“Sometime later, when the king of the people of ‘Amon died, his son Hanun became king in his place. David said, ‘I will show grace to Hanun the son of Nachash, as his father showed grace to me.’ So David sent his servants to pass him a message of comfort concerning his father.”-2 Samuel 10:1-2
Ever heard of the Cuban Missile Crisis that took place in the 1960’s?
What happened was the U.S. discovered the Soviet Union had secretly installed nuclear missiles in Cuba just 90 miles from the state of Florida.
That was way too close for comfort.
Once President John F. Kennedy caught wind of this, he demanded their removal and ordered a naval blockade around Cuba to prevent more weapons from arriving.
For nearly two weeks, the world was on the brink of nuclear war as both sides refused to back down.
Eventually, a deal was struck:
The Soviet Union agreed to remove the missiles from Cuba…
While the U.S. secretly promised to remove its nuclear missiles from Turkey and pledged not to invade Cuba.
The crisis ended peacefully…
But it was the closest the world had ever come to nuclear war.
Now why do I bring this up?
Because America’s reaction was similar to how Hanun reacted when David sent a delegation of men to his territory.
David’s intentions were sincere.
He simply wanted to express his condolences and pay respect to Hanun after his father Amon had passed away.
Yet Hanun didn’t see it that way at all.
His response was the same as President Kennedy’s toward Cuba.
He was none too happy about Israel’s army hanging out near his borders.
So when David sent a group of diplomats to him, Hanun insulted them—big time.
Why?
Again, because his behavior was driven by distrust and suspicion.
Israel had just defeated Moab, and Hanun and his advisors thought they might be next on David’s hit list.
Now, there’s a big takeaway here.
While we may view ancient societies as unsophisticated and primitive…
The truth is their thoughts, fears and the political reasonings that drove their behavior fundamentally ain’t that much different than our modern leaders today.
The only difference is the technology we’ve got at our disposal…
Human nature doesn’t change.
That’s why Scripture speaks to our struggles in any day and age.
Ya feel me?
I’ll leave it at that for today.
See ya all next time.
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