The history which is described here is pretty straight forward - irrational, but straight forward. As recorded in I Samuel 11, King Saul had fought against Ammon and defeated him at Jabesh-glead. Probably because of this, when David was forced out of Saul's palace, Nahash, out of revenge against Saul, sent aid unto the fugitive. It doesn't appear that David spent time in Ammon, but the offer was appreciated. And David doesn't deliberately forget the kindnesses of people towards him. It wasn't that Nahash loved David the way that the King of Tyre did, but the kindness was real, whether or not the sincerity was real. We don't know if David had sent his thanks to Ammon since he was enthroned, but when the king of Ammon died, he was reminded of what he owed to that nation and sent some of his ambassadors to the funeral and to the dead man's son. This is simple enough.

Other than this, generally speaking, there never had been much love between Ammon and Israel. And when David's servants showed up in the Ammonite capital, people in high places started talking. Perhaps it didn't take a great deal of persuasion, but Hanun, the son of Nahash, listened to his counselors. Perhaps they were like the counselors of Rehoboam who became king upon the death of Solomon. They were so full of themselves they left little room for wisdom. His counselors told Hanun that the gifts and kind words of David were nothing but a Trojan Horse. These ambassadors where as dishonest as their own ambassadors were, and they were nothing but spies. With the encouragement of this foolish advice, Hanun shamefully treated David's men. It was either a deliberate or accidental declaration of war, and it was war that they received. The next chapter tells us that David sent his general Joab and Ammon was destroyed.

The history is simple enough. Did the Lord record this for us simply for the history? That is quite possible. But are there any special lessons for us here? Perhaps so. Once again, let's think of this as the allegorical expression of something higher - something practical for us. Let's look at this as an illustration of evangelism - missions - in the modern world.

First notice how this chapter begins - "And it came to pass after this...." Of course, this is a purely historical and chronological comment, but it does reach a bit higher as well. What does this chapter follow? The wonderful story of Mephibosheth and David. Mephibosheth is an illustration of the spiritually crippled man, who is saved and blessed by Christ Jesus. He is the grandson of David's worst enemy, yet David reaches out to him to rescue him from his poverty and degradation. And David does it not for Mephibosheth alone, but for his father, whom David greatly loved, and with whom he had established a covenant of blessing and peace. So the crippled man, sat at David's table and was treated like one of the king's own sons. What a beautiful picture of evangelism and salvation. On the heels of this salvation received by faith and in the spirit of repentance, David reaches out to another wicked soul, with much of the same kind of offer.

As much as we would try to make it different in our modern world, the work of evangelism is one-by-one. There are great efforts made to evangelize thousands at once, saving hundreds in a day. But the history of these mass-evangelistic efforts has proven it to be mostly a waste. After the evangelism and salvation of Mephibosheth, the evangelist simply must move on to the next fella whom the Lord lays on his heart - Nahash in this case.

This Hanun was definitely a lost man. He was another of the sons of Lot through the incest of that man's daughters. He reminds us that we are all shapen in iniquity; and in sin do our mothers conceive us. If God's law was properly carried out, this man's grandfather, father, and mother - before his birth would all have been executed. And this is as true of us as it should have been with Hanun. We are dead men - spiritually dead if not more.

And speaking of more - all of this followed a funeral. This Nahash was the son of a dead man - he was a son of death itself. This is something appointed unto all men. Nothing should remind us of our frailty, fatality and futality as the death of a near loved one. There, but for the grace of God, lay I - all dressed up but with no place to go. Following that appointment with death comes the judgment. "I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the QUICK and the DEAD at his appearing and his kingdom," that you better be properly prepared to "give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead." Hanun should have listened to his heart and then listened to God's evangelist - but he didn't.

Let's not forget that Hanun was a king over his little dominion of Ammon. Nearly all of us, picture ourselves as tsars over our tiny kingdoms. It may only be our family; in fact it may only be over a couple of younger brothers or sisters, but we are kings. We think of ourselves as kings over our businesses, over our incomes, our Sundays, our faith, our lives. What fools we are. If we could add a single minute to our lives, beyond the Lord's appointment, then perhaps we could be justified in our proud thoughts, but we can't. We are kings and queens of nothing, unless the Lord grants us a tiny parcel of authority. Hanun was the great king of the mighty nation of Ammon, who had to ask the Syrians to defend them. That defense failed, and with almost no effort at all, the true king reduced Ammon to dust. This king needs a greater King - this little tsar needs a Saviour.

Hanun is a picture of the people whom we are commissioned to evangelize. They are children of sinners and, in effect, children of destruction. They think of themselves as smart and strong, but they are foolish and weak. How do we know? Because we have been those people ourselves.

"David send to comfort (Nahash) by the hand of his servants for his father. And David's servants came into the land of the children of Ammon." David, a wonderful type of Christ sent some especially selected ambassadors with words of comfort and help. He sent his "evangelists" into the mission field of Ammon with good news. In very much the same way that David sent into Lodebar, he sent into Ammon. And just as David wished to show kindness to Mephibosheth for Jonathan's sake, he wanted to be a blessing to Hanun for Nahash's sake. Once again, God's saving grace is passed on to unworthy creatures for the sake and glory of Christ. And He does this through human assistants - personally selected missionaries and evangelists.

These servants of David's were the Lord's ambassadors. They probably carried various physical gifts as tokens of David's kindness. And as David knew the pain of losing parents, they came with declarations of David's concern and support. I wonder if God's poet had prepared some songs or an eloquent eulogy to share with the grieving son? David took personal interest in what these ambassadors were sent to do. Judging from what transpired, it could be said that David felt everything that these men felt. They were an arm of David himself - with open hands representing the body of Christ.

I hope that you can see the parallel relationship between these men and the modern missionary/evangelist. They were sent under the direction and authority of God's Anointed - the Christ. They didn't come to teach the Ammonites to read Hebrew, plant crops or irrigate their fields. They weren't in the country to help build hospitals, restrain militants or teach democracy. Their only responsibility was to share their king's comfort - His good news - with another sinner in pain. The missionary's job is to open the Bible and teach all who will hear what it is that the Lord has for them. He doesn't come in his own authority, with his own message, and in order to build his own glory. Do we have their names? We don't need their names, because they are not important. But don't think for a moment that David didn't know their names, and what they suffered on his behalf. They were heros in the sight of their king, as are all those who suffer loss in the name of Christ.

II Samuel 9:5 says about the first missionary journey, "Then king David sent, and fetched (Mephibosheth) our of the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, from Lodebar." Not that it matters very much, because the missionary is not as important as the Messiah, but it might be interesting to know these people's names, for one special reason. Wouldn't it be fun to find out that the men whom David sent to "evangelize" Mephibosheth were the same men whom he sent to "evangelize" Hanun? In one community the missionaries were received as heros, but in the next they were criminals.

These royal ambassadors were sent to do essentially the same thing in both places. They were to bring the kind words of the King of kings. They were to be a blessing to those who were hurting. They were to share the wealth of the Lord's anointed. But as I've already said, their intentions were misinterpreted.

It does not matter how skilled the evangelist might be; it doesn't matter what his approach might be. It can be the same man doing exactly the same thing in two places, but the response is entirely different. The reaction of the sinner to the offer of grace is out of the hands of the evangelist. On one occasion the sinner will come to Christ as he is drawn by the Spirit, even if it is fearfully and shyly. Then on the next occasion, the sinner will reply as Hanun did. We as evangelists have to learn this lesson, and leave the results of our labors in God's hands. We may be embarrassed and even be angry, but it isn't so much the missionary who is being rejected. Assuming that he's doing only the work for which he has been commissioned.... Assuming that he hasn't sinned in other ways... If he is rejected, he is rejected for the name of his Master who sent him.

David's ambassadors were thoroughly and shamefully misinterpreted and mistreated. They came as God's servants bearing gifts, but they were perceived as Greeks bearing gifts. And this is as it often is with more modern evangelists. What is the purpose of that missionary, asks the native? He only wants to make us look like his friends back home. He wants to destroy our culture and way of life. He thinks of himself as better than us. He is only in this work for the money or the fame which he might garner. David's men were rejected and shamefully treated, although they were not killed.

But ultimately, the Ammonites were destroyed because of their folly. This message of love must not be spit upon. God will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. The Ammonites are today only a footnote in history, just as the lost will be ten millennia from today.