2S23-18: When Disobedience Deletes Your Name From The Book Of Life

We’re gonna dive right back into the latter half of 2nd Samuel Chapter 23, which is a listing of David’s war cabinet members.

To get a proper picture, today I’m going to give you seven important facts about this list that will put you head and shoulders above probably anybody on the planet when it comes to understanding this portion of Scripture.

So here we go.

Fact 1:

As a result of a ton of copyist errors that took place over the centuries, the accuracy of this list should be taken with a healthy grain of salt.

Fact 2:

This list is split up into three different groups, each representing a rank or position in the totem pole of command.

The 1st group is the highest rank.

The 2nd group is the middle rank.

The 3rd group is the lowest rank.

Now, when I say “rank,” I don’t mean that in an absolute sense.

There’s an element of subjectivity to that assertion. 

All the men listed were part of the leadership council.

They were all commanders, of whom only the most important ones were recorded out of hundreds of men.

Fact 3:

David deliberately omitted his top general, Joab, from this list.

This happened because David didn’t care much for this homie (for obvious reasons).

Or maybe because the purpose of this list was to list everyone below his former chief commander who didn’t get any recognition elsewhere in Scripture.

Fact 4:

This same list appears in 1st Chronicles Chapter 11.

However, that list has been expanded with more names.

Interestingly, the chapter afterwards (1st Chronicles Chapter 12) contains another list of men who were with David before he became King when he was on the run from the insane King Saul.

Also, contained in Chapter 12 of 1st Chronicles, is a list of the leaders who joined David at Hebron when Saul’s kingship was transferred over to him.

Maybe-A-Fact 5:

I say this is “maybe a fact” because there’s debate on this, but there is good reason to believe that this list represents 4 distinct periods of David’s life.

But again, not all academic homies agree on this point.

Fact 6:

This portion of 2nd Samuel is different than other Scripture in that it’s basically an appendix containing a bunch of miscellaneous details from David’s reign that the ancient Biblical editor felt needed to be recorded for posterity’s sake.

Fact 7:

Despite what they may claim, no scholar on planet Earth knows the specific time and order of events listed here.

Why can I be so sure?

For one obvious and undisputed reason.

Scripture doesn’t provide precise dates according to the Western Gregorian calendar.

And generally speaking, the Bible doesn’t make a big deal about being accurate in terms of the exact sequence of events.

So every time some scholar asserts that so-and-so event in this list happened during a certain time period, rest assured, it’s speculation.

Keep in mind that these historical details were first handed down by word of mouth from one generation to another, and only much later were recorded in writing.

So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that not only did differing traditions develop, but different historical details connected to these traditions also arose.

Are you feeling me here, man?

So we ain’t gonna be engaging in academic speculation that’s rooted far in more subjectivity than you’d like to believe.

You’d be amazed at the nonsense that occurs at the highest levels in academic circles.

Instead, I’m gonna stick with a brief overview of what’s actually written down and can be verified (within reason, of course).

Alrighty, let’s switch over to the takeaway.

It’s connected to Fact 3.

We’re told that David deliberately erased his top general, Joab, from the list.

Why?

Well, this dude had a bad habit of committing unprovoked murders in David’s kingdom.

FIRST, Joab killed Abner under the guise of a private conversation.

This was premeditated murder!

Abner had already made peace with David.

Joab acted out of revenge for his brother Asahel and to protect his own power.

David publicly disowned the act and cursed Joab’s house (2 Sam 3:28–29).

He made it clear that Joab had acted without royal approval.

But things don’t stop there.

SECOND, Joab assassinated Amasa, who was David’s appointed commander at the time.

Joab murdered him to reclaim his position.

FINALLY, the straw that broke the camel’s back was when Joab killed David’s rebellious son Absalom.

David explicitly commanded that Absalom be spared.

Joab ignored the King’s command and slaughtered him anyway.

This was direct disobedience to the king and to a father’s explicit command.

Joab decided he knew better than David.

And that’s your takeaway.

Joab constantly overrode the Lord’s anointed king.

This was NOT righteous obedience.

He may have been the King’s top general.

Yet because of his deceitful behavior, he was removed from the list of men deemed worthy to be included in this list in 2nd Samuel Chapter 23.

That’s your lesson for today.

I don’t care if you’re a great ruler or president…

Or how great your status in society is…

If you act like a baboon…

You, too, will be deleted from the King of Israel’s list.

Let those have ears to hear, SHEMA!

CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT

“He who overcomes will,
like them, be dressed in white.
I will never blot out the name
of that person from the Book of Life,
but will acknowledge that name
before my Father and his angels.”
-Revelation 3:5

“I saw the dead, great and small,
standing before the throne,
and books were opened.
Another book was opened,
which is the Book of Life.
The dead were judged according
to what they had done
as recorded in the books.
Revelation 20:12“
-Revelation 22:19

“Anyone whose name was
not found written in the Book of Life
was thrown into the lake of fire.”
-Revelation 20:15