Joab’s Betrayal

When Peter heard Jesus foretell the cross and his resurrection, he held on to him and protested instead, and Jesus rebuked him, calling him Satan. Joab, too, had once served David at the risk of his own life, yet when his brother Asahel was killed by Abner, he was consumed by the desire for revenge and crossed over into betraying David.

Peter’s error lay in setting his mind not on the things of God but on the things of men. Joab, likewise, fell into the pride of believing that his own victories in battle had set David on the throne, and little by little he slid from an obedient servant into a man who put his own judgment first. Betrayal does not happen in a single moment; it is a slow corruption of exactly this kind.

The service and loyalty of God’s people are not for the sake of God and the church but for their own salvation, and so there is no reason for pride in them. Those who, like Joab, cannot let go of the urge to display their own righteousness will in the end forsake grace and bring about their own downfall. Only by repenting each day and obeying the Word can Christians enjoy the peace and blessing that no one can take away.