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you you well good evening everyone welcome to Mountain Baptist Church take your song books and turn to song number 14 song number 14 and your song books will sing kneel at the cross if you would stand we'll sing song number 14 kneel at the cross Christ will meet you there come while he waits for you list to his voice leave with him your care and begin a life anew kneel at the cross leave every care kneel at the cross Jesus will meet you there kneel at the cross there is room for all who would his glory share bliss there awaits harm can never befall those who are anchored there kneel at the cross leave every care kneel at the cross Jesus will meet you there kneel at the cross give your idols arm look unto realms above turn not away to life's sparkling cup trust only in his love kneel at the cross leave every care knee kneel at the cross Jesus will meet you there and let's pray heavenly father Lord again we just want to thank you God for another opportunity that it is to and privilege that it is to gather in your house and to hear your word preach I pray Lord that you would just be over there pastor a film with your power and spirit help him to preach your word faithfully Lord we love Elvis in Jesus name Amen or you may be seated and I'll take your Mountain Baptist song books your Mountain Baptist Psalm Psalms and spiritual psalm books and turn to page number eight page number eight we'll sing Psalm 126 on page number eight when the Lord turned again not captivity of Zion we were lying them that dream then was our mouth filled with laughter and our tongue with singing then said they among the heathen the Lord had done great things for them the Lord had done great things for us where of we are glad turn again our captivity Oh Lord as the streams and the south they that so in tears shall reap enjoy they that so in tears shall reap enjoy then said they among the heathen the Lord had done great things for them the Lord had done great things for us where of we are glad he that goeth forth and weepeth bearing precious seed shut out let's come again shut down let's come again with rejoicing bringing his sheaves with him then said they among the heathen the Lord had done great things for them the Lord had done great things for us where of we are glad amen so welcome to Mount Baptist Church on this Wednesday evening just some announcements here get started as far as service times and everything on the list there everything will be normal this Sunday so be in your places Sunday morning Sunday afternoon soul winning time at 1 p.m. and so between the services there and the latest one I guess doesn't matter so and then the regional sewing times obviously on the list there be on lookout in the church group there upcoming events we do have the men's prayer meeting this Friday and so that'll be at 6 p.m. this Friday here at the church building and then we do have the soul winning marathon scheduled for September 21st that'll be the day before our church anniversary so that'd be Saturday church anniversary beyond the 22nd and so be in prayer for that and our chapter memory for the month as we're coming to the end here of August is 1st John chapter 1 so once we obviously go in the September 1st John chapter 2 and I actually have this book memorized but I remember this is the one that I used to when I had it when I was memorizing it I would run on a treadmill and I would not stop running until I quoted off the whole book and so I this this one when I when I think of 1st John I think it's kind of like a bittersweet thing because then I think about like dying on a treadmill every once in a while when I was memorizing it so but sometimes there's certain things that will kind of keep it in your mind so anyway 1st Corinthians 1 17 is a memory verse of the week this is a great verse obviously I preached on this on Sunday but this is a one you really want to have memorized for soul-winding purposes for Christ sent me not to baptize but to preach the gospel not with wisdom of words lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect great passage really show you that water baptism and the gospel are two separate things and yeah as far as birthdays anniversaries get done on Sunday pregnancies be in prayer for Rachel Hiles on the pregnancy list they're here prayer for the McCoy family crystal employee during the recovery process there with them just have them having twins and that's about what I have for announcements that I can think of so offering boxes in the back there if you want to give a tie there an offering mother baby rooms for the mothers and babies only I believe brother Anthony you're reading tonight so brother he's gonna do one more song brother Anthony's gonna be reading second Samuel chapter 20 we'll be continuing our study through the book of second Samuel all right take your song books and turn to song number 41 song number 41 in your song books will sing sweet bye and bye song number 41 there's a land that is fairer than day and by faith we can see it afar for the weight's over the way to prepare us a dwelling place there in the sweet by and by we shall meet on that beautiful shore in the sweet by and by we shall meet on that beautiful shore we shall sing on that beautiful shore that melody as songs of the blast and our spirit shall sorrow no more not a sigh sing of rest in the sweet by and by we shall meet on that beautiful shore in the sweet by and by we shall meet on that beautiful shore to our bountiful father above we will offer our tribute afraid for the glorious gift of his love and the blessings that hollow our days in the sweet by and by we shall meet on that beautiful shore in the sweet by and by we shall meet on that beautiful shore all right take your Bibles and turn to the book of second Samuel chapter number 20 second Samuel chapter number 20 and your Bibles will have brother Anthony read that for us second Samuel chapter 20 Bob reason there happened to be there a man of burial whose name was Shiva the son of big cry a Benjamin Knight and he blew a trumpet and said we have no part in David neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse every man to his tent so Israel so every man of Israel went up from after David and followed Sheba the son of big cry but the men of Judah clave unto their king from Jordan even to Jerusalem and David came to his house at Jerusalem and the king took the ten women his concubines whom he had left to keep the house and put them inward and fed them but went not in unto them so they were shut up unto the day of their death living in widowhood then said the king to a Mesa assemble me the men of Judah within three days and be valid here present so a Mesa went to assemble the men of Judah but he Terry longer than the set time which he had appointed appointed that him and David said to a by shy now shall she but the son of big ride do us more harm than did Absalom take thou thy servants the Lord died Lord servants and pursue after him lest he get him fenced cities and escape us and there went out after him Joab's men and they kyra fights and the pellet fights and all the mighty men and they went out of Jerusalem to pursue after Shiva the son of big cry when they were at the great stone which is in Gibeon a Mesa went before them 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 in the sheath thereof and as he went forth it fell out then Joab said to a Mesa art thou in health my brother and Joab took a Mesa by the beard with the right hand to kiss him but a Mesa 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 shock him not again and he died so Joab and Abishai his brother pursued after Shiva the son of big cry and one of Joe's men stood by him and said he that favors Joab and he that is for David let him go after job and a Mesa wallowed in blood in the midst of the highway and when the man the man saw that all the people stood still he removed the Mesa out of the highway into the field and cast a cloth upon him when he saw that everyone that came by him stood still and when he was removed out of the highway all the people went on after Joab to pursue after Shiva the son of big cry and he went through all the tribes of Israel unto Abel and to Beth mecca and all the B rights and they were gathered together and went also after him and they came and besieged him and in Abel of Beth mecca and the cat and they cast up a bank against the city and it stood in the trench and all the people that were with Joab battered the wall to throw it down then cried a wise woman out of the city here here say I pray you unto Joab come near hit come near hither that I may speak with thee and when he was come near unto her the woman said art thou Joab and he answered I am he then she said unto him hear the words of thine handmaid and he answered I do here then she spake saying they were want to speak an old time saying they shall surely ask counsel at Abel and so they ended the matter I am one of them that are peaceable and faithful in Israel thou seekest to destroy a city and a mother in Israel why wilt thou swallow up the inheritance of the Lord and Joab answered and said far be it far be it from me that I should swallow up or destroy the matter is not so but a man of Mount Ephraim she but the son of be cry by name hath lifted up his hand against the king even against David deliver him only and I will depart from the city and the woman said to Joab behold his head shall be thrown to thee over the wall then the woman went unto all the people in her wisdom and they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bikrai and cast it out to Joab and he blew a trumpet and they retired from the city every man to his tent and Joab returned to Jerusalem unto the king now Joab was over all the hosts of Israel and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the karethites and over the Pelethites and Adoram was over the tribute and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilu was recorder and Sheba was scribe and Zadok and Abiathar were the priests and Ira also the Jarei was a chief ruler about David let's pray dear Lord thank you for your word and thank you for you this night we've been gathered continue from to look learn from your word I prayed you'd be a pastor Robinson you fill with your Holy Spirit and help us all to be edified in Jesus name I pray amen amen sure they're in second Samuel chapter 20 and David has returned into Jerusalem and if you remember in chapter 19 basically as he's coming back he's forgiving a lot of those that may be wrong Tim and and he's also blessing those that helped him during that time when he was on the run if you will but in chapter 20 here we're actually at the end of chapter 19 we see that there was basically this whole I guess schism or between Israel and Judah and so I want you to see that first of your just kind of remind you of what's going on there I think that kind of helps lead into obviously what's being said here in chapter 20 but in verse 41 of second same chapter 19 there it says and behold all the men of Israel came to the king and said unto the king why have all why have our brethren the men of Judah stolen thee away and have brought the king in his household and all David's men with him over Jordan and all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel because the king is near of kin to us wherefore then be angry of this matter have we eaten at all of the king's cost or hath he given us any gift and the men of Israel answered the men of Judah and said we have ten parts in the king and we also we have also more right and David than ye why then do you despise us that our advice should not be first had in bringing back our king and the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel so leading into this is that children of Israel the ten tribes were the first that wanted to bring back David actually Judah had to be convinced and then Judah was convinced and then Judah ends up physically bringing David over and then the rest of Israel is upset because they were the ones that first wanted him to come back and there's this whole back and forth that's going on there what's interesting is that the men of Israel that were upset that they didn't get to bring back David and they were the first to say to bring back David are gonna end up following this this son of Belial this man of Belial Sheba and basically this dissension that's gonna happen okay so in verse 1 here of chapter 20 it says there happened to be there a man of Belial whose name was Sheba the son of Bikrai a Benjamite and he blew a trumpet and said we have no part in David neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse every man to his tents O Israel so every man of Israel went up from after David and followed Sheba the son of Bikrai but the men of Judah clave unto their king from Jordan even to Jerusalem so it's like this yo-yo effect of like the children of Israel are saying we want to bring them back first they had to convince Judah they convinced you that then Judah brings it back they get upset because they didn't get to be the ones to bring them over and then this man of Belial convinces them to basically so basically there's this whole fight that's going on and then you have this child of the devil they're going to show you is that when it says there are man of Belial or a child of Belial or son of Belial we're talking about someone that's a child of the devil this isn't just some typical unsaved person this is obviously like we're children of God there's children of the devil and once you're a child of God you're always a child of God once you're a child of the devil you're always a child of the devil but let me just show you very clearly that Belial is talking about the devil no go to 2nd Corinthians chapter 6 2nd Corinthians chapter 6 2nd Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 14 because someone could maybe read this and think of Belial as like a place right be like a man of Gilead or something like that or you know so you would just maybe read past this now obviously if you were reading through first Samuel you'll see that Eli had two sons and it says they were sons of Belial which is very clear that we're talking about the devil there because they just said they were sons of Eli right they're sons of Eli but they're also sons of Belial okay but in 2nd Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 14 it says it says be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness and what communion hath light with darkness so we see the polar opposites right it says and what Concord hath Christ with Belial and what part hath he that believeth with an infidel now the infidel is an unbeliever right so basically just have contrast here so what's the contrast of Christ the devil right what's the con you know contrast of God is the devil so that being said is that when we're talking about a man of Belial we're talking about someone that's of the devil someone that's a child of the devil and go to 2nd Samuel chapter 23 actually in 2nd Samuel David talks about sons of Belial okay and he gives a contrast of blessing those that are blessed and those that are cursed and obviously the sons of Belial are cursed but 2nd Samuel chapter 23 and verse 6 2nd Samuel chapter 23 and verse 6 it says but the sons of Belial shall be all of them as thorns thrust away because they cannot be taken with hands but the man that that shall touch them must be fenced with iron and the staff of a spear and they shall be utterly burned with fire in the same place so we're talking about thorns and briars you know we're talking about we're talking about corrupt trees these could be false prophets but these could just be children of the devil children of the wicked one okay and that's what we're dealing with here is that this the Sheba the son of Bichrai is a child of the devil okay which is different than Shimei Shimei was obviously an enemy of David but he didn't call him a child of the devil actually he called David a man of Belial if you remember right and obviously he's throwing out that accusation to David obviously David's not just because someone says something in the Bible doesn't mean it's true but here this is the narrator saying it okay the narrator is saying and there happened to be there a man of Belial whose name was Sheba the son of Bichrai so we know without a shadow of a doubt just as much as Cain who was of that wicked one we know that he was a child of the devil as well now you don't you're not just born a child of the devil right there had to be a time where you basically became that but that being said this is what we're dealing with so it's interesting though because any time that the children of devil are children of Belial or sons of Belial are brought up they don't like authority if you remember that happened with Saul like there was there was sons of Belial that didn't want him to reign there was the same thing with David there was sons of Belial that didn't want him to reign and again he comes back and there's sons of Belial that don't want him to reign it's just a constant thing that they don't they do not want authority and you know second Peter and Jude all hit on this that they despise dominion okay and here's thing obviously we all we all despise like crooked wicked Dominion does that make sense but the onion in general isn't wrong right government isn't wrong it's obviously government is ordained by God and but there's people that just they hate having rules they hate having laws they don't want to be bound by anything or have anybody above them or any type of authority and ultimately what that means they hate God because God is the ultimate authority isn't he's the ultimate one that has dominion over all of us and ultimately they despise the Lord okay so what's interesting though about this is that where is he from Benjamin okay and he's a Benjamin which there's another place where sons of Belial are mentioned go to judges chapter 19 judges chapter 19 which is probably one of the the roughest passages in the Bible in my opinion okay obviously just Genesis 19 is rough but the woman that gets defiled and ultimately dies in this I think makes this one even rougher right so judges 19 verse 22 it says now as they were making their hearts marry behold the men of the city certain sons of Belial beset the house roundabout and beat at the door and spake to the master of the house the old man saying bring forth the man that came in to thine house that we may know him sound familiar to Genesis 19 it's like history repeating itself but the thing I want you to notice here is that these sons of Belial which are obviously sodomites where are they from where are they at well go to judges 20 judges 20 and let's see what tribe we're dealing with here in verse chapter 20 verse 11 it says so all the men of Israel were gathered against the city knit together as one man and the tribes of Israel sent men through through all the tribe of Benjamin saying what wickedness is this that is done among you now therefore deliver us the men the children of Belial which are in Gibeah that we may put them to death and put away evil from Israel but the children of Benjamin would not hearken to the voice of their brethren the children of Israel and the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of out of the cities unto Gibeah to go out to battle against the children of Israel and interesting that it's the Benjaminite that's a child of Belial and that in Judges 19 and Benjamin was pretty much wiped out in that story okay but you know hundreds of years later still dealing with that now I you know I think when it comes to sons of Belial you're never gonna completely get rid of the sons of Belial right it's kind of like there's always going to be that that out there but it is interesting that in judges 19 judges 20 what tribe goes against Benjamin Judah what tribe is against what tribe sticks with David in this story Judah Judah sticks with them and it's this man of Belial that's of Benjamin that is fighting against David and all that and I think there's something to be said to about just that contrast of Judah against Benjamin and dealing with that contrast of David you know the children of God against the children of the devil I don't want to get too deep with that but obviously there's parallels and allegories throughout the Bible when it comes to this as far as just those two things going at each other okay so we see here Sheba the son of Bichrai he obviously causes this this big division within Israel and we're gonna see how what happens to him but in 2nd Samuel chapter 20 verse 3 it says David came to his house at Jerusalem and the king took the ten women his concubines whom he had left to keep the house and put them in ward and fed them but went not in unto them so they were shut up unto the day of their death living in widowhood now these are the women that obviously Absalom took up to the top of the house and lay with them and so David is basically not doing the duty of marriage to them after they were obviously defiled and all that by his son so sad state of affairs when it comes to the women there when it when it comes to the concubines there and you know you just read that you're just like this this is horrible I feel bad for a lot of the cases you know I think of Michael I you know when it comes to her and just everything that she went through but so but at the same time you know there is something to be said about how like the Bible talks about not uncovering your father's you know like the nakedness of your father's wife and all these different things and just the fact of just how that defiles the land and so you can understand where David's coming from with that on just the fact that how that's all just just how wicked that is that happened there okay so in verse 4 here if you remember David makes a Mesa captain of the host right so in order to basically get Israel if you remember or Judah I'm sorry Israel wanted to bring back David Judah was apprehensive and he sent the priests throughout the elders of Judah and basically promised the Mesa that you will be captain of the host so now a Mesa is captain of the host but to put it lightly he sucks at being captain of the host and really what we're gonna see here is that he is not fit for this job you can kind of understand why they didn't win the battle against David now obviously the Lord is with David all of that I'm not taking that out of the equation but at the same time when you see when you when you read about a Mesa you're just like you are not captain material here okay verse 4 here it says then said the king of a Mesa the king to a Mesa assemble me the men of Judah within three days and be thou here present so Mesa went to assemble the men of Judah but he tarried longer than the set time which he had appointed him so basically he said you got three days assemble everybody and after three days didn't happen so then in verse 6 here it says and David said to Abishai now shall she be the son of Bichrai do us more harm than did Absalom take thou thy Lord servants and pursue after him lest he get him fenced cities and escape us and there went out after him Joab's men and the Kara tights and the pellet fights and all the mighty men and they went out of Jerusalem to pursue after Shiva the son of Bichrai so basically a Mesa is not getting the job done all right Abishai it's time to go to work time for you to do something because we know you can handle it and then Joab's like I'm gonna you know Joab's right behind him to go do this okay so a Mesa's dropping the ball and we don't really know if maybe he's just really bad at his job or maybe he just doesn't like David and it's just kind of apprehensive to the whole thing I don't know you know but I I think he's just not good at his job now once you think about this that was Joab's job I want you to think about now this isn't I'm not excusing what Joab does next here because Joab's gonna kill a Mesa so I'm not don't get me wrong here and I'll be like well you know if your co-worker observes you then you know it's just no obviously it's wrong what Joab does and I'm gonna show you obviously that it's wrong but the thing is is that in Joab's mind his job was taken by somebody that is horrible at the job right and it's just like if you think about this in like a modern realm imagine that you have a position you get demoted and then someone gets promoted into your position and they are horrible at their job like you are a 10 times better than that person in that job how would that make you feel right again I'm not excusing Joab here just as much as when Joab killed Abner son of Nur we all understand why he did it because Abner killed his younger brother and you could all understand that on a fleshly level like why did Joab kill Abner when everything was at peace the war was over because he wanted to kill him because he wanted to avenge his brother okay and in this case his job was taken and given to a man that is horrible at it right so basically it's like adding insult to injury right you lose your job but then it's it's given to someone that is just like 10 times worse than you so so just following after in a verse 8 here we're gonna see where what happens to Amasa in verse 8 here it says when they were at the great stone which is in Gibeon Amasa went before them and Joab's garment that he had put on was girded on him so get this he's he's wearing Joab's garment right that he normally had as captain of the host it says and upon it a girdle with a sword fastened upon his loins in the sheet thereof and as he went forth it fell out it's not only can he not gather to the troops in a timely manner he literally can't keep his sword in the sheet as he's as he's going marking down the road okay again I'm not saying he should have died I'm just saying like this guy is obviously not captain material okay and listen vengeance belongeth unto the Lord and you know what I honor you say well how can you relate this to like let me relate it to myself okay a little bit here I I sat in churches and I listened to guest preachers get up that don't know the Bible from a hole in the ground but they were given like that platform and given basically all kinds of honor when they didn't know anything about the Bible or they were preaching false doctrine or in some cases false Gospels and I had to sit down and shut up right and you know for years just kind of had to like bite my tongue at things that people would say our preachers that were given honor and all these different things and in the end you just had to put it in the Lord's hand be like Lord you know it's like not my job to like bring this person down or to like try to put myself in that position or anything like that and but it is very frustrating it's very frustrating when those that don't deserve honor are honored when those that don't deserve the position had the position and many have come from churches where there are people that were leaders that are just not fit for that position and it just it's infuriating you know when you know people that are and so anyway that's just kind of a real-world application that I think of as far as that that's concerned but in the end we just have to put it in Lord's hands and you know let him take care of that whole situation it's not my job to go back and be like listen you guys suck at your job like maybe try reading the Bible before you get up here and preach like it's not really my plate it's not my place to say it to him even as a pastor of this church it's not my place to go find another church and be like you guys you don't know document wall on the ground you don't know what you're talking about over here and just start like just calling out people for how foolish they are or what they're not doing or what they are doing and all that right so he's let the Lord deal with it but anyway so Joab it says in verse 9 it says and Joab said to Amasa aren't thou in health my brother right so he's basically like fumbling around fumbling around can't like hold a sword in his sheath and it says and Joab took Amasa by the beard with the right hand to kiss him I'm guessing this is a kiss on the cheek okay so this is like the holy kiss of charity we're not really bringing that to our church just so you know we don't even have a hand shaking time you don't you better believe we're not having a kissing time there's enough germs going around as it is our kids lick the doorknobs as it is so we're definitely not doing a greeting with a kiss okay but that being said it's not wrong okay so basically he's greeting him with a kiss if you will and in verse 10 it says but Amasa took no heed to the sword that was in Joab's hand so he smote him with the smote him there with in the fifth rib and shed out his bowels to the ground and struck him not again and he said and he died so Joab and Abishai his brother pursued after Sheba the son of Bikrai so basically he kind of tricked him in the fact that he made it look like hey I'm a greeting you but as he's greeting him which it says that he greets him with his right hand so you can imagine that unless Joab's left-handed usually it states that you know it's kind of like egg law on an e HUD you know I have a message from the Lord and the idea there is that he has a dagger on his right thigh and but he's left-handed so usually you're looking for the other side right kind of like the idea that if you have a sword she you're probably gonna have it on your left side of your right-handed and probably threw him off that he's he's coming at him with his right hand so he's probably thinking like he's not trying to hurt me like he wouldn't imagine that he would have the sword in his left hand I think that's probably what's going on there is that he's kind of thrown off by that again you know Amasa's not that good at being a captain of the host so maybe he's just not that intelligent as it is but I'm really dogging on Amasa right now but you know but Joab kills him and obviously it's a gruesome type of situation there so much so that in verse 11 it says and one of Joab's men stood by and said he that favored Joab and he that is for David let him go after Joab and Amasa wallowed in blood in the midst of the highway so highway you know when you're dealing with a highway obviously it's not talking about like I-79 right but when you're dealing with a highway is usually what you're dealing with is like basically a street that's kind of outside of outside of town but it's obviously in an area where everybody can see and it's easily accessible all that stuff so basically everybody's coming through this area it's basically a big area where everybody can walk through is seeing Amasa there wallowing in blood so imagine the captain of the host is dead wallowing in blood you can imagine that people are like what's going on so it was obviously causing people to stop because it says and when the men 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 came by him stood still when he was removed out of the highway all the people went on after Joab to pursue after Sheba son of Bichrai now this was obviously murder okay and go to first King chapter 2 first King chapter 2 when David's about to die and he's given a charge to Solomon he gives him a charge to deal with certain people that he didn't deal with and Joab is one of those okay and pretty much Benaiah takes care of them all okay Benaiah the son of Jehoiada he is the man he's basically the he just basically cleans house okay for Solomon when Solomon starts raining but this is what David says to Solomon about Joab verse 5 it says 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 Jethur 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 poor head go down to the grave in peace so when David dies he commands Jehoiada to go kill Joab and Joab goes and grabs hold the horns of the altar and and Benaiah kills him so so basically the idea there is don't let him die natural death don't let him just die of old age because of the murder that he committed and that really just shows you that in a time of war there's obviously if he would have killed Amasa for example when they were at battle you know before Absalom died and everything was over if he would have killed Amasa it would have been fine but because everything was at peace and they were all reconciled then he goes to kill him that's murder okay so you have self-defense but then you have the idea of wartime and when you're at war then it gets it you know I've gone out soloing and I've had people ask me you know you know I was at war and I had to kill people you know and all that is that you know and they would say that's murder now obviously I do think there's war crimes don't get me wrong right I think there are things that would be murder even in times of war but if your are two armies and two soldiers coming at each other in war I don't believe that's murder it's obviously horrific I'm not saying it's like a whole but better roses but I don't believe it's classified as murder okay so and I don't and I don't personally believe that it matters which side you know as far as that's concerned right it's not like well when Israel's fighting against let's say Assyria or they're fighting against another nation and when the nation kills is you know when out of the nation kill some men of Israel it's murder but it's not murder for Israel I don't think it's murder on either end I think it's just people are being killed in war and that's what happens okay and obviously God can cause you to win that war so anyway so yeah so Joab ends up getting judgment for what he does here with a Mesa again though on a human level you can understand you know to a certain degree where jobs coming from you know as far as him being angry at a Mesa I can understand Abner more than a Mesa though that makes sense like Abner you see that story you're just like I get it I get it you know I mean like if someone killed my brother I don't care if it is a time of peace like that's what I would want okay not saying it's right right because you know you're at war you can imagine what that would have been like in the Civil War right the Civil War here in America and how there was a lot of people that were family members and just people that knew each other that were at war and after that was over the turmoil that was between family members and between people in America at that time I can only imagine what that was like when they knew that you killed certain family members and they killed certain family members and like that whole turmoil right there okay so anyway going on though they do finally they're gonna they're gonna find Sheba verse 6 here so you're in second same top 20 actually did I put down the wrong yeah again copy down the wrong verses this is why I have a Bible here though what verse did I end on 13 yeah well I guess 14 is the next one we're gonna go through here see this is why expository preaching is great so you mess up like this you just go to the next verse that you ended on so in verse 14 here it says and he went through all the tribes of Israel unto Abel and the Beth meicca and all the barites and they were gathered together and went also after him and they came and besieged him in Abel of Beth meicca and they cast up a bank against the city and it stood in the trench and all the people that were with Joab battered the wall to throw it down so basically he's hiding out of the city they're getting ready to bust down the wall to go after this guy and this is a this is a very interesting story or basically it's the story of this how this woman saves that whole city okay and talked about this wise woman that saves this city from Joab destroying it okay and verse 16 it says then cried a wise woman out of the city here here say I pray you unto Joab come near hither that I may speak with thee and when he was come near under her the woman said art thou Joab and he answered I am he then she said unto him hear the words of thine handmaid and and he answered I do here then she spake saying they were want to speak in old time saying they shall surely ask counsel at Abel and so they ended the matter and I believe she's kind of bringing this up because basically she's trying to build up the area right as far as like don't destroy this place this place has been known for a place to find counsel and all this I think that's why she's bringing this up so she's kind of giving a plea to why you should not destroy this place and it says I am one of them that are peaceable and faithful in Israel thou seekest to destroy a city and a mother in Israel why wilt thou swallow up the inheritance of the Lord so she's basically kind of making a case like hey it's been told not old time you know come to able to seek counsel basically like this is a wise place with wise people what are you doing I'm a mother in Israel you're gonna come destroy a mother in Israel I'm peaceable I'm not you know basically I'm faithful in Israel that type of thing and kind of pleading this case and Joab answered and said far be it far be it from me that I should swallow up or destroy the matter is not so but a man of Mount Ephraim Sheba the son of Bichrai by name hath lifted up his hand against the king even against David deliver me him only and I will depart from the city and the woman said unto unto Joab behold his head shall be thrown to thee over the wall then the woman went on to all the people in her wisdom and they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichrai and cast it out to Joab and he blew a trumpet and they retired from the city every man to his tent and Joab returned to Jerusalem unto the king so that's kind of anticlimactic right when you think about like bringing this whole force out when really this woman takes care of the whole issue this reminds me a story I don't have it in my notes but good at Ecclesiastes chapter 9 of a wise a poor wise man and the idea of how he saves the city and it's interesting to think about this is probably this is a whole sermon that could be done on the fact of how one person could save a city you know this one woman saved that city from being besieged and and all that right because if you think of armies going in there you know they can get nasty even if you're not in one they don't know what's going on right so you're just coming in trying to tear them down they're just fighting for their lives at that point right but once it's all known what's going on then it's like I get this guy out of here and they execute them for Joab and basically take care of the problem for him but when it talks about this wise woman it really makes me think of this story in Ecclesiastes or this this thought process if you will in Ecclesiastes in verse so chapter 9 and verse 13 it says this wisdom have I seen also under the Sun and it seemed great unto me there was a little city and few men within it and there came a great king against it and besieged it and built great bulwarks against it now there was found in it a poor wise man and he by his wisdom delivered the city yet no man remembered that same poor man then said I wisdom is better than strength nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is spies and his words are not heard the words of wise men are heard and quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools wisdom is better than weapons of war but one sinner destroy it much good I mean that is exactly basically application now obviously Solomon wrote this so this happened before Solomon wrote this this you know thought here but the truth is you know from the beginning of time though right the Bible's timeless whether you're going forward or backward with this and so the idea here though is the wisdom of this woman saved the whole city the wisdom of this poor man saved the whole city and the thing that you have to understand and what I think about with this is that notice that with the the wisdom of the poor man that he's not remembered he saved the city but he's not remembered but know this is that you are remembered with God and this poor woman is remembered she's in the Bible her story of what she did is written forever you know forever oh Lord thy word is settled in heaven but this gets into the idea of unknown yet well known and the idea of the work that you do for the Lord yet no one may ever remember it it's not gonna be written it's not gonna be in the history books but it will be known for all eternity though that poor wise man is known for all eternity this poor wise woman is known for all eternity and it's just something that I think about in the fact that you think about all these celebrities and you think about all these people that have like big platforms and that they're just known throughout the world and all the stuff where there's stuff written about them and books written about them and it doesn't wrong with book writing books or having a remembrance there but know this is that the remembers that matters those what the Lord remembers you know what's remembered for all eternity and a lot of times what we think what's not in the limelight what isn't proclaimed upon the housetops among the world as being unimportant or just forgotten it may be forgotten by the people of that town but it's not forgotten by God the work that you do for the Lord is not in vain and it's not forgotten and that takes faith okay you know to know that to be true but I just I think about that that that that poor wise man in the fact that basically the idea of this guy saving the whole town and just no one remember in this name no one remember that he even did it it just how sad that is like on a human level but on the fact of just how amazing that is that God will exalt that though with that God will remember that God will reward that in that you know this woman will know about her story till the end of time we'll know about the man's story for an end of time and so go to a second Samuel back second Samuel one chapter here I mean that that that's a whole sermon I'll preach when it comes to you know having a small church but what an impact a small church can do on the community what an impact one man can do on the community one woman can do on a community on an area on a town and know that God obviously likes using small numbers he likes using small groups of people to do great things for God because then there's no doubt it was God that did it and so it's actually very exciting to be in that case where it is a small group where it is a small church nothing against big churches but in the end when a small church does something great you all know that it's God there is no doubt it's God and so second Samuel chapter 20 verse 23 it says now job was over the host of Israel so he got his job back kind of did it a little bloody but he got his job back the job was over the host of Israel and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Karathites and over the Pelethites now Benaiah is the ones gonna have taken out Joab and Benaiah is gonna be really he's gonna be the man when it comes to Solomon's right-hand man okay verse 24 it says and Adoram was over the tribute and Jehoshaphat the son of Eliud was recorder and Shiva was a scribe and Zadok and Abiathar were the priests and Ira also the Gerite was a chief ruler about David now if you really want to get into a longer list of like officers and different things that were with David go to first current chronicles first chronicles has whole chapters dedicated to the Levites what Levites were doing certain things the singers like Asaph and Heman and like to do then I think it's you do thin anyway but there's like and it talks about like how they have different groups of singers and like all these things and you can get really get into the weeds on the officers they had captains that were assigned by captains of armies and hosts of men that were assigned for each month of the year and just like going down the line so you could really get into the details and really Chronicles is kind of like if you were to go back to an encyclopedia of things there's a lot of lists of stuff but it may be a little harder to read if you're just reading through it but it's really interesting stuff right sometimes you just like seeing lists I mean who here has just looked up a list of like Kings on Wikipedia right there's like I just want to see like who were the kings of you know Greece you know from Alexander the Great what did it go down to and you're just looking at the history of that right or the Caesars or whatever and but you're not usually just like you know I just want to read something today I'm just gonna read a list of Kings but sometimes when you're just studying out something you just want to know some no information that's like isn't that a great tool is that like where you want to go you don't have to read five paragraphs to get that information you just want to see like bullet points of like here's the information that I want to see and especially in our day and age where the tick-tock world I feel like people can't get past like a 10-second reel if it's past that they their attention spans gone so Chronicles is actually very good for that you don't have to read a lot you just see names and you're just seeing lists of things so anyway just a little stab at tick-tock right there not saying that you're wicked if you have tick-tock but if you thank you for the book of second Samuel and Lord just prayed you'd help us to obviously know these passages but to apply them to our lives Lord we just pray that you'd help us to be wise and help us to to be meek and humble in this world and ultimately to bring glory to your name Lord we love you praise you bring us back to the point time give us a travels home and for all us in Jesus Christ name man where they will come sing one more song and then we'll be dismissed all right if you would take your song books and turn to song number 97 song number 97 in your song books if you would stand we'll see I need the every hour song number 97 I need the every hour most gracious Lord no tender voice like thine can peace afford I need the oh I need the every hour I need the Oh bless me now my Savior I come to thee I need the every hour stay down nearby temptations lose their power when I need the whole I need every hour I need the Oh bless me now my Savior I come to thee I need the every hour enjoy or pain come quickly and abide or life is vain I need the whole I need the every hour I need the Oh bless me now my Savior I come to