"That which has been....is what will be....That which is done....is what will be done." That is verse 9 of the first chapter of Solomon's Ecclesiastes. It is a recurring theme.
David was anointed king by Samual, but a lot had to happen before he would rule over all of Israel. One of those things was that David had to capture Jerusalem or Mt. Zion from the Jebusites. He made a rash decision that to me did not seem too wise. He declared that whoever captured Mt. Zion would be named the chief of all the armies. Joab took him up on it and found a back way into the city....and then Jerusalem was taken....and Joab was given his position.
Then there was Abner....Saul's chief of the armies. It appeared that he wanted to give his allegiance to David after Saul died....but Joab....because Abner had killed his brother in a battle....took revenge and outright murdered him....against David's wishes. This is bad stuff.....and it gets much....much worse! David should have dealt with Joab....he should have nipped it in the bud as Barney Fife would say....but he didn't. Conservative republicans...and certainly evangelicals....should have....nipped it in the bud with Donald Trump when we saw that there were serious megalomaniacal and truth and vindictive retaliatory issues...but we did not deal with it.
The question remains....why didn't David deal with Joab? There is plenty of speculation there. Did David think that he needed Joab as an ally....or was David in a way afraid of Joab....because he knew so well Joab's power skills?
"That which has been......is what will be..." Solomon....or rather God was telling us that at times the same things happen again and again in history....not just so that we can come up with quotes like...."Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it"....but to give us prophetic hints....and to keep us vigilant! There would be more Joabs.
David and Joab then had a lot of success but it took a heavy toll on David's character that resulted in the Uriah the Hittite episode....and Joab was in on that. There is a whole lot more to this story. David....as his death approached....instructed his son Solomon....who would be king....to punish Joab for what he did to Abner. That doesn't like David....who stood up to Goliath....does it....but it was....and it should be a lesson to all of us. Without trusting in God we will fail every time.
David did in a way react to Joab murdering Abner....he prayed curses down upon Joab...."and all his father's house"....(2 Samuel 3)....but other than that he did nothing. That is about how Christians reacted to Donald Trump....we piously prayed that maybe God would use him....even though we said that we did not like him....but we still hired him so to speak....to be the head of the armies.
We need to choose our associates well....choose our leaders well....and choose our friends well...better than we have been doing! For if we let a Joab get away with everything....because we fear him....then it will come back to bite us....and we may become just like him!
