"And it came to pass after this, that the king of the children
of Ammon died and Hanun his son reigned in his stead.
Then said David, I will shew kindness unto Hanun the son
of Nahash, as his father shewed kindness unto me. And
David sent to comfort him by the hand of his servants for his
father. And David's servants came into the land of the
children of Ammon. And the princes of the children of
Ammon said unto Hanun their lord, Thinkest thou that
David doth honor thy father, that he hath sent comforters
unto thee? hath not David rather sent his servants unto thee,
to search the city, and spy it out, and to overthrow it?
Wherefore Hanun took David's servants, and shaved off the
one-half of their beards and cut off their garments in the
middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away. When
they told it to David, he sent to meet them, because the men
were greatly ashamed: and the king said. Tarry at Jericho
until your beards be grown, and then return. And when the
children of Ammon saw that they stank before David, the
children of Ammon sent and hired the Syrians of Bethrehob,
and the Syrians of Zoba twenty thousand footmen, and of
king Maacah a thousand men, and of Ishtob twelve thousand
men. And when David heard of it, he sent Joab, and all the
hosts of the mighty men. And the children of Ammon came
out, and put the battle in array at the entering in of the gate:
and the Syrians of Zoba, and of Rehob, and Ishtob, and
Maacah were by themselves in the field. When Joab saw
that the front of the battle was against him before and
behind, he chose of all the choice men of Israel, and put
them in array against the Syrians: And the rest of the
people he delivered into the hand of Abishai his brother,
that he might put them in array against the children of
Ammon."
II Samuel 10:1-10.
"And Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon,
and took the royal city. And Joab sent messengers to David
and said, I have fought against Rabbah, and have taken the
city of waters. Now therefore gather the rest of the people
together, and encamp against the city, and take it: lest I
take the city, and it be called after my name. And David
gathered all the people together and went to Rabbah and
fought against it, and took it. And he took their king's
crown from off his head, the weight where of was a talent of
gold with the precious stones: and it was set on David's
head. And he brought forth the spoil of the city in great
abundance. And he brought forth the people that were
therein, and put them under saws, and under harrows of
iron, and under axes of iron, and made them pass through
the brick-kiln: and thus did he unto all the cities of the
children of Ammon. So David and all the people returned
unto Jerusalem."
I Samuel 12: 26-31.
In these passages of Scripture seem to be pictured prophetically the rise, reign and ruination of him whom the Scriptures call the Beast, the Man of Sin, the Antichrist, etc. This awesome being is represented by Hanun, son of Nahash, king of Ammon. The name Nahash, means serpent and Ammon means people. Thus Hanun was the seed of the serpent and king of the people. Compare these facts with the account of the rise of the Beast in Revelation 13. It seems obvious that this Beast is an incarnation of Satan, the dragon, the old serpent, or in other words, the seed of the serpent. It is further revealed in this chapter that the Beast is to be king of the people of the earth:
"And power was given him over all kindreds and tongues,
and nations."
Rev. 13:7.
The name Hanun itself,
or Chanun, as it is properly
spelled, means favored or graced. It might seem, at first,
incredible that one who typifies the Beast could bear such a
name, but there is actually nothing incongruous about the
matter. For it is plain that the Beast himself will be the
recipient of the grace of God to the extent that the permissive
will of God will allow him to become a world-wide ruler. The
Scriptures tell us that the powers that be are ordained of God;
and since this is the case, the Beast will owe his rapid
advancement and accumulation of power to the unmerited
grace of God who will allow him to exalt himself that his
downfall may be all the more glorifying to God. Notice also
that the cause of contention between Hanun and David (type
of the greater David, his son after the flesh) was Hanun's
mistreatment of David's servants. Many passages of Scripture
indicate that the last part of the seven-year reign of the Beast
will be the time of Jacob's trouble. It is referred to as The Great
Tribulation, and it appears that this tribulation will apply
primarily to the Jews and those who have turned to Christ
during that period. It is further worthy of note that Hanun's
capital city was Rabbah, which is called by Joab, "the city of
waters." Rabbah means the great (city) and appears to represent
that great city spoken of in Rev. 17 and 18, which is called
Babylon the great, and is said to sit upon many waters. See
Revelation 17:1.
In his battle against David, Hanun was assisted by those
of the heights or high places. Syria in Hebrew is Aram, which
means height or high place. Even so, the Beast will have all of
the power of the dragon, prince of the power of the air, at his
disposal. David's forces, on the other hand, were led by Joab,
assisted by his brother Abishai. We have already seen that
David is a type of Christ, and according to their names, so are
Joab and Abishai. Joab means whose father is Jehovah. He
was David's chief captain; and therefore pictures Christ in his
role of military leader and conqueror at his second coming as
described in Revelation 19:11-16. Abishai means gift of the
father. He was one of David's mighty men and on several
occasions he demonstrated his personal might. He pictures
Christ as the gift of John 3:16 and as the one who is
characterized by personal might and courage. The battle was
authorized by and in the name of David as King. He, of
course, pictures Christ in his Kingly authority. In these three
men, then, we have a composite, threefold picture of Christ.
He is seen as the one whose father is Jehovah, who is the father's
gift to the world, and as the beloved one (the meaning of
David). He is also pictured by these three men as a military
leader of great personal might and invested with kingly
authority.
continued at top of next column
The city of Rabbah, the great city of waters was subjugated by the military commander, Joab, and made to surrender to David, the King. David then became King of Ammon (the people). The people who had mistreated David's servants were then brought forth and subjected to the severest of punishments. They were cut with saws and axes of iron as though they were worthless or corrupt trees that must needs be cut down. Compare the words of John, the Baptist:
"And now also the axe is laid to the root of the trees:
therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is
hewn down and cast into the fire."
Matt. 3:10.
Also, David put them under harrows of iron which were actually threshing sledges (chariots) so that they were dealt with as sheaves on the threshing floor. And as the chaff, or worthless product of the threshing floor, is cast into the fire, so the people were made to pass through the brick kiln, or place of burning. Again, compare the words of John, the Baptist,
"Whose fan (lit. winnowing fork) is in his hand and he will
thoroughly purge (thoroughly cleanse) his floor, and gather
his wheat into the garner but he will burn up the chaff with
unquenchable fire."
Matt. 3: 12.
In this connection see also Joel 3:9-14:
"Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles. Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down 0 LORD. Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great: Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision."
The Hebrew word translated decision is translated threshing
sledge in other Scriptures and the context shows that this is the
intended meaning here. The entire passage deals with the
coming judgment of the nations under the symbolism of the
winepress and the threshing-floor.
John H Mattox