Victory in Every Direction

Well, so 2 Samuel chapter 8, and the title is there on the screen, Victory in Every Direction.

! And I think we'll kind of understand what that's talking about, because it really is literally in every direction in this particular chapter. And so, let me read this for you, and then we will talk about it.

After this, David defeated the Philistines and subdued them. And David took Mepheg-ama out of the hand of the Philistines. And he defeated Moab, and he measured them with a line, making them lie down on the ground.

Two lines he measured to be put to death, and one full line to be spared. And the Moabites became servants to David and brought tribute.

David also defeated Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to restore his power at the river Euphrates. And David took from him 1,700 horsemen and 20,000 foot soldiers, and David hamstrung all the chariot horses, but left enough for 100 chariots.

And when the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer, son of Zobah, David struck down 22,000 men of the Syrians. Then David put garrisons in Aram of Damascus, and the Syrians became servants to David and brought tribute.

And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went. And David took the shields of gold that were carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem.

And from Betah and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, king David took very much bronze. When Toy, king of Hamath, heard that David had defeated the whole army of Hadadezer, Toy sent his son Joram to king David to ask about his health and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him, for Hadadezer had often been in war with Toy.

And Joram brought with him articles of silver, of gold, and of bronze. These also king David dedicated to the Lord, together with the silver and gold that he dedicated from all the nations he subdued, from Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, Amalek, and from the spoil of Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobah.

And David made a name for himself when he returned from striking down 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. Then he put garrisons in Edom. Throughout all Edom he put garrisons.

And all the Edomites became David's servants. And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went. Verse 15. So David reigned over all Israel, and David administered justice and equity to all his people.

Amen. That just sounds like today's story.

It's today's world today, doesn't it? The Sherathites and the Pelathites. Anyway. There are two reasons why this is called victory in every direction. One of them comes straight from Scripture here.

Two different places. One in verse 6, at the end of verse 6, and also at the end of verse 14. And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went. And as you noticed, all of these places that they described, victory.

Definitely victory. So everywhere that David went, he had victory. And in every direction, you will see on this map that you'll have on the screen here. And there, basically, it's not a whole lot of information on there as maps go.

But this is the idea of where David's kingdom went. In 2 Samuel 8, and also in chapter 10, it kind of goes there too. We'll get to that later. But, but if you notice where Jerusalem is, you see the Dead Sea, kind of two-thirds of the way down the, down the screen there.

And Jerusalem's right above that. If you notice, the Philistines are west of it. The Moabites, and the Ammonites and such, are east of the Dead Sea. North would be Damascus, and Aram, and Hamath, and Edom would be south.

And so, victory in every direction, it literally is every direction. West, east, north, and south. And it's how, it's even how it's described right here in this chapter.

Victory in the west, in the east, in the north, and in the south. So, so really is, not just figuratively, victory in every direction, but even, literally, victory in every single direction.

So, also something that ties between chapter 8 and chapter 9, if we were preaching this together, we would, would talk about this a lot, is the idea of precedent.

What we'll see a lot in chapter 8, has a lot of precedent, not just with the Israelites themselves, or at least the people of Israel, during, like King Saul's reign, and even before that, with the judges and such, but also, with kings and kingdoms, all across the Middle East, during this time period.

We will see lots of things that happen, in chapter 8, that are pretty similar, to what happened in many other places, in the Middle East as well. So, a lot of precedent, yet in chapter 9, which we'll get to next week, completely unprecedented, what happens there.

So, we'll talk about that more next week, what happens in chapter 9, just an amazing, unprecedented thing that happens, but a lot of precedent, here in chapter 8, as well.

And so, let's, let's just dig into this. Verse 1, is, victory, to the west. And so, there's Jerusalem, where David's, headquarters are, we talked about that, a couple weeks, several weeks ago now, I guess, in chapter 6, when he overtook the Jebusites, and, and, and made Jerusalem, his, his capital.

And so, to the west of that, you see Gath, and the Philistines, and, and that's what happens. He takes, over those places. Basically, it says, he defeats the Philistines, and subdues them.

Now, this is a big deal. If you've noticed, all the way through, 1st and 2nd Samuel, the Philistines come up, a lot. In the reign of King Saul, in the reign of King David, even before King Saul, the Philistines have been, a bitter rival, and enemy, to the Israelites.

Also, they have had, an amazing army as well. They were, they had a great thing, going on there. This was a, a people group, that came from, modern day Turkey, kind of the area, around, around Asia Minor, or at least what was later, called Asia Minor, now we call Turkey.

And they, actually immigrated, to that area, about two or three hundred years, before King David. So, so it wasn't, they weren't native, to that particular soil.

and, but they brought, such a, a major army, they were able to take over, quite a bit. And, and so that's, so the Philistines have, have quite a history, again with Israel, so much.

And also, there have been several places, where Israel has been able, to defeat the Philistines. We know David and Goliath. They, the Philistines were defeated, through David and Goliath. Even Samuel led, the Israelites to defeat, and subdue the Philistines, as well.

And of course, we know several places, where the Philistines, were able to overtake, the Israelites, the latest one, certainly being, at the end of first Samuel, when King Saul, and Jonathan, and, and his other sons, and many of the Israelites, died, at the hands, of the Philistines.

And so, there's a major history, at this point, but at this, at this time, it says they defeated, and they subdued them. And, and what it says, they took, is pretty major as well.

It says, Methag Amah. Now, that's a, a phrase, a lot of people don't, really know what that, necessarily means. I mean, you kind of, Hebrew scholars understand, that term to mean, the authority of, the mother city.

Now, mother city, a term that we use, if you know Superman, especially, metropolis. That means mother city, in Greek. And so, the authority of the metropolis.

And, and, but, we can have some help, thankfully, in 1 Chronicles, chapter 18, is a parallel passage, to this chapter, and it says, Gath.

Whew. So, we got some help. And hey, look at this, Methag Amah is not on this, this map, but Gath is. And so, Gath was really, the major city, of, of the Philistines, at the time, also the city closest, to the Israelites, and, and also the city, where a lot of the battles, the Philistines came up, against the Israelites, they were staged, right there in Gath, and the army came out, from Gath, to, to fight the Philistines.

Almost every single one, of them were that way. And Goliath, the great giant, was from Gath. He was, he was, a, a, a citizen of Gath.

So, a lot of history there. And also, some history with David too. David fled to Gath, several times. When Saul was going after him, he fled to Gath.

It was recorded in, 1 Samuel 21, and chapter 27, as well. So, not only did, did David have some history there, he kind of knew something about Gath, as well.

Interesting how God works, from time to time. Now they're able to actually take over, the city of Gath. And, and, so not only did they overcome, and overtake the Philistines, but they were able to drive, the Philistines back, and, and took part of their land, as well.

So, and that's the major part, was the city of Gath, and the villages, surrounding, Gath, as well. And so, that's, that's victory to the west.

And then, I'm going to go through these, relatively quickly, and then have some application, points afterwards. But victory to the east, in verse 2, it says, he defeated Moab, and then, and then of course, the Moabites, the Moabite army, he measured them with a line, and, I guess to make a long story short, he took, two thirds of the Moabite army, you know, this is after they, they had battle, of course, so, I'm sure some of the Moabites, died in the battle, because that's generally, what happens in battles.

And, two thirds of the Moabites left, were executed, and one third, were able to be spared, from that execution. And, of course, there's been a lot that's said, about this, how evil, of David for doing such a thing.

But, here's where the precedent, comes in. It was a common thing, to do that, kind of thing, especially with a bitter enemy. And, actually, the, the real common thing, to do, is just to completely, slaughter them, as well.

I mean, that, that would be, the total precedent. So, the fact is, that one third of them, were alive, at the end of it. That was, a relatively uncommon, but it, you know, not unheard of, nonetheless.

However, these were people, not only that, were conquered by David, but now, it says, at the end of verse two, and the Moabites, became servants, to David, and brought tribute.

And so, that's important, to understand too. One third of the, army was left. They are now, about as frightened, as can be, about David. David, conquered them. The Israelites, conquered them, and now, they are servants, to David.

And we're going to see, the word servants, quite a bit, in this passage, as well. So, that's one of those, servants to David. And then, and then, victory to the north.

This one is longer, than just a verse. Verses three, through twelve. And there's a lot, that happens here. And if you notice, the north of Jerusalem, on the map, you'll see, all the areas, in the lighter brown, up there, where it says, Aram, and also above that, in Hamath.

So, this is territory, controlled by, the people of Aram, the king of Aram, Zobah. But, as you notice, in this passage, the king of Aram, Zobah, becomes a vassal, to King David, of Israel.

So, so there's, a lot of places here. It says, that the king of Zobah, whose name is Hadadizer, basically what happens, is he goes up, to the river, Euphrates, and there's a lot of, he had some, he had some victories, up there, in the past, and he had lost, some territory.

He's going to go back, and he's going to stake, his claim for some reason. He felt like, he can do that. Maybe it's because of, some of the battles, that David was fighting, south, in the southern parts, like to the Moabites, and such.

But, it, that's hard to say. But you can, but definitely, they felt like, that he can go up, to the Euphrates River, and take that land. And while, he was going up, to the Euphrates, and he was going up north, David came to his kingdom, in the south, and he was able, to overtake it.

There's not as much, of an army there. He, he can overtake that. And of course, the army came down, from where they were doing battle, in the north. And of course, the, they just weren't quite ready, for that.

And it says, a great number, of, of these, of these things, were taken. 20,000 foot soldiers, 1,700 horsemen, chariots.

It says in 2nd, in 1st Chronicles 18, 1,000 chariots. And then, of course, David took a lot, of the chariot horses, and hamstrung them, basically cut the, the tendon, from the, the, the backside, of the, of the, of the leg there.

And, basically, that was just to, make it unable to, you know, be a horse for a chariot, be a horse for battle, and such. And then, he's able to keep, a hundred of those. And, that really is precedent, from Deuteronomy.

The book of Deuteronomy, basically says that, do not trust in chariots, do not trust in horses, trust in the Lord. And so, there is David, trusting in the Lord, at that point.

Very, very big deal, going on there. But, but also, he was able to, to overtake, all of these, people from the, from Zobah.

And then, on top of that, there is another group of people, if you notice Damascus, if you notice Zobah, is just a little north of Damascus. That's where David, and the Israelites, were fighting.

And those people, from Damascus, and Syria, that area around Damascus, they, they obviously, felt threatened, by that. I mean, you'd imagine, David, and the Israelites, would have had to go through them, in order to get to Zobah.

So, what a serious threat, they were. And so, they, they actually came, and joined in, in hoping to get in, into the battle, or at least, defend themselves, as well.

And it says there, in verse 5, that David struck down, 22,000 men, of the Syrians, as well. So, major, major defeats, going on, of enemies, and of people, that just, I guess, made themselves enemies, in, in this particular situation.

But, look at what it says, that David did. I mean, this is definitely, what would happen, with any, any group, not just, during this time, but even in, medieval periods, even, even today.

Garrisons are placed, armies are placed, within the, the regions, that they're overtaken, and then they become servants, and bring tribute, to the king.

So, there may be a king, still in place, in these territories, but that king, is a vassal to, the king that just, took him over. So, yes, this is becoming, not just a nation, but an empire, so to speak.

There's a bit of an empire, going on, at least a feel, of an empire, as well. So, a lot of victory, going on here. And then, if we get to verse 7, we see, tide turning a little bit, and not just, you know, still, really great stuff, but it's not talking about, men that are killed, and armies that are overtaken, but talking about, the riches, that are being brought, as well, because they're spoil, to be collected, from these battles.

So, David took shields of gold, and took bronze, there was much bronze, in these cities, as well, so, so that, and brought all these, to Jerusalem, to be kept there.

And so, this is something, that is now, belonging to Israel. Israel has, rightfully won, and rightfully claimed, these, these riches, from these lands, as well.

And then, interesting thing, that happens, kind of a smart guy, this toy king of Hamath, quite a, quite an intelligent person, if you kind of follow along, what's happening there, what he's doing, he's sending his son, to come to David, say, hey, you know, we wish you well, you're doing a great job, you know, you look, everything's looking great, you seem to be, you know, you seem to be, handling this war, pretty well, and, and we want to be your friend.

Now, what's going on? Well, let's see, I'll talk about, that Hadadizur, the king of Zobah, went north, to the Euphrates River, and, you know, if you notice, the Euphrates River, there in the, in the northeast corner, of that map, but also, it kind of goes up, even past the map, and if you notice, what nation, borders that river?

Hamath! They were coming up to Hamath, and fighting them, so toy king of Hamath, is being attacked, by, by the, the king of Aram, and now David, has overtaken, the king of Aram, wow, no longer, he doesn't have to deal, with the king of Aram anymore, or the king of Zobah anymore, so, what a deal, and so he's coming down, he's, he's, he's bringing some tribute, he's bringing some, articles of silver, gold, bronze, precious stones, and so there's all kinds of, wonderful things, that's happening there, and he's bringing that, to David, in order, to, to befriend him, and also in order, to just simply not be, you know, so David doesn't go up there, and, and attack them, like he did the others, of course, pretty smart thing to do, I would say, and so, so, lots of defeat, lots of riches, people that are coming in, to, to, to bring tribute to him, as well, in, in, in order to, keep a battle from going on, for their land, their people to stay alive, as well, so all kinds of things, are going on, all this is common, all this was something, that happened,

I mean, there's, I mean, in this, in this day and age, there were water rights, there were well rights, there were trade route rights, there were all kinds of things, that were being fought for, at this time, and, and some of that may have been, here too, there really aren't any reasons, that are described, in this passage of scripture, I mean, it's just, it's just, what's happened, necessarily, but this is really, what's going on, and if you notice, this map, on the western end, or the southwestern end, it says, brook of Egypt, well, that's the border of Egypt, right there, and so, that's a major trade route, and also, right above the Euphrates River, are the Assyrians, and they were, a major group, at this time, before, it's before they became, a major power, and Egypt was losing, their power, but nonetheless, both of them, were very rich still, and, received a lot of trade, a lot of buy, sell trade, and guess what's, in between, Assyria, and Egypt, well, Israel, and so, there was a lot of reason, to take this, this territory, and such, as well, something else, that I,

I failed to mention, at the beginning of this, there, it's also, a biblical precedent, for taking this territory, as well, Genesis chapter 15, God gave, a message to Abram, let's turn to that, passage of scripture, Genesis chapter 15, verse 18, the promised land, is more, than just, the territory, that Israel sits on today, and you know, and you'll notice, where it is here, in verse 18, it says, on that day, the Lord made a covenant, with Abram, saying, to your offspring, I give this land, from the river of Egypt, to the great river, the river Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephraim, the Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites, and other ites, and so, actually a couple others, that are added there, but anyway, he's given them, all this land, and the land, that is being given, is from the, great river of, or the river of Egypt, which would generally, be considered the Nile River, which is actually, off this map, to the Euphrates River, which is right there, on the north end, of this map, so this is, territory, that has been given, and actually, some maps that are drawn, and this is all, speculative I guess, but they would take, the entire Euphrates River, and make that, the eastern, and northern border, and they would take, the entire Nile River, and make it the western, and southern border, and so, you got this huge chunk, that's taken up, much of Saudi Arabia, and Iraq, and Syria, and half of Egypt,

I mean, there's a lot of chunk of land, that would be brought up, that would be considered, the promised land, I'm not sure, if that's necessarily true, it may be something smaller, similar to this, what's going on, but, but there is, even biblical precedence, for the Israelites, to take this land, as well, so, David's not just conquering, and, and, and going out there, and, and showing who's boss, and who's the, the, the big dog in town, right now, he's got biblical precedence, and, probably the best way, to look at this chapter, of scripture, is to look at it, as an extension, of what happened, in the book of Joshua, when, when the Israelites, led by Joshua, came into, Israel, crossing the Jordan River, and they were to, take over the territory, that God was to give them, the promised land, and, and this is, really in many ways, an extension of that, that David is just, continuing, that passage, and of course, Solomon, also continued that, as well, to some extent, in non-military ways, but, but, in more, you know, money ways,

I guess, give, you know, trading, and bartering, and that kind of thing, okay, so, victory in the east, victory in the west, the major victories, in the north, and then a victory, in the south, as well, and the kingdom of Edom, the Edomites, and if you notice, in verse 13, and 14, he made a name for himself, when he returned, from striking down, 18,000 Edomites, in the valley of salt, the valley of salt, is, is just another name, for Edom, it's kind of like, calling America Washington, you know, a lot of people call, Washington, you know, in the news, they'll call us Washington, you know, we're Washington, you know, because that's our capital, so the valley of salt, in many ways, that's just representative, of the Edomites, of the nation of Edom, and then he put garrisons, in Edom as well, and all throughout Edom, he put garrisons, and of course, Edomites became, David's servants, we've seen that already, so Edomites, are now David's servants, the Syrians, are David's servants, the Zobahite,

Aramite people, are David's servants, the Philistines, have been defeated, the Moabites, are David's servants, we'll find out, in a couple chapters, the Ammonites, are going to be, completely overtaken, by him, and this is, basically what happened, great victory, that the Lord has given, now, this chapter, also plays another role, as well, we'll see, starting in verse 15, it is a summary, of this entire, first half, of David's history, that is recorded, going all the way back, to the 15th chapter, of 1 Samuel, it's when, it's when Saul, was no, had proven himself, to no longer be worthy, to be king, and David, was anointed king, David fought Goliath, and then continued, on and on, it's, this is really, kind of a history of this, the rise, of the Davidic, kingdom, basically, the rise, of the Davidic family, is really, this is kind of a summary, of what is, what is happening here, so, here's God, bringing, this boy, this shepherd boy, that, was the youngest, of his family, was not, at least in comparison, to other people, like Saul, or his older brother, he was not, really impressive, and, and yet,

God brought this boy, from, a humble state, all the way, to being, one of the greatest kings, of this time, and, and so, it's a major, major feat, that's going on, and, and, and verses 15, through 18, is just simply, a, a testament, to that, what's going on, as well, because, this is something, that we all need, to understand, as well, especially, now that we are, we don't have a pastor, and we're looking, to, to bring in, at least, put together, a group, that will, be bringing in, a pastor, and such, and calling a pastor, is that, we need to be, coming together, as a team, to work together, and to, and to minister together, and to, to work together, and this is what, what David did, he, he, he didn't do it on his own, he brought in people, there were people, that were risen up, to bring, and, and to perform, particular responsibilities, and you see that, and some of these guys, are well known, have, have already been brought up, not necessarily, for the best of reasons, one of the guys, we see right there, in verse 16, is Joab, well Joab, he's the guy, that killed Abner, right, yeah, that's not good, but he was a, he was certainly brought up, as being a commander, over the army, and had earned that role, and, and there are others, that, that we will get to know, later on, some for positive reasons, some for not positive, at all reasons, very negative reasons, some of David's sons, that will, that will be, be known, he's, it says that David's sons, were priests, that basically means, they were princes, they were leaders, and, and, and brought up, in, as, as leaders, over the people, as well, and, and we, we know some of his sons, came, came across as not being, all that great as well, but there's a lot of good things, that are happening here, and a lot of wonderful things, that, if you just build on this, this would be like, the perfect time for Israel, this would be the perfect time, you can see that, that, why the Davidic Empire, really stuck around, and why the Davidic people, stuck around, but, something we need to understand, as well, it doesn't say, at the end of this, chapter, they all lived happily ever after, it doesn't say that, it continues on, and no, they did not live all happily ever after, and we're definitely going to find out, some shocking things that happen, and, and even when, the most godly men, like David, someone that was, very much considered, a man after God's own heart, would even fall into, great sin, and, and even some, some, some good, solid, strong people, who would also, fall into, great sin as well, and, and so there's, wonderful victory, and we need to celebrate, this victory, and this is a great, great thing to look at, and it's a, a great summary, and a great idea, of what happened, just,

God's testament, of bringing David, to power, what a great testimony, to the Lord's work, the Lord's greatness, I mean, we, we, we know the verse, in, in, in Romans, Romans 8, 28, and we know, that all things work together, for good, to those who love God, to those who are called, according to his purpose, and, I mean, I just look at David, he's, he brought, you know, Gath, you know, bringing, bringing up that, that city right there, you know, David had to run to Gath, when, when, when Saul was chasing him, Saul was wanting to kill him, he actually went to Gath, just to hide, I mean, these were people, the Philistines in Gath, hated David, I mean, David killed, their, greatest, warrior, that really ever came out of Gath, they hated David, and yet, David went to Gath, because he felt like, being in Gath would be better than, you know, being around Saul, and, and, and, and so, what a horribly low time for David, and yet,

God using that, and, and, you know, now Gath belongs to Israel, that's an amazing thing, and a, and a major testament, testimony to God's faithfulness, and, and, and God's purposes being brought out, and, and, what a, what a wonderful thing to see, as well, and, and also, something to remember, is as we go into next week, to, to chapter nine, of what happens, that is entirely unprecedented, that just doesn't happen, and, it really doesn't happen today either, but it's, it's just, it's something that is, is rare to see, and, the kindness that David gave, Thank you.