To Encourage You

2 Samuel 12:26-31 “Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and took the royal city. And Joab sent messengers to David and said, ‘I have fought against Rabbah; moreover, I have taken the city of waters. Now then gather the rest of the people together and encamp against the city and take it, lest I take the city and it be called by my name.’ So David gathered all the people together and went to Rabbah and fought against it and took it. And he took the crown of their king from his head. The weight of it was a talent of gold, and in it was a precious stone, and it was placed on David’s head. And he brought out the spoil of the city, a very great amount. And he brought out the people who were in it and set them to labor with saws and iron picks and iron axes and made them toil at the brick kilns. And thus he did to all the cities of the Ammonites. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.”

Why do people resist the King of kings? Why do they refuse to submit their lives to the Prince of Peace?

Perhaps we see a shadow of this in the account above from King David’s life. It’s the account of David’s defeat of the City of Rabbah, which was the royal city of the Ammonites. The Ammonites were enemies of Israel.  They resisted the people of God at every turn.  So, what else do we know about Rabbah? What is it that would lead them to think that they were better off under their own king than they would be under the king that God had ordained to rule over the land?

Well, for one, the name Rabbah, means “great.”  It comes from a root word that means “abundance.” It was known as a place of abundant water, thus the nickname, “the city of waters.”  Then we see that the king possessed a great crown. It was made of gold and weighed a talent, which is about 75 pounds!  Crowns were a mark of prestige, of glory and magnificence, if you will.  We are told that it was a city of great wealth by virtue of the very great amount of spoil that David took from it. But then the Ammonites lost it all. As a result of their warfare against David, they lost their prestige and wealth, and they became slaves who toiled under hard labor for the rest of their lives. 

So, what does this say to us in our day and age?  To what principles might this be pointing for our own good?  Well, for one, it points to the temporary nature of anything the natural man acquires while living in opposition to God.  The natural man, even the ungodly man, can have great prestige in this world. His or her talents or exploits may be such that it brings them great glory, at least glory from other people.    They may possess great wealth.  They may live in the lap of luxury. They may live with a motto of “life is good.” But it’s all so temporary. It will certainly pass away.  All those things unbelievers aren’t willing to give up for the cause of Christ will be taken from them sooner or later just the same.  Their lives will inevitably lead to an eternity of misery, misery to which the hard labor of the Ammonites is but a taste.  Jesus warned of this in the following words: “For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away” (Matthew 13:12).  “The one who has” in this instance, is that one who has a saving relationship with Christ.  Many have lost much in this life as a result of their allegiance to Him. Yet, Jesus promises them that because they have Him, more will be given. It’s such an understatement of the eternal blessings of those who are “joint heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17). But as for the “one who has not” that is, the one who has no relationship with Christ, although they may have much in this life, every bit of it will be taken from them for all eternity in the age to come.  Jesus put it this way in Mark 8:36: “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” 

So, how do you see yourself? Is your focus on the glory, the wealth, “the good life,” as some see their life in this world, all the while you may be rejecting Christ and His claims on your life? Are you a “citizen of Rabbah,” with a fixation on the “greatness” of this present world, or do you “desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one?” Are you one of whom, “God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city” “(Hebrews 11:16)?  Whose side are you on? Which king will you serve?  It will be the difference between losing everything and being one of those who, in the end, will be included in the kingdom of heaven and who will be among those who will inherit the earth (Matthew 5:3,5).