Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter, and the wringing of the nose bringeth forth blood: so the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife. Proverbs 30:33
Alongside his brothers Abishai and Joab, Asahel was reckoned among the 37 mighty men of David. Regarding this young man’s prowess, we are told that ‘Asahel was as light of foot as a wild roe’ (2 Samuel 2:18). With its quick turns to the right and the left, the roe, or gazelle, consistently evades even the fastest land animal on earth. Like the roe, Asahel was distinguished for his agility, which he had evidently demonstrated by dodging many a spear and sword thrust. But this great strength would be his undoing.
The battle of Gibeon was fought between the servants of David and the servants of Saul’s son, Ishbosheth. Under Joab’s command, David’s servants had overcome the servants of Ishbosheth who were led by Abner. As Abner’s routed army fled, they were pursued by Joab and his men. In the disarray of Israel’s host, Asahel set his sights upon the captain of the enemy: ‘Asahel pursued after Abner’. While lesser-ranked enemy soldiers would have been easy pickings, Ashael ‘turned not to the right hand nor to the left from following Abner’. Discerning the familiar face of the enemy stalking him, ‘Abner looked behind him, and said, Art thou Asahel? And he answered, I am’ (vv. 19-20).
Deep down, Abner must have sensed that David, the Lord’s anointed, was to prevail in this war, and that the day was coming when he would need to make peace with David’s captain, Joab. As such, Abner knew that to kill Joab’s brother would be to sign his own death warrant. Seeking to reason with his assailant, ‘Abner said to him, Turn thee aside to thy right hand or to thy left, and lay thee hold on one of the young men, and take thee his armour. But Asahel would not turn aside from following of him’ (v. 21).
Abner attempted to reason with the young man a second time, assuming the entreaty of a friend: ‘And Abner said again to Asahel, Turn thee aside from following me: wherefore should I smite thee to the ground? how then should I hold up my face to Joab thy brother? Howbeit he refused to turn aside’ (vv. 22-23). A feverish ambition for the armour of Abner had taken full possession of Asahel.
Seeing that he must either kill or be killed, Abner hid his intention. Knowing the renowned agility of this young man, he kept his eyes ahead, and with his peripheral vision waited for Asahel to dart into the path of his rearward thrust. Then, at the opportune moment, ‘Abner with the hinder end of the spear smote him under the fifth rib, that the spear came out behind him; and he fell down there, and died in the same place’. After ignoring two entreaties, Asahel’s prodigious ability, wherein he had trusted, was used to destroy him. So grieved were the men of David at the sight of this beloved warrior’s lifeless body that ‘it came to pass, that as many as came to the place where Asahel fell down and died stood still’ (v. 23).
After Abner had exhausted all efforts to spare his life, he was forced to kill Asahel. Moreover, much strife ensued in the wake of this young warrior’s untimely death. After the war, Joab murdered Abner in cold blood, a sanguinary act that he would later repeat on Amasa. These treacherous crimes of Joab would force the wrath of David, who willed that Solomon execute Joab after his death.
Since Abner had fought against the Lord’s anointed, his death may be seen as the playing out of the divine will. Yet Asahel need not have forfeited his life in order for God’s purposes to be worked out. As did Asahel, we also may force wrath upon ourselves from those who desire peace with us. Asahel’s ambition for the armour of Abner cost him his life, the repercussions of which affected his family and threatened the fragile unity of the nation after the war. As it was with Asahel, when a man’s greatest talents become enlisted in a wrong cause, they become the means the enemy uses to cause strife and division.
God often uses agitation to bring out truth, and even cause division as He did during the reformation. The point of the proverb under consideration is that our actions have predictable consequences. As butter is the sure result of agitating cream, we will force those who desire peace with us to wrath by continual agitation of a point of difference. The question is whether or not the predictable outcome of any agitation is desirable and worthwhile.
Christopher Sparks