A Compelling Reason to Fight • 2 Samuel 10

49:42 Teaching begins

Notes

I have a magazine I’ve saved for decades. One of the articles is about a high school teacher who asked journalists, presidents and congressmen, writers and military men involved with the Vietnam War: What should we tell our children about Vietnam?

Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona answered: “The best thing I could tell your students is that when you decide to go to war, you must at the same instant decide to win it. It’s just like having a fight with another fellow: if you go into it halfheartedly, you’re going to get the daylights beat out of you.”

Today we see people go into battle halfheartedly. They don’t have a compelling reason to fight. They get the daylights beat out of them. Israel has compelling reasons to fight and they win.

You need to know why you fight the good fight of faith. If you don’t have a compelling reason to fight, you can’t win.

I’m reading in 2 Samuel 10.

1. The Ammonites pick a stupid fight with David because they can, vv. 1-5.

A. David wants to continue a good relationship with Ammon, the nation on the southwest of Israel, modern-day . Evidently he and the previous king  Nahash got along. He wants to show kindness to Nahash’s son Hanun and keep things in a friendly way.

B. When David’s ambassadors arrive, Hanun’s princes do not look favourably on this. These guys are spies, David wants to attack and take over your kingdom. Are you going to let this happen?

C. These princes handle this so that they are deliberately offensive to David.

1. If they really thought the ambassadors were spies they could have politely escorted the ambassadors everywhere they went, they could have made sure that they didn’t see anything they shouldn’t have seen. Then  they could have escorted them to the border and say, “Thank you very much.”

2. But they didn’t act politely. They deliberately humiliated the ambassadors and made them lose face. When you do that to David’s representatives, you are doing that to David.

3. This is an offensive way of looking for a fight. It’s a challenge to come and get me.

D. David finds out and tells his ambassadors to let their beards grow back at Jericho so they aren’t humiliated at home as well as in Ammon.

2. Ammon and Israel prepare for war, vv. 6-14.

A. Ammon hires 33,000 mercenaries from Aram, Beth-rehob, and Zobah. This is why Ammon is so cocky. They expect that their money will buy professional bullies that will outnumber and overwhelm Israel.

B. David sends Joab and his mighty men and the army.

C. When the time comes for the confrontation it doesn’t look good for Israel.

1. On one hand there are the 33,000 Arameans outside the city in their camp.

2. The Ammonites line up outside their fortified city.

3. Israel has to fight on two fronts at the same time, and most likely, they are outnumbered.

D. Look how Joab prepares for the battle. He makes sure the men know why they are fighting. It’s all about relationships and supporting one another.

1. He handpicks the guys he wants with him to take on the Arameans. These are guys he knows are valiant and fearsome. Remember David’s mighty men are amazing warriors. They rely upon God to help them, and they have faced lopsided odds before.

2. The rest of the army he puts under his brother Abishai. And he says, “Let’s watch each other’s backs. If they are too much for you, I’ll help you. If these guys are too tough for me, you help me. We are not going to let one another down.”

3. And then notice how he encourages the army as a whole. “This is for our people and the cities of our God.” If these guys get past us they will go on to pillage and rape their way through our nation. They will devastate our families. This is not just about us today, it’s about everyone we love and want to protect.

4. Finally, we are trusting in the Lord. Let Him do what is pleasing in His sight. Does He want His people to be mistreated and enslaved? He is our Shepherd. We will look to Him today to keep us.

5. Israel has many good reasons to fight with complete earnest commitment : free from all reserve or hesitation.

3. Israel wins this battle overwhelmingly. Let’s look at why they won.

A. When Joab and his men face the Arameans they flee before him. This is the promise of God in Leviticus 26:7-8 “But you will chase your enemies and they will fall before you by the sword; five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall before you by the sword.” God fights with them, for them.

B. Aram’s pitiful motive to fight is a paycheck.

1. There doesn’t seem to be any kind of relationship between Ammon and their Aramean mercenaries. The Arameans camp outside the city by themselves in the field. There’s no common feeling, no reason for Aram to feel a commitment to Ammon besides a paycheck. This is purely business.

2. Suddenly the money is not worth it to face these amazing Israelis warriors that fight with the help of their God. They are terrifying. Aram doesn’t care what happens to Ammon, they’re not being paid to die, they’re out of here!

C. Ammon’s pitiful reason to fight is to see David get taken down by the Arameans.

1. Notice they are lined up for war right in front of their fortified city. That means they are minimizing their risk. If something goes wrong they can turn around and run into the city and be are safe. They aren’t there to fight. They’re there to sit and smile as their professional bullies steamroll Israel. Oh, they think they’re so tough, do they?

2. But Ammon sees their professional bullies run away and say, “We’re done here.” They flee in their city.

3. Ammon talks tough but they really don’t have a reason to fight Israel. “We’re better than you? We don’t like David?” That is no reason to face certain death.

4. The Arameans prepare to attack Israel, vv. 15-19.

A. Hadadezer the king himself gets involved.

1. He gets more Arameans from beyond the Euphrates River. It seems like this is the same account that is summarised in 2 Samuel 8. David appears on Hadadezer’s radar because he defeated his men. The attitude seems to be, “Who does that upstart think he is? We’re going to crush his little nation with more men.”

2. And Shobach the commander of Hadadezer’s armies gets involved. I would think he’s a master of strategy. He’s a professional. He’s successful, victorious. This is just another campaign. Let’s do this.

B. David hears about this and gets all Israel together and goes to Helam where they are organising, somewhere east of the Sea of Galilee, on the east side of the Jordan River. His reason to fight is to prevent Aram from overwhelming all Israel.

C. When he attacks them he is devastating. He overwhelms 700 charioteers, which are the equivalent of modern-day tanks. 40,000 horsemen killed. Shobach gets hit and later dies.

D. The rest of the Aramean vassal kings show that they have no compelling reason to fight Israel. They fear for their lives. The best thing they can do is make peace with Israel and submit to them, lest they have to face them again.

E. These guys picked fights because they thought they could win. When they found out David was unbeatable they had no stomach to keep fighting. They lost because they had no real reason to fight for.

5. So what? If you don’t have a compelling reason to fight, you can’t win.

A. You have to understand that you are in a war, and that you must fight. You were born again into this war. You struggle not against flesh and blood but with spiritual forces of wickedness. Like Timothy you fight to lay hold indeed on eternal life. You resist wickedness and keep your ground, to withstand, and after having done all, to stand.

B. I have a list of reasons why we keep standing and do not lose hope. They are all in 2 Corinthians 5.

1. Vv. 1-4 Our hope is that our bodies will be redeemed to be perfect, incapable of sinning, and immortal. We were saved in this hope. When Christ who is our life is revealed in glory, we shall also be revealed in glory. That’s the future. Are you thinking about the future?

2. V. 5 Right now we have the Spirit living in us as a guarantee of our future. He is the One who teaches us, encourages us, disciplines us, strengthens us. He pours out within our hearts the love of God. Are you depending on the Spirit to help you?

4. Vv. 9-11 We know we will appear before the judgment seat of Christ. We are going to give account of our lives. Paul says we know the terror of the Lord. We want to stand before him in confidence, not in shame. If we really fear God we won’t be afraid of anyone else. Nobody comes close to the Lord. We will have true courage. Jesus said to the church at Smyrna, “Be faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of life.”

5. V. 14 For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus, that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. This is the main reason we keep going in our struggles and battles and resist discouragement and despair. Jesus loves me. I know because He died for me. Greater love has no one than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you. How can I forget that Jesus loves me right now? How can I let anything come between me and Jesus?

C. Some people lose sight of Jesus. They lose sight of eternity and long for just a nice life here. They stopped coming to church in the lockdown and don’t have the get up and go to come back to church. They don’t read their Bibles and they lose conviction of what is important.

D. David and Israel fought and won because they knew what they were fighting for. The other guys lacked conviction.

E. So hold on to your convictions and fight to win.

Let’s pray.