“Also, tell ‘Amasa, ‘You are my flesh and bone. May God bring terrible curses on me and worse ones yet if from now on you are not permanent commander of my army instead of Yo’av.’”-2 Samuel 19:14
In verse 14, David goes back to his faulty ways.
He decides to appoint Amasa to be his next general.
For two unjustified reasons, I would say.
First, Amasa, as David put it, was his “flesh and bone.”
Amasa wasn’t just a fellow member from the tribe of Judah….
He was also a close relative of David on his sister’s side.
Second, this was a form of retribution against Joab for killing Absalom against his explicit orders.
I’ve said this before, but David clearly had this bad habit of prioritizing family over doing what’s right too much of the time.
And right here, this destructive behavior was rearing its ugly head once again.
Joab had won the battle for David.
Yet, David decided to replace him with the very enemy commander they were fighting against.
Holy cow!
What a slap in the face to not just Joab but to all the soldiers who fought for David.
So here’s your takeaway for today.
David’s choice to elevate Amasa wasn’t about justice or wisdom.
It was about family ties and personal payback.
And when leaders let bloodlines and grudges outweigh truth and loyalty, the people under them always suffer.
David’s actions remind us that doing what feels good or looks politically smart can backfire when it isn’t grounded in what’s right.
And things did backfire!
In the very next chapter, when some dude named Sheva led a revolt against David, Amasa proved too slow in mustering the troops.
Joab seized that opportunity and then murdered Amasa to reassert control.
This showed Amasa wasn’t as capable or decisive as Joab.
And yet again, David prioritizing his emotions over doing what was right came back to haunt him.
CONNECTING THESE TEACHINGS TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“And do not think you can say to yourselves,
‘We have Abraham as our father.’
I tell you that out of these stones
God can raise up children for Abraham.”
-Matthew 3:9
Leave a Reply