

Their blood shall therefore return upon the head of Joab, and upon the head of his seed for ever: but upon David, and upon his seed, and upon his house, and upon his throne, shall there be peace for ever from the LORD.

So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up, and fell upon him, and slew him: and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness.

And the king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada in his room over the host: and Zadok the priest did the king put in the room of Abiathar.

If Joab was going to die, he wanted to make it appear that he was the one who was right with God.

·   At no time was he ever repentant

·   At no time was he ever genuinely loyal

·   At no time was he broken over his pride and sin

And he is not remembered as the godly/right one, is he? 

David had his problems, but he is remembered as the greatest of Israel’s kings

Solomon had his problems, but Jesus only mentioned his glory, none of his sins.

Joab? He’s just the guy who died at the altar, pretending to be the one who was right.

Let’s pray

Preached at BBC Puyallup 2-9-2020

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[1] 1 Chronicles 11:20 (KJV)

And Abishai the brother of Joab, he was chief of the three: for lifting up his spear against three hundred, he slew them, and had a name among the three.

[2] 1 Samuel 26:7-12 (KJV)

So David and Abishai came to the people by night: and, behold, Saul lay sleeping within the trench, and his spear stuck in the ground at his bolster: but Abner and the people lay round about him.

Then said Abishai to David, God hath delivered thine enemy into thine hand this day: now therefore let me smite him, I pray thee, with the spear even to the earth at once, and I will not smite him the second time.

And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not: for who can stretch forth his hand against the LORD'S anointed, and be guiltless?

David said furthermore, As the LORD liveth, the LORD shall smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle, and perish.

 The LORD forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the LORD'S anointed: but, I pray thee, take thou now the spear that is at his bolster, and the cruse of water, and let us go.

So David took the spear and the cruse of water from Saul's bolster; and they gat them away, and no man saw it, nor knew it, neither awaked: for they were all asleep; because a deep sleep from the LORD was fallen upon them.

[3] 2 Samuel 21:15-17 (KJV)

Moreover the Philistines had yet war again with Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines: and David waxed faint.

And Ishbibenob, which was of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of brass in weight, he being girded with a new sword, thought to have slain David.

But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him, and smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David sware unto him, saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the light of Israel.

[4] His name is mentioned once before this, but only in a reference. Abishai is Joab’s brother.

[5] Asahel was killed in combat. It’s horrible, but it happens. Good men don’t hold grudges for things like that.

[6] Joab was the one guilty of a war crime.

[7] 2 Samuel 13:37 (KJV)

But Absalom fled, and went to Talmai, the son of Ammihud, king of Geshur. And David mourned for his son every day.