When David was told of this, he gathered all Israel and crossed the Jordan; he advanced against them and formed his battle lines opposite them. David formed his lines to meet the Arameans in battle, and they fought against him. – 1 Chronicles 19:17

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 22, 2016): 1 Chronicles 19

The beginning of the end of World War II might be able to be able to be dated to June 22, 1941, although, admittedly, no one realized it at the time, or even in the next couple of years. June 22, 1941, is the beginning of what the Germans called Operation Barbarossa, a name they took from Frederick Barbarossa or Frederick I, a Holy Roman Emperor in the twelfth century. It was maybe one of Hitler’s spectacular mistakes, a violation of the non-aggression pact that Hitler had with Stalin and the Soviet Union. On paper, the non-aggression pact between Germany and the Soviet Union was in place for a minimum of ten years starting in 1939, with an option to extend the pact for another five years. If the participants had played nice, that meant that war between the Soviet Union and Germany could have been delayed until at least 1949, and maybe even 1954. But Stalin and Hitler really didn’t trust each other. After a couple of failed attempts to bring the Soviet Union into the Axis powers consisting of Germany, Italy and Japan, Hitler began to make plans to break the non-aggression pact and attack the Soviet Union; an attack that became a reality on June 22, 1941.

In Hitler’s defense, he was buoyed by the spectacular failure of the allies to defend France. The war in Western Europe had progressed better than anyone had any right to expect. In early 1941, France had fallen and Hitler expected that Britain would not be able to hold on much longer. That would mean that essentially the war on the Western Front was over, and so Hitler could turn his attention to the Eastern Front. And early on, Hitler experienced much success on both fronts. But when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in December 1941, what was probably meant to be a bloody nose that would keep the United States out of the war became a reason for the United States to enter the war. And Hitler had what must have been his nightmare scenario, a very real war on two fronts. With the first American troops being deployed in Britain in early 1942, and a re-energized campaign against the Nazi troops in and around Moscow, Hitler must have realized that he had overreached. Pride had resulted in a fall of the Third Holy Roman Empire or the Third Reich.  

King David had a similar problem. He was caught between, to at least some extent, two aggressors. The Ammonites ruled to the East of Israel and the Arameans to the North. Originally David and Joab had divided their forces and had gone out to defend Israel against both enemies. But something must have happened. The Ammonites retreated into their city of Rabbah and so, for the time being, they were no longer a threat. That meant that David had the option to concentrate his forces against the Arameans.

David did just that. He was able to remove his troops from the Eastern Front and the Ammonites and concentrated his total force against the Arameans. And the Arameans fell quickly to the Israelite forces and were brought under the Davidic rule. Evidently after the victory against the Arameans, David and Joab simply took their troops home. The rebellion in Rabbah, Ammon could wait until spring, a time when kings went to war. Of course, this becomes the foundation for another story as David decides to stay behind the next spring and let Joab finish the job against the Ammonites while David in Jerusalem falls in love with a married woman named Bathsheba.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Chronicles 20