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Okay, we're in Matthew 26 and we'll read a couple verses in just a bit. The title of the sermon this evening is Joab, a Military Scoundrel, Joab, a Military Scoundrel. Now tonight we're going to do a character analysis on the character Joab and the reason I chose to start in Matthew chapter 26 is because of the fact that verse 52 really summarizes with accuracy the life of Joab. Look at verse 52, Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place, for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. And really when you look at the life of Joab, he is an individual who would take the sword and ultimately perish with it. And that's really what his life is characterized by, is by violence, deception, a lot of wicked things were characterized, we can see in the life of Joab. And he lived by the sword, he took the sword, he slew many people unjustly with the sword and he also was at the end of his life was slain by the sword as well. When the Bible states that all they that take the sword, it's referring to an individual who resorts to violence in order to resolve an issue or a conflict. And what the Bible is stating here is that a person who uses a sword to resolve conflict shall eventually die by those means. And this is why it's important that we don't become people, Christians, who rely on weapons, physical weapons to win spiritual battles, right? Or to win any kind of battle for that matter. You know we should never be characterized by violence, I understand that obviously we should defend ourselves if the time is necessary, but my personal opinion is that if you're walking with God, you are serving the Lord, you're reading the Bible, you're winning souls to Christ, you know, God's going to protect you from those things, okay? And if God so desires not to protect you from those things, and allow you to fall at the hands of your enemies, maybe so you can receive more rewards, okay? I don't think any of us are ever going to be placed in a position where we have to use physical violence in order to protect ourselves, you know, I believe that God's going to continue to protect us and guard us and keep us, and so we never want to, you know, and by the way, I'm not saying I'm not for guns, obviously I'm for guns, I have a gun myself, I have a 9 milli, okay? And I'm looking to purchase more guns in the future, I'm all for guns, but I'm not for taking the gun by any means necessary, you understand? You know, I rather, you know, I understand horses are prepared against the day of battle, but let's go ahead and finish off that verse, but safety is of the Lord, alright? So keep that in mind, and this is actually exactly what happened to Joab. Now go to 1 Chronicles chapter number 2, I mean we were at like 75 verses and that's the one verse I'm using from Matthew chapter 26, but it's a great verse to really summarize Joab, he's someone who lived by the sword, he's someone who took the sword and perished with it. First Chronicles chapter 2, as I mentioned, Joab, the title of the sermon is Joab the Military Scoundrel, and the reason I chose that title is because of the fact that a scoundrel is someone who's just dishonest, he's deceptive, he's an unscrupulous person, you know, he's a person who doesn't have moral principles, and when he does have moral principles, or when he exerts moral principles, it's actually for his own benefit, it's not necessary for the benefit of others, and Joab is one of those individuals who fits that description perfectly, okay? Now often I talk to people, and when we talk about Joab, sometimes there's a question as to whether he was saved or not. I would like to say that he was, but because he had such a blemish reputation, because he behaved himself so wickedly, he almost opened himself up to say, well I don't know if he was saved or not, who knows? And maybe that's the blotch on his record, that he behaved so badly that people would even question whether he was a saved person or not. And the reason people would say, well yeah he was saved, is because of two instances in his life where he seemed to have done righteously, okay, we'll cover those in just a bit, but his reputation is clouded with so much mischief that it kind of makes you wonder what kind of person this guy really was. Now the first thing I want you to notice about Joab, this military scoundrel, is the fact that he was actually David's nephew. A lot of people don't know that, but he's actually related to David. Look at 1 Chronicles 2 verse 15, it says, Ozim the sixth, David the seventh, whose sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail, and the sons of Zeruiah, Abishai and Joab and Asahel, three the Bible says. Now you know in the Bible sometimes you run into a repetition of names that have nothing to do with each other, this is not one of those cases, okay. When it's referring to Zeruiah, it is referring to the mother of Joab, and we have 2 Samuel 17 to corroborate that, it says in verse 24, Then David came to Mahanaim, and Absalom passed over Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him. And Absalom made Amasa captain of the host instead of Joab, which Amasa was a man's son whose name was Ithra, an Israelite, that went into Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah, Joab's mother. Now you say, well why start off the sermon talking about the fact that he's related to David? Well this is significant since throughout the story of David and Joab, we see David favoring Joab, right, even after Joab's unethical deeds that he does, okay. He often does a lot of wicked stuff that David knows about, he knows he's committing these things, he sees him doing it, yet he kind of lets him off the hook, okay. And it could be that, you know, he lets him off the hook because of the fact that Joab is effective, he is a good captain, he knows how to bring victory, he's valiant, or it could be that he's just related to him, alright, that's his nephew and so he shows a little bit more favor because of the fact that they are related. And so we see, we often see David turning a blind eye to Joab's cutthroat manner of living. Now go with me if you went to 2 Samuel chapter number 2, 2 Samuel chapter number 2. So when studying the Bible, there's a principle referred to as the law of first mention, okay. And the law of first mention is simply stating this, is that if you want to study a specific subject or person in the Bible, just go to the first place they're mentioned. And that'll typically, you know, set the tone for the rest of that person's life, you understand, or that doctrine, that topic. And so when we apply that same principle to Joab, it's just not good, okay. You know, he doesn't start off as this hero, as this noble, you know, commander, as a man of God who loves the Lord, no, it automatically starts off showing how little he values life, okay. Now let me give you a bit of a background of 2 Samuel chapter number 2. Of course at this time, Saul, who was going to war with David, has already perished. We obviously understand that Saul had gone away from God, God destroyed, allowed Saul to be destroyed, and David comes back to Horeb with his family and his men, and the men of Judah basically choose to anoint him king over Judah. And obviously we understand that this is his rightful place, this is what God wanted for David to be the king of Israel, to be the king of Judah. Now the northern part, referred to as Gilead, the men of that place, and more specifically Abner, who was the captain of the host of Saul, he didn't want David to be the king. Because if David were to become king, that means he's out of a job, you understand? So Abner basically decides to take one of Saul's son, Ish-bosheth, and make him king over that northern part of Gilead, of Israel, in order to retain his position, you understand? And so what he does is he takes Ish-bosheth and he says, hey, you're the king now. Obviously Abner has no authority to do that. Who is this guy to anoint anybody king, or say that they're in charge? But he's doing it because he wants to retain his power, his position, his authority in that northern kingdom. He was serving under Saul, he wants to continue to be in that position of power and authority. So that's where we're at. Look at 2 Samuel 2, in verse number 12, and Abner, the son of Nair, and the servants of Ish-bosheth, 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 one on the other side of the pool, and Abner said to Joab, let the young men now rise and play before us. And Joab said, let them arise. Now they're not playing soccer, football, they're not playing American football, they're not playing basketball, they're not playing any sport whatsoever. When he says, let the men rise up before us and play, he's basically saying let them fight, let them go to war, let them kill each other, which is a very morbid way of saying let them go to war, he's saying let them play. So as they're sitting on each side of the pool, they're sitting there with their lemonade or whatever, just watching these guys kill each other, pretty wicked. Verse 15, then there arose and went over by number 12 of Benjamin, which pertained to Ish-bosheth the son of Saul and 12 of the servants of David, and they caught everyone his fellow by the head and thrust his sword and his fellow's side. So they fell down together, wherefore the place was called Hilkath, I can't even pronounce this right now, Hilkath-hazurim, 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. And there were three sons of Zeruiah there, Joab and Abishai and Asahel, and Asahel was as light afoot as a wild roe, and Asahel pursued after Abner, and in going he turned not to the right hand nor to the left from following Abner. So what's going on here? Abner comes and basically says, hey, we can just settle this score right now, why don't your men fight my men, let them play before us, and let's see who wins. Obviously Abner thought that he was going to win, that's why he even proposed this because he thought he was going to win this battle. But of course, Joab's men are valiant men, David's men are mighty, they're valiant men, and they put a shellacking on these guys, they end up destroying them. But I want you to notice that the wording that's being used, let them play before us. So what do we see first and foremost when it comes to Joab? Obviously we see Abner's not necessarily a good person, but when it comes to Joab, we see that he doesn't really care for the life of his men, right? I mean he's not like David, who's willing to give his life for his men. He's not like David, who when his men, you know, went to go get water from the well of Bethlehem, came back, he poured it out into the Lord, because basically he's like, this almost cost the life of my men, you know, just to give me this cup of water. Joab's like, let them play, let them kill each other, let them prove, you know, that we can win, let them just die, who cares? For him, people were dispensable, he didn't care for his own men, okay? So Abner loses, he begins to run, and what we see is that Abishai, or excuse me, Asahel, begins to pursue after him. He's like, well, we gotta finish the job, let's get Abner, if we kill Abner, who's the commander, then we can take over Ishmael, thereby taking over the northern kingdom and bring it to David, okay? He says in verse number 20, then Abner looked behind him and said, art thou Asahel? And he said, I am. And Abner said to him, turn thee aside to the right hand or to the left, and lay thee hold on one of the young men, and take thee his armor, but Asahel would not turn aside from following him. What is he saying? He's like, you don't want trouble with me. He's basically warning them, like if you don't turn to the right or to the left, I'm gonna like, I'm gonna whoop you, I'm gonna kill you, okay? Verse 22, and Abner said again to Asahel, turn thee aside from following me, wherefore should I smite thee to the ground? How then should I hold up my face to Joab thy brother? He's like, look, if you don't stop, I'm gonna kill you, and then how am I gonna be able to face Joab your brother, knowing that I killed his brother? Howbeit he refused to turn aside, wherefore Abner, with the hind end of the spear, smote him under the fifth rib, look at this, that the spear came out behind him, and he fell down there and died in the same place, and it came to pass that as many as came to the place where Asahel fell down and died, stood still. So let me ask you something, whose fault was this, Asahel's, right? If someone's telling you, disengage, you know, and he has a, the guy has a spear, not this Asahel, where's he at, not you buddy, okay? You know, you probably shouldn't mess around and think, you know, I don't want to die, this guy looks like he means business, but you know what, he just kept at it and kept at it, taking the dog by the ears, and he just kept at it and kept at it, and he suffered the consequences because of it, and he ended up dying, okay? Look at verse 26, so obviously Joab hears of this, he's not happy, his brother was just slain by Abner, a person whom he wanted to take out, verse 26, then Abner called to Joab and said, shall the sword devour forever? Knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end? Now what is he doing? He's actually foretelling Joab's downfall, he's saying this, look, shall the sword devour forever? He's like, don't you know that it's going to be bitterness in your latter end? He sees how Joab is behaving, how vengeful he could be, he sees that he's bloodthirsty, he sees that all he wants to do is kill, and he's saying, look, it's going to be bitter in your latter end if you continue like this, okay? How long shall it be then ere thou bid the people return from following their brethren? And Joab said, as God liveth, unless thou had spoken, surely then in the morning the people had gone up, everyone from following his brother, so Joab blew a trumpet, and all the people stood still in pursuit after Israel, no more, neither fought they anymore. He said, well, there you go, Joab, there you go, man, Joab called off the fight, Here's one thing you've got to learn about Joab, the guy's cunning, he's deceitful, and the only reason he retreated is because he wants to live to fight another day to take off Abner's head. He's like, I'm not going to be able to get him this time, but I am going to get him next time. And this is something that you consistently see with the life of Joab, for example, with Absalom, and I don't want to get ahead of myself, but Absalom takes off from the kingdom, he gets away from David, and Joab wants to take out Absalom. Why does he want to take out Absalom? Because of the fact that Absalom is an adversary to his king, and he knows that if Absalom kills David, then he's out of a job. So it's not because he cares for David, okay? We'll get into that in just a bit, go to 2 Samuel chapter 3. 2 Samuel chapter number 3. So we see that he doesn't really care for the life of his men. Play before me, you know? And here's the verse that I think of when I read that, James chapter 4 verse number 1 says, For whence come wars and fightings among you? Come they not hence even of your own lust at war on your members? Ye lust and have not, ye kill and desire to have and cannot obtain, ye fight and war, yet ye have not because ye ask not. The reason Joab was so insistent in going to war and killing people and doing it unjustly was because he was lusting for power. That's what he wanted. It wasn't because of loyalty towards David. Because when Absalom takes over and his dad flees, does Joab go with him? No, he stays with Absalom, hoping to get some security, hoping to still retain some position and still have a job. He can care less who's in power as long as he's friends with the person that's in power. So not only that, we see that he's also deceptive and self-willed. Let me give you a bit of a background of 2 Samuel chapter 3. At this point, the house of Saul is just dying out. The house of David is waxing stronger and stronger. House of Saul is waxing weaker and weaker. David is just getting more territory, conquering more. He's leading the people. He's winning them over. It's going well with them. What we see is that obviously Ishma Sheth, with Abner as his captain, they see that, you know what? Our days are numbered. By the way, Ishma Sheth is not necessarily a good leader. He's just kind of forced in that position, at the influence of Abner, because Abner is the one who wants the power. And David is merciful, he's gracious, so he's just like, look, give me back my wife, Michal, and we'll make a league together, we'll make peace, and we don't have to go to war, no one has to die, you guys just capitulate, you surrender, we can finish this war. Because he understands, he can mop the floor with that northern kingdom like nothing. David is valiant, his men are valiant, they can take care of business very quickly. So he's just telling them, look, give me back Michal, just recognize that I'm the king kind of thing, and we'll move on. Abner obviously doesn't like this, but really he has no choice. So what he does is that he ultimately surrenders power, and he encourages the kingdom to follow David. He's like, look, you guys anointed David, so you might as well just, you know, have him as your king, we'll have a league with him, we'll make peace, and then everyone can live happily ever after, okay? So this is where we find ourselves, look at verse 21 of 2 Samuel chapter 3. 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. So he's like, okay, sounds good. So Abner's, you know, obviously he's not a perfect person, he seems to be pretty bad initially, but then he recognizes when he loses, okay? He's not a sore loser, right? Don't be a sore loser, don't be a person you just can't accept defeat, just accept it, right? And behold, the servants of David, verse 22, and Joab came from pursuing the troop, and brought in a great spoil with him, 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 hosts that was with him were come, they told Joab saying, Abner, the son of Nair, came to the king, and he had sent him away, and he is gone in peace. So they're just kind of like gossiping a little bit, yeah, you know, you know Abner was here? Now, obviously Joab already has beef with this guy, because Abner just killed his brother. Then Joab came to the king and said, what has 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 Nair, that he came to deceive thee, and to know thy going out, thy coming in, and to know all that thou doest. Now is that true? It's not true. He's trying to put these thoughts into the king's mind, like, don't you know this guy is not your friend, he's trying to do bad stuff to you, he's trying to deceive you, he's trying to check out your treasures in your house, because he wants to overthrow your leadership. That's what he's trying to do, David, he's trying to put that in his mind. Verse 26, and when Joab was come out from David, he sent messengers after Abner, which brought him again from the well of Seirah, but David knew it not. So the implication of verse 26 is that David just basically said, don't worry about it, mind your own business kind of thing, because if he actually believed Joab, he would have said, okay, pursue after him, slay him, and then we'll be done with it. But obviously, David is not buying the story, he doesn't believe it, and so he just kind of lets him go, and Joab, not satisfied with the orders of the king, not satisfied with the agenda of the king, does his own thing. He becomes self-willed, right? And he basically sends messengers after Abner, because these messengers, you know, Abner has this thought, well, we're cool with the king now. David and I, we have peace, we're good to go. And so he brings him to the well of Seirah, and David doesn't even know about it, okay? Look at verse 27, 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 forever from the blood of Abner that sent him there. Well, David, what you should have done is slew Joab. That's what you should have done, David. You should have just taken him out of the picture, okay? Because Abner, to a certain extent, was innocent. He fled when he was being pursued, Joab's brother is the one who came after him, and in defense, he slew Joab's brother justly. Whereas Joab, you know, because of his brother, he decided to take vengeance in spite of the king's commandment, okay? So what do we see? Do we see Joab being a very moral, just forgiving person? No, we see that he's vengeful, self-willed, and deceptive, right? But David's over here like, well, you know, me and my kingdom, we're guiltless. You know, we have nothing to do with this. Okay, so if you don't want to kill Joab, then demote him then. Remove him from his position then. Why are you keeping him as the captain, as your commander, if he's behaving so wickedly? Verse 29, let it rest on the head of Joab and 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 a sword, or that lacketh bread. So Joab and Abishai, his brother, slew Abner because he had slain their brother as the hell I Gibeon in the battle. And David said to Joab, and to all the people that were with him, rend your clothes, and gird you with sackcloth, and mourn before Abner, and King David himself followed the buyer. Isn't that interesting? It's just like, hey, I want you to fake like you're mourning, even though he's the one who killed him. It's like, what? This is the guy who slew him, and he buried Abner in Hebron, and the king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner, and all the people wept, and the king lamented over Abner and said, died Abner as a fool dieth, thy hands were not bound. You say, well, maybe David didn't really think that Joab was that wicked. Maybe he didn't know he was that wicked, maybe he wasn't coming across that way. Well, let's look at what he says here and see if that's true. Thy hands were not bound, nor thy feet put in fetters, as a man falleth before wicked men. So fellest thou, and all the people wept again over him. He's like, just the way people fall at the hands of wicked people, that's exactly how you fell. Why? Because he fell at the hands of a wicked person named Joab. Look at verse 38, and the king said unto his servants, know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen to this day in Israel? And I am this day weak, though anointed king, and these men, the sons of Zeruiah, be too hard for me, the Lord shall reward the doer of evil according to his wickedness. Go to 2 Samuel chapter number 10. So we're not that deep into Joab's life yet. And yet what are we seeing? We're seeing he's deceptive, we see that he is cunning, we see that he is self-willed, we see that he is deceptive, we see that he is careless when it comes to the lives of his men. Not a good reputation so far, okay? Now people will say, yeah, but he did some pretty good things though. You know, remember when David tried to number the people, and Joab is the only one who stood up to try to stop him from doing so? Okay, we'll give you that, okay? But based upon his previous character, I guarantee you there is some selfish reason behind that. Because you never see him doing right in order to, you know, benefit the kingdom or David, it's always for his selfish reason, okay? Now I will say this of Joab, okay? Joab was deceptive and he was self-willed, he was unscrupulous and just kind of behaving wickedly. He was a very valiant fighter, I will say that. This guy can fight. And he was very much fearless in battle, okay? Look at 2nd Samuel chapter 10, verse number 7. And when David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the hosts of the mighty men. And the children of Ammon came out and put the battle in array at the entering end of the gate, and the Syrians of Zobah and Rahab and Ishtob and Makah were by themselves in the field. When Joab saw the front of the battle was against him before and behind, he chose all the choice men of Israel and put them in array against the Syrians, and the rest of the people he delivered into the hand of Abishai, his brother, that he might put them in array against the children of Ammon. And he said, if the Syrians be too strong for me, then thou shall help me, but if the children of Ammon be too strong for thee, then I will come and help thee. Be of good courage, let us play the men for our people, and for the cities of our God, and the Lord do that which seemeth him good. And Joab drew nigh, and the people that were with him, unto the battle against the Syrians, and they fled before him. So this is a pretty valiant statement being made here. He said, look, we got to act like men, we got to fight like men, we got to do it for our people, and for our God, for our nation, for our city. And people say, well, you know, maybe that's an indication that he was saved. Yeah, it's like an indication that, you know, any military soldier in America is like a saved person, right? Ain't God we still trust, and, you know, they make all these statements about God and how God is with them. We got to do this for our nation, and our city, and our God. Patriotism existed back then, folks. So I don't think this is an indication that Joab was saved, okay? Now, if you want to believe that, I'm not against you. Everyone has a right to be wrong about that, you know, if you want to be. No, I'm just kidding. You have every right to be. But, you know, this isn't necessarily an indication to me that he was just like some godly person because there's plenty of soldiers in the military who take people's lives and they do it in the name of God, right? And so, but, you know, he was a valiant person. He had a lot of courage. And he ended up defeating these armies because of his courage, because he was bold, and, you know, he was a great soldier, okay? So obviously, you see why he would be an asset to David. David's looking at this guy and saying, well, this guy is, you know, cutthroat, and he's taking care of business, so I'm going to continue to use him to further my kingdom, okay? Go to 2 Samuel 11. And honestly, I can't think of any other good thing that he's done, you know? That, you know, the counting of the people, just trying to discourage David from counting the people, that's pretty much it, you know? And, you know, like I said, his life is clouded in a lot of mischief and dishonesty. Another thing that he did was that he did David's dirty work, okay? David, we know, was a picture of Jesus Christ, but David was still David, okay? He was a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ. His good qualities, right, foreshadowed Jesus Christ. His bad qualities just represented who he really was as a sinner, okay? Because he committed adultery, he murdered a man, he did a lot of bad stuff because he was just a regular human being who made mistakes. He was not perfect. Now look at 2 Samuel 11, verse 1, it says, And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with them in all Israel, and they destroyed the children of Ammon and besieged Reba, but David tarried still at Jerusalem. Now, we obviously know this story because David gets out of the battle, he stays behind in Jerusalem, he ends up getting involved in sin. You know, he sees Bathsheba bathing, he inquires, he takes, and he ends up getting Bathsheba pregnant. He commits adultery with Bathsheba, and she conceives a child, she ends up having a child. Because he's trying to hide his sin, he's like, okay, well, the next best thing is to take Uriah and kill him. Which is, Uriah is Bathsheba's husband. I mean, this is very evil, very wicked, right? But you know, he can't do it alone. He's trying to, he's conspiring to kill Uriah, which is one of David's mighty men. I mean, it's his own guys, right? He's conspiring to kill him. But obviously, he can't just ask anybody to help him with that. Because a lot of people in David's army are righteous people. So he's got to go to the bottom of the barrel, okay? And you know who he scoops up? He scoops up Joab. Look at verse 14. And it came to pass in the morning that David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. That's so wicked. It's like he's carrying his own death certificate to die. And he wrote in the letter saying, set Uriah in the forefront of the hottest part, hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten and die. Now, Joab, we don't see his reaction. He's not like, what, David? This is Uriah. What are you doing? You know why he's not doing that? Because this is just another day in the office for Joab. He's like, sounds good to me, you know? That's how I roll. Let's get him out of the picture, if that's what you want, King David. Cuz that's what Joab is characterized by. This type of deception, this type of mischief, that's what he's known for, right? And the unfortunate thing is, Uncle David knows that. So Uncle David is just like, Joab's not gonna say anything about this. He's gonna go along with it, and he's not gonna divulge the letter to anybody else. I know I can trust in Joab to do my dirty work, okay? Verse 16 says, and it came to pass when Joab observed the city, that he assigned Uriah unto a place where he knew the valiant men were. The men of the city went out and fought with Joab, and there fell some of the people of the servants of David. And Uriah the Hittite died also. And you know how the rest of the story goes. And so they bring back the message to David. And David's like, well the sword's laid, one has to do the other. Just go back and encourage out him. He's just kind of like indifferent towards the death of Uriah. Because in his mind it was like, plan accomplished, killed him. And he knows that Joab's not gonna do anything about it. So what do we see in regards to Joab in this particular story here? We see that he's not a man of integrity. He's not a man of honesty. He's not a man who is principled, okay? And look, we all want to have loyal friends. We all want to have loyal people in our lives. But there's a difference between being loyal and being willing to just sin in order to be loyal, understand? Which is exactly what Joab did. That's not the type of person you want to be surrounded with. Why is that? Because of the fact that eventually they'll be disloyal towards you, because they're not grounded in principle at all, okay? And this is how it works in the world, folks. I'm sure many of us can attest to friends that we had in the world. And man, they were our buddies, or they were our friends, they were our best friends, they were our road dogs, they were our whatever. And they were down for you to the bitter end, but you know what? When it comes down to it, if they had a chance, they'd probably backstab you too. If they had a chance, they'd probably turn on you too. Because if you're not grounded in the principles of God's word, you can't be trusted, right? You cannot be trusted, your loyalty cannot be trusted if you're not grounded in the principles of God's word. We want people who are loyal to God, more than loyal to man. Because if a person is loyal to man, their loyalty sways, okay? And it changes, it transitions from one person to another, it's not grounded, it's not settled, it's not fixed. However, if you're loyal to the Lord, okay? If you're loyal to the Lord, you will be loyal to others because of the great commandment, okay? To love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. In fact, we as Christians should be loyal to all people, right? Right? We should be loyal to all people. How do we express loyalty to our neighbor? By not killing them, not stealing from them, not lying to them, not committing adultery with them, not coveting what they have. Why? Because of the fact that we love the Lord and the Lord has commanded us to love our neighbor as ourselves, understand? But you know who Joab loves? He loves himself, and he doesn't love others. He loves Joab as I love myself. That's the only person that Joab loved was himself, okay? And so his loyalty, and let me just say this, is that loyalty is an important quality, folks. It's important to be loyal in your church. It's important to be loyal, obviously, to your spouse. It's important to be loyal to your friends. But it's more important for you to make sure that you're loyal to God, okay? Because if you're loyal to God, you will be loyal to those other relationships that are found in your life, okay? And so, you think of the world, and when it comes to dating in the world, for example, okay, these girls who want the, I don't know. We call them the Rico Suaves, but I'm old now, so I don't know. They probably have another name for them. Someone help me out. What's the name for the Rico Suaves of today? Where are the Rico Suaves in here? What do they call you? Show yourself, what? E-boys? E-boys. What's the E stand for? TikToker boys. TikToker boys? That's exactly what they are, is boys. What is it, Bray? It's not a question. Oh, okay, okay. Well, thank you for not telling me. Thank you for your loyalty. E-boys. You just ruined your reputation, right? E-boys, okay? Where was I going with this? Okay, you know, you got these girls who find these E-boys. And I'm sure these E-boys, they sweet-talk them, they develop relationships with them. They may know that these E-boys are playboys, right? That they like to, they're players or whatever, but they think that this person will be loyal to them, though. They can change them, make them loyal, and they'll be faithful to them. Folks, that's a fantasy. The guy's gonna cheat on you, he's gonna commit adultery, he's gonna commit fornication with others. He's not a principled person, okay? E-boys. I don't, yeah, I don't wanna know. E-boys are like extra boys, they're just extra. And if you're saying they're TikTokers, then they look like little queers then, right? They got the little curly hair and the faded sides and all that. So what we see is Joab is like an E-boy, okay? Because he's not loyal. He's not loyal, he's not principled, he's not faithful, he just has this outward appearance as though he is, and he does just enough, right? He does just enough so as to stay in position, so as to not be demoted, you understand? He does just enough to just remain in power along with David, okay? But he's not principled at all. Go to chapter 12 of 2 Samuel. Chapter 12. I mean, how do you sleep at night? After delivering a letter to kill one of your most valiant men? I mean, Uriah, guess what, Uriah was loyal. Uriah was not only loyal to David, he was loyal to his men. You remember that? Because when David tried to get him to go into his wife so he can cover up his sin and then make Uriah think that maybe Bathsheba's burying his child, instead of doing that, he just slept outside of the king's court, king's house. And he basically said, how can I go into my wife and feast while my men are out there fighting the Lord's battles? I mean, that's loyalty. He's loyal to his wife, he was loyal to King David, and you know what, he was loyal to Joab too because he didn't know that Joab was sending him to go die, but he obeyed anyways. Joab said, go to the hottest part of the battle. You know what Joab did? He did it. I don't know what Uriah did, he just went there, probably knowing that he was gonna die. But because he was such a loyal person, he did it anyways. That's loyalty. That's a person who's principled. So what else did we see of Joab? This military scoundrel. Well, he was also irreverent towards authority, okay? And this is a common trait with people like this, okay? When they try to remain in power, they only obey and respect as much as they need to in order to stay in authority, but then they make certain statements or things that basically cause them would be perceived as being mockery or irreverent towards authority. Look what the Bible says in 2nd Samuel 12 verse 26. And Joab fought against Rabab, the children of Ammon, and took the royal city, and Joab sent messengers to David and said, I have fought against Rabab and have taken the cities of waters. And he's doing his job. He's like, hey, we took care of this king, we're handling this, we accomplished the task. Verse 28, now therefore, gather the rest of the people together and camp against the city and take it, lest I take the city and it be called after my name. That doesn't sound very respectful. He's like, now go get your people and bring them over here, or else I'll take this and call this by my name. Who do you think you are, Joab? What? That's not a proper response towards the king. The proper response towards the king would have been, so what do you want us to do next? How long do you want us to stay here? What do you want us to do? No, he says, gather your people, bring them over here, or else I'll call this city by my name. Now, does that sound like an individual who really cares or has the agenda of the king? No. He's a person who is self-willed, only cares about their own agenda, wants to promote themselves, is not necessarily, doesn't necessarily love the king. He's like, I'll call after my name. You know what, David, he's kind of punking out here, and he's just like, verse 29, and David gathered all the people together and went through everyone and fought against it and took it. And you say, why did David do that? Well, because David just sent them on an errand to kill someone. So it's just like, well, you know, I kind of made him do something immoral, so maybe I should do that, because I kind of owe him or something, you know? So he's kind of like under Joab's thumb, so to speak. Yeah, he's kind of like blackmail, exactly. Because Joab, you know why Joab could talk to him like that? Because Joab knows something that David did that David doesn't want everyone else to know. So he's using it as leverage to speak to him like that. Now, obviously, if David wasn't involved in that adultery and murder of Uriah, Joab would not be able to talk to him like that. Because he knows he's a moral man, he's a man of integrity, you know, he's gonna fire me if I talk to him like that. But he knows he's not gonna fire him because King David did wickedly, too, okay? Go to chapter 14. My next point about Joab is the fact that his life is characterized by someone who just wants to retain power, and that's it. You know, it shouldn't be the one where we're serving the Lord, or whatever capacity we're serving in, that we're just content wherever we're at, right? We're just happy serving the Lord, whether it's winning souls to Christ, being a team leader, you know, being in the church, whatever may happen, just Lord, whatever you want for my life, I'm just happy wherever I'm at. And let me just say this, you'll be a happier person as a Christian if you're just happy wherever you're at. Because if you're not, God will keep you in that position until you learn happiness. That's what will happen. Okay? You know, and it's just, well, you know, I wanna be a pastor one day, I wanna do this one day, and I'm just not gonna be satisfied until I do so. Wrong attitude, wrong attitude. The right attitude is, Lord, whatever you want for my life, I'll take. Because I don't deserve any of this anyways. So if you choose to make me a pastor 15 years from now, so be it. If not, so be it. I'm just happy serving the King, right? That's what Joab does. I mean, Joab has a pretty high position too. He's the captain. He has a commander, he's leading people. You know? And he should have been content with that position, but he wasn't. Look at verse one of 2 Samuel. Let me look at what story we're at here. Okay, so let me give you a bit of a background of this story here. Of course, there's conflict between Absalom and David because Absalom has slain David's son due to the rape of Tamar, if you guys remember that story, okay? Absalom is on the run, okay? And so because he's on the run, he has immediately made himself an adversary to David. And because he's David's son, there is a certain potential for Absalom to rise up in power and possibly dethrone David, which is something that we kinda see later on, right? He kinda takes over the kingdom by flatteries, et cetera. And he basically takes power, but prior to that, he's on the run. Now, Joab perceives this. Joab knows this. He knows that Absalom is a threat to his beloved King David. No, it's not for his beloved King David. He's like, well, if they kill King David, then I don't have a job, okay? So look at verse one. Now Joab, the son of Zeruiah, perceived that the king's heart was toward Absalom. So he's like, oh man, the king misses his son. Let's reunite these father, you know, those social media videos where the kid's in class and the dad comes home from the military and he surprises him. That's what Joab wants to do, right? He wants to reunite Absalom with his dad, have a happy ending because he just loves King David. Is that really what he wants to do? Well, if that was the case, why is he doing it this way? Look at verse two. And Joab sent it to Coah and fetched thence a wise woman and said unto her, I pray thee, feign thyself to be a mourner and put on now a mourning apparel and anoint thyself, excuse me, anoint not thyself with oil, but be as a woman that had a long time worn for the dead and come to the king and speak on this manner to him. So Joab put the words in her mouth. So this lady comes to David and she comes up with this outlandish story that's basically representative of what happened to King David and Absalom, okay? And what she's trying to do is catch David in his words to basically give the answer that Joab wants, which is to return Absalom back to the kingdom. You understand? And it works. But I want you to notice it says, Joab put the words in her mouth. This is what I want you to say, okay? Look at verse 18. Then the king answered and said unto the woman, hide not from me, I pray thee, the thing that I shall ask thee. He's basically saying, hey, I'm gonna ask you a question. And I want you to be honest with me, okay? 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? Dang. What does David perceive? He perceives the blueprints of Joab that there's mischief and deception going on here. Now, she was trying to deceive him, right? So you know what David thinks? Joab's a part of this. That's pretty bad. Because there's all this deception, this parable that's being thrown out, trying to deceive the king, David's like, Joab must have put you to this. Because I don't even know one person that does this kind of stuff. And that's Joab. 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 aught 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 to fetch about this form of speech, had thy servant Joab done this thing, and my lord is wise, according to the wisdom of an angel of God to know all the things that are in the earth. No, it's just that David just knows how Joab is. It doesn't take much wisdom to know when Joab is speaking or Joab is a part of something. And David, I'm sure he took that praise and he's just like, all right, thank you, but I just know Joab. And the king said unto Joab, behold, now I have done this thing, and go therefore bring the young man Absalom again. And of course, Joab makes this whole show, he praises him and he's just like, oh, lord king, live forever and all these things. And obviously what this shows is that David knows the depth of Joab's deception and lack of integrity. That he's willing to construe the situation in such a way to try to get Absalom to come back. What David doesn't know is why Joab was trying to get Absalom to come back. Go to 2 Samuel chapter 17, if you would. So what happens? Absalom comes back, he doesn't see his father's face for like a year, I might be off on that. It was about a year. And he's kinda like, what's going on? What is the king gonna tell me? And a good principle that we can learn from that specific instance is that it's never good to leave unresolved conflict unresolved for very long. And that applies from child rearing to conflicts in the church. That's why when you spank your children, you should hug them right away and reconcile that and not allow a space of time where you feel this conflict where there's this tension between you and your parents or you and your son and your daughter for very long because it's unresolved. And then they're thinking in their minds like, what, is mom or dad mad at me? Are they still angry with me? And this is something that is common. Now, I don't know if it's common in any other household, but for sure, Hispanic households, they're notorious for this. They'll whoop you and not talk to you for like seven days or something. And you're just like, dude, does she hate me or what? Like, what's gonna happen? And you say, how does it get resolved? Well, you just end up like talking about something random, you know what I mean? Like, did you go to school today? You're like, yeah. I was like, all right, cool, I think we're good now, you know? Hey, when there's conflict, when you spank your child, you should immediately afterwards hug them and comfort them and fellowship with them and treat them kindly after that because it's showing that there's conclusion to that conflict, okay? We need to move on. And that's why in church, we should always seek to resolve conflict right away, right? I'm all for resolving conflict right away. I am very confrontational. And the reason I like confrontation is because of the fact that I just like to resolve conflict right away. I don't like tension between us. So if I feel like you have tension with me or if there's something in between us, I have no problem going up to, John, are you mad at me or something? Because you're acting weird. You're making faces at me and you're just been acting kind of weird, you know? And then just deal with it right then and there. It's the best way to do it. And that's the way you should do it too, okay? Because that way, there's no conflict, there's no tension, there's no imagination. Think about this, Absalom, for like a year, hasn't resolved anything with his dad. His dad said, all right, come back, doesn't see his face for a very long time. How do you think Absalom feels? He's like, man, is this guy gonna kill me? What is he doing? So he's calling to meet with the king, calling for the meat of the king, and Joab just ignores him. So he's like, all right. So he lights his field on fire. Joab's field on fire. That'll get his attention. And Joab kinda is like, why have you done this? He's like, because I'm trying to meet with the king and you're not helping me out with this. So he steps up a meeting with the king. They resolve it, everything's good. But then, of course, Absalom ends up taking over. He ends up taking over the kingdom by flatteries, okay? And winning the kingdom over. And David perceives this and he ends up leaving his kingdom with his men, okay? And you know who's there right alongside David? Not Joab. Hey, Joab, I thought you were like his right-hand guy. But he didn't leave with David. Look what it says in verse 25. So Absalom takes over, look at verse 25. And Absalom made Joab captain of the host? Nope. Amasa captain of the host instead of Joab. There's a reason the Bible puts that, folks. Which Amasa was a man's son whose name was Ithra, an Israelite, that went into Abigail, the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeraiah, Joab's mother, okay? So Joab obviously stayed behind. If he didn't stay behind, this would not be in this verse. The fact that he chose Amasa over Joab. Because Joab stayed behind because he wanted job security. He wanted to still retain his position. He didn't care about David. He let David run away. He let David go to Abdullam's cave and he let David do all those things and just kind of, well, he's not part of the kingdom. Time to serve the next master. See if I can retain my position. And Absalom was just like, well, you're gonna be the captain, not this guy. So he gets demoted and Amasa gets promoted. Go to 2 Samuel chapter 19. Actually, go to, let me see here. Go to chapter 18. So Joab is serving under Absalom now. He's in his kingdom, but he's not loyal to Absalom. He doesn't care about Absalom. Look at verse nine. And Absalom met the servants of David. And Absalom rode upon a mule, because now they're going to war. And so now David's men are fighting against Absalom. But David gives specific instructions and says, hey, when you find my son Absalom, do not slay him. Don't lay your hands upon him. Strict commandment. And everyone obeys, except for who? Joab. He strictly commands, this is what I want you to do. And Joab just completely disregards it, can care less what David says. Look at verse nine. And Absalom met the servants of David and Absalom rode upon a mule, and the mule went under the thick bows 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 them, and behold, thou sawest him, and why didst thou not smite him there to the ground? And I would have given thee 10 shekels of silver and a girdle. 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 touched the young man Absalom. He's saying, why would I kill him? That would go against the king's commandment. You were there when we were being briefed on the mission here, that we were not supposed to touch Absalom. Why are you saying that? Verse 13, otherwise I should have wrought falsehood against my own life, for there is no matter hid from the king, and thou thyself wouldest have set thyself against me. Then, yeah, because he knows how Joab is too. He's like, and I know you're not loyal, so as soon as David would have put it out for me, you would have been the first one to slay me. Isn't that interesting? You wanted me to kill him, but if I killed him, you would have killed me, even though you wanted him dead. Good night. Verse 14, then said Joab, I may not tarry thus with thee. He's like, I don't have time for this. Yeah, because he's exposing you, that's why. 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 10 young men that bared Joab's armor came past about and smote Absalom and slew him. And Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing after Israel, for Joab held back the people. And they took Absalom and cast him into a great pit in the wood, and laid a very great heap of stones upon him, and all Israel fled everyone to his tent. Man, that's so evil. So why is that evil? Well, because of the fact that he's the king's son. So a king's son actually deserves a king's burial, a proper burial. This is a very disrespectful way to bury an individual. Throw him in a pit and just put a great heap of stones upon that pit. Very evil, very wicked. Now, sometimes, let me make this connection real quick. And this is actually something that I learned from even from Brother Ray, because we're actually on the podcast, we're discussing this story, and we were going through the symbolic representation here. But before I get into that specific story, let me just say this, is that sometimes in the Bible, you will have righteous people. And when I mean righteous, I mean saved people. But because they do so wickedly, what God does is almost he makes them a byword in the proverb, where they end up representing something very wicked in the New Testament. Okay? For example, Saul represented Jews, right? In the New Testament. Saul represents the old covenant in the New Testament. He represents the old IFB for us, all right? How about this? Aaron, though he was a saved person, right? He represents basically the Antichrist, okay? And I have, you know, there's a lot of symbolism there. Nebuchadnezzar, who's a saved person, represents the Antichrist, because he made an image, right? Well, Joab, or by the way, man, what's his name? Ahithophel, who was David's counselor, actually represents Judas. Joab, because of how wickedly he was, and it could be that he was saved, represents like the devil, okay? And the reason for that is because you have Absalom, the king's son, right? Being hanged on a tree, just as Jesus Christ was hanged on a tree. He thrust them through with many darts, just as Jesus Christ was thrust through with a spear. And he was cast into a pit, just as Jesus Christ was cast into the bottomless pit. Great heap of stones went upon him, just as Jesus Christ's sepulcher was covered with a stone as well. And the person who was behind it is Joab, who is a complete devil, okay? Or a representation of a devil, all right? And of course, you see that David mourns for his son. You see Cushai and Ahimaz, who both have tidings for the king, they both run, and Cushai outruns Ahimaz, just as John outran Peter when going through the sepulcher to see if Jesus Christ was in the tomb, et cetera. But I wanted to point that out because of the fact that sometimes you'll run into people in the Old Testament when you read the Old Testament, who are saved people, but they're used as bad examples of spiritual truths in the New Testament. And it's kind of like, well, that's what you get. You know, you act like a devil, you behave wickedly, you're characterized by mischief, well, God's gonna make you a symbolic representation of like the Antichrist or something, or even the devil, okay? Go to 2 Samuel chapter 19. So that's over and done with, and of course, David still lets him keep his position, right? Or actually, no, I'm sorry, he doesn't let him keep his position. Finally, he kind of demotes him, and he puts Amasa as the captain. Now Amasa has taken Joab's place, all right? And now they're gonna continue to fight the Lord's wars. Look what it says in verse 12. You are my brethren, you are my bones and my flesh, wherefore then are ye the last to bring back the king? And ye say to Amasa, are thou not of my bone and of my flesh? God do so to me, and more also, if thou be not captain of the host before me continually in the room of Joab. He's basically saying, look, you're gonna be the captain now, Joab is no longer the captain, I'm demoting him, he killed my son. Now obviously, David should have just done more than that, right? Like, all he gets is a demote, he just gets demoted? That's it? Should have been removed, completely. Go to chapter 20 of 2 Samuel. Now Amasa, you know, he's a good guy, but he's just not as effective as Joab. You know, Joab, though he was mischievous and had all these flaws, he executed. I mean, both, no pun intended, right? Like, he was able to execute, he got the job done, you can send him to a land and he'll conquer it, you know, he'll take care of business. Amasa wasn't necessarily like that, he wasn't necessarily a self-starter, okay? Or if he did get the job done, he got it done very slowly, all right? He just worked at a different pace than Joab. Look at verse four, at this point, they're having issues with this man, I don't have it in my notes, Bikrai, Sheba, right? Sheba, the son of Bikrai, and David wants his head. He wants him to be destroyed, he wants to kill him, so he sends Amasa to go out and get him. He said, Amasa, get your man, go out, and get the head of Sheba, the son of Bikrai. Look at verse four, then said the king of Amasa, assembled me, the men of Judah, within three days, and be thou here present. So Amasa went to assemble the men of Judah, but he tarried longer than the set time which he had appointed him. It's not because he's a bad guy, he's just kind of dragging his feet a little bit, you know what I mean? He's just kind of taking his time. And, you know, that's not my pace. Everywhere I walk, I walk with purpose, okay? I never drag my feet, even if I'm just like, don't know where to go, I'm just always walking fast somewhere. That's just my pace, that's my personality. And you know what? David does not like the opposite of that. He's like, hey, we're getting something done, Amasa, why are you taking so long, right? Verse six says, and David said to Abishai, now shall Sheba, the son of Bikrai, do us more harm than Absalom. Take thou thy Lord's servants and pursue after him, lest he get in fenced cities and escape us. And there went out after him Joab's men, and the Cherithites and the Pelethites, and all the mighty men, and they went out of Jerusalem to pursue after Sheba the son of Bikrai. When they were at the great stone, which is in Gibeon, Amasa went before him, and Joab's garment that he had put on was girded unto him, and upon it a girdle with a sword fastened upon his loins, and the sheath thereof, and as he went forth it fell out. And Joab said to Amasa, art thou in health, my brother? Okay, so let me stop right there. It's like, David, why would you send them? Amasa's about to die. Sheba the son of Bikrai's gonna die at the expense of Amasa dying too. He didn't send them to go kill Amasa. He sent them to go get Sheba the son of Bikrai, right? So Joab is like, oh, time to get my position again then. Time to retain my position. Time to get rid of Amasa, because who else is a captain, you know, that's qualified for that position but me? Joab said to Amasa, art thou in health, my brother? Who says that? And Joab took Amasa by the beard with the right hand to kiss him. Oh, wasn't there someone else who did that who betrayed their king? Oh yeah, yeah, Judas, right? Betrayed the son of man with a kiss. The kisses of an enemy are deceitful, the Bible says. But Amasa took no heed to the sword that was in Joab's hand, so he smote him therewith in the fifth rib and shed out his bowels to the ground and struck him not again and he died. So Joab and Abishai, his brother, pursued after Sheba, the son of Bikrai, and one of Joab's men stood by him and said, he that favored Joab, and that is for David, let him go after Joab. And Amasa wallowed in blood in the midst of the highway. So this guy's just dying. He's like, his blood is just being, you know, just a pool of blood. It's a horrible way to die. And when the man saw that all the people stood still, he removed Amasa out of the highway into the field and cast a cloth upon him. When he saw that everyone that came by stood still, when he was removed out of the highway, all the people went out, went on after Joab to pursue after Sheba, the son of Bikrai. How many remember my Red Hot preaching conference when I had Alex Berea covered in a cloth? And I tried to preach, I preached from this, but I was preaching my entire sermon with like dead Alex right there. Okay? Very hard to do, because you're just like, well, this is what these men were doing. They're just like, did he just kill this person? And Joab is like, oh, don't worry. Put a cloth over him, problem solved. Just sweep it under the carpet. Just put a cloth over it, just move him out of the way. Out of sight, out of mind. Wicked. Go to 1 Kings chapter two. Here's the last portion of scripture. So surely a man of these exploits is gonna live just the normal life at the end of his life. God's gonna bless him. You know, he's gonna die at his bedside, or die in his bed surrounded by his family like David was, and he's just gonna fulfill his years, and no evil shall come upon him because he was just serving the king. Wrong, wrong. What's gonna happen to him? Well, remember the beginning of the sermon? They that take the sword shall perish by the sword also. It looks like he took the sword to a lot of people. He not, yeah, okay, yeah, he killed a lot of wicked people, but he also killed a lot of righteous people. For selfish reasons. You know, he brought down people who were righteous, more people who were more righteous than him. Amasa, there was nothing wrong with him, other than the fact that he was just a little slower. That's all. He wasn't an unrighteous person. He was serving King David. He just wasn't as fast, and you know what? That wasn't enough for Joab. He's like, well, I'm gonna take his position then. I'm gonna kill him, take his position, because then the king's gonna be forced to choose me as being the captain, and we'll be done with it. Well, you know what? He that rolleth the stone, it shall be rolled upon him also, the Bible says. And you reap what you sow, and this is exactly what happened to Joab. Now, of course, at this point, David has passed away. He's passed the baton to his son, Solomon, and Solomon came with a vengeance, because David's like, all right, before I die, here's the hit list. He's like, it won't look right if I did it, but I'm gonna hand the hit list to you. He's like, remember that story about Shimei, the guy who cursed me and stuff, and I forgave him? Well, I want you to kill him. Because you know, you like, forgave him, right? Oh, the Lord paid him, and he's saying all this stuff, like, he was being all spiritual when it happened, but at the end of his life, he was like, kill him. I want him to be dead, that punk. You know, cast rocks at me, curse me, you know. Son, make sure you take him out of the picture. So he creates this list of people that he wants him to slay, and guess who's amongst those people? It's Joab. He's like, and by the way, take out Joab too. Verse 28. And look, you know, Solomon is just like, can do, dad. Anything else? You want some tea, you want another blanket? What do you want? You know, I'll take care of it. And he sends a man who was a righteous man who served under his father by the name of Benaiah. And Benaiah is very valiant. In fact, I would say he's more valiant than Joab. And in fact, to prove that, and to prove that God is not honoring Joab, when David's mighty men are listed on that list, I don't know the particular chapter right now, when he's listed on there, all David's mighty men are listed except for Joab. His brothers are listed, but they're listed, and even his own armor bearer is listed. Joab's armor bearer was listed. They gave his name, he's like the armor bearer of Joab. I remember someone who like, they really liked Joab. And they got really offended at me, because I told him, I was like, I would even name my dog Joab. You know, I told him that. And he's like, oh, I don't know, man, he's a good guy and all this stuff. And I went through all the reasons why he was not a good person. And I said, look, even in this list where God is like, calling out names, and he's like, honoring these people, Joab isn't even named in that. I was like, his armor bearer is named, and it literally says, the person's name, the armor bearer of Joab. Just to kind of like, throw salt in the wound. And this person said, well yeah, well it was implied that he was one of the mighty men, though. That's such a stretch, it's a tear. Okay, folks, if he was valiant, he would have been labeled as one of the first, because he's the captain, he's the commander. He conquered much, he accomplished a lot, but he did it wickedly. So God's not looking at him and saying, okay, well I'm just gonna overlook all your wicked deeds because you conquered so much land. He's like, I'm just not gonna honor you at all. In fact, I'm gonna honor your armor bearer more than you. The guy who carried your armor, who obeyed you, and served you, and was kind to you, who was loyal, who had integrity, who was honest, I'm gonna honor him more than I honor you. Because it's, that's like, God was disrespecting Joab in that list. By saying, this person, the armor bearer of Joab. Joab was like, oh man, he didn't even say my name, like where's my name on that, you know? It's not on there, because you're not honorable, Joab. Look at verse 28, then the tidings came to Joab, for Joab had turned after Adonijah. Whoa, that's not surprising, right? Because he wants to retain his position. Though he turned on after Absalom, and Joab fled unto the tabernacle of the Lord, and caught hold on the horns of the altar. He said, what is he doing? Is he having like a prayer meeting? It's just his daily walk with God, he's just holding onto the altar, because he just wants to get a hold of God. No, he's about to die. And it was told King Solomon that Joab was fled into 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. He's like, hey, he's at the altar, you know, he's holding the horns, hoping to like pull out some compassion from Solomon, and Solomon's like, okay, go fall upon him there. Makes no difference, that's where, you know. Verse 30, and Benaiah came to the tabernacle of the Lord, and said unto him, thus saith the king, come forth. He said, nay, but I will die here. Where's all your valiantness now? Thought you were like a tough guy, Joab? Or is it that you know that you're guilty? Is it that you know that God's gonna return the blood of the innocent upon your head again? That's what it is. Come forth. Nay, but I will die here. But I have brought the king word again, saying, thus said Joab, and thus he answered me. And the king said unto him, do as he had said. He's probably like, why are you coming back? Just, if that's what he wants, do it. And fall upon him and bury him. That may as take away the innocent blood which Joab shed for me, and for my, from the house of my father. And you know what it is, he went there, and he fell upon him, and he killed Joab. Oh, what an honorable ending for Joab. Wrong, he died a coward, holding onto the horns of the altar. He didn't die valiantly. He didn't die valiantly with just going out like, I mean, Samson died more honorably than him. This guy died a coward holding onto the horns of the altar, hoping that the person who was being sent to slay him would say, well, I can't kill him, because he's holding onto the horns of the altar. I can't do it. Well, you know what Joab, you didn't show any compassion to anybody when you slew them. Therefore, it shall be recompensed upon your own head. So what is it that we can learn from the life of Joab? Well, Ecclesiastes 10, one says this, dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking saver. So does the little folly in him that is in reputation for wisdom and honor. You know what, it might be that Joab was saved, but he has such a bad reputation. He has such a stinky reputation that it kind of makes you wonder. And even if you come to the conclusion, yeah, he was saved, you would say, but he was definitely not a good person. He was a really bad person, really bad testimony, really bad representation. And this is a good example of what not to do, amen. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for the testimonies of the Lord. Thank you for the stories in the Bible. And they are exciting stories. And they teach us that man does not change. The simple nature of man does not change. Men have had this attitude for ages. And I pray that Lord, as we read it, we take heed that Lord, if we're given to such attitudes, such as Joab, that we would repent of that, get right and be founded upon the word of God and be principled, Lord. Help us not to be like Joab. Help us to be like Benaiah, who was a valiant man. He did a lot of great exploits. He was named amongst the David's mighty men. He did great works. And to help us to learn from the example of Joab to recognize that if we take the sword, we shall also die by the sword. And I pray that Lord, you'd bless us as we go on our way. We love you so much. We thank you, pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.