David is blessed with discernment and victory after the folly of the Ammonites is judged.
1 Chronicles 19: The Ammonites Disgrace David's Men
1 Now after this Nahash the king of the Ammonites died, and his son reigned in his place.
2 And David said, "I will deal kindly with Hanun the son of Nahash, for his father dealt kindly with me." So David sent messengers to console him concerning his father. And David's servants came to the land of the Ammonites to Hanun to console him.
3 But the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun, "Do you think, because David has sent comforters to you, that he is honoring your father? Have not his servants come to you to search and to overthrow and to spy out the land?"
4 So Hanun took David's servants and shaved them and cut off their garments in the middle, at their hips, and sent them away;
5 and they departed. When David was told concerning the men, he sent messengers to meet them, for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, "Remain at Jericho until your beards have grown and then return."
6 When the Ammonites saw that they had become a stench to David, Hanun and the Ammonites sent 1,000 talents of silver to hire chariots and horsemen from Mesopotamia, from Aram-maacah, and from Zobah.
7 They hired 32,000 chariots and the king of Maacah with his army, who came and encamped before Medeba. And the Ammonites were mustered from their cities and came to battle.
8 When David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the army of the mighty men.
9 And the Ammonites came out and drew up in battle array at the entrance of the city, and the kings who had come were by themselves in the open country.
Ammonites and Syrians Defeated
10 When Joab saw that the battle was set against him both in front and in the rear, he chose some of the best men of Israel and arrayed them against the Syrians.
11 The rest of his men he put in the charge of Abishai his brother, and they were arrayed against the Ammonites.
12 And he said, "If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me, but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will help you.
13 Be strong, and let us use our strength for our people and for the cities of our God, and may the LORD do what seems good to him."
14 So Joab and the people who were with him drew near before the Syrians for battle, and they fled before him.
15 And when the Ammonites saw that the Syrians fled, they likewise fled before Abishai, Joab's brother, and entered the city. Then Joab came to Jerusalem.
16 But when the Syrians saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they sent messengers and brought out the Syrians who were beyond the Euphrates, with Shophach the commander of the army of Hadadezer at their head.
17 And when it was told to David, he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan and came to them and drew up his forces against them. And when David set the battle in array against the Syrians, they fought with him.
18 And the Syrians fled before Israel, and David killed of the Syrians the men of 7,000 chariots and 40,000 foot soldiers, and put to death also Shophach the commander of their army.
19 And when the servants of Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with David and became subject to him. So the Syrians were not willing to save the Ammonites anymore.
1 Chronicles 20: The Capture of Rabbah
1 In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, Joab led out the army and ravaged the country of the Ammonites and came and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. And Joab struck down Rabbah and overthrew it.
2 And David took the crown of their king from his head. He found that it weighed a talent of gold, and in it was a precious stone. And it was placed on David's head. And he brought out the spoil of the city, a very great amount.
3 And he brought out the people who were in it and set them to labor with saws and iron picks and axes. And thus David did to all the cities of the Ammonites. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.
Philistine Giants Killed
4 And after this there arose war with the Philistines at Gezer. Then Sibbecai the Hushathite struck down Sippai, who was one of the descendants of the giants, and the Philistines were subdued.
5 And there was again war with the Philistines, and Elhanan the son of Jair struck down Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam.
6 And there was again war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number, and he also was descended from the giants.
7 And when he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea, David's brother, struck him down.
8 These were descended from the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.
Things to think about…
I find the story of the Ammonites humiliating the Israelites intriguing, 1Chr 19:1-5. You would think the last thing you would do is humiliate a guy who has sent messengers to comfort you in your time of loss, even if you didn’t believe his heart was right towards you. The Ammonite king just stirred up anger against David and his country by humiliating his men. The world uses such tactics. As they try to humiliate the church and pull down Christ, our strength and defense is in Christ our Lord. Never go against the Lords anointed.
We acknowledge all things work together for good, Rom 8:28 as Christians. In this incident of humiliation, the Lord actually allows the nations that make up Syria to be defeated by David’s army, 1 Chr 19:10-19. Both Israelite armies work together to deal with a common problem. As a body Christians we are to do the same thing. We know when Christians pull each other down we make the war with each other instead of with the true enemy and nobody wins. Build someone up in Christ today. Speak well of other churches who labour in the gospel. The spiritual Ammonite and Syrian will be defeated as we stir up one another in love and good works.
After the defeat of both the Syrians and Ammonites by Israel in 1Chr 19:19 it says, “So the Syrians were not willing to save the Ammonites anymore.” Satan knows when there is no chance of victory and then simply goes into preservation or survival mode. He is still there and as we know these ancient enemies would still come and harass Israel in future skirmishes.
The first line of 1Chr 20 is amusing to read just as it is. I wonder whether it was the first day of Spring that the kings went out to battle or whether it was halfway through? In any event, the Lord was with Joab and the rest of David’s army, and he gets this cool Ammonite crown out of it (although a very heavy one). The moral of the story, “The Lord shall not be mocked”. More gold is then stored for the amazing building project. This would be the first temple built by David’s son Solomon.
We often hear about the story of David and Goliath, but the reality is Goliath had other brothers who were also big and fierce. These giants were taken down by one of David’s nephews, “Jonathan the son of Shimea”, 1Chr 20:7, and another man. It’s interesting that the size of these giants is also linked with a genetic disorder, 1Chr 20:6 tells us they had six toes on each foot and six fingers on each hand. I don’t know whether this made him fiercer or not. It’s an interesting point and the Holy Spirit obviously wanted it recorded. Regardless of outward appearances or whether we are considered able bodied or otherwise we are all disfigured spiritually without Christ, hence the need to proclaim His name so that through Him the world can be made whole. Amen!
Vision statement for CBC
CBC’s Vision :- To be a growing biblical church community, significantly influencing our city and beyond, through intentional outreach, fulfilling our mission.
Life groups start tonight – 6:30pm at church.
Prayer Points
1. Pray for Anna and Phil as they process and heal from the loss of their child during pregnancy. He is now safely in the arms of Jesus.
2. Pray for Gary Denning – results this week.
3. Pray for peace over Israel.
4. Ministries for this year’s events and ministries as they begin this week.
5. Conversions and more visitors this time of year.
6. Pray for Ukraine.
7. Pray for the work we have going on with site development and TMR and the ways forward whether with our friends at the Drive-in or elsewhere.
8. Growth, conversions, joy in the Word and Spirit to increase.
Praise Points
1. Wonderful prayer time and ministry at our first Life Group
2. Great start to PlayPatch. New family arrived.
3. New people on Sunday.
4. The return of more hostages from Israel
5. Tess healing well – good to see her back at church
6. Safe return of families back from the holidays.
7. The Lord’s grace over our lives and country
8. Café, music, sound and technical team every week
9. Joy, peace and grace we see at CBC. Thankyou Lord
Announcements
1. Ministries start back on the 29th Jan. Life group, Kids@Church, Kids Hope - Karalee.
2. PlayPatch back this week – Fri 24th Jan.
3. Church bank details bsb:- 704 913 and Acc number:- 4000 4388 1
4. Tune in again this week on our YouTube page. Subscribe to the CBC channel Chuwar Baptist YouTube channel.
Catechism questions for January...
Q. 28. What effect did Adam’s sin have on all mankind?
A. All mankind are born in a state of sin and misery.
