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2 Samuel
Chapter Twenty
2 Samuel 20
Chapter Contents
Sheba's rebellion. (1-3) Amasa slain by Joab. (4-13)
Sheba takes refuge in Abel. (14-22) David's officers. (23-26)
Commentary on 2 Samuel 20:1-3
(Read 2 Samuel 20:1-3)
One trial arises after another for our good, till we
reach the place where sin and sorrow are for ever done away. Angry disputers
misunderstand or misconstrue one another's words; proud men will have every
thing their own way, or wholly refuse their assistance. The favour of the many
is not to be depended upon; and what have others to expect, when Hosanna to the
Son of David was soon changed to Crucify him, crucify him?
Commentary on 2 Samuel 20:4-13
(Read 2 Samuel 20:4-13)
Joab barbarously murdered Amasa. The more plot there is
in a sin, the worse it is. Joab contentedly sacrificed the interest both of the
king and the kingdom to his personal revenge. But one would wonder with what
face a murderer could pursue a traitor; and how, under such a load of guilt, he
had courage to enter upon danger: his conscience was seared.
Commentary on 2 Samuel 20:14-22
(Read 2 Samuel 20:14-22)
Justly is that place attacked, which dares to harbour a
traitor; nor will the heart fare better which indulges rebellious lusts, that
will not have Christ to reign over them. A discreet woman, by her prudent
management, satisfied Joab, and yet saved the city. Wisdom is not confined to
rank or sex; it consists not in deep knowledge; but in understanding how to act
as matters arise, that troubles may be turned away and benefits secured. A
great deal of mischief would be prevented, if contending parties would
understand one another. Let both sides be undeceived. The single condition of
peace is, the surrender of the traitor. It is so in God's dealing with the
soul, when besieged by conviction and distress; sin is the traitor; the beloved
lust is the rebel: part with that, cast away the transgression, and all shall be
well. There is no peace on any other terms.
Commentary on 2 Samuel 20:23-26
(Read 2 Samuel 20:23-26)
Here is the state of David's court, after his
restoration. It is well when able men are appointed to discharge public duties;
let all seek to perform those duties, as faithful servants to the Son of David.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on 2 Samuel》
2 Samuel 20
Verse 1
[1] And
there happened to be there a man of Belial, whose name was Sheba, the son of
Bichri, a Benjamite: and he blew a trumpet, and said, We have no part in David,
neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to his tents, O
Israel.
Happened —
His presence was casual in itself, though ordered by God's providence.
No part —
The tribe of Judah have monopolized the king to themselves, and will not allow
us any share in him; let them therefore enjoy him alone, and let us seek out a
new king.
The son of Jesse — An
expression of contempt, implying that he was no more to be owned as their king,
but as a private person, as the son of Jesse.
To his tents —
Let us all desist from this unthankful office, of bringing the king back, and
go each to our homes, that we may consider, and then meet together to chuse a
new king.
Verse 2
[2] So every man of Israel went up from after David, and followed Sheba the
son of Bichri: but the men of Judah clave unto their king, from Jordan even to
Jerusalem.
Every man —
That is, the generality of those Israelites who were present.
Verse 5
[5] So
Amasa went to assemble the men of Judah: but he tarried longer than the set
time which he had appointed him.
Tarried —
Either, because the people being wearied out by the late war, were not forward
to engage in another: or because the soldiers had more affection to Joab, than
to their new general.
Verse 6
[6] And
David said to Abishai, Now shall Sheba the son of Bichri do us more harm than
did Absalom: take thou thy lord's servants, and pursue after him, lest he get
him fenced cities, and escape us.
Abishai —
Not to Joab; lest by this means he should recover his place, and Amasa be
discontented, and David's fidelity in making good his promise to Amasa be
questioned.
Verse 7
[7] And there went out after him Joab's men, and the Cherethites, and the
Pelethites, and all the mighty men: and they went out of Jerusalem, to pursue
after Sheba the son of Bichri.
Joab's men —
The remainders of Joab's army who were there present, with whom also Joab might
go as a reformade, watching an opportunity to do what he designed.
Verse 8
[8] When
they were at the great stone which is in Gibeon, Amasa went before them. And
Joab's garment that he had put on was girded unto him, and upon it a girdle
with a sword fastened upon his loins in the sheath thereof; and as he went
forth it fell out.
Amasa went —
Having gathered some forces, and given due orders for the rest to follow him,
he returned to Jerusalem, and by the king's command went after those mentioned
verse 7, and being come up to them at the place where
they waited for him, he put himself in the head of Joab's men, and the
Cherethites and the Pelethites, and such as he had brought along with him, and
marched before them as their general.
Girded —
After the manner of travellers and soldiers.
Went forth — To
meet and salute Amasa, who was coming towards him to do him honour.
It fell —
Things having (it is likely) been so contrived by Joab, that upon the least
motion of his body, his sword should drop out, and he might take it up without
raising Amasa's suspicion.
Verse 9
[9] And
Joab said to Amasa, Art thou in health, my brother? And Joab took Amasa by the
beard with the right hand to kiss him.
Beard — As
the manner of ancient times was, when they saluted one another.
Verse 10
[10] But
Amasa took no heed to the sword that was in Joab's hand: so he smote him
therewith in the fifth rib, and shed out his bowels to the ground, and struck
him not again; and he died. So Joab and Abishai his brother pursued after Sheba
the son of Bichri.
The sword —
Which falling out, as it seemed, casually, he supposed that Joab intended only
to put it into its scabbard, and therefore took no care to defend himself
against the stroke.
So Joab —
Who now boldly resumed his former place, and marched in the head of the army.
It is not strange, that Amasa's soldiers did not fight to revenge his death;
partly, because not many of them were yet come up, as the following verses
shew; and partly, because Joab's interest and authority with the military-men
was very great; especially, with David's guards, who were here present, and who
had no kindness for Amasa, as having been the general of the rebellious army;
and, as they might think, not fit to be put into a place of so great trust.
Verse 11
[11] And
one of Joab's men stood by him, and said, He that favoureth Joab, and he that
is for David, let him go after Joab.
One —
Left there on purpose to deliver the following message.
Favoureth Joab — He
that would have Joab to be general, rather than such a perfidious rebel as
Amasa.
For David — He
that wisheth David good success against Sheba, and against all rebels.
Verse 12
[12] And
Amasa wallowed in blood in the midst of the highway. And when the man saw that
all the people stood still, he removed Amasa out of the highway into the field,
and cast a cloth upon him, when he saw that every one that came by him stood
still.
Stood still —
Wondering at the spectacle, and enquiring into the author and occasion of it.
Removed —
Perceiving, that it both incensed them against Joab and hindered the king's
service.
Cast a cloth upon him — But the covering of blood with a cloth cannot stop its cry to God for
vengeance.
Verse 14
[14] And
he went through all the tribes of Israel unto Abel, and to Bethmaachah, and all
the Berites: and they were gathered together, and went also after him.
He — Sheba, who marched
from tribe to tribe to stir them up to sedition.
Abel —
Unto Abel-beth-maachah, as this place is called here in the Hebrew text, verse 15, to distinguish it from other Abels; and to
signify, that this was that Abel which was in the northern border of Canaan
towards that part of Syria called Maachah, 2 Samuel 10:8.
Berites —
Such as lived in the city, or territory of Beeroth of Benjamin, Joshua 18:25, who being of the same tribe, if not
city with Sheba, adhered to him, and followed him through all the tribes of
Israel.
They —
The tribes of Israel; that is, a considerable number of them; as might well be
expected, when the discontents were so high and general.
Verse 15
[15] And
they came and besieged him in Abel of Bethmaachah, and they cast up a bank
against the city, and it stood in the trench: and all the people that were with
Joab battered the wall, to throw it down.
They —
That is, Joab and his army.
A bank —
From whence they might either batter the wall, or shoot at those who defended
it.
It stood —
The bank stood in, or near to the trench, or the wall of the city; so that the
city was in great danger of being taken.
Verse 16
[16] Then
cried a wise woman out of the city, Hear, hear; say, I pray you, unto Joab,
Come near hither, that I may speak with thee.
Then cried a wise woman — It seems none of all the men of Abel, offered to treat with Joab: no,
not when they were reduced to extremity: but one wise woman saved the city.
Souls know no difference of sex: many a manly heart is lodged in a female
breast. Nor is the treasure of wisdom the less valuable, for being lodged in
the weaker vessel.
Verse 18
[18] Then
she spake, saying, They were wont to speak in old time, saying, They shall surely
ask counsel at Abel: and so they ended the matter.
Ask counsel —
This city which thou art about to destroy, is no mean and contemptible one, but
so honourable and considerable for its wisdom, that when any differences arose
among any of the neighbours, they used proverbially to say, We will ask the
opinion and advice as the men of Abel about it, and we will stand to their
arbitration; and so all parties were satisfied, and disputes ended.
Verse 19
[19] I am
one of them that are peaceable and faithful in Israel: thou seekest to destroy
a city and a mother in Israel: why wilt thou swallow up the inheritance of the
LORD?
A mother —
Great cities are commonly called mothers; as lesser towns or villages subject
to them, and depending upon them, are called their daughters.
Inheritance —
That is, a considerable part of, that land which God hath chosen for his
particular possession. The destruction which thou art about to bring upon us,
is an injury to Israel, and to the God of Israel.
Verse 21
[21] The
matter is not so: but a man of mount Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name,
hath lifted up his hand against the king, even against David: deliver him only,
and I will depart from the city. And the woman said unto Joab, Behold, his head
shall be thrown to thee over the wall.
Ephraim —
Probably mount Ephraim was a place in Benjamin so called, either because it was
upon the borders of Ephraim or for some notable action or event of the
Ephraimites in that place.
His head —
Which she undertook, because she knew the present temper of the citizens, and
soldiers too. And it is not unlikely, that this woman might be a governness in
that city. For though this office was commonly performed by men; yet women were
sometimes employed in the government: as we see in Deborah, who judged Israel, Judges 4:4.
Verse 22
[22] Then
the woman went unto all the people in her wisdom. And they cut off the head of
Sheba the son of Bichri, and cast it out to Joab. And he blew a trumpet, and
they retired from the city, every man to his tent. And Joab returned to
Jerusalem unto the king.
Wisdom —
Prudently treated with them about it, representing to them the certainty and
nearness of their ruin, if they did not speedily comply with her desires, and
certain deliverance if they did.
Verse 23
[23] Now
Joab was over all the host of Israel: and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over
the Cherethites and over the Pelethites:
Over all the host —
The good success of this, and of the former expedition, under the conduct of
Joab, had so fixed his interest in the army, and others of David's fastest
friends, that the king could not without danger displace him.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on 2
Samuel》
20 Chapter 20
Verses 1-26
And there happened to be there a man of Belial.
Rebellion of Sheba
This chapter is a relation of Sheba’s rebellion.
1. The trumpet of this new rebellion was a son of Belial, Sheba the
son of Bichri, whom God by His providence ordered to be present when this
paroxism or hot fit of contention happened betwixt the tribe of Judah and the
tribes of Israel as before. The Devil (who loves to fish in troubled waters)
strikes in with this opportunity, as a fit hour of temptation for him, and
excites this Belialist to blow a trumpet and to sound a retreat in the ears of
those Israelites, saying [Seeing the men of Judah say that we have no part in
David, but they do monopolize him to themselves] let them have him, and let us
choose another for ourselves, hoping that they would choose him, because he was
a Benjamite akin to Saul, and supposed to be the chiefest captain under Amasa
to Absalom (2 Samuel 20:1.)
2. This Belialist (so-called) was for casting off the yoke of David
(as the Hebrew word Belial signifies) and being grieved that the kingdom was
translated from Saul’s house to David, he bespatters David, calling him the son
of Jesse, a private person, so the crown could not descend upon David by
inheritance, and therefore (saith he) we are at liberty to choose a new king.
This opprobrious title that Sheba gave David here did savour of Saul (who had
oft called him so in contempt) and of the old enmity: and possibly Sheba might
aggravate to those Israelites, that David had sent Zadock and Abiathar to the
men of Judah that they might be persuaded to fetch back the King, but he sent
them not to our elders; therefore seeing he hath so slighted us, let us look to
our own concerns, and let him look to his (2 Samuel 20:1.)
3. Behold how great a flame of fire a little spark doth kindle (James 3:5) when God gives way thereunto,
Sheba’s presence and influence upon those Israelites, though casual in itself,
and as to men, yet was it ordered so by the providence of God, who permitted
the devil to blow up this blast of rebellion for several reasons: as
Revolt and pursuit of Sheba. -
1. We are first introduced to Sheba, the son of Bichri, or, as it is
read by recent commentators, the Bichrite--that is, a member of the family of
Becher, the second son of Benjamin. This man was, therefore, by so much related
to the clan of Saul. It is difficult to get the old taint out of the blood.
Sheba is a minimised Saul, full of hostility to David and all his interests.
Even bad men have their opportunity in life. We have seen again and again how
easy it is to do mischief. Sheba, a man who probably had no power to construct
a positive fame by deeds of beneficence and the origination of statesmanlike
policies, had it in his power to set fire to dangerous substances and bring
into peril a movement which promised to consummate itself in the happiest
results to Israel. The historical instance ought to be a continual lesson. The
meanest man may pull down a wall, or set fire to a palace, or whisper a slander
concerning the character of a king. The remarkable thing is that whilst society
is well aware of all this possibility, it is willing to lend an ear to every
wicked speaker Who arises, insisting upon the old and detestable sophism flint
although the report may not be wholly and literally true, there yet must be
some foundation for it.
2. Sheba is described in the text as “a man of Belial,” in other
words, a child of the devil. A man’s spiriutal parentage is known by the deeds
in which he delights. We have in the first verse a kind of double genealogy of
Sheba; he is called “the son of Bichri, a Benjamite,” and he is also described
as “a man of Belial.” It would seem as if in some cases men had a lineal
physical descent, and had also a direct spiritual ancestry. Account for it as
we may, there are practical differences in spirit and character which would
seem almost to suggest two different grades or qualities of human nature.
Whilst it is profoundly and sadly true that all men are apostates, and that
there is none righteous, no, not one, it is also undeniable that there are
chiefs in the army of evil, princes of sin, royal and dominating personages in
the whole kingdom of wickedness. They are ingenious in the device of evil;
their imagination is afire with the very spirit of perdition; they can invent
new departures, striking policies, undreamed-of cruelties, unimaginable
wanderings from the path of rectitude. It is most certain that many men simply
“follow a multitude to do evil”; they have little or no invention of their own;
they would never originate rebellions or lead insurrections, or devise plots
involving great disasters; they are but followers, imitators, echoes not
voices, persons who go by the bulk and not by detail, being only of consequence
in proportion to their multiudinousness, having no independent spirit of their
own when taken one by one.
3. David, being now impatient of the insolence of Joab, and willing to
avail himself of an opportunity of superseding that able but arrogant captain,
gave an appointment to Amasa. As Amasa went forth he encountered an unexpected
foe in the person of Joab. It is explained in the text how Joab by a peculiar
arrangement of his dress--a girdle bound round his military coat--had contrived
to conceal a dagger which would fall out as lie advanced. The dagger falling
out thus gave Joab an opportunity of naturally picking it up, as he wished to
use it, without exciting the suspicion of Amasa. Thus even in so small a trick
the depravity of Joab is made manifest. Taking Amasa by the beard with his
right hand to kiss him, Joab smote him in the fifth rib, with but one blow; but
that a fatal stroke. Joab would thus tolerate no rivals by whomsoever they
might have been appointed. This desperateness of spirit was really part of the
greatness of the man,--that is to say, apart from such desperateness he never
could have brought to bear all his
various faculties of statesman and soldier. Morality has often commented upon
the circumstance that great talents should be turned to base uses. So it is the
world over: the completer the education as a merely intellectual exercise, the
more disastrous is the power to do evil, unless the education has been
supported and chastened by adequate moral training. It is mere idolatry to
admire greatness alone: when that greatness is held in check by enlightened
consciousness, then its recognition really involves an act of worship to him
who is the Spirit of Righteousness and the teacher of the world. It is but
lust, however, to say that we are not to judge Joab by the morality of a much
later age. Morality itself is part of an infinite but most beneficent
evolution. Even a good cause may have bad supporters. The cause in which Joab
was now engaged was unquestionably a good one, being nothing less than the
restoration of David to his kingly position in Israel, and by so much the
fulfilment of a divine covenant. Joab had a good cause, but he brought to its
support a very questionable character. Is not this same instance repeating
itself along the whole line of history? Is not the Church indebted to many a
man whose heart is in the world and whose ambition is his only god? Are there
not some men eloquent of tongue whose hearts are silent as to true worship? Is
not good money often given by polluted hands? (J. Parker, D. D.)
Disunion the devil’s policy.
“Cyrus, in Herodotus, going to fight against Scythia, coming to a
broad river, and not being able to pass over it, cut and divided it into divers
arms and sluices, and so made it passable for all his army. This is the devil’s
policy; he laboureth to divide the people of God, and separate us into divers
sects and factions, that so he may easily overcome us.” This needs no comment.
What is needed is that by a spirit of brotherly love we promote the unity of
all the churches, and the peace and concord of that to which we belong. May the
peace of the church be “as a river.” Unity is strength. “Divide and conquer” is
Satan’s watchword to his myrmidons. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
When the South Carolina convention broke up with a declaration of
secession from the north, and the Civil War was thereby proclaimed, there were
great jubilations. Bells were rung, cannon saluted, and the street,s were
filled with the noise and display of great parades. But what a drama of blood
it led to, and what a tragedy of disastrous defeat was its end! (H. O.
Mackey.)
Art thou in health, my brother?
The Soul’s Health
The sickness of the soul is the evil of all evils, and one in
comparison with which mere bodily pain is nothing. Whether sin be regarded as a
disease, or as guilt, or as both combined, there is only one Physician, even
God Himself, who can help us. The medicine and the skill are His, and he alone
can effectually and permanently heal. He has no pleasure in the sickness or
death of His creatures; indeed, so far from this he desires that all should be
in health and be happy.
I. We suppose
ourselves in a hospital occupied by those who are spiritually diseased, and the
symptoms must be inquired into and noted.
1. First, then, as to the condition of the pulse. Does it beat
strongly and vigorously, indicating a proper circulation? or is it slow,
languid, and irregular? Has joy departed? and has zeal ceased to inspire your
soul for the discharge of high and holy duties?
2. Next, let me ask concerning your memory. Are past trials
forgotten? Have you ceased to think of god’s many mercies with gratitude? There
are bitter mercies as well as sweet ones, and the Great Physician administers
to us some of His healing remedies in wine, and others in wormwood.
3. The condition of your appetite. Does it relish wholesome fare? Do
you find pleasure in the reading of good books; and above all, in the study of
god’s word? Is plain gospel preaching the nutriment which suits you best; or is
there a constant craving after highly-seasoned and stimulating rhapsodies,
which constitute so large a proportion of the popular preaching of the day?
Mere flowers of rhetoric are like the blue and red blossoms in
cornfields--pleasing to those who come for amusement, but prejudicial to those
who would reap the grain.
4. The condition of your strength. Is your ability to do God’s will,
to work for Him, and to endure pains and sacrifices, up to the highest standard
which you have ever reached? or is such spiritual strength perceptibly on the
decline? How many forget that it is impossible robe good without self-denial
and effort, and that in order to such exertion we must have strength. The soul
will always be feeble and sickly so long as this is lacking.
II. Let us go on,
then, to describe some timely remedies.
1. Avoid everything which disagrees with your soul’s health. Many
dangerous diseases are infectious, and hence, evil companions, and unlawful
pleasures, cannot be too carefully shunned. “lord, I trust thou hast pardoned
the bad examples I have set before others,” said old Thomas Fuller in his prayer,
“be pleased also to pardon me the sins which they have committed by my bad
examples.” The Nazarites whose strict vows allowed them to drink no wine, also
forbade them to cut grapes from which wine is made. And so, they who would
enjoy spiritual health, must not only avoid sin in itself, but also the
companionship and associations which lead to it.
2. Retirement. The Great Physician should be sought often, that we
may be alone with Him. Virtue always goeth out of Him to heal those who thus
manifest a desire for His saving help. Especially, during the holy season of
Lent, let us thus seek to be alone with the Saviour. “Depart from the highway,”
says St. Chrysostom, “and transplant thyself in some enclosed ground, for it is
hard for a tree that stands by the wayside to keep her fruit till it be ripe.”
3. We must be willing to take freely of the balm of Gilead, the
doctrine of God’s unchangeable love; and also of bitter herbs, such as
meditations on the shipwrecks and apostasies of unfaithful Christians.
4. Take plenty of exercise. Attend diligently on all means of grace,
public and private prayer, the Lord’s Supper, and labour with cheerfulness in
the Master’s vineyard. Again, therefore, I ask the question of the text: “Art
thou in health, my brother?” If honesty obliges you to answer no, then let me
implore you to lose no time in seeking for the Good Physician. Cry aloud, this
day, to the Good Physician: “Have mercy on us, O Lord, Thou Son of David!” The
virtue which goes forth from Him is no mere temporary palliative. Jesus not
only comforts, but He cures. Wilt thou be made whole? Look to Christ Jesus to
do it for you. (J. N. Norton.)
Health of body in moral state
The lesson of this close interaction of mind and body is that we
should put the whole treatment of the body on a moral basis. De Quincey closes
the section dealing with health of his treatise on casuistry with some strong
words, which have added weight from his own mistakes in dealing with himself:
“Casuistry, justly and without infringing any truth of Christianity, urges the
care of health as the basis of all moral action, because, in fact, of all
voluntary action. Every impulse of bad health jars or untunes some string in
the fine harp of human volition, and, because a man cannot be a moral being but
in proportion of his free agency, therefore it is clear that no man can be in a
high sense moral, except in so far as through health he commands his bodily
powers, and is not commanded by them.” (Hugh Black, M. A.)
Wanton abuse of health
Health is the sum of money in the bank which will support you,
economically spent. But you spend foolishly and draw on the principal. This
diminishes the income, and you draw the oftener and the larger drafts until you
become bankrupt. Overeating, overworking, every imprudence is a draft on life
which health cashes and changes at a thousand per cent and interest. Every
abuse of health hastens death. (F. G. Welch, M. D.)
And when the man maw that all the people stood still.
Horror at sight of a slaughtered man
What unutterable, illimitable pity it seems that our horror at the
corpse of a slaughtered man should not have been made just so much stronger as
to render war impossible! It looks as if human nature has been within half an
inch of escaping that Upas tree of all evils (Chas. Buxton.)
Then cried a wise woman out
of the city.
Abel’s oracle; or prudence
and peaceableness
I. The people in
Abel of Bethmaachah are on the verge of ruin, for Joab is battering away at the
walls. Soon his soldiers will be pouring into the city, and the sword will
devour and destroy. Now if a man could do wrong and suffer alone it would be
more tolerable. No man can, how, ever, suffer alone. We always suffer in
greater or less degree by any sin committed by our fellows. We are all so
co-related, interwoven. We may even, as one has said, “sin in the persons of
other men,” for those who received an evil influence from us may go on sinning
through that influence, and so suffer through their own sin and ours. Even when
we have passed from this stage of existence our influence will still live. “Being
dead we speak,” either for evil or for good. It is so hard to check evil once
committed, much more to stop it altogether. Every day we meet with instances of
similar suffering. A father has forged a cheque, and his children must suffer,
although it is not their fault that they are his children. A mother is fretful
and gloomy, and the whole household is made wretched. A brother defrauds
another; or over-speculates with money entrusted to him, and his sisters are
ruined; or a marriage just about to take place is checked, and the sister’s
hopes blighted. Sin is terrible. Its near and remote consequences are beyond
our power of conception. The deed of folly and sin soaks into the lives of
others, and breaks out or flows on in channels undreamt of. We can do nothing
that shall have an end in ourselves. “One sinner destroyeth much good.” The
rough, unskilled hand touching a picture, or attempting to repair the delicate
mechanism of a watch, may do much greater damage than can be conceived. So one
Sheba can imperil a city. So one hidden sin can endanger salvation--can ruin a
soul.
II. But we see, on
the other hand, that the power of an individual to bless may balance the evil
wrought by the careless and selfish. While Joab’s soldiers are battering the
walls, above the din is heard the voice of a woman--“Hear! listen! listen, I
pray you!” “Deliver him up, and I will depart from the city.” This was the
concession the wise woman wanted, and soon Sheba’s head was thrown over the
wall. Then Joab blew the trumpet of recall, and his soldiers dropped their arms
and refrained from further attack. The city was saved.
1. We may learn that as no city is safe with a traitor in it, so no
heart is safe where a single sin is cherished. We must pluck out or cut off the
sin that besets or absorbs us.
2. We should in all circumstances seek to act in a commonsense
manner. Wisdom is not merely extraordinary knowledge, but perception.
3. There was no sacrifice of principle in the action of the woman or
of the citizens. Caiaphas in after ages suggested that it was better that
Christ should die than that the whole nation should perish. Caiaphas cared not
that Christ was innocent. Christ had not brought the evil Sheba had. It was
better for a nation to suffer than to permit an innocent man to be condemned.
4. The wise woman chose a suitable time for ending the strife. Some
good projects are marred through being inopportune, but it was not so in this
ease. The woman had done all she could to save the city. Conclusion. In the
matter of our salvation, we would say, let not the traitor of pride and
procrastination be permitted to remain within the soul. Cast away self-will and
pride, and seek peace. Law is terrible, so long as we are not in harmony with
it, not when our sin is forgiven. Christ has come to make peace. He is our
peace. He saw our danger. At the right moment he interposed. He allowed Himself
to bear contumely and crucifixion that we might be delivered. He took, as it
were, the place of Sheba. He was made sin for us, and permitted Himself to be
case out, that we might be saved. He died in our place, for sin-enslaved,
defiant, rebellious souls. He did it unasked. He did it from pure love. He saw
not one man, but a whole world perishing, and He said, “Better that I should
die than that all these should perish.” (F. Hastings.)
Verse 18
They shall surely ask counsel at Abel.
An old-time custom
It will have to come to that again. Things cannot be settled
really and lastingly except by counsel, wisdom, consent. The sword has had its
day; it is a fool’s argument. What is the idea of the text that is translatable
into the practice of all places and all ages? Whether there was an oracle at
Abel, whether there was a counsel of referees there, whether this one wise
woman had in her own hand, as it
were, the decision of important controversies, we can never
determine: suffice it to know that there was a time, holy, sabbatic time, when
men said, Let us go to the little town of Abel and talk this matter out: and so
they ended the matter. The point to which we should direct attention is that
there comes a moment when things must be settled by authority. Blessed are they
who consent to the constitution of that authority; then it is no longer
despotism or tyranny, it is settlement by consent. In old time men were wont to
take counsel at Abel; and so they ended the matter. They discussed it,
canvassed it, threshed it out, and went into it through and through, saw what
it was made of, and then, having done so, they put out hand to hand, and were
men and brothers once more. This same principle is amongst us like a ghost.
Sometimes we get it in a concrete form and work it into the very practice of
life, yet it is ever amongst us as a kind of spectre, some being more or less
afraid of it, some offering it hospitality, all acknowledging that if it really
could be brought into play on a large and just basis it would settle
everything.
I. The Abel of
experience. There is an Abel, a venerable city, called Experience; why not go
down to the Abel of experience, take counsel there: and so settle the matter?
Experience ought to go for something. Experience is man’s account of life. He
tells you where he has been, what he has done, how he has conducted himself,
and what results have accrued from the policies and the processes which he has
adopted. We ought to hear that man. We always think there is a shorter cut than
he took. Every age think it could work the programme better than Solomon worked
it. For a long period this must go on, but the day will come when experience
will go for something, when grey hairs will be taken as the symbols of
philosophy, when the wrinkled face will itself be a title to be heard on all
the practical questions and issues of life.
II. The Abel of
time. Why not go to another aspect of this same experience, another corner of
this same Abel, and consult Time? Why not admit Time to our counsels? Why leap
at new theories? Why bristle up when the unpronouncable name of some lager-beer
drinker is associated with some new mare’s nest in the realm of letters and
theology? How many theories have come and gone! Where are they? Gone with the
lager-beer! When men come to you with new theories, you should say, We must test
these, or see them tested by long time. The Cross--the weird, grim, ghastly
Cross--is nineteen centuries old, and it lifts itself up to-day the symbol of
universal life. As for these theories and inventions of yours, it is only right
that we should see how they bear the stress and the sifting of time. In old
time our fathers were wont to come to the Abel of the Bible; venerable men
would say, To the law and to the testimony! Perhaps they had too narrow a way
of referring to the scriptures; they might make too much of a chapter and a
verse, they might not sufficiently compare Scripture with Scripture and get
their souls into the very genius of Divine revelation as to speak Biblically
rather than textually: but their principle was right. They said, We know nothing
of God but what is revealed, we know nothing of the future but what is written
in the Book, we know nothing about sin and about redemption except what we are
told by the revelation of God, as we believe it to be: therefore let us go to:
III. the Abel of the
Bible, take counsel, and so end the matter. I am here to say in my own name, as
the result of my own searching and experience, that I can get no answers to the
greatest problems of mind and time equal in largeness, in precision, in
hopefulness, to the answers that are given in the Bible. There are other
answers, but I have found none that can stretch themselves with ease and
dignity over the whole space of necessity. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Asking counsel at Abel
It has been supposed that the true interpretation of asking
counsel at Abel is that Abel had become famous for its wisdom. In one of the
Targums we read: “Remember now that which is written in the book of the law, to
ask a city concerning peace at the first. Hast thou done so to ask of Abel if they
will make peace.” No certain interpretation can be given to the words; but we
are at liberty to remember that even superstition has sometimes played a useful
part in history. Men have attached importance to times, places, emotions, and
by so much have been checked in their impulses and subdued in their fiery
ambitions. (J. Parker, D. D.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》