Pursuing Peace

Pursuing Peace
Words of Faith 1-6-25
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2024
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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2 Samuel 2:18-32
[18] The three sons of Zeruiah were there: Joab, Abishai and Asahel. Now Asahel was as fleet-footed as a wild gazelle. [19] He chased Abner, turning neither to the right nor to the left as he pursued him. [20] Abner looked behind him and asked, "Is that you, Asahel?" "It is," he answered. [21] Then Abner said to him, "Turn aside to the right or to the left; take on one of the young men and strip him of his weapons." But Asahel would not stop chasing him. [22] Again Abner warned Asahel, "Stop chasing me! Why should I strike you down? How could I look your brother Joab in the face?" [23] But Asahel refused to give up the pursuit; so Abner thrust the butt of his spear into Asahel's stomach, and the spear came out through his back. He fell there and died on the spot. And every man stopped when he came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died. [24] But Joab and Abishai pursued Abner, and as the sun was setting, they came to the hill of Ammah, near Giah on the way to the wasteland of Gibeon. [25] Then the men of Benjamin rallied behind Abner. They formed themselves into a group and took their stand on top of a hill. [26] Abner called out to Joab, "Must the sword devour forever? Don't you realize that this will end in bitterness? How long before you order your men to stop pursuing their brothers?" [27] Joab answered, "As surely as God lives, if you had not spoken, the men would have continued the pursuit of their brothers until morning." [28] So Joab blew the trumpet, and all the men came to a halt; they no longer pursued Israel, nor did they fight anymore. [29] All that night Abner and his men marched through the Arabah. They crossed the Jordan, continued through the whole Bithron and came to Mahanaim. [30] Then Joab returned from pursuing Abner and assembled all his men. Besides Asahel, nineteen of David's men were found missing. [31] But David's men had killed three hundred and sixty Benjamites who were with Abner. [32] They took Asahel and buried him in his father's tomb at Bethlehem. Then Joab and his men marched all night and arrived at Hebron by daybreak.

In the world of action adventure movies, there is nothing quite like a chase scene. This was a big one! It may be hard to follow because of all the names involved, but here is the rundown.
After the big "contest of champions" was over, this was not enough blood. The hope for finding peace with limited loss of life was short-lived. David's men were victorious in the contest that pitted twelve against twelve, but David's men were not satisfied with the agreed-upon outcome. Instead, they set out in hot pursuit of Abner and his friends.
The chase resulted in the seasoned warrior Abner taking the life of Asahel, the younger brother of David's leader Joab. Joab and a surviving brother, Abishai, vowed to take revenge, but when faced with immensely unfavorable odds, they gave up the chase. At the end of the day, Abner went home to Mahanaim, while Joab returned by night to Hebron. David lost 20 soldiers, but Abner lost 360. The battle was over, but not the war. The conflict between the house of Saul and the followers of David would continue for some time.
We don't want to miss that this passage's poetic and grammatical construction is rather remarkable. The Hebrew word that means "after," "behind," or "rear part" occurs fifteen times in the passage. The word appears so often that English translators do not include the repetition so that the passage makes better sense. The grammatical construction emphasizes the intensity of the pursuit and the fact that it came from behind. David's devotees were thirsty after the smell of blood and came chasing from behind.
But a powerful image here condemns the foolhardy nature of bloodthirsty pursuit. The words offer a repetitive zinger by referring to this pursuit with the word for "rear part." The not-so-subtle message is that those who give up on the effort of peace and dash off in a bloodthirsty pursuit are truly a "rear part." Not only were there more terrible losses to come, but very little could be accomplished by this continued conflict.
The point is not simply to belabor a "give peace a chance" message. The point is to address the utter futility of such bloodlust. We would be naïve to think there would be no conflict in a world that did not yet have a redeemer and savior. But here in the story of the line of David, we see the great need for the coming of the Prince of Peace. We sense the extraordinary need to hope for peace and pursue peace. Those who seek only bloodshed are marked as the "rear part."

Father God, I want to be part of the New Creation that has come in Christ. Give me a heart for what Christ has done in reconciling the world. Make me a minister of reconciliation rather than one who pursues conflict. Give me the spirit of a champion for peace. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2025
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2025 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.