1 Chronicles , Sarah Barry
THE AMMONITES AND PHILISTINES SUBDUED
Passage: 1_Chronicles 20:1~8  
Key verse: 8
The Capture of Rabbah(A)
20 In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, Joab led out the armed forces. He laid waste the land of the Ammonites and went to Rabbah(B) and besieged it, but David remained in Jerusalem. Joab attacked Rabbah and left it in ruins.(C) 2 David took the crown from the head of their king[a]—its weight was found to be a talent[b] of gold, and it was set with precious stones—and it was placed on David’s head. He took a great quantity of plunder from the city 3 and brought out the people who were there, consigning them to labor with saws and with iron picks and axes.(D) David did this to all the Ammonite towns. Then David and his entire army returned to Jerusalem.
War With the Philistines(E)
4 In the course of time, war broke out with the Philistines, at Gezer.(F) At that time Sibbekai the Hushathite killed Sippai, one of the descendants of the Rephaites,(G) and the Philistines were subjugated.
5 In another battle with the Philistines, Elhanan son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, who had a spear with a shaft like a weaver’s rod.(H)
6 In still another battle, which took place at Gath, there was a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all. He also was descended from Rapha. 7 When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of Shimea, David’s brother, killed him.
8 These were descendants of Rapha in Gath, and they fell at the hands of David and his men.
Footnotes
- 1 Chronicles 20:2 Or of Milkom, that is, Molek
- 1 Chronicles 20:2 That is, about 75 pounds or about 34 kilograms
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source:  BibleGateway
Joab led the Israelite army in waging war against the Ammonites. Their land was laid waste and their capital was besieged. Meanwhile David had not gone off to war, as was customary for kings in the spring, but remained in Jerusalem. (1 Sa. 11) Rabbah was left in ruins by the Israelites. David came out and took the Ammonite crown. The Ammonites were consigned to heavy forced labor.
2. The Israelites kill Philistine enemies (4-8)
Chronicles closes the section on David’s military victories by mentioning the exploits of David’s men. God raised up courageous fighters who went up against various Philistine giants, descendants of the Rephaites living in Gath. These included the brother of Goliath whom David had killed. After these all fell to David and his men, the Philistines were also subjugated to the Israelites. God used David to subdue the nations surrounding Israel, just as God had promised.
Prayer: Lord, please raise up faithful people, including me, who boldly engage in spiritual battles with prayer and your word.
One Word: Will you enter the spiritual battle?