Day 133 – 2 Samuel 12:26-31

Scripture Review

2 Samuel 12:26-31

"And Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city."

(2 Samuel 12:26)

The Bible is bringing me back to the battlefield where this whole dark chapter first began. Back in 2 Samuel 11:1, Joab and all Israel were at war against Ammon, but "David tarried still at Jerusalem."That tarrying opened the door, leading to sin and the death of Uriah. Now, the Bible turns my eyes back to Rabbah.

Rabbah was the chief city of the children of Ammon, and the "royal city" seems to refer to the important lower portion of the city connected with its water supply, while the stronger citadel still remained to be taken. A heart after God may fall, but the work of God is still bigger than the failure of one man. And now David is being brought back toward the very place where he should have been from the beginning.

"And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, I have fought against Rabbah, and have taken the city of waters."

(2 Samuel 12:27)

Joab says, "I have fought against Rabbah, and have taken the city of waters." The "city of waters" means Rabbah's water-city, the part connected with the stream and water supply. In a siege, water can decide the whole battle. If the city loses its water, the walls may still stand, but the people inside are already beginning to lose.

Joab's says, "I have fought." Joab had pressed the battle and taken the water-city, but does not crown himself with the victory. He sends word to the king.

"Now therefore gather the rest of the people together, and encamp against the city, and take it: lest I take the city, and it be called after my name."

(2 Samuel 12:28)

Joab urges David to come. "Gather the rest of the people together." In other words, "Bring the strength of the nation, encamp against the city, and finish this battle." Then he says something noble. "lest I take the city, and it be called after my name." Joab does not want the final honor attached to himself. A city could be called after the conqueror's name, much like Zion was called "the city of David." Military honor was often expected to rest with the king who came to lead the final assault. Joab displays true servanthood here. He has fought hard, but he does not need the city called Joab's city. This reminds me there are times when a man can do most of the labor and still not need his name carved on the trophy. Our old flesh loves recognition. It likes the plaque, the announcement, the pat on the back, the "look what I did." But a right-hearted servant knows how to say, "Let the king receive the honor."

Joab's words almost sound like a rebuke and an invitation at the same time. David had been absent when kings should have gone forth to battle. Now Joab is basically saying, "Come back to the field. Come finish what should have had your hand on it already."

"And David gathered all the people together, and went to Rabbah, and fought against it, and took it."

(2 Samuel 12:29)

David took the counsel of Joab and he "gathered all the people together, and went to Rabbah." He goes. He fights. He takes the city.

Times when I have failed the Lord, the devil tried to keep me useless. He loves to whisper, "You can never serve again. You can never lead again. You can never do right again." But I am so thankful failure does not last long for repentant heart. The LORD can bring a chastened man back to duty. David went to Rabbah, was probably a difficult step.

"And he took their king's crown from off his head, the weight whereof was a talent of gold with the precious stones: and it was set on David's head. And he brought forth the spoil of the city in great abundance."

(2 Samuel 12:30)

Now David receives the crown of the defeated king. The Bible says the crown weighed "a talent of gold with the precious stones." That is a tremendous weight. It is estimated the talent weighed more than 100 pounds making it not to be worn normally for any length of time but only placed on David's head briefly as a symbol of victory. The crown may have been suspended or fixed above the throne rather than worn like an ordinary crown.

The spoil was brought out "in great abundance." Rabbah had wealth. The city had strength. The Ammonites had mocked David's kindness back in chapter 10 when Hanun shamefully treated David's servants. That insult became war, and now the war ends with Ammon defeated and its spoil taken. David receiving the crown does not erase the grief that came before it. Victory does not cancel chastening. That makes the crown heavier than gold.

"And he brought forth the people that were therein, and put them under saws, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of iron, and made them pass through the brickkiln: and thus did he unto all the cities of the children of Ammon. So David and all the people returned unto Jerusalem."

(2 Samuel 12:31)

David brought forth the people and "put them under saws, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of iron," and made them "pass through the brickkiln." That sounds like judgment with iron teeth. It sounds like scripture is describing cruel executions or tortures inflicted on the Ammonites. My commentary calls it retributive justice against a people known for cruelty. These punishments must be judged within the warfare customs of that age and we must remember the Ammonites' own brutal record, including their shameful treatment of David's servants in 2 Samuel 10.

It is amazing to read and get very different views on this portion of scripture. Whether it was executions, torturous punishment, or harsh forced labor, Rabbah fell under the heavy hand of takeover. It is war in the old world, and it is ugly. I am reminded here is also judgment, iron, fire, and the bitter end of a nation that had rejected kindness and chosen war.

Then the verse ends, "So David and all the people returned unto Jerusalem." David is back from Rabbah. The war that began with Ammon's rejection of kindness has reached its end. The king and the people return to the city where so much of this sorrow began. But David does not return the same man he was when he tarried there in chapter 11. He returns chastened. He returns forgiven. He returns with victory, but also with scars.