LIFE LESSONS FROM 5 CHARACTER TRAITS OF JOAB
Intro:
When asked what we remember of Joab in the Bible, we’ll probably mention that he accomplished numerous military exploits and died tragically via execution on the orders of King Solomon. But Joab was much more than that. He had a multifaceted personality from which we can learn much.
As Israel’s second army commander, he served under King David and was a veritable man’s man: tough, courageous and resourceful. However, he was the exact opposite of David, who though imbued with these same qualities was emotional and depended on divine guidance while Joab was practical and rational.
Joab was David’s nephew, the son of his sister Zeruiah (1 Chronicles 2:13-16). He and his brothers, Abishai and Asahel, were career soldiers. Their family must have fled with David when King Saul was pursuing him because of Saul’s vengeful pattern of wiping out entire families and even villages of his perceived enemies (1 Samuel 22:17-19). We see that Abishai accompanied David into the cave where Saul was sleeping and urged him to kill the king on one occasion during Saul’s prolonged hunt for David (1 Samuel 26: 5-12).
But it was Joab who became the army chief after winning the challenge to defeat the Jebusite city of Jerusalem at the inception of David’s kingship, a feat he accomplished by burrowing into the heavily fortified city through a water shaft (2 Samuel 5:8, 1 Chronicles 11:4-6).
Joab had many admirable qualities but, like every human, he also had his weaknesses. As noted in the study about Rachel, Jacob’s wife, “the strengths and weaknesses … were (sometimes) intertwined. In other words, what started out as a strength turned into a weakness when not moderated.”
In this post, we shall examine five of Joab’s character traits to see how they manifested as strengths and weaknesses. My prayer is that the lessons we learn through this study will help us to reflect Christ better and serve God more. Do let me know how you were touched by the post and share it widely on social media to benefit others.
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(Related: 5 Lessons From The Life Of Rachel)
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5 CHARACTER TRAITS OF JOAB AND LESSONS THEREFROM
1. Joab was exceptionally brave: Joab was a fierce warrior. As Israel’s army commander, he helped to subdue most of their neighbours, like the Edomites (1 Kings 11:15-16) and the Ammonites (2 Samuel 11:1, 2 Samuel 12:26). In fact, you cannot talk of David’s military accomplishments without giving lots of credit to Joab, his No. 1 general (2 Samuel 8:1-16).
He was a great strategist and never shrunk from battle, no matter the dangers. An example is the battle against the Ammonites, who humiliated the messengers David sent to condole with their king on his father’s death and hired 33,000 mercenaries to boost their ranks against the inevitable Israeli attack that would follow.
2 Samuel 10:6 – 12
“6. When the Ammonites saw that they had become a stench to David, the Ammonites sent and hired the Syrians of Beth-rehob, and the Syrians of Zobah, 20,000 foot soldiers, and the king of Maacah with 1,000 men, and the men of Tob, 12,000 men.
“7. And when David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the host of the mighty men.
“8. And the Ammonites came out and drew up in battle array at the entrance of the gate, and the Syrians of Zobah and of Rehob and the men of Tob and Maacah were by themselves in the open country.
“9. When Joab saw that the battle was set against him both in front and in the rear, he chose some of the best men of Israel and arrayed them against the Syrians.
“10. The rest of his men he put in the charge of Abishai his brother, and he arrayed them against the Ammonites.
“11. And he said, ‘If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me, but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come and help you.
“12. ‘Be of good courage, and let us be courageous for our people, and for the cities of our God, and may the LORD do what seems good to him.'” (ESV)
The strategy worked and once the Syrian mercenaries fled before Joab, the Ammonites lost heart and Israel won the battle (verses 13 & 14). Although Joab got excellent results, I think they were more a result of King David’s spiritual consultations than the army chief’s calculations for David usually sought God’s leading before his wars (1 Samuel 23:1-5, 2 Samuel 5:17-25).
[bctt tweet=”Our bravery should not preclude seeking God’s help and guidance in fighting our battles.” username=”edithohaja1″]
Joab’s bravery won him the army leadership as shown in the Intro, but he was still supposed to obey the king, David, and this he didn’t always do. In the battle against Absalom who rose up against David, he killed the former against the king’s express instruction to be gentle with him and broke David’s heart (2 Samuel 18). It is good to be valiant and exercise authority but it’s also important to not overstep one’s bounds.
Besides, he and his brothers were always quick to resort to force, hence David’s lament that they were too hard for him (2 Samuel 3:39). As David explained to them, sometimes you should leave matters in God’s hands as he did with King Saul, who unjustly pursued him to kill him, rather than depend on your physical might to settle every issue (1 Samuel 26: 5-11, 2 Samuel 16:5-12).
2. He was bold and blunt: Joab was bold enough to speak his mind even when King David felt differently about the matter. When David wanted to massage his ego and ordered a census of Israel’s soldiers, Joab objected, and he was right because that census, unauthorised by God as it was, brought a plague on Israel (1 Chronicles 21:1-14). We should never be afraid to speak the truth, even to our superiors.
At one time, Joab summoned David to come and take a city or else ….
2 Samuel 12:27-29
“27. And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, I have fought against Rabbah, and have taken the city of waters.
“28. Now therefore gather the rest of the people together, and encamp against the city, and take it: lest I take the city, and it be called after my name.
“29. And David gathered all the people together, and went to Rabbah, and fought against it, and took it.”
The threat in the message above is not quite as dire as the one Joab made to David when he was weeping about Absalom’s death.
2 Samuel 19:2-7
“2. And the victory that day was turned into mourning unto all the people: for the people heard say that day how the king was grieved for his son.
“3. And the people gat them by stealth that day into the city, as people being ashamed steal away when they flee in battle.
“4. But the king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!
“5. And Joab came into the house to the king, and said, Thou hast shamed this day the faces of all thy servants, which this day have saved thy life, and the lives of thy sons and of thy daughters, and the lives of thy wives, and the lives of thy concubines;
“6. In that thou lovest thine enemies, and hatest thy friends. For thou hast declared this day, that thou regardest neither princes nor servants: for this day I perceive, that if Absalom had lived, and all we had died this day, then it had pleased thee well.
“7. Now therefore arise, go forth, and speak comfortably unto thy servants: for I swear by the Lord, if thou go not forth, there will not tarry one with thee this night: and that will be worse unto thee than all the evil that befell thee from thy youth until now.”
David knew that Joab was not one to make idle threats and quickly composed and presented himself publicly to his soldiers.
Understand that Joab was talking as the army commander while David was distraught as a bereaved father. David seemed to have forgotten that Absalom had just led a rebellion which uprooted him from his palace and made he and his followers fugitives. His father heart was hoping that Absalom would be saved but Joab, whose duty it was to restore David to the throne and secure the country under him, chose not to spare the rebel. Besides, his previous experience with Absalom must have made Joab to conclude he was ungrateful, entitled and dangerous even before his plot to unseat his father, as we shall see in the next number.
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(Related: Watch Those Fiends-The Lesson of Saul)
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Joab showed pragmatism in this instance but his words and actions lacked the sensitivity needed to soothe a heart like David’s. David could have endured banishment or imprisonment for his son, not death.
When we feel we are in the right, we should be kind enough to consider the feelings of those who think differently and not treat them brusquely, especially if we are their subordinates.
[bctt tweet=”Express your convictions with sensitivity. Do not crush those who think differently.” username=”edithohaja1″]
Joab, however, was not always hardhearted on the matter of David’s relationship with Absalom as the next point will show.
3. He was thoughtful sometimes: When Absalom had been in exile for several years after killing his half-brother, Amnon (who raped his sister, Tamar), Joab noticed that David was longing for Absalom. To facilitate the prince’s return, Joab arranged for a wise woman from Tekoa to come to the king disguised as a widow seeking royal intervention to spare her son who had killed his brother. David saw through the ruse and sent Joab to bring back Absalom. It must have been a tender scene, Joab thanking his king and uncle for the personal favour he’d granted him to forgive and recall his cousin, Prince Absalom (2 Samuel 13:37-39, 2 Samuel 14:1-23).
Unfortunately, Absalom was not satisfied with the terms of his recall- stay in your house, no access to the king. He sent for Joab to complain but Joab kept his distance. Absalom asked his servants to burn Joab’s farm in order to force his hand. Long story short, Joab did take him to see and reconcile with the king but must have felt angry enough to kill him then and wouldn’t pass up the opportunity when the prince caused an upheaval in Israel with his revolt (2 Samuel 14:23-24, 28-33).
Everyday, we encounter people like Absalom who are self-centred and pay back evil for good. We should not allow ourselves to harbour hatred for them in our hearts or we may displease God in our dealings with them.
Proverbs 25:21-22
“21. If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink:
“22. For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the Lord shall reward thee.”
Matthew 5:43-45
“43. Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
“44. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
“45. That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.”
[bctt tweet=”Being gracious may not be the macho thing to do but it’s the mature and Jesus thing to do.” username=”edithohaja1″]
Joab was also reasonable. One demonstration of this was when his troops were besieging Abel of Beth-maachah because another rebel against David, Sheba son of Bichri, had camped there with his followers. When a woman from the city reasoned with him, Joab accepted that if the man’s head be thrown over the wall, he will withdraw his troops and spare the city (2 Samuel 20:1-4, 7, 14-22). Some soldiers may not have been so understanding and could have razed the city down on the charge of harbouring an insurrectionist.
How well do we listen to others or do we disregard all, including rational suggestions, and do exactly what we like?
4. Joab was deeply loyal: He stood by David throughout his trials and gave full support to his kingship. He even helped David arrange for Uriah’s murder by Ammonite archers after David committed adultery with his wife, Bathsheba, and she became pregnant (2 Samuel 11:14-21).
[bctt tweet=”Loyalty is commendable but it shouldn’t translate to aiding and abetting crime.” username=”edithohaja1″]
Perhaps, because of all he had done and suffered for David, Joab felt immensely outraged when David began to consort with those who had allied with his enemies, Saul/Ishbosheth and Absalom, namely Abner and Amasa (2 Samuel 2:8, 17:25). Joab may have also felt he had paid enough dues to David and Israel to secure the army chief position for life. You can imagine his anger when David swore to replace him with Amasa, who was his nephew too, born to his sister Abigail (1 Chronicles 2:13-17, 2 Samuel 19:13). David seemed bent on rewarding treachery and punishing allegiance, but Joab would not allow it, so he killed the competition (2 Samuel 20:7-10).
No matter the position we occupy, we should put in our best but expect our reward from God. Our human bosses may be unfair but God does not owe any man. In struggling to retain what he thought was rightfully his, Joab ended up widening the rift between him and David.
Killing came easily to Joab but, as David rightly pointed out, you don’t unilaterally take life in peacetime to settle matters of war. Calculated killing in peacetime is murder and is punishable by the execution of the killer, the sentence that was eventually served on Joab (1 Kings 2:5, 29, 34).
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(Related: 7 Lessons In How Not To Live- The Story of Abner I)
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5. Joab was traditionally-minded: Traditions show customary ways of doing things handed down from one’s forebears. The trick is to discern where we should apply them knowing that situations vary and the world is dynamic. Israel had a rule for avenging blood which allowed relatives to retaliate against someone who kills their own. However, this rule did not cover killings done in war. Abner killed Asahel, Joab’s younger brother, at the battle of Gibeon. Joab insisted on avenging his blood by killing Abner when he came to help David regain the whole kingdom of Israel, part of which he had placed under the control of Ishbosheth, Saul’s son (2 Samuel 2:12, 17-23; 3:23, 26-30). He not only sinned by doing this, he dealt a blow to David’s yearning to ascend the throne he had been anointed to over 13 years earlier.
And when David was old, Joab’s traditional-mindedness got him into his last trouble. He assumed that succession to David’s throne will be by his sons’ seniority as is customary even in this age. With the death of Absalom, Adonijah seemed to be the heir apparent, having been born next to Absalom. Joab gave him his support without clearing with David or making any spiritual consultation only to hear that David had installed Solomon. The son of the woman he had married after committing adultery with her! In the eyes of man that was abominable but it wasn’t just David who chose Solomon. When he was born, God called him Jedidiah because He loved him and declared that he would succeed his father (2 Samuel 12:24 & 25, 1 Chronicles 22:7-10).
Don’t magnify your traditions unconditionally or be unduly bound by them.
[bctt tweet=”The word of God takes precedence over all traditions of men.” username=”edithohaja1″]
Conclusion:
Joab was a great man by worldly accounts. He had a distinguished military career but his lack of a close personal relationship with God made him to underestimate the grievous consequences of some of his missteps. No matter how powerful, gifted or accomplished we are, we still need to cling to God for His grace and guidance. He alone can empower us to overcome the temptations that attempt to destroy us and only He can make our lives fulfilled and truly glorious.
Clinging to God starts by surrendering one’s life to Jesus. And you can do that now by simply confessing your sins and asking Him to be your Lord and Saviour. May God bless you richly as you do so in Jesus’ name.
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The scriptures used in this post are from the King James Version of the Holy Bible except where otherwise stated.
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English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® 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.
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Beautiful reflection on a great day like this one. Wish our politicians can read and reflect on this post, as they march into the government house for their swearing-in today…. We all need to look up to God and have confidence in His providence. Always!
Thank you, Aunty Edith, for yet another advice. Continued prayers from here.
Thank you too, Victor! Should I say Happy Democracy Day or Inauguration Day? Bless you!
Joab was a great warrior who considers the interest of those he was fighting for.
He was thoughtful, brave, loyal and blunt.
I pray that our leaders can go through this post and understand what it takes to become a leader.
Happy Democracy Day ma.
Happy Democracy Day, my dear!
Truly amazing ma. Up till today I didn’t know about a man called joab, I feel so enriched after learning him and I feel like I should study the Bible for it’s juicy and enriching power, and I will
In every move we take we should not forget to seek God face and know his decision and will for us pertaining to that particular thing as was seen in the life of David and good deeds we do we should always be expectant concerning what we will be rewarded with but do what we can do excellently because it is God that will reward the fruit of our labour as can be seen in the story
This post calls us to leave matters to God, even when we feel we’re smart, brave or strong enough. We should always rely on God to give us directions.
It also calls us to correct wrongdoings with love, to avoid hurting peoples’ feelings as is the case with David and Absalom.
I have never gone so deep in getting a clear understanding of the characters in the Bible. Most of us have been blinded by the little talents, gifts we have. Greatly has our attention moved away from God, thinking it all ends with the hail we get from the crowd.
May the grace of God not depart from us. Amen. Thanks Dr. For the wake up write up.
Nice prayer and may you accomplish much in life in Jesus’ name.
Truly, a personal relationship with God is needed no matter the height we have achieved. Some great men have fallen because they lack a close relationship with God. Joab indeed had great qualities as a man. This a great piece, ma.
May God help us to draw closer to Him everyday in Jesus’ name.
So much to learn….
Sensitivity is very important in dealing with others. Sometimes we may be right in our convictions but the manner we express it might hurt other people… It doesn’t mean we are cowards but it shows we consider other people’s feelings.
Also, sometimes we should allow God take care of certain issues even when we feel we’ve got all it takes to handle the situation.
Sometimes we need to act like we are fools to those who hurt or suppress us and allow God to,surprise them….
God bless you for this wonderful piece..
Happy Democracy Day.. I hope this NEXT LEVEL will be a better one for us all.
Well said, Happiness! God bless you!
Joab is a biblical example of the youths today. Maybe not just youths. So many people think that their successes and perfection is a ticket to live without God.
God is the ultimate. He should be involved in our everyday life, even when we feel we have got it all.
Have a wonderful day ma.
Good advice. More grace to you in all you do in Jesus’ name.
Just like Iceprince will say, “…love and loyalty is the powerpower carry us on…”. Joab loved his service as a military commander without ignoring his sense of loyalty. His life was almost perfect. I earnestly pray our leaders to love the opportunity given to them by the masses and also remain loyal to the masses who are the rightful stakeholders of the state. Happy Inauguration Day to you ma.
I sincerely pray that people can find joy today. Many are morose because Buhari has been sworn in for a second term. My advice is to let God show His might when and how He chooses. Meanwhile, we should remember that the joy of the Lord is our strength.
Joab is a man worth emulating for his bravery and courage. This is what makes a man. This should be the attitude of workers in various organizations. Thank you, ma, for this wonderful advice.
Well, courage and strength of character is needed by both men and women and irrespective of where we work. Abundant blessings to you in Jesus’ name.
Nice write-up Ma!
We all are pencils in the hands of our creator and there is nothing we can do or be successful in without his approval. I learnt that a life without God’s direction, not minding one’s academic, financial, political and professional accomplishment is not worth living.
True, because we may be successful in the eyes of the world without Him but the complications that our sinful nature and lack of coverage from Him will bring will be too much. Bless you!
Boldness as one of the qualities of Job is worthy of emulation among Christians. Many Christians are not bold enough to express their thoughts, even when they are right.
Hence, we (Christians) have to learn from Job’s character, who was able to speak his mind before King David, even when he (David) was not in support of his ideas.
I learnt a lot from this post.
God bless you MA.
Just like my class mate said (in person of ugwoke victor )it is indeed a great reflection on a beautiful day like this,and hopefully our leaders will emulate good virtues just like other leaders of great nations as they march into their various political positions and place God first and that of the interests of the people that they govern for a better Nigeria!
Amen. May we see a better Nigeria soon, a Nigeria that works and is truly for all of us in Jesus’ name.
Great skills and strategic planning, when met with God’s guidance boost and make best results. Joab was a great strategist but he lacked a good working relationship with God just like the case of most leaders in our nation.
As our leaders are being inaugurated today, I pray for God’s guidance in their lives and a good governance. May they not just do things on their own accord. And may God help us all to always make good decisions and productive results. Do have a wonderful day!
Amen and amen to your wonderful prayer, Ezekwesiri. I just remembered this your given name and on this day that our nation’s newly-elected leaders are inaugurated, I pray that God opens doors of headship and leadership to you wherever you are and that you be remarked for amazing accomplishments in Jesus’ name.
This goes to tell you how incomplete and imperfect man can be. It is good to be bold, brave and pragmatic but not to consistently rely on our rational thoughts. Though David had his own flaws, but if I may say, I will say that David will always succeed more than Joab cos the spiritual of course controls the physical. A spiritual man is naturally ahead of a physical man. No matter how much we are physically endowed, we are still in much need of God’s wisdom and direction. Thank you ma, for the lessons learnt.
You are lifted, Chilotam! I like the expression, “A spiritual man is always ahead of a physical man.”
No matter what we are, no matter how brave, intelligent ,no matter how strategic we are with life, we are just the empty vessels that make noise if God is not there in our life to direct our steps. Even the normal laws and rules of life cannot help us or save us all the time, but with God we can maneuver every obstacle at every given time, that is something Joab failed to understand.
Again, another lesson to be learnt from the character trait of Joab is that No matter the position we occupy, no matter the post we hold, we should put in work, and don’t expect to be rewarded by man, but by God. Even when our employers don’t pay us the agreed wage for the job we do for them, we shouldn’t put our mind on that, we should put our trust in God, because Joab failed to know this and it worsen the relationship he had with David.
The arms of the flesh can fail but total dependence on the power of God is the ultimate.A spiritual man works and walks with God. David was the man after God’s own heart because he believed in the power of God and depended on it wholly. Joab on the other hand trusted on his strength.
What are we without the grace and power of God? Absolutely nothing.
Happy Inuagration day!
God bless you ma.
The word of God says ‘cut out from me and you can do nothing.’ For us to achieve greater result and be successful we must seek God’s guidance and wisdom. The story of Joab is for everyone especially, leaders and those aspiring to be leaders to learn from his weaknesses for adjustment. I pray that God will grant our leaders the grace to carryout their leadership duties efficiently. Thanks ma for sharing this life lessons. Happy democracy day!
Even the best of us cannot be free from weaknesses. We need to consult God at every point in our life and may God help us to continually overcome our weakness.
Happy democracy day mam.
I must say that this post is wow. Thumbs up to you ma. That said, I must say that it takes a lot working in a public office,so much so that one needs the wisdom that can only come from God.
Still baffles me how David could be that “bad” but still had God’s “right ear”. God and his ways though.
My take-home is on the part where one isn’t meant to rely on prowess, abilities or wisdom alone. I would rather follow and have God lead. That’s the best pick for me if one wants to get it right in this convoluted world.
God’s ways and thoughts are different from ours,that means whatever we want to do in life let’s put God first by seeking Him in all decisions of our lives.Joab’s loyalty is really recommendable for our society where material things is the drive of leaders.
I am actually happy reading this, because you made me understand a lot about the life of joab you could be brave, bold, blunt, thoughtful and loyal ,however no matter how powerful and wise,we still need to cling to God and ask for his grace in our lives.
Joab lacked one crucial component: God’s Spirit. The great skills, gifts and responsibilities he possessed convinced him that he was smart enough to direct his own life whereas, he wasn’t. This teaches us that we should always look up to God for His guidance and protection both in good and bad times.
Haven,t really noticed this character in the bible and yet he has all this quality. Loyalty, that word cant be over rated. In all things put God first. Wish all this qualities will reflect in my life.
“If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink” this alone has taught me alot. May god reward you ma.
To be carnally minded is death. Joab depended on the flesh more than God. Possessing all the skills and necessary things that can elicit success is important but holding and sticking to God is much more important than your skills. Grace can take you beyond the limitation of your skills and abilities.
“No matter the position we occupy, we should put in our best but expect our reward from God.” This quote has taught me a lot in moving forward. God bless you ma.
God is the greatest.no matter who you are or what you do ,God is the source of all achievements.Joab had all these qualities,yet he lacked a good relationship with God, which led to his doom.we ought to have a good relationship with God no matter where we are or what we think we have achieved because he’s the source of them all .
Joab is really a man worthy of emulation.
He sees his self as a servant and not just as a leader, by considering the interest of those he was fighting for….. If our politicians can emulate this, our country will be on a better shape….. Thanks Aunty Edith. May God continue to use you in influencing our generation.
You did such a great job of putting this all together about Joab.
I’m going to save this one under Bible study resources.
Blessings
Glad to hear from you, Helen Lynn! I appreciate and pray great grace on your ministry in Jesus’ name.
How I wish half of Nigeria will emulate Joab lifestyles base on his courageous act,we will be able to defend our self especially from external agression,but we have to invite God first so that he will lead us through with that wisdom for us to achieve our goal,the critical reflection of this write up enjoins us to seek God in other to carry out our work effectively,thanks for this.
What a wonderfully constructed post, Joab is a man worthy of emulation. He didn’t even see the dangers as a means to not fight rather he went further to battle. He was a very courageous man. I think our politicians need to emulate him so we can move forward in this country.
We should always be humble and loyal as seen in Joab action as he supported David all through and also carried all the task he was commanded to do but most importantly we should not carry out evil plans or instructions because we are told to do so
Thanks very much MA for this wonderful post, I really appreciate his courage to always strive for what is right, can you imagine he didn’t fear while speaking in front of a king, he spoke his mind. How many of our politicians can do what he did, not even talk of speaking ur mind infront of the current administration. I love his courage and I summon all of us to emulate him. God bless.
Adding all the braveness and strength Joab has, all was not enough because they lack such a supreme substance backup.
I pray that God should give us the grace to know him and realize that all power emanate from supreme source.
Let the weak say I am strong in Him and let the strong say I am weak Him,
Thus, all necessary ingredients to succeed life shall be added unto us.
Joab is great and expectional warriors, a true ideal warrior to be emulate by Nigerian soldiers, very courageous man who fight for his country and for the king, loyal to the king. But despite all these qualities, he was lacking one essential attributes or quality which is fear of God. He is the way, the truth and the life
“If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink” this alone has taught me alot. May God reward you ma.
The first thing I learnt here is something that has always been resounding In my heart. “trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding,in all your ways acknowledge him” according to the study about Joab. He was very Bold and fierce yet he didn’t want God to lead him. He wanted to depend on his own hands but that’s wrong. We can’t do anything at all without God, ’cause without him, we are nothing.
Another thing to learn was that Joab was dutiful and diligent in his work. He was very loyal to David his king. In everything we do loyalty is the key. Be loyal to everyone over you and your immediate friends and never you be afraid to speak the truth at all times…….
This study is soul-lifting. Thank you, ma!
Joab is a great man worthy of emulation,if Nigerians,should take his lifestyle,it will yield a better result especially his aspect of being brave.Nice write up ma
Despite the sad ending of Joab he was meant to make heaven proud with his strength, but along the line pride encroached in his life and he disobeyed the Kings order in different occasions, and also thought he can do it on his own, but the bible says that God opposes the proud and lifts the humble, this is the practical case of Joab.
The egoistic nature of man has made us see no reason in aligning to God’s leading. We feel we know and what we know would save us. Without God’s leading, we feel we are on the just part, but would only lead to our destruction If we don’t hide under Him. The lessons you pointed out are great virtues to emulate in leadership especially and life in general. Thank you.
Wow, this man was really a great man. But unfortunately most of the great men end up in a miserable way, unless for the Divine Grace in the life of the person. He was really a man of his words and mean every bit of thing he says.
At least I learnt a lot from him. Thank you very much Aunty Edith for taking such a serious time to dig deep into his life. I only knew little about his valuorous act before.
I believe that without God’s grace in our lives whatever we do or achieve in life is practically useless because what is the point of having achieved all worldly things and attributes but we lack the fear of the Lord in our lives. Joab was a great man and had all the good attributes but he didn’t have a close relationship with God. God is our first and topmost priority in life because without him we wouldn’t be here today but people should also emulate the traits that joab had
I love how you put this post, wonderfully constructed, True when asked about Joab first thing that comes to our mind is his military exploits and tragic death, it takes deeper understanding to see him from a broader perspective
Joab’s story is a story of power politics, intrigue, misguided loyalties, jealousy, and stubbornness; Joab’s time is a time where survival is not guaranteed by a strong central administration and a comprehensive retirement plan. Strong people survive; weak people quickly seem to fade away. It is during Joab’s tenure as David’s strongman and caretaker that Israel truly becomes a nation. Great story.
This post is truly worth sharing. Getting to know some bible characters from your blog is a great experience. God bless you Abundantly
Thank you but tell me more about what you gathered from the post. Bless you!
I always take the stand that the spiritual controls the physical, and it is only through God, in God and with God that all man can survive and achieve his various propositions. Therefore, my take-home on this post is that, no matter talented and accomplished we are, we still need to cling to God, since He is always the author and finisher of our being.
I think every leader should read this. Joab was a leader in his own way. Our physical strength given to us by God shouldn’t blind us from the fact that it is all the Lords doing. A personal relationship with God is very everything. Thank you ma for this wonderful piece. I never really focus on Joab when reading about David.
I thank God for the privilege to be where I am today, where I am today might not be where I am supposed be, but God had permitted me the grace and opportunity to know you at this stage of my life…Dr. Ms Edith Ohaja.
Thank you ma’am.
“Life Lessons from 5 characters of Joab” is one of the best I have read on this page.
Truly Joab was a man filled and gifted with lots of unquestionable and rare qualities, but conclusively he lacked one thing; “Acknowledging God”.
His relationship with the owner and supplier of his talents was not strong, he felt that his gifts could do all for him even in his good tendencies, just as many of us think about ourselves toady, our beauty, height, family status, intelligence, position, and lots of it will always save us without knowing that a mighty life without Christ crashes in a twinkle of an ?.
I am deeply touched by this episode and my utmost request is that God continually keep my relationship with Him steadfast never letting me go astray for a moment.
Thank you ma’am and may God’s hands be there for you always. There are a whole lot learnable things in your writings especially this episode.
Number 5 is actually not a lesson to learn from him, since he didn’t know where and when to apply it. Am amazed at his loyalty to the king even to a fault. Am thinking if Christians in general can channel such passion, commitment and loyalty to Gods service, there would be a positive change, not just in christiandom but in the society at large. Thank you ma for this piece.
My dear, when we learn lessons from people’s lives, we learn from their strengths and weaknesses, their commissions and omissions. Understand? Cheers!
I have never considered this other part of this great man,but ma,you have open my mind to see that no man can utterly be considered bad.
I love this because I have seen that not traditions alone,God can decide to do things his own way not minding protocols
You see most times times we take things for granted.
I still feel that the over familiarity between David and his newphen caused the usual disobedience by Joab.
Most times, we rely on earthly bravery over honour and obedience, the end would be sour
I believe that our success can only be successful with God. In all we are doing to count him first should be our aim.
Without God, we are nothing despite our status…. It will be worthless if we achieve worldly things and lose heaven …thank you ma for using this story as an eye opener to where we are heading to.
Thank God for been God, in life we learn every day, even with all the lessons we have learnt we still misbehave ,i learnt that we should always put God first in all that we do no matter your position or condition and when doing so remember that he is the beginning and the end. don’t use your position or your strength as an advantage over others
In everything we do, we should never forget the place of God in our lives. He brought us to this world to do his will while living our lives; therefore whatever we do, we should always put him at the centre of our decisions.
Many people when they acquire so much skills forget God and think they can survive all alone.
The story of Joab is a great eye opener for us and a lesson to everyone.
As students, reading from morning till night and even till day break is wonderful and can get us good grades, but without God, things can go wrong at any time. Most people who depend on just what they have read end up getting dissapointed most times, Some may read and read and read but may end up going blank in the exam hall, some may not be able to understand the questions, thereby writing several pages of nonsense thinking they’ve done well. To others, their scripts may go missing or the recorder may make mistakes while recording the grades. All these are what prayers and God can prevent. So it is not just enough to read, God should not be forgotten.
Thank God for been God, in life we learn every day, even with all the lessons we have learnt we still misbehave ,i learnt that we should always put God first in all that we do no matter your position or condition and when doing so remember that he is the beginning and the end. don’t use your position or your strength as an advantage over others.
One thing I’m talking from this post is that no matter how loyal and obedient we are to our superiors, it should never make us to aid them in doing evil. We should always see God as the most superior and as such, should never offend him by doing evil. Like the Bible says, fear not he who can kill only the body but fear he who can kill both the body and soul. Joab was too loyal to David that he aided him in committing evil including facilitating the death of Uriah after David committed adultery with his wife. Such loyalties are not healthy and should be avoided.
The summary of all these is this, where ever we find ourselves, we should always put in our best and except our rewards from the Lord alone. Always have the interest of people at heart in leadership. With God, we can achieve all but without Him, we tend to go out of track.
God factor is immensely relevant. He graces all things and without Him things go sour. Our relationship with God should not be taken for granted. Don’t always feel you can do it on your own. This is one mistake people make. When you involve God he makes everything beautiful and glorious
Joab was a man who leaned on his own understanding, his own skills. As humans we have inbuilt skills that makes us stand out Joab for instance was skillful in fighting wars but if we lack the right backing we may not end up glorious than we started. If we commit our lives to God and work in line with his direction, he will guide us and order our step just like the way he did to David. I am inspired to draw closer to God and seek for his direction. God bless you Ma.
Joab was a man of many qualities, many good qualities but his flaw was that he could not see the source of his skills, that is he did not have a good relationship with God, nevertheless Joab is a man worth emulating especially the aspect of TRUTH.
I have learned so many lessons from this post Ma, I really believe in this, leave matters in God’s hands rather than depending on your physical might to settle every issue because you can never fight any battle in your own, God must intervene before you succeed.
Joab as seen, has a lot of enviable characteristics of a good leader but then, without one being guided by God admist all this characteristics he is prone to make terrible mistakes just as Joab did. I pray God helps us use those gifts He gave us properly .
Joab was so loyal to king David on every area of practice.this made David appoint him as the chief of the soldiers. Joab dedicated much of his strength to uphold the integrity of isreal in aspect of war.. He fought for the sole interest of isreal.. But the Flaw I trace from joab which militates his failure as a great man was “He even helped David arrange for Uriah’s murder by Ammonite archers” in these aspect he was too loyal to sin.. He never said no to his earthly king services, disregarding the law of God. he actually aid murder. In present time we should not be bent on supporting evil we should not please any human by annoying God.
God’s ways and thoughts are different from ours,that means we should seek Him before making decisions because he sees the end from the beginning and his ways are perfect.
Joab was a man of exploits. He however did not acknowledge God, the source of his greatness which led his downfall. This teaches us to avoid being carried away by our accomplishments but to acknowledge God all the time.
Aunty you are really doing a great job bringing to us lessons from lives of personalities in the Bible, persons we probably have condemned and kept aside as we think there’s nothing to learn from them. If there are things I have learnt from this post, the first is that every action of men and women in the Bible no matter how insignificant is meant to teach and enlighten us, hence, we are called to do away with the act of out-rightly dismissing people’s actions in the scripture and in our society today as there are lessons to learn from them. I really love the fact that Joab was bold enough to tell David his mind anytime he deems fit, contrary to the fear exercised by most of us in this era
I never knew that Joab had all these wonderful attributes, my notion about this young man had always been he was a warrior, a brave one, that’s all. I must confess I have more knowledge about Joab now.. it is obvious that Joab failed to recognize his maker, God. Thus, I must say that in life when a purpose is not known, abuse is inevitable…
Still baffles me how David could be that “bad” but still had God’s “right ear”. God and his ways though. My take-home is on the part where one isn’t meant to rely on prowess, abilities or wisdom alone. I would rather follow and have God lead. That’s the best pick for me if one wants to get it right in this convoluted world
What an inspiring expository message from you Dr. Edith Ohaja. So no matter how I love God, I need to be in a personal relationship with him in other for my joy to be complete. Also, I will like to say that personal relationship with God demands being in a covenant with him. God is a respect of no man, but God respect covenant. Thus, to have exclusive relationship with God, have a covenant with Him. A perfect biblical example is Abraham.
This will always serve as a reminder to us and no matter how strong and prosperous you are, you still need God’s grace in order to keep going higher just like David did because one with God is with majority.
We saw how Joan was a loyal,bold,courageous, brave and thoughtful person. As Christians we should see these characters as guiding principles in our life’s so as to handle and deal with challenges threatening us.
What a reflectional write- up and the big question is ” what are we known for”? Sometimes I ask myself if am being just or fair to myself? If people are to describe me what do I think will be there reply? And this keep me pushing because it made me adjust my ways bearing in mind that my life style influence people around but positively and negatively.
What an inspiring expository message! This clarion call for us to be in a relationship with God no matter the field of life we are. Joab was exceptionally brave: Joab was a fierce warrior, great strategist, bold and blunt, etc. But he was find wanting in relating with God. This is to say we can’t succeed in life without the God factor in our life. God bless you, Ma, for this reminder.
Joab is really a great man, especially, characterized by his brave and courageous nature and hence, worthy to be emulated by everyone that seeks to achieve great things. He is also bold, to the extent of standing in front of David his “Lord” (King) to address, disagree and stand on what he deem fits right. Such attitude is needed in our lives, in order for us to attain substantial height in life, so we have to take some rational bold acts too. Basically, though he had his “error side”, but his good and great trait is worth noting and emulating.
There’s no doubt that Joab was a hardcore choleric which on its part isn’t a bad thing. However in my one opinion I think we can learn a lot from this man of valor. We could pick a thing or two from his flaws as well as his strength. Loyalty, regard for our customs, strategic planning and control are least I can mention here.
However in all things moderation, humility and lastly trust in God’s guidance are needed so that we don’t let our flaws ruin us.
A lot of lessons can be derived from the life of Joab.
First, we must not beclouded with our physical strength because doing that is a step to falling.
Second, over familiarity bring contempt. Joab felt he knows it all because of his long working relationship with David to start taking laws into his hands . It’s wrong
Thirdly, there are principles to be followed in every situation of life.. the law is a respecter of nobody inrespective of your status, gender etc.
Also, after going through the post once again, I discovered that Joab took vengers into his hands, it is not proper. We are not meant to revenge rather vengers belongs to God alone .
Am bless ma. God bless you …
Great lessons from Joab indeed. In life no matter our success and possessions, never should we disdain God; this is because he owns the world and every thing therein (even the physical power of human being as that of Joab), so In everything we do, credence to God should be our utmost priority. He is the key to Every true successes. Thanks ma for this guiding post. Remain blessed!!;
How I wish our so called leaders of this country can emulate Joab. How I wish they can be brave, thoughtful and most especially be loyal to Nigerians. How I wish they can serve Nigerians with all their heart. How I wish. Thank you ma for this post.
Ahswear. But its well
But even with some bad decisions of Joab, David still needed somebody like Joab in his kingship. If he had not killed Absalom, despite King David ‘s instructions and fatherly love not to kill David’s son, something different might have emanated from Absalom being spared. Although Joab is very blunt in his decisions,
but that is the more reason he was paired with king David because in kingship at times, Blunt decisions are what’s needed to move the kingship to the next level
There is a saying that if God does not watch the city, the watchman watches in vain. This is to tell you that God is indispensable in our life. If we depend on our ability we can not achieve it in life. In all we do, we should first of all call on God to take control, put God in first and work hard and everything will work out well for us but if we depend only in our ability we are bound to falter. That is what Joab failed to understand and the outcome was bloody. Thank you, Ma, for this inspiring writeup. God bless you.
The Bible admonishes us to get wisdom in all we get.by this ,the Bible does not talk of wisdom in ordinary matters alone but also divine wisdom. I see divine wisdom as divine knowledge which in my thought sueprcedes every other knowledge. Divine wisdom or knowledge can only be attained through a positive relationship with God the creator. Anyone who maintains a positive relationship with God will at all time consider God in all his or her doings and not depend totally on his personal ability as can be seen in the case of Joab. The incompleteness of joab lies in his poor relationship with God. Hence, as Christians, we are admonished to put God first. Seek his face in all our dealing and that’s the only way.We should also seek reward from God and not from man as Godly reward is eternal.
What an inspiring post. It depifts the true qualities of a leader, qualities that have been sadly forgotten. I hope that not only our leaders should be able to take up these qualities, but the citizens because a great nation can not just fall from the sky, it has to grow from within the people.
“…but expect our reward from God.” Indeed all good things comes from God. If only He will reward me with heaven, as I have always desired, I will be satisfied.
Joab was a great warrior and leader, who was thoughtful, brave, loyal and blunt.i just wish that most of our leaders would have Joab’s quality and do this country right God help Nigeria
Joab was a brave soldier. He fought for King David regardless and he was loyal to him. His strength and courage should be emulated but also we should seek God more in whatever battle.
Joab is a perfect example of how leaving your life without the guidance of God can lead even the strongest of them all to their grave. That is why even if in life it seems u have everything it still always good to pray and do things in favor of God
I have never studied the characters of the bible this deeply. People should read this post and understand the characters very well. They should also know that you do not judge a book by its covers. Youths should emulate Joab in terms of his boldness and outspoken manner. But we should also know that too much of everything is not good like in the case of Joab. He was too bold and outspoken and this made him defy the king most times, it also made him threaten the king on some occasion. Most times our strenght can be our weaknesses if we are not careful and do not control ourselves.
The basis of all actions must be rooted in God because outside God we are sincerely nothing. Assignments we carry out everyday must be done engaging our Creator because, if the Lord does not watch over the city, those who watch do so in vain and if he does not build the city, those who build, build in vain. Therefore, if He is not engaged in our daily activities, those who act, act in vain. Cut out from Him we shall do nothing.
We are humans and have weaknesses and those weaknesses can be moderated by engaging God. Bearing in mind that virtue lies in the middle. St Augustine.
This piece is truly appreciated as it has made me recognize that I have weaknesses and can go beyond them by engaging God. Ma, I am grateful.
Joab is a good example for everyone to emulate. His good character are worth emulating even though he had bad character.his good character will help us in our day to day life. Nice write up ma.
Yes we should be loyal to our masters but does not mean we should put our hands in fire when they do so. Joab’s characters are worth emulating, we should always speak our minds no matter what. If not for anything for the peace of the mind.
One of the traits of joab I admire the most is his boldness, speaking your mind is not always easy thing but very necessary because it will help to stop something you don’t like being done to you,also he’s of loyalty, something hardly seen these days.
Lessons I have learnt is that being brave, bold, blunt and courageous are good qualities but without God we might end up overdoing them and being insensitive to others around us and to what God really wants. God bless you ma for sharing!
God is the ultimate. No matter how strong and powerful one becomes, there is still need for a personal relationship with God. Joab was a real fighter but he lacked the God figure in his life.
Truth be told, I’ve never viewed Joab from this point of view. A very thoughtful message contained in here. His tragic end beclouded his good traits in my eye. Thanks for this piece Ma’am.
Joab had wonderful qualities that every average man would yearn for like being bold, brave, thoughtful, loyal. i for myself admire the part of him being bold and brave because i need it in my life, but joab had some traits which we should not emulate because it could endanger our lives in the future.
Indeed virtues worth emulating,it takes courage to speak up and say the truth when others are too scared too..of all the qualities the courage and boldness of joab hit me most
The lessons to learn from this post are great, the live of everyone on Earth has a story to tell, the life of joab showed courage, encouragement and action he is a man of his words that always pushes king David to take some good actions, I think this post should also be recommended to people that are close to people in high political offices but this character should be backed up with the fear of God.
Joab is definitely a great character to emulate especially in these times, his courage, wisdom, even his patriotism (a character people don’t really possess these days), his faithfulness since greed has become the order of the day. This piece is very motivating Ma, and shows us that no matter how much we try we could never be perfect but we would be something very close to perfect when we acknowledge Christ in our lives.
Loyalty is one thing we humans lack. We pray to God to help us through. The boldness is some quality that hits me most
Have really learnt alot from this post… Let’s all clinge unto God for His grace in whatever we do, no matter the position we find ourself or how comfortable we think our life is, cause without Him we can do nothing… And again , we shouldn’t expect much from people, cause human beings can change at any point in time, rather we should build good relatiomship and hold on to God cause He never change.
We should always put God first in everything we are doing irrespective of our status and position, He should always be infront and at the back of all we do.
This is what Joab forgot despite his good traits.
I pray that God will give us the zeal to serve him daily more and more.
No matter what we are, no matter how brave, intelligent ,no matter how strategic we are with life, we are just the empty vessels that make noise if God is not there in our life to direct our steps.
In everything we do, we should never forget the place of God in our lives
Truly, we should always bear in mind that it is God that gives us the power and grace to overcome our battles. So, we should seek him before we take actions, he is the problem solver and nothing is impossible before him.
Although, just like Joab, it is disheartening when our bosses disappoint us but, we must learn to look up to God who gives to us at the due time. Therefore, having close relationship with God is salient in all the things we do.
It’s so common when people make it in life and suddenly disregard the God factor. Irrespective of how powerful, mighty, famous and wealthy we are in the future, we should try to always involve God.
Involving and clinging to God and his word does not only apply to bad situations. When the going is good too, seek God’s face. Joab’s Lessons are indeed profound,
Indeed Joab had some traits to be emulated. His blunt nature is something I envy. Sometimes we have to be blunt for the right things to be done.
The life of Joab is very significant and we should learn from this. That you are given an opportunity because you were find worthy does not mean you should disrespect others or forget God like so many people do. I respect Joabs life of being not just Brave but loyal and thought, reasoning and taking bold steps is necessary for quality leadership. Some times even in student unionism they fail to take a bold step over some certain issues and even when they have ideas on how to end a vises they keep procrastinating. Joab should be emulated
Thoughtful messages, most educating to me are the second and third which were; Not being scared to tell the truth even to superiors and Not harbouring hatred for people like Absalom who are self-centred and pay back evil for good respectively so as not to displease God. Great piece Ma.
I have never really been this bold person but reading all this about Joab has inspired me to have that type of energy.. Thanks Aunty Edith
The story of Joab in the Bible is a great moral instructor on courage but also teaches us to learn restraint even when we feel like over stepping our bounds. Joab wrongfully slaughtered Absalom, a clear evidence of lack of respect to the King even as a respected soldier he was. I believe that everyone who is in a high position must learn to act with God’s backing and with respect to constituted authorities and superiors.
Joab was really a kind of complicated person. He was strong-minded and stubborn also and he sort of took it too far. If only he looked up to God before taking any step, I’m sure he wouldn’t have died the way he did. So we need to learn from his mistakes and also emulate his good aspects.
Beautiful piece ma.
It is necessary we learn to acknowlegde God in everything we do as christians. Being moral, smart, physically powerful, etc is just not enough.
Someone rightly said; good things have a way of becoming bad without God, likewise, bad things have a way of looking good without God. So a ‘big chunk’ of God in everything we do makes the difference.
How painful it is that no man is perfect… Joab was a great man!
We should learn to keep our eyes focused on God while we are in service of any good kind expecting our rewards from God alone so not to go into error… Nice lessons, God bless you Ma.
Joab has amazing characteristics that the Christain of today should emulate. Being loyal: everyone wants someone who is loyal around thrm, thay can be trustworthy that has integrity. Men would pay billions to get people like that around them. Being bold and confidence always considering other people. Good character takes one far in life.
The above characteristics of Joab are indeed good and need be emulated. Joab had all these qualities and had accomplished alot in his days but, was not close to God. As we grow to achieve alot in life by God’s grace I pray that he will help acknowledge his presence and be close to. Nice one ma.
Simplicity Is a major key and when we apply bravery , loyalty , boldness no one knows what we can become .we must remember that what ever we do is seen by GOD and we shall give an account of whatever we do on Earth.
The character trait I like the most in Joab was his authoritativeness especially that part where he told David to come and take the city. We always need people like that in our lives, people who are certain and strong minded and can make decisions quickly even when we personally are timid about a particular issue. Kudos to Joab!
As duties are being discharged, care should be taken to avoid pride .Joab, despite his landmark achievements as the Israeli’s army commander, he allowed his position affect his loyalty to the King. Though, Joab had some outstanding qualities, worthy of emulation,his flouting king’s orders in some important issues of the kingdom got him on his master’s black list ,which led to his terrible ending. Forgiveness is a virtue,we should all pant for. As Joab couldn’t forgive Abner, he too was not forgiven.
Joab was indeed a great man, I learnt a lot from his lifestyle. Why then is it that great men end up in a shameful way, well I’ll say for Joab, it’s because of his lack of the recognition of the presence of God in his life. When we leave out the author and finisher of all from our life, our life then rolls around the Chess table of our enemies. But when we put our God first, and present everything before him like David did, success becomes the order of the day. One thing that touched and taught me a lot is his sense of bravery and loyalty. Thanks for that wonderful one ma
John characteristics in the Bible tell us that he is indeed a great and strategous man but lack close relationship with God and this is where is down all begins. Joab have great qualities but he never get good relationship with God to direct his part which makes him to under estimate the grivous consequences of some of his flaws. As human we need God grace, direction in all we do, no matter how gifts, powerful and mighty you are you still need his support, face, and guidence in order to over come temptation and dawnfall.
I did not really know about Joab.. This is a very nice and enlightening piece. No matter our position obedience to our superiors at home and places of worship is encouraged, and I also liked the part about tradition as God’s children we should obey Jehovah first and do only what pleases him
I didn’t know anything about the story of joab until i read this post. No man on earth can actually be perfect. Joab had a lot of good qualities instilled in him but, he also had short comings also. It actually takes the grace of God to avoid letting our weaknesses overwhelm us to the point where we commit sin.
Joab “had a distinguished military career but his lack of a close personal relationship with God made him to underestimate the grievous consequences of some of his missteps.” I actually lifted this part from the story to emphasize on how our relationship with fellow humans can turn our face away from God, as was depicted in the character of Joab, who despite being a brave soldier, was loyal to King David. His loyalty to the king made him soil his hands in the blood of Uriah. This stands to serve as a lesson to we, the latter-day Christians, to be mindful in our dealings with our fellow humans. We should understand that man is evil, so are the days and the world he lives in. We should be careful not to offend God as a result of relationship with fellow humans…
Joab was a great man despite his shortcomings as a man who depended on his own wisdom and strength without paying much attention to spiritual guidance or knowing when to retreat and rethink his decision. Thanks for enlightening us on the life of Joab at least, I have learned few lessons from his strengths and weaknesses.
It is advisable to put God first in everything you do. Joab was brave, courageous and strong as a soldier but he lacked one important thing which was having a great relationship with God. If only he involved God in his life, it would have been perfect.
success becomes the order of the day when we trust God and obey him diligently, leaders should be taught to love the opportunity given to them by the masses and also remain loyal to the people and society at large
We are just mere mortals, without our creator we are nothing. Joab is worthy of emulation but while doing that we should critically look at his shortcomings to avoid the same mistake he made. personal and close relationship sustains and keep us.
Wonderful post ma’am. Truly I wish our leaders could be more like Joab. Especially with the being “loyal, bold and blunt.” Some leaders today are cowards.?
Joab really showed characteristics of strength, although he has his flaws, he can also be seen as the back bone of David during war times in Israel. But joab was traditionally minded which made him kill for vengeance& not out of an act of military warfare.
His final act was to lead a rebellion against king David, this made him die in disgrace. I pray the life of joab would not be seen in today’s world.
Pray tell, dear Sire, when did he lead a rebellion against David? Lol!
These lessons has really taught me in a very good way, I didn’t really know about Joan and his accomplishments but from this post I got to know what happened to him end all that happened to him. Thanks aunt Edith for this post, and for adding to my knowledge.
Joab is great and expectional warriors, a true ideal warrior to be emulate by Nigerian soldiers, very courageous man who fight for his country and for the king, loyal to the king.
Let’s all emulate job in his courage and we should always seek God first in everything we do in life because without the Lord’s direction our life is meaningless
What are we without God? Nothing! This shows that whatever power you possess or money you have, you should put God first in anything you do and maintain a personal relationship with Him because he is our Lord and savior.
God bless you Ma.
We can’t achieve much without God’s guidance. Look at joab he was a force to reckon with ,had lots of good qualities in him and some flaws.but he didn’t really involve God which is really improper.
No matter how endowed we are maybe physically or otherwise, we should still have a personal relationship with God. Nice one ma
Being strong and courageous is what God wants us to exhibit as his children. Although, Joab is a character worth emulated, but whatever we are, we that because God want us to be. Let us always remember to trust and obey God.
Leadership is one tricky venture!
Just like David applied a more humane, emotional angle to exercising his authority on the throne, so also should our leaders do the same.
Joab was a man of valour, but just as it always happens when we do not put our weaknesses into check; his weaknesses landed him into so many avoidable mistakes.
This is really a great piece. It calls us to keep drawing close to God daily and not rely on our own power; No matter what we have accomplished in life. The truth is that, we can’t even accomplish much without a relationship with him. We need to trust him and allow him do his work at all times.
*Proverbs 3:5-6*
Success becomes the order of the day when We trust God and obey him diligently . Leaders should be taught to love the opportunity given to them by the masses and also remain loyal to the people and society at large
Joab was of really great personality although he has his own flaws. He assisted David greatly during his regime in Israel, he was loyal and bold.
The second chapter discussed here got me greatly, the fact that we should be bold doesn’t mean we should be inconsiderate and lack sensitivity when it comes to others of different view, just like the case of Absolem, how he was against David’s idea although he later became considerate and found for a way to mend it.
I agree with you that we should dwell our strength in God and not on our sword. Joab was a brave man, but he was also rash in some actions he exhibited.
This is really a great piece. It calls us to keep drawing close to God daily and not rely on our own power; No matter what we have accomplished in life. The truth is that, we can’t even accomplish much without a relationship with him. We need to trust him and allow him do his work at all times.
Most youths are like Joab, has great qualities worthy of emulation but fail to put God first in all they do, which has cost them a lot of things even as far as their lives. Thanks ma, for this wonderful piece, cause reading this has taught me to express my conviction with sensitivity by considering their feelings in my dealings with people
Thanks ma, for this wonderful piece, cause reading this has taught me to express my conviction with sensitivity by considering their feelings in my dealings with people
Whatever we plan and want to do in life we must do well to involve God first to lead us to the right path in order not to be misled in anyway at all. Cause if we all do that nothing will be difficult for us.
Joab’s bravery and loyalty is commendable, although not perfect he gave his best in the execution of his assignments. Joab’s bravery became weakness as he sometimes neglected constituted authourities and went against God’s plan. Our efforts will always be rewarded if we work according to God’s pattern.
Joab let his strengths puff him up. It really takes a lot to remain humble when you are so good at what you do. But then God helps us remain humble. Thank you very much ma!
I think the most important lesson to be learnt here is being able to speak our minds to whomever. Many people find themselves in situations unsuitable for them but cannot speak up due to fear of the consequences to come afterwards. One shouldn’t be afraid to say what’s on their minds
Been brave and courageous is an attribute that is helpful in this present time… But is the most important is relying wholly on God. Because without God bravery will amount to nothing but mistakes..
The most significant quality of Joab I learnt is been brave and blunt,fear will eat deep into the root of its host and leave you feeling numb,and also we shouldn’t turn our heart from the giver of light,(God) because we assume we have it all…. A food for thought
It is hard to define loyalty, but very easy to recognize it. Loyalty is valuable because it allows us to take the risk of predicting the actions and behavior of people we trust.One may not always correctly decide who to be loyal to, and some people may even disappoint us or deceive us when we are loyal to them. Despite all this, loyalty always allows us to be true to ourselves and to our values. I understand Joabs pain when David thought to seek from others. But sometimes our loyalty is not returnedbut we mustn’t stop for God rewards best
you really took time to deduce good qualities of joab. indeed he possessed those qualities. His character teaches that we should not be cowardly at any thing. we should always trick the gullible heart with the faith that besides our efforts, God is still there for us.
Joab stood for many things as a fervent soldier that he was.how many men can we boost of with such tenacity and impeccable record such as he.but above all,humans are not perfect even with all these feats he still went down.Joab the man of honor and strength we should emulate his fervent and able character.
This piece highlights man’s imperfections, even when he thinks he is doing the right thing. It is only through the grace of God that man is made perfect. Also, as brave as we think we are, without God, all is vain
He was loyal, bold yet had no close relationship with God. God wants us to know and have a relationship with him, there are no two ways about it. He’s the ultimate. And I believe this post is a call today to build that relationship. Thank you ma
Been brave and courageous is an attribute that is helpful in this present time. Most young people are like Joab,they have great qualities worthy of emulation but fail to put God first in all they do, which has cost them a lot of things even as far as their lives.
Bravery is one of the inevitable qualities a leader should have,however any leader without the backing of God is only taking a walk.Joab lacked that part which is of great importance. The lesson here is that we should always speak the truth and stand for what is right because only then can we be truly set free.
I learnt new things about Joab that I never knew before,he is a good example of a good leader and warrior. If only he had a strong relationship with God am sure he would have been even better.
without God’s grace in our lives whatever we do is useless, because what is the point of having achieved all on earth and but we lack the fear of the Lord in our lives. Joab was a great man and had all the good attributes but he didn’t have a close relationship with God. God is our first priority in life because without him we wouldn’t be here today but people should also emulate the traits of joab
I’m not too sure people like Joab still exist in this our generation
I mean how could a human b that loyal without being so close with God
Even most christians ain’t half of joab
No matter who you are you are nothing without God just like joab he had the best qualities and yet he had no relationship with God. We should not be like joab, we should learn to put God first in whatever we do.
Joab was indeed a great man, I learnt a lot from his lifestyle he brave nature is what I love most. Why then is it that most great men end up in a opprobious and heinous way, well I’ll say for Joab, it’s because of his lack of the recognition of the presence of God in his life. When we leave our lives outside the The principles and doctrines of God the author and finisher of our faith it doesn’t end well at all.
Admirable qualities of a great man,bold and brave,blunt to the core, courageous, strength filled but yet as he is not perfect had weaknesses.God is the only perfect being in the whole universe, we should draw strength and wisdom from him.joab as a soldier defined what being a true man is.
No matter how admirable your qualities are,you should enshrine it with reverence for the Almighty so that it wouldn’t be jeopardized by our ineptitudes as humans.
Joab fought and won many battles for the king, but his personal lack of self-control was problematic.
As the commander of David’s armies, Joab was provided many victories by God, but Joab caused much grief to the king and to Israel. His anger and perhaps the power of his position drove him to poor decisions at times. We must not let ourselves be power drunk it’s bad. … Anger can damage what we have suffered to build for years that is y we must pray and exercise self control…
A strong and devoted soldier,joab was an exemplary leader.we all should emulate his qualities except his weakness. Joan was brave and confident to air his views anytime.joab showed his worth in any battle day in day out.nice one ma.
Nice write up ma! Sometimes we may be right in our convictions but the manner we express it might hurt other people… It doesn’t mean we are cowards but it shows we consider other people’s feelings. Also, sometimes we should allow God take care of certain issues even when we feel we’ve got all it takes to handle the situation.No matter what we are, no matter how brave, intelligent ,no matter how strategic we are with life, we are just the empty vessels that make noise if God is not there in our life to direct our steps. Even the normal laws and rules of life cannot help us or save us all the time, but with God we can maneuver every obstacle at every given time, that is something Joab failed to understand. Again, another lesson to be learnt from the character trait of Joab is that No matter the position we occupy, no matter the post we hold, we should put in work, and don’t expect to be rewarded by man, but by God. Even when our employers don’t pay us the agreed wage for the job we do for them, we shouldn’t put our mind on that, we should put our trust in God, because Joab failed to know this and it worsen the relationship he had with David.
Great lessons here! If only Joab had a close relationship with God he’d have lived a fulifilled and glorious life. God bless you richly Ma
God first,no matter how strong or bold we are,we should always involve God in all our doings
Despite the sad ending of Joab, he was meant to make Heaven proud with his strength but along the line prde encroached into his life and he disobeyed the King’s order on several occasions and also thought he could do it on his own. But the Bible says God opposes the proud and lifts the humble. This is the practical case of Joab
The story of Joab, character and actions implemented in devoid of full understanding of who God is. Every worker in God’s Vineyard should meditate on Joab’s story and how he ended his life to reform our lives and characters especially when doing service for God. A life without God is useless no matter how strong you are, your bravery, your achievements in life.