Wednesday, May 05, 2004
2 Samuel 10 - The foolishness of Hanun
The great war between Israel and Ammon and their Aramean mercenaries was occasioned by the great foolishness of Hanun, king of Ammon. What caused this folly? Fear. What did Hanun do? Launch a pre-emptive strike. What was the result? The humiliation of the enemy. How did Ammon’s enemy respond? With war: the very thing that the Ammonites had feared in the first place.
The United States has been acting with the foolishness of Hanun since the terrorist attacks of 2001.
Nahash, the king of Ammon died, and David sent envoys to convey his condolences to Hanun, the new king and Nahash's son. It was here that the evil slipped in:
2 Samuel 10:3 the princes of the Ammonites said to their lord Hanun, "Do you really think that David is honoring your father just because he has sent messengers with condolences to you? Has not David sent his envoys to you to search the city, to spy it out, and to overthrow it?"
I suppose, in the terms of the "national security state," that the suspicions were reasonable. A continuing theme throughout the biblical history is that policy that would, from a practical geo-political point of view, be considered reasonable is condemned as foolish or unfaithful. In this case, the foolishness is on the part of Hanun, and is simply reported without comment. I am adding the judgment on it.
The foolishness consists in this: not only does Hanun accept the suspicions of his advisors as fact, but he acts with an arrogant disregard for consequences. The story would be unbelievable, if it weren't for the fact that we are seeing it repeated almost daily.
2 Samuel 10:4 So Hanun seized David's envoys, shaved off half the beard of each, cut off their garments in the middle at their hips, and sent them away.
This was an act calculated to humiliate. The word "humiliation" is probably the word most frequently used by Palestinians to describe the actions of Israel in the occupied territories and by Iraqi civilians to describe the actions of the U.S. in their "liberated" but occupied country. What did Hanun think? That by humiliating the enemy he feared that that enemy would respond with reason and kindness?
NIV 2 Samuel 10:6 When the Ammonites realized that they had become a stench in David's nostrils, they hired twenty thousand Aramean foot soldiers from Beth Rehob and Zobah, as well as the king of Maacah with a thousand men, and also twelve thousand men from Tob.
Hanun and his advisors suddenly “realized” that their policy had backfired! Time to escalate. So they hired mercenaries. So far, the actual hostility was entirely one-sided -- only Ammon had acted, and its actions were entirely motivated by fear. But, predictably, Israel responded in kind, seeing that they were now faced with a genuine military threat. Ammon's fears were self-fulfilling:
2 Samuel 10:7 When David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the army with the warriors.
So the disastrous war began. This is the cycle of arrogance, fear, and escalation. It is too late to pray to God to deliver us from such foolishness. Perhaps we could still pray to be spared the consequences of it.
The United States has been acting with the foolishness of Hanun since the terrorist attacks of 2001.
Nahash, the king of Ammon died, and David sent envoys to convey his condolences to Hanun, the new king and Nahash's son. It was here that the evil slipped in:
2 Samuel 10:3 the princes of the Ammonites said to their lord Hanun, "Do you really think that David is honoring your father just because he has sent messengers with condolences to you? Has not David sent his envoys to you to search the city, to spy it out, and to overthrow it?"
I suppose, in the terms of the "national security state," that the suspicions were reasonable. A continuing theme throughout the biblical history is that policy that would, from a practical geo-political point of view, be considered reasonable is condemned as foolish or unfaithful. In this case, the foolishness is on the part of Hanun, and is simply reported without comment. I am adding the judgment on it.
The foolishness consists in this: not only does Hanun accept the suspicions of his advisors as fact, but he acts with an arrogant disregard for consequences. The story would be unbelievable, if it weren't for the fact that we are seeing it repeated almost daily.
2 Samuel 10:4 So Hanun seized David's envoys, shaved off half the beard of each, cut off their garments in the middle at their hips, and sent them away.
This was an act calculated to humiliate. The word "humiliation" is probably the word most frequently used by Palestinians to describe the actions of Israel in the occupied territories and by Iraqi civilians to describe the actions of the U.S. in their "liberated" but occupied country. What did Hanun think? That by humiliating the enemy he feared that that enemy would respond with reason and kindness?
NIV 2 Samuel 10:6 When the Ammonites realized that they had become a stench in David's nostrils, they hired twenty thousand Aramean foot soldiers from Beth Rehob and Zobah, as well as the king of Maacah with a thousand men, and also twelve thousand men from Tob.
Hanun and his advisors suddenly “realized” that their policy had backfired! Time to escalate. So they hired mercenaries. So far, the actual hostility was entirely one-sided -- only Ammon had acted, and its actions were entirely motivated by fear. But, predictably, Israel responded in kind, seeing that they were now faced with a genuine military threat. Ammon's fears were self-fulfilling:
2 Samuel 10:7 When David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the army with the warriors.
So the disastrous war began. This is the cycle of arrogance, fear, and escalation. It is too late to pray to God to deliver us from such foolishness. Perhaps we could still pray to be spared the consequences of it.
