1 Chronicles 19:1 – 19 “David’s Messengers Disgraced (2 Samuel 10:1-8)
Some time later, Nahash king of the Ammonites died and was succeeded by his son. And David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, because his father showed kindness to me.”
So David sent messengers to console Hanun concerning his father. But when David’s servants arrived in the land of the Ammonites to console him, the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun, “Just because David has sent you comforters, do you really believe he is showing respect for your father? Have not his servants come to you to explore the land, spy it out, and overthrow it?” So Hanun took David’s servants, shaved their beards, cut off their garments at the hips, and sent them away. When someone came and told David about his men, he sent messengers to meet them, since the men had been thoroughly humiliated. The king told them, “Stay in Jericho until your beards have grown back, and then return.” When the Ammonites realized that they had become a stench to David, Hanun and the Ammonites sent a thousand talents of silver to hire for themselves chariots and horsemen from Aram-naharaim, Aram-maacah, and Zobah. So they hired for themselves thirty-two thousand chariots, as well as the king of Maacah with his troops, who came and camped near Medeba while the Ammonites came from their cities and marched out for battle.
On hearing this, David sent Joab and the entire army of mighty men. The Ammonites marched out and arrayed themselves for battle at the entrance to the city, while the kings who had come stayed by themselves in the open country.
David Defeats Ammon and Aram (2 Samuel 10:9-19)
When Joab saw the battle lines before him and behind him, he selected some of the best men of Israel and arrayed them against the Arameans. And he placed the rest of the forces under the command of his brother Abishai, who arrayed them against the Ammonites.
“If the Arameans are too strong for me,” said Joab, “then you will come to my rescue. And if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come to your rescue. Be strong and let us fight bravely for our people and for the cities of our God. May the LORD do what is good in His sight.”
So Joab and his troops advanced to fight the Arameans, who fled before him. When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans had fled, they too fled before Joab’s brother Abishai, and they entered the city. So Joab went back to Jerusalem.
When the Arameans saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they sent messengers to bring more Arameans from beyond the Euphrates, with Shophach the commander of Hadadezer’s army leading them.
When this was reported to David, he gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan, advanced toward the Arameans, and arrayed for battle against them. When David lined up to engage them in battle, they fought against him. But the Arameans fled before Israel, and David killed seven thousand of their charioteers and forty – thousand foot soldiers. He also killed Shophach the commander of their army.
When Hadadezer’s subjects saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with David and became subject to him. So the Arameans were unwilling to help the Ammonites anymore.”
While David might have had his shortcomings, he was always grateful to those who had helped him during his struggles with Saul. At one point, David had to send his parents to live with Nahash, the king of the Ammonites, until things were safer. When Nahash died, it was natural for David to send a delegation to greet Hanun, Nahash’s son, and to give him David’s condolences. But Hanun was young and arrogant and his advisors were probably all young princes who gave him bad advice. The princes warned Hanun that this delegation from Israel must be a spying mission and that he should humiliate them as much as possible.
Now if a more experienced ruler were to receive a group whom he suspected of spying, he could have controlled the situation so they would have gotten minimal information. Hanun could have had his soldiers greet the delegation at the gate and escort the delegation to the palace. Then Hanun could have made a lovely meaningless speech, entertained the delegation nicely, and then have them escorted back out through the city gates to the borders of his territory. The Israelites could have carried positive messages back to David and all would have been well. But Hanun’s advisors were just as foolish as those young men who advised Solomon’s son Rehoboam to speak arrogantly to the Israelites. So Hanun didn’t even give the delegation the chance to state their mission; instead, he began accusing them and insulting them. Next, Hanun seized the Israelites, shaved their beards, and cut their garments at such a short level that their genitalia were exposed. And then he booted them out of the Ammonite territory. (Shaving the beards indicated that the Ammonites had no respect for the Israelites as men.)
David had the delegation stay in Jericho until their beards had grown back; meanwhile, he marshaled his troops to wage war on the Ammonites. Even though the Ammonites hired thirty – two thousand chariots plus the king of Maacah with all his troops, the Israelites defeated these men handily. When the Ammonites sent to king Hadadezer beyond the Euphrates for more troops, David himself took the field, killing seven thousand charioteers and forty – thousand foot soldiers, including the commander of their army. At this point, nobody wanted to help the Ammonites anymore! All that Hanun succeeded in accomplishing was making himself look ridiculous and costing his nation the lives of many fighting men plus the money he expended in hiring mercenaries.
APPLICATION: Proverbs 24:6 tells us that “Only with sound guidance should you wage war, and victory lies in a multitude of counselors.” But you have to be careful about the counselors! Undoubtedly, there were older Ammonite leaders who could have given Hanun excellent advice; however, he didn’t listen to them. Hanun insisted on listening to advisors who were rash and arrogant. The Ammonite nation paid dearly for Hanun’s foolishness.
Where are we getting our advice? To whom do we listen? These days, it is increasingly difficult to find news sources that are actually reporting the truth and not indulging in some form of brain washing. Had Hanun stopped and considered the possible result of his insults to the Israelites, he could have avoided the entire mess. Hanun could have had David as an ally; instead, David became an implacable enemy. May God help us so that we listen carefully to Him and do not allow ourselves to be manipulated!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to hear Your truth and not to be swerved by propaganda. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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