2 Samuel 8:9-12 – The Inevitability of Messiah’s Victory
Because God had promised to be with him, David’s victories in this chapter are inevitable. Just as it is with the progress of the church of Jesus Christ. The church may look doomed in this country, just like it has looked extinct in certain countries before. But we have Christ’s promise: ‘I will build my church and that gates of hell shall not prevail against it’.
Sadly many of the nations David was fighting against didn’t accept that. They tried to fight against him, even though it was futile. But there was one king who didn’t. Did you notice him? V9: When Toi king of Hamath heard that David had defeated the whole army of Hadadezer, Toi sent his son Joram to King David to ask about his health and to bless him…And Joram brought with him articles of silver, of gold and of bronze. Toi stands out as the only king mentioned in the chapter who doesn’t have to be struck down or defeated, because he sees the writing on the wall – and he realises that it’s pointless to fight against the inevitable.
That’s a pattern that we see elsewhere in the Bible as well. Everyone in the city of Jericho had heard of God leading his people through the Red Sea. They were terrified, but still they tried to fight against him. But Rahab didn’t. Isaiah prophesies about ‘foreigners who [will] join themselves to the LORD’. He speaks about brothers from all nations coming to serve the LORD. Micah prophesies of the day when ‘many nations shall come and say: Come let us go the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways, and that we may walk in his paths’. Jeremiah talks about the nations gathering to Jerusalem and no longer stubbornly following their own evil hearts.
Here we have more firstfruits of the great harvest there would be when the gospel went out to all the nations of the earth. Toi is a fulfilment of Psalm 66: ‘So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you. All the earth worships you, and sings praises to you’. Today we’ve seen these prophecies fulfilled in amazing ways. The message to submit to God’s ultimate king – Jesus Christ – has gone out to the nations of the world, and many have and are responding gladly.
Question
- What did Toi do?
Prayer Points
- Pray that the nations of the world will come to faith in Christ.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.