1 After this David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and David took Metheg-ammah out of the hand of the Philistines.
2 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.
3 David also defeated Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to restore his power at the river Euphrates. 4 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. 5 And when the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David struck down 22,000 men of the Syrians. 6 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. 7 And David took the shields of gold that were carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. 8 And from Betah and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, King David took very much bronze.
9 When Toi king of Hamath heard that David had defeated the whole army of Hadadezer, 10 Toi 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 at war with Toi. And Joram brought with him articles of silver, of gold, and of bronze. 11 These also King David dedicated to the Lord, together with the silver and gold that he dedicated from all the nations he subdued, 12 from Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, Amalek, and from the spoil of Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah.
13 And David made a name for himself when he returned from striking down 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. 14 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. – 2 Samuel 8:1-14 ESV
Chapter five ended with the words: “And David did as the Lord commanded him, and struck down the Philistines from Geba to Gezer” (2 Samuel 5:25 ESV). Chapter eight begins with the words: “After this David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and David took Metheg-ammah out of the hand of the Philistines” (2 Samuel 8:1 ESV). Many commentators believe that chapters six and seven are parenthetical and not chronological in nature. They deal with more religious-oriented aspects of David’s reign, while chapters five and eight deal with his military conquests.
Chapter six describes David’s efforts to bring the Ark of the Covenant into the city of Jerusalem. Chapter seven covers God’s giving of His covenant to David. Chapter seven opens with the words: “Now when the king lived in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies…” (2 Samuel 7:1 ESV). It is that second half of the sentence that leads most Old Testament scholars to believe the covenant was given to David later in his reign after he had ceased from war with the enemies of Israel. Therefore, like chapter six, chapter seven is out of chronological order. These two chapters were placed where they are in the story because they provide a spiritual context to David’s reign. They reveal his zeal for and dedication to the Lord, a key motivating force in his military efforts. They also shed light on the real source behind David’s military success: God. That point is made clear in chapter eight.
And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went. – 2 Samuel 8:15 ESV
Chapter eight picks up where chapter five left off. David, as God’s hand-picked king, was finishing what Joshua and the people of Israel should have done when they entered the Promised Land years earlier. God had given them very specific commands regarding their conquest and occupation of the land of Canaan.
“Moses my servant is dead. Therefore, the time has come for you to lead these people, the Israelites, across the Jordan River into the land I am giving them. I promise you what I promised Moses: ‘Wherever you set foot, you will be on land I have given you—from the Negev wilderness in the south to the Lebanon mountains in the north, from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, including all the land of the Hittites.’ No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you. – Joshua 1:2-5 NLT
God had told Moses what the people were to do when they entered the land He had promised to Abraham and his descendants, and Moses had passed the words of God on to the people.
“In those towns that the Lord your God is giving you as a special possession, destroy every living thing. You must completely destroy the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, just as the Lord your God has commanded you. This will prevent the people of the land from teaching you to imitate their detestable customs in the worship of their gods, which would cause you to sin deeply against the Lord your God.” – Deuteronomy 20:16-18 NLT
But the people of God had disobeyed and failed to purge the land of its inhabitants. They had been half-hearted in their efforts and allowed the majority of the nations that occupied the land of Canaan to remain. And, just as God had predicted, the people of the land ended up infecting the people of God with their idolatry, immorality, and “detestable customs.” This is what led to the period of the judges. In fact, the opening chapters of the book of Judges reveal exactly what had happened.
The Lord was with the people of Judah, and they took possession of the hill country. But they failed to drive out the people living in the plains, who had iron chariots. – Judges 1:19 ESV
The tribe of Benjamin, however, failed to drive out the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem. So to this day the Jebusites live in Jerusalem among the people of Benjamin. – Judges 1:21 ESV
The tribe of Manasseh failed to drive out the people living in Beth-shan, Taanach, Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo, and all their surrounding settlements… – Judges 1:27 ESV
The tribe of Ephraim failed to drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer, so the Canaanites continued to live there among them. – Judges 1:29 ESV
The tribe of Zebulun failed to drive out the residents of Kitron and Nahalol, so the Canaanites continued to live among them. – Judges 1:30 ESV
This pattern of repeated nonfeasance got so bad that God ended up sending an angel to deliver some extremely bad news:
“I brought you out of Egypt into this land that I swore to give your ancestors, and I said I would never break my covenant with you. For your part, you were not to make any covenants with the people living in this land; instead, you were to destroy their altars. But you disobeyed my command. Why did you do this? So now I declare that I will no longer drive out the people living in your land. They will be thorns in your sides, and their gods will be a constant temptation to you.” – Judges 2:1-3 NLT
Because they refused to do as He commanded, God removed His divine protection. By the time David became king, the situation had grown far worse. Without God’s divine assistance, the Israelites found themselves unable to “weed out” the thorns that surrounded them. These remnant nations proved to be a real threat to Israel’s future as a nation, not just physically but spiritually. Their armies constantly harassed the people of Israel but it was their false gods that did the greatest damage. Idolatry ended up being Israel’s Achilles heal.
So, as the king and commander-in-chief of Israel’s armies, David determined to finish what Joshua had begun. He was going to carry out God’s command and purge the land of these nations and their false gods.
David defeated the Philistines, Moabites, Syrians, Edomites, Amalekites, Ammonites, and the armies of Zobah. However, the author makes it clear that David’s military successes were not his own doing. God was giving David victories over his enemies. The very fact that David was forced to fight so many battles reflects just how unsuccessful the Israelites had been in their efforts to rid the land of its inhabitants. Their disobedience had allowed these nations to not only survive but to thrive. They had grown in numbers and strength and were no longer merely an irritant to the people of Israel, but a real threat to their existence. But David was doing everything in his power and with God’s help to subdue and destroy them.
To our modern, more enlightened sensibilities, the content of this chapter can be shocking, even appalling. God’s order for the complete annihilation of the inhabitants of the land of Canaan seems to portray Him as callous and blood-thirsty, with a seemingly capricious outlook on human life. How can the loving, creator-God call for the destruction of entire people groups, including men, women, and innocent children? This question has caused many to doubt the veracity of the Old Testament. It has led others to reject the very idea of God Himself. Richard Dawkins, a proudly professing atheist and staunch opponent of Christianity has described the God of the Bible as, “a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully” (Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion). He goes on to state, “The tragi-farce of God’s maniacal jealousy against alternative gods recurs continually through the Old Testament.”
For someone like Dawkins, the issue has less to do with the destruction of the people of Canaan, than it does with his desire for proof that the God of the Bible is the fanciful creation of man’s imagination. He simply uses the Old Testament record of God’s call for the destruction of the inhabitants of Canaan as proof that this so-called “God” of the Israelites, even if He did exist, would not be worth following. But he misses the whole point of the story and the true nature of mankind’s tragic situation.
The Bible makes it painfully clear that all men (women and children included) are sinners and stand before God as guilty and worthy of death. Their sins are not viewed as innocent mistakes or simply character flaws but as acts of open rebellion against a holy God. Humanity rejected the rule and reign of God, choosing the path of autonomy and self-rule. This anarchy had to be dealt with and, because God’s holiness consists of justice, He was obligated by His own nature to deal righteously with the sins of men. He could not simply overlook mankind’s rebellion because He recognized that sin, like an infectious disease, is contagious and capable of spreading from one person to another. Like cancer cells in the human body, sin metastasizes and spreads, destroying everything in its path. Sin is non-discriminatory and merciless.
God’s call for the destruction of the inhabitants of the land was based on His understanding of the true danger of indwelling sin. Left unchecked, the sinful dispositions of the unbelieving Canaanites would gradually infect and influence the people of God. According to the Old Testament record, that is exactly what happened. Over time, the people of Israel found themselves abandoning their set-apart status as God’s chosen people and blending in with the surrounding culture. They became just like the nations around them as the cancer of sin spread among them and destroyed their once-healthy relationship with God.
The same thing happens to believers today as we allow the sins of the world to contaminate our lives. Rather than doing radical surgery and removing the sin that so easily entangles us (Hebrews 12:1), we embrace it, welcoming it with open arms. We end up loving the world and the things of the world (1 John 12:15). We become friends with the world, failing to recognize that the world hates us and is out to destroy us (John 15:18-19).
The removal of the sinful influences in our lives is difficult and oftentimes painful. It may require us to abandon those longstanding relationships that are a negative influence on our lives and a threat to our spiritual health. As God’s chosen people, we are expected to live set-apart lives that clearly differentiate our status as His children. This demands that we pull away from those individuals whose influence in our lives is unhealthy and potentially destructive. This may sound radical and even unloving, but it is for our own good.
God doesn’t forbid our association with the world. He doesn’t expect us to live in seclusion, isolating ourselves from the surrounding culture. We are called to be salt and light, agents of influence and change in a sin-darkened world. But we must take sin seriously. We must never compromise our convictions or grow complacent about our calling. David knew just how dangerous sin could be, both externally and internally, and he was willing to do whatever it took to remove both. In Psalm 139, he offers a compelling and heartfelt prayer to God.
O God, if only you would destroy the wicked!
Get out of my life, you murderers!
They blaspheme you;
your enemies misuse your name.
O Lord, shouldn’t I hate those who hate you?
Shouldn’t I despise those who oppose you?
Yes, I hate them with total hatred,
for your enemies are my enemies.
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life. – Psalm 139:19-24 NLT
But as those living on this side of the cross, we must balance the words of David with those of Jesus. He came to offer a better way. He provided a new weapon in the war against sin: The gospel. That is why He could tell His followers that the key to conquering sin is love.
“But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you…Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.” – Luke 6:27-28, 35-36 NLT
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.