Understanding the time we are in and its purpose influences our devotion and focus in all that we do in life. Just imagine a woman who had been in labour and could not give birth by herself for three days. This same woman was rushed into the theatre for surgery to remove the baby. Now think about the surgeon insisting that he must keep watching a UEFA Champions League final or a movie while carrying out such surgery. Such a surgeon is not aware that the life or death of the woman depends on his skills and diligence.
After the death of King Saul, there was a battle between the household of Saul and that of David. The battle occurred because David was anointed king over Judah, and Ish-boshet, Saul’s son, became king over Israel. The contention is that David is destined to rule over Israel, but Ishboshet believes that he is the one to become king over all Israel. The commander of the army of Saul, Abner, was loyal to Ishboshet, the son of Saul, who was the king of Israel and led the battles for the king. On the other hand, Joab led the battle of the house of David.
On a particular day, Abner said to Joab, ” Let young men arise and play before us (II Samuel 2:14). Abner wanted to be entertained and requested that Joab allow his men to fight while they watched for the purpose of entertainment. The play cost both sides twelve men each, and this led to a battle where the house of David pursued Abner and his men after the army of Abner lost 360 men. The army of David lost only 20 men.
The hand of God, fighting for David during the real battle, gave them 1800% victory compared to the result they got during play. During the play, they lost 12 men and had no victory. May we realise that we are in a battle.
In Mark 2:18-22, Jesus answered the Pharisee who accused his disciples of not fighting. Jesus told the Pharisee that the time for his disciples to fast had not come. He illustrated that the friends of the bridegroom feast when the groom is around. He told them when the bridegroom is taken away from them, they shall fast in those days.
The days of fasting for the followers of Jesus are here. It goes beyond doing without physical food; it means refusing to please the flesh and its desires. Abner knew that the play he demanded might cost the blood and life of his soldiers, yet the craving for the play took the best of him. Joab, who participated in the play, is my main concern in this article. He had learnt little or nothing from his master David about treasuring human lives, especially men dedicated to fighting the Lord’s battle along with him. At one point, David was thirsty for the water from the well at the gate of Bethlehem. Three heroes from his army broke through the Philistine camp to get him water from the well. David refused to drink the water because he considered it the blood of the men. Davis treasured the men’s lives.
Leave a Reply