3.26.25 – 2 Samuel 20

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Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. We join Alan J. Huth as he shares Bible passages and comments from over 30 years of his personal Bible reading journals.

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In the last few chapters of 2 Samuel, we’ve seen the rebellion of Absalom against King David. We’ve seen Absalom killed and the attempt to restore David’s throne, both in Judah and in Israel. Chapter 20 continues this saga, so let’s listen in as Faith Comes By Hearing shares 2 Samuel chapter 20. 2 Samuel 20

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Now there happened to be there a worthless man, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjaminite.

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And he blew the trumpet and said, We have no portion in David, and we have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. Every man to his tents, O Israel!

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So all the men of Israel withdrew from David and followed Sheba the son of Bichri. But the men of Judah followed their king steadfastly from the Jordan to Jerusalem. And David came to his house at Jerusalem. And the king took the ten concubines whom he had left to care for the house and put them in a house under guard and provided for them but did not go into them. So they were shut up until the day of their death, living as if in widowhood. Then the king said to Amasa, Call the men of Judah together to me within three days and be here yourself. So Amasa went to summon Judah, but he delayed beyond the set time that had been appointed him. And David said to Abishai, Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom. Take your lord’s servants and pursue him, lest he get himself to fortified cities and escape from us. And there went out after him Joab’s men, and the Karathites and the Pelathites, and all the mighty men. They went out from Jerusalem to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri. When they were at the great stone that is in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. Now Joab was wearing a soldier’s garment, and over it was a belt with a sword in its sheath, fastened on his thigh. And as he went forward, it fell out. And Joab said to Amasa, Is it well with you, my brother? And Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him. But Amasa did not observe the sword that was in Joab’s hand. So Joab struck him with it in the stomach and spilled his entrails to the ground without striking a second blow, and he died. Then Joab and Abishai, his brother, pursued Sheba the son of Bichri. And one of Joab’s young men took his stand by Amasa and said,

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Whoever favors Joab and whoever is for David, let him follow Joab.

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And Amasa lay wallowing in his blood in the highway, and anyone who came by seeing him stopped. And when the man saw that all the people stopped, he carried Amasa out of the highway into the field and threw a garment over him. When he was taken out of the highway, all the people went on after Joab to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri. And Sheba passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel of Bethmaica, and all the Bichrites assembled and followed him in. And all the men who were with Joab came and besieged him in Abel of Bethmaica. They cast up a mound against the city, and it stood against the rampart, and they were battering the wall to throw it down.

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Then a wise woman called from the city, Listen, listen, tell Joab, come here that I may speak to you.

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And he came near her, and the woman said, Are you Joab? He answered, I am.

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Then she said to him, Listen to the words of your servant.

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And he answered, I am listening.

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Then she said, They used to say in former times, Let them but ask counsel at Abel. And so they settled a matter. I am one of those who are peaceable and faithful in Israel. You seek to destroy a city that is a mother in Israel. Why will you swallow up the heritage of the Lord?

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Joab answered, Far be it from me, far be it that I should swallow up or destroy. That is not true. But a man of the hill country of Ephraim, called Sheba the son of Bichri, has lifted up his hand against King David. Give up him alone, and I will withdraw from the city.

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And the woman said to Joab, Behold, his head shall be thrown to you over the wall.

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Then the woman went to all the people in her wisdom, and they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and threw it out to Joab. So he blew the trumpet, and they dispersed from the city, every man to his home. And Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king. Now Joab was in command of all the army of Israel, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was in command of the Carathites and the Pelathites, and Adoram was in charge of the forced labor, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilad was the recorder, and Sheba was secretary, and Zadok and Abiathar were priests, and Ira the Jeorite was also David’s priest.

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He’s back. Joab, remember him? He was replaced as commander of David’s army by Amasa, who was previously over Absalom’s army. Joab was probably jealous. He never trusted Amasa. He thought he was an enemy. When he delayed in rallying Judah to fight for David, Joab once again takes matters into his own hands, and he murders Amasa. He puts down another revolt by getting rid of Sheba. and he’s back in charge of David’s army. This is murder number three for Joab. You might remember back in the early chapters of 2 Samuel, Abner was Saul’s army chief, and Joab murdered him. Next, he murders Absalom, and now he wipes out Amasa. In verse 23 of this chapter it says, Now Joab was in command of all the army of Israel. So again, what does this tell us about David? So far this guy has murdered three people and David doesn’t appear to hold him accountable for any of it. Maybe David was afraid of Joab or maybe he liked him on his side rather than the enemy’s side. We could understand that. But he does not really ever forgive Joab for all this. You have to flip forward to 1 Kings, and let’s read what’s going to happen later on. When David is turning the kingdom over to his son Solomon, in chapter 2 of 1 Kings, verse 5, he says this to Solomon, Moreover, you also know what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, how he dealt with the two commanders of the armies of israel abner the son of ner and amasa the son of jether whom he killed avenging in time of peace for blood that had been shed in war and putting the blood of war on the belt around his waist and on the sandals of his feet act therefore according to your wisdom but do not let his gray head go down to Sheol in peace. In other words, David passes the buck. Joab is the commander of David’s army until David gives up the kingdom to his son. So he asked Solomon to do something he was unwilling to do himself, and that’s hold Joab accountable. What can we learn from these examples, these stories here in 2 Samuel about leadership? Well, the question may be, is David really in charge or is Joab in charge? Who’s really running the show here? And if you’re in leadership, sometimes maybe you’ve faced a strong leader under you that’s really got the loyalty and is running the show and maybe running circles around your own leadership. In a way, that’s what appears to be happening to David here. It appears that Joab may have been fiercely loyal to David, but is that really what you want in your leadership circle? Is someone with blood on his hands like the murderer Joab? Father, for those of us in leadership, help us be willing to evaluate our inner circle, the leaders around us, and to be able to hold those people accountable to our standards, not their own. And also help us, Lord, to be willing to make the tough decisions to remove leaders who are not following our philosophy, our beliefs, our core values. Lord, through your word, strengthen us so that when we have tough decisions to make, we can make them according to your will and your word. Give us strength in Jesus’ name. Amen. Thanks for listening to AdBible today. You know, sometimes we need a plumb line, a true north, a solid basis of truth to live life. We’re not going to find it in the media or in social media or Google or your friends, but it is available right at your fingertips. Pilate asked Jesus in John 18, 38, what is truth? The chapter before, Jesus had answered the question in his prayer to God for his disciples. In the 17th verse, Jesus pleads with the Father, Sanctify them in the truth. Thy word is truth. So what would it be like if everyone, everywhere, read the Bible every day? Wow, it might be heaven on earth. What would it be like if every Christian read the Bible every day? Would we be better ambassadors for Christ? What would it be like if everyone in your community read the Bible every day? Would we have greater impact in our communities? And what would it be like if you personally read the Bible every day? Could you use a closer walk with Jesus? Could you use a light unto your path and a lamp unto your feet to walk through this life? Could you use a spiritual power surge in your life? Matthew 22, 29, Jesus speaking to the Sadducees said, You are mistaken not understanding the Scriptures or the power of God. Yes, the Scriptures can give us power to live this life. So I’m going to give you three easy action steps to make the Bible worth your time each and every day. Number one, commit to daily Bible reading. Commit to seek God and His Word daily, every day. And if you miss a day, start again the next day. Change your belief about God’s Word to behavior in God’s Word. Use any of our Ezra Project resources to help you. Visit EzraProject.net to get an Ezra Project Bible reading journal or one of our day-by-day through the Bible books. Commit today and visit EzraProject.net for easy-to-use resources for your daily time in God’s Word. Number two, be intentional. Decide what you want out of your Bible reading. I got to visit the headquarters of Back to the Bible once in Lincoln, Nebraska. And in one hallway down one side, they had scribbled all the reasons people say they don’t read the Bible. On the other side were all the reasons people do read the Bible. And I want to give you some of those to encourage you. On that wall, it said, God wants me to. Yes, God wants you to read the Bible. Do you want to meet with him daily? Because he’ll meet with you every day through his word. Number two, it changes me. Where could you be in one year with more Bible reading in your life? Number three, it improves my outlook on life. Yeah, turn out the bad news and saturate yourself with good news from the Word of God. Number four, it keeps me grounded. Yes, when the storms of life come, and they will, can you stand? Yes, you’ll stand better and more solid because you’re in the Word of God. Next, it keeps my heart soft. Yeah, Nehemiah 8, when people heard the word, they wept and they worshipped. You will do the same as the word softens your heart. Lastly, on the wall it said, it keeps my daily focus on God. Yeah, that’s a great reason to read the Bible. You’ll gain the spiritual power to live life in our secular world. And then thirdly and lastly, feed your soul. Let God minister to your soul. Hebrews 4.12 says the Word of God pierces between your soul and your spirit, between joints and marrow, and is the discerner of the thoughts and intents of your heart. Nothing else goes that deep. I don’t know where the place is between my soul and my spirit, but I want to put the Word of God there each and every day of my life. I hope you do too. God bless you as you spend time in God’s Word. We love the truth of God’s Word, but finding truth in our world today is much more challenging. In the movie A Few Good Men, Jack Nicholson screamed at Tom Cruise, You can’t handle the truth. That’s not our problem today. It’s not that you can’t handle the truth. It’s that you can’t find the truth. If you want to find the truth, I encourage you to watch our video message simply called Truth. You will find it at EzraProject.net. I know you’re going to enjoy it.

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And want to share it with others.