The Consequences of Joab’s Sin

This passage deals with the sin committed by Joab, King David's general, who put his own power and hot temper first and ignored God's will and the king's command, and with its consequences. Joab gained great power through his service in fighting for David, but he grew proud, killed Abner on the pretext of avenging his brother Asahel, and shook the foundations of David's rule. The sermon points out that Joab lost his spiritual discernment and judged only by the gains and feelings immediately before his worldly eyes.

The sermon warns that if we cannot tell whether suffering comes from sin or is for spiritual training, we may make excuses or do evil rather than repent of our sin. Although Joab had seen David's wisdom in entrusting everything to God and waiting, he trusted his own wisdom, acted on his own, and finally set out on the road to ruin. David, on the other hand, shows a mature faith: while using the abilities of a wicked man in his rule, he kept his integrity and left Joab's sin to God.

Believers must not use God by putting forward their own merits, nor decide their faith by blaming circumstances and people. The sermon leads the reader to reflect that their choices are not determined by circumstances but depend on how faith interprets them. It asks how, so that our lives do not end in ruin like Joab's, unable to leave the place of sin, we can gain the wisdom to understand God's will in suffering and to repent.