In order to understand Yahweh as Father, we must begin examining the acts of this mystery man, Joab, Yah-ab, or Yahweh-Father. And the very best way to understand Joab in this representation, is to contrast him in his remarkable relationship with David.

Instead of performing a study of all the acts of Joab, we will focus on those accounts in which Joab was in direct conflict with David. These will be the most telling, and actually encompass most of that which is written concerning Joab. There are five separate accounts we will examine here, and as has been stated, in them we will find some most remarkable truths about the Father.

Before we do this, we must lay out some more information essential to this revealing study. What we find in this contrast of David and Joab is in fact a repeated contrast between mercy and law. We will find that David is clearly a man of mercy, and Joab is clearly a man of law. In like regard, David is more the feminine, the mother figure; while clearly Joab is the masculine, the father figure.

How many times has one read the accounts of Joab and asked the question - Why does David let Joab get away with what he is doing? Why doesn't David do something about Joab? Why did David wait until he was dying to do anything with this man who was "too difficult" for him? The answer is that Joab was most clearly a representation of Yahweh as Father and His place as head, even as law. With this important introduction, you will now begin to understand more from these intriguing accounts.

Additionally, I will be weaving into this study my own personal experiences that opened my eyes to the eight-year question I had regarding this mystery man. This affords you the opportunity to see how this pattern works in the lives of men, the family, and even government; but equally, it testifies to the necessity of intercession/identification in understanding Yahweh. You will see how intercession ... brings identification ... that leads to understanding. All in all this promises to be one of the most worthwhile studies on this web site, providing a unique and revealing testimony regarding Yahweh and that which He is performing corporately as well as individually. And if you only read this writing one time, you are going to miss a great deal of truth that is highly valuable to you.

To begin with, here is a list of the five accounts we will consider.

Did you know these facts regarding Joab? And what you are going to find out now is why Joab continually did these things and prevailed without any recourse from David. Let us begin by considering the first item.

For the sake of brevity we must keep our examination of these accounts to a minimum, though sharing enough in order to make them alive and relevant.

When Saul died, the house of Judah went with David, but the house of Israel went with Saul's son, Ish-bosheth. War broke out between these two factions, and Ish-bosheth's commander was Abner, while David's commander was Joab. On one occasion, Joab's men were sorely defeating the army of Abner, and in fact had them on the run. Standing in the jaws of utter defeat, Abner cried out to Joab - "Shall the sword devour forever? Do you not know that it will be bitter in the end? How long will you refrain from telling the people to turn back from following their brothers?" Joab thus responded - "'As God lives, if you had not spoken, surely then the people would have gone away in the morning, each following his brother.' So Joab blew the trumpet; and all the people halted and pursued Israel no longer, nor did they continue to fight any more." This is from 2 Samuel 2:12-32, and here we find Joab having mercy on Abner; but in the next chapter we find a startling and sudden turn of events.

Saul had a concubine named Rizpah, and Ish-bosheth accused Abner of lying with her. This infuriated Abner so much that he immediately turned on his king, saying - "Am I a dog's head that belongs to Judah (his enemy up to this point)? Today I show kindness to the house of Saul your father, to his brothers and to his friends, and have not delivered you into the hands of David; and yet today you charge me with a guilt concerning the woman. May God do so to Abner, and more also, if as Yahweh has sworn to David, I do not accomplish this for him, to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul, and to establish the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan even to Beersheba." The king "could no longer answer Abner a word, because he was afraid of him."

So let me ask you - Whose side are you on in this conflict? With Abner, who was evidently falsely accused by the king, or with the king? What would have been your counsel; or even more so, what would you have done in this situation or in a situation like this. Maybe you or someone you know have been in this kind of situation where you were falsely accused by an authority. I can give you a hint where Yahweh stands on this, as you will clearly see in a minute. Yahshua told His disciples:

Well, we ask - What would you have done if you were in that situation as well? Would you have complained and objected, saying that you were treated unfairly? "That's not fair," is an oft too common phrase heard today. We know clearly what Yahweh's attitude is in this situation, and we can know exactly what Yahweh's attitude was toward Abner for planning that which he was going to do because he got his feelings hurt, being falsely accused. The fact is, Abner was in a place of service to the king, and even though Yahweh planned to turn Israel over to David, He did not need it to be accomplished with the rebellion of Abner, no matter what his reason.

Was Ish-bosheth right in that which he was doing in resisting David? In the long term, obviously not. BUT, even despite this, this in no way justified Abner's rebellion! As is often said - the end does not justify the means! And Abner would have done very well in seeing that and staying faithful to his king. Yahweh regards rebellion with great contempt - the same as witchcraft (1 Samuel 15:23); and frankly, as you will soon see, this study of Joab is almost entirely about dealing specifically with rebellion. This certainly relates to any rebellion against Yahweh Father, but EQUALLY applies to rebellion against our earthly father, as well as other authorities such as bosses, religious elders and leaders, as well as civil and governmental leaders and authority.

Abner's reason for his actions was rather juvenile, which is often characterized by this reaction from hurt feelings and then justification that leads to an attack against the one who is in authority. How many times have you seen someone under the authority of someone else get offended and respond by attacking that person with a vengeance that before this they had condemned in the actions of others? Their vengeance is doubly hateful, even as we see here in Abner. I personally have had several Abners in my life, and as with Ish-bosheth, their actions have been very hurtful. So next time you think about getting offended and turning on the one whom you have been called to serve, think again! Yahweh Father has a different opinion. Now we will see what Yahweh Father's response was to Abner, and get a glimpse of David's own hypocritical mercy.

As was the case in David's response, when one gets offended and wants to react against established authority, there are always those who will agree with you, and generally they will always be a majority. (This is what Absalom and Adonijah sought later.) A son or daughter may get offended or crosswise with their parents, but as you will find with Abner, even when they think they are justified in their actions, Yahweh nonetheless regards it as rebellion or witchcraft. That parent is a God-established authority in the child's life corresponding governmentally to the Heavenly Father, and there is no other authority that has a right to usurp them, even religious. I have said that I will share some personal experiences here to help you understand, and I will begin so at this time. But keep in mind that we will get back to David's response to Abner's defection or rebellion.

If you have read very much here at RemnantBride.com, you have come to realize that what I am saying is incredibly different from anything else you have ever read. In fact, these truths have never been seen by anyone else (or at least recorded to pass them on). But more so, they are entirely different and often come into conflict with the teachings of Christianity.

When my daughter, Rebekah, was living in our home, she came under a physical situation that made her very weak. It all had to do with attitude and her compulsion to overanalyze things, and in the end led to her not being able to eat and having heart palpitations. There was a Christian family in Carmel, California, that we met, and the husband had gone through the same thing. Thus he was very sympathetic and understood that which she was going through; and in time Rebekah moved there to help take care of their daughter (the wife was recovering from cancer), providing what seemed a good focused therapeutic opportunity for her.

I was confident that my daughter was thoroughly trained to obey her father, and knew that if I thought the family was pulling her away from me and that which is true, she would come home at my request. At least I thought she would. Despite two critical agreements with my daughter, in time she rejected my authority as her father and those agreements, and united herself with that family over me. I will be sharing more about this as we go along, but that is the situation in a nut shell.

When Rebekah decided to go against the divine authority that Yahweh had placed over her (her father) because of that which I see and teach, she did not lack those who supported her in her rebellion. Christians who were our friends when our children were small upheld her in her rebellion. Of course the family she was staying with undermined me and taught her that "independence" was a good thing, and it was essential to learn to stand on her own! Sounds good, right? How many times have you heard this, or even said it yourself? But as with Abner, rebellion is rebellion, no matter how many you have to uphold you, no matter how popular opinion may justify you, and no matter how one thinks they are cooperating with God's will.

Of course the church where this family attended read some of the web site and agreed that my teachings were false, equally justifying and supporting her that she had every right and responsibility to "follow the Lord" and not obey her deceived father. The scriptural argument I heard most was that Yahshua said He came to divide (Luke 12:51-53), and that her actions were just, because she was commanded to love Christ more than me (Matthew 10:37). Therefore she justified her actions of despising and violating not only our agreements, but also honoring me with her obedience. My daughter would not consider that Yahshua also said - "God said, 'Honor your father and mother,' and, 'He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death;'" and per their setting aside this very command, that the religious invalidate the word of God for the sake of their tradition (even false traditional teachings and order, Matthew 15:1-9). Likewise, they despised that which is equally written and clearly stated - "Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord" (Colossians 3:20). Of course there are multiple like exhortations, both Old and New Testament, and one that speaks most directly and clearly is Proverbs 15:5 (and like warnings from Proverbs) - "A fool rejects his father's discipline, but he who regards reproof is prudent." I will cover this later, but in fact because of my role as a father, I did indeed have to effect discipline on my daughter. I had to; I am a father.

But no, none of these instructions and even warnings were upheld by friends, Christians, or even family. In fact, out of all the people involved in this, there was only one Christian couple who upheld our roll as her parents. Everyone else supported Rebekah's rebellion. And possibly to your surprise, this is what David did on several occasions; for even as these people could support Rebekah out of mercy, David was the equal testimony of misplaced mercy, here supporting Abner in his rebellion against his authority. But again, did Yahweh Father agree? Fortunately, not in the least! And does Yahweh Father agree with what my daughter is doing and Christianity upholds? Not in the least! And does Rebekah's father agree with his daughter and her supporters? You know the answer! I too am a father, a father!

Abner spoke with the elders of Israel (even as Rebekah spoke with her elders), and he turned their hearts to uphold him instead. He then went to David who had a big reception and feast for him, and left to return to accomplish his rebellious plans. BUT, Yahweh Father had other consequences in store. As Abner left, Joab came back from a raid; and upon finding out about Abner, asked David - "What have you done?" Joab suspected that it was a plot, and despite the intentions of the man Joab, Yahweh Father would use him to carry out His judgment on Abner's rebellion. Joab sent messengers after Abner and they brought him back. "So when Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into the middle of the gate to speak with him privately (prophetically, the middle is where Yahweh changes His mind), and there he struck him in the belly so that he died on account of the blood of Asahel his brother" (2 Samuel 3:27).

We find then in this first account that Joab was Yahweh Father's testimony and instrument to judge Abner's rebellion against his king and authority, despite the approval and encouragement of David with his mercy.

Did David learn anything from this? Not at all (as we will see several times). In fact, we find here that mercy can be VERY hypocritical. Law or fatherhood is consistent; but mercy, in the flesh, is feminine and often whimsical and hypocritical. The people who upheld my daughter were merciful, yet in so doing they violated the law of Yahweh. They said on the one hand that they follow the Scriptures, yet they denied them by their very actions.

When Abner died, Ish-bosheth lost courage and all Israel was disturbed. Two commanders followed the example of Abner's rebellion, but instead this time immediately took matters directly into their own hands and killed Ish-bosheth and beheaded him. So what did they do next? They obviously knew David's intentions against Ish-bosheth and that he had already supported Abner's rebellion, so of course they took the head of Ish-bosheth to David. Hypocritically, David objected to their actions and had them killed and their hands and feet cut off. (These are the same things Yahweh removed on Dagon, the Philistine fish god, and relates to the loss of priesthood by Christianity). So where is mercy going to stand on this? Who knows?

This completes our consideration of this first account. Let us now proceed to the second. We have established here some valuable and helpful foundation stones for the remaining four accounts.