How Satan Is Like Joab in 2 Samuel 19 -- Applications from 2 Samuel 19 // FALSE ACCUSATION (David Weeps Over Absalom)

How Satan Is Like Joab in 2 Samuel 19 -- 
Applications from 2 Samuel 19

(King David weeps over Absalom.)

A short civil war erupted between men loyal to Absalom, a son of King David, and those loyal to his father. Absalom, using deceptive techniques, powerful public relations tricks, and charisma, drew many people in Israel into his goal of replacing King David with Absalom. David and many of his most loyal followers fled from Jerusalem and dwelt in the wilderness. 

Absalom sought counsel and then determined he would to fight against his father, and slay him. After King David crossed the Jordan river and entered a fortified city, Absalom, accompanied by thousands of armed men, crossed the river and attacked David's men in a forested region. 

The battle went poorly for Absalom and his men, and most of them were slaughtered or died due to falling into deep pits or chasms. Absalom, who had long hair, rode past an oak tree and his hair was ensnared in its branches. His mount, a mule, left him literally hanging. Joab, the captain of David's army, saw the king's son hanging in the tree and unable to escape. Ignoring David's orders not to kill Absalom, Joab brutally killed him in cold blood and Joab's armor bearers finished him off. It was not the first time Joab disregarded the king's wishes. 

Expounding 2 Timothy 3:8-9 — False Teachers Exposed

Expounding 2 Timothy 3:8-9 — False Teachers Exposed [Print Document]

2 Timothy 3:8-9

“[8] Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. [9] But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was.”

In this article we are going to expound and discuss 2 Timothy 3:8-9. We will look at how the sorcerers of Egypt, who withstood Moses, are no different than false teachers who resist the truth. We shall see how God will have to deal with them and with those who follow them.

Jannes and Jambres

Let’s start with Jannes and Jambres, two of the sorcerers in Pharaoh’s court. (Note: The Old Testament doesn’t mention them by name, but the Jews knew who they were.)

Exodus 7:10-12

“[10] And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the LORD had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent. [11] Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments. [12] For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods.”

These sorcerers decided to copy what God did through Moses and Aaron. But, God’s ways are higher than the devil’s, and the serpents of the sorcerers were eaten by the serpent that God had made from a stick. Jannes and Jambres were among these sorcerers and they used satanic power to mimic God. But, God showed His power is greater than the devil by having the serpent eat up the other serpents.

The devil and his servants mimic God, but they distort the truth. They hold a Bible in their hands and teach from it, but they twist the scripture to fit into their own unbiblical and ungodly belief system. They say, “God bless you” with their mouths, but they do not truly care about your soul or where you will end up after you die. They look good on the outside, but they are full of iniquity on the inside, in their hearts. Jesus said this about such people:

Matthew 23:27

“[27] Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. [28] Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.”

Amazing Biblical Artifacts Unearthed and the Discovery of a Lifetime

A truck carrying half a dozen German soldiers rumbles down a dusty, desert road. Hanging onto the underside of the truck and slowly moving toward the front, he grits his teeth, knowing that what he is about to do could cost him his life. Working his way toward the front of the truck, the adventurer reaches for the truck grill and pulls himself up onto the hood of the truck. Sometime later, having lost the escorting vehicles and soldiers, he reaches a dock where the truck is unloaded, and a box containing an ancient artifact is hoisted up onto a ship. The artifact is no ordinary artifact. It happens to be the one and only Ark of the Covenant.

Millions of people around the world have watched Indiana Jones: The Raiders of the Lost Ark and the sequels. The Ark of the Covenant, a mysterious, gold-covered box which contained the Ten Commandments, among other things, has been searched for by many for thousands of years, but never found. However, there are many other artifacts of biblical significance uncovered in recent years and in the past century. While they are not nearly as spectacular as a discovery of Ark of the Covenant would be, they are, nevertheless, eye-opening and deserving of attention.

Shishak (Shoshenq I) Relief

Artifacts depicting images of biblical events have been discovered all over the Middle East. One insightful depiction can be found in the south wall of the Great Temple of Amon at Karnak, in Egypt (5). A huge sunken-relief of Pharaoh Shishak (or Shoshenq I), with a number of small depictions of ancient Hebrews surrounding it, catches one’s attention while walking through the temple. Commissioned by Shoshenq I, the relief of the pharaoh also contains writing describing a campaign in Israel where he sacked a number of cities and took the plunder back to Egypt with him (5). The Bible records Shishak’s campaign in 2 Chronicles 12:1-9* and in 1 Kings 14:25. Rehoboam the king of Judah “forsook the law of the LORD, and all Israel with him” (2 Chron. 12:1). Then, “in the fifth year of king Rehoboam Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against the LORD…and the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt…. And he took the fenced cities which pertained to Judah, and came to Jerusalem” (2 Chron. 12:2-4).

According to the Bible, the people in Jerusalem turned back to God and humbled themselves after hearing from a prophet called Shemaiah that because they had forsaken God, God would leave them in the hand of Shishak (2 Chron. 12:5). From reading 2 Chronicles 12, we learn that when the Israelites turned back to God, God did not allow Shishak to destroy them. But, God allowed Shishak to plunder King Rehoboam and the Temple of Solomon, in Jerusalem. The Jews would be Shishak’s servants for a time.

The Victory Relief of Shoshenq I records that he attacked various cities in the northern kingdom of Israel in addition to cities in the southern kingdom of Judah (11). Further confirmation that this event recorded in the Bible and in the Temple of Amon actually occurred is found in Israel, at the site of Megiddo. At Megiddo, a section of a stela (an upright stone slab) was discovered in 1926 during some excavations (11). On this stela, commemorating Shishak’s victory, his name can clearly be seen carved into the stone (11).



Sennacherib Palace Relief

Depictions of events described in the Bible are not limited to Egypt. Located in northern Iraq in the ruins of ancient Nineveh is the Palace of Sennacherib. All that is left of the magnificent home of the Assyrian king, King Sennacherib, is the palace foundation and some of its walls. One particular wall is still mostly intact. On it are numerous bas-reliefs depicting Sennacherib’s successful siege of Lachish, an ancient Israeli city. The main scene is of the Assyrian attack on the wall of Lachish (12). Battering rams built into four-wheeled vehicles are slamming into the wall, under battlements. The Israeli soldiers defending the city are fighting fiercely, as are the besiegers (12). An epigraph states: “Sennacherib, king of the world, king of Assyria, sat upon a nimedu- throne and passed in review the booty (taken) from Lachish (La-ki-su)” (Pritchard 201, parentheses in orig.).