Stop Your Fighting

2 Samuel 2:25-28 -  And the Benjaminites gathered themselves together behind Abner, and became one band, and took their stand on the top of a hill.  Then Abner called to Jo'ab, "Shall the sword devour for ever? Do you not know that the end will be bitter? How long will it be before you bid your people turn from the pursuit of their brethren?"  And Jo'ab said, "As God lives, if you had not spoken, surely the men would have given up the pursuit of their brethren in the morning."  So Jo'ab blew the trumpet; and all the men stopped, and pursued Israel no more, nor did they fight any more.

 

David wasted no time asking God what he should do after Saul died. He finally felt free to go home…but wanted to make sure God approved of this move. God sent him to the city of Hebron…a large central city in the territory of Judah. David took with him his two wives….all his household…and all the men who had followed him while he ran from Saul…where the leaders of Judah wasted no time crowning David king of what they called ...the Judean Confederacy.

 

He would rein as king of this confederacy for 7 and one half years…while a civil war was fought between the Judean Confederacy …and the other tribes that followed king Saul’s only surviving son…Ishbosheth. It gets confusing here…and commentaries didn’t really help….cause the Bible says that Ishbosheth only ruled for 2 years…with no details about who or what kept the tribes that followed Ishbosheth intact for the 7 and one half years that David waited to be king over all Israel.

 

Civil wars are sad …to say the least…for they solve nothing. They perpetuate and trick the participants into thinking that one earthly idea is so superior to the other that the loss of life is merited… till one side breaks from the fighting…and gives in.  The military leaders of David and Ishbosheth must have realized this…as Abner cried out to Joab …and questioned the senseless deaths of so many of his men. And the wise Joab agreed immediately…for he had already set in his heart to stop fighting in the morning.

 

Satan has tricked the people of our world into countless civil wars.  Many of which are just silly arguments that escalated into bitter battles of emotion.  They separate families and end the closest of relationships. They pit nations of innocent people against each other….each being loyal to an earthly leader.  And no one in today’s world wants to be the Abner…and shout that it is time to stop being so headstrong. 

 

The Bible doesn’t record the reason Abner shouted out those words of confusion and hurt that stopped the fighting.  Maybe it was exhaustion …maybe it was the grief from losing 360 men… but my heart wants to believe it was a seed of conviction planted by God.  For in the moment that Abner thought in his heart to stop the fighting…God had planted the same thought in Joab as well.  God is a God of love…not hate….he said we should turn the other cheek…not destroy the ones he gave us to love.

 

Father…thank you for the mighty love you give to all…even when we allow satan to trick us into deeds of clear hatred…that end up destroying families and relationships that you meant to harbor only love.  Help me this morning to evaluate the feelings I have for others….and make sure that I have asked you to help me forgive those who have hurt me…so satan cannot come and trick me into a civil war …that will destroy the love you have given me to share with others. Show me how to stop any fighting I have been participating in…even if  means I have to walk away with a loss.  Amen.