I was reading in my daily Bible reading today a story that took place between the time Saul was King of Israel and when David became King over all of Israel. Saul’s captain of his army was a guy named Abner, and David’s captain was Joab. In 2 Samuel chapter 2, it tells us of this moment when both men met at the pool of Gibeon.
The pool of Gibeon is a remarkable structure. It was discovered in 12 B.C. The name or meaning of the name Gibeon is a hill town or a high town. It is located about 5 miles northwest of Jerusalem. At the time, however, the headquarters for Israel was not Jerusalem.
What happened on the particular day in 2 Samuel chapter 2 was not very remarkable. Joab and Abner sat down on opposite sides of the pool with their men. Abner suggested that they have some young men fight in front of them. It reads like he wanted some amusement.
Joab agreed, and 12 men from each side stood up to fight. The Bible describes it like this: “Then each man grabbed his opponent by the head and thrust his dagger into his opponent’s side, and they fell down together.” Hmmmm.
The Scripture goes on to describe things as though everyone else joined in after that, and it was a very bloody day for Israel.
My thought in reading this passage was, how much pride must someone have to make 12 men fight to the death for his amusement? Once Saul died, Abner could have turned everything over to David. However, for two years, he tried to hold things together through one of Saul’s sons. And because of his lack of humility and seeking God’s will, many soldiers of the Israelite nation lost their lives that day.
What does our pride keep us from doing for God’s Kingdom? How does our pride get in the way of seeking God’s will and God’s way for our lives? And, most sadly, who is affected around us when our pride takes over our decision-making?
Proverbs 22:4 says, “The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honor and life.” If you continue reading in Scripture, you will find that Abner lost his life because of Joab’s pride. Joab lost his brother in this fight because of pride. And Joab would not be honored at the end of his days because of his pride when he served David. In other words, Joab and Abner’s lack of humility and fear of God cost them their life and their honor.
Let’s not be like those guys! Andy B.