"Then Abner called to Joab, "Shall the sword devour forever? Do you not know that the end will be bitter? How long will it be before you tell your people to turn from the pursuit of their brothers?" And Joab said, "As God lives, if you had not spoken, surely the men would not have given up the pursuit of their brothers until the morning." So Joab blew the trumpet, and all the men stopped and pursued Israel no more, nor did they fight anymore" (2 Sam. 2:26-28).
Shortly after the death of King Saul, David was anointed King over the house of Judah. But Abner, the commander of Saul's army got behind Saul's son and made him King over Israel. These dual loyalties divided the children of Israel and brought them to the brink of war. Abner reminded Joab that they were "brothers" not enemies. This simple reminder prevented a bitter war. God desires for Christian to strive together in unity and harmony for the cause of the gospel. Satan, on the other hand wants to divide churches and get believers fighting each other rather than the battles of the Lord. Sadly, too many churches today have become fractured and divided because of problems that have arisen that were not worked out and dealt with in a Christian way. What causes division in churches, marriages and relationships in general are not problems but people. Every church and marriage will experience problems. Why? Because churches and marital relationships are made up of imperfect people. It's been said that there are no perfect churches or Pastors. If you find one don't join it because you'll mess it up. The problem is not that there are problems to big for God to solve just people to small to solve them. It’s sad but true (I know it first hand) that Christians can act more like alley cats than brothers and sister in Christ. It’s easy to be a Christian when everything is going smoothly and everyone agrees with you. The true test of our Christianity and spiritual maturity is in how we react when things don’t seem to be going your way? What do you do when someone offends, disagrees with you or is chosen before you? What comes out when you’re squeezed is the greatest measure of our level of Christian maturity. One of the major things that creates division and brings destruction to homes, marriages and churches is that when there’s a problem people attack people rather than the problems. When problems and issues threaten to divide brothers and sisters in Christ we must not forget who the real enemy is. The enemy is not your wife or husband. The enemy is not you’re brother of sister in Christ. Your enemy is the devil who wants to steal, kill and destroy. When Joab was reminded that those who he was pursuing to destroy were his brethren, he “…blew the trumpet, and all the men stopped and pursued Israel no more, nor did they fight anymore." By blowing that trumpet, Joab was being more than just loyal to King David, he was being loyal to God. If ever you find yourself in attack mode against a brother or a sister, may you hear Joab’s trumpet call and remember to first be loyal to the one who went to the cross for the person in your crosshairs. “And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8).
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