2nd Samuel 20:16-22- Then cried a wise woman out of the city, Hear, hear; say, I pray you, unto Joab, Come near hither, that I may speak with thee. And when he was come near unto her, the woman said, Art thou Joab? And he answered, I am he. Then she said unto him, Hear the words of thine handmaid. ANd he answered, I do hear. Then she spake, saying, They were wont to speak in old time, saying, They shall surely ask counsel at Abel: and so they ended the matter. I am one of them that are peaceable and faithful in Israel: thou seekest to destroy a city and a mother in Israel: why wilt thou swallow up the inheritance of the LORD? And Joab answered and said, Far be it from me, that I should swallow up or destroy. The matter is not so: but a man of mount Ephraim, Sheba the son of Birchri by name, hath lifted up his hand against the king, even against David: deliver him only, and I will depart from the city. And the woman said unto Joab, Behold, his head shall be thrown to thee over the wall. Then the woman went unto all the people in her wisdom. ANd they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Birchi, and cast it out to Joab. And he blew a trumpet, and they retired to the city, every man to his tent. And Joab returned to Jerusalem unto the king.

What a story. You may be shocked as you read it. However, we must not pass by the fact that the woman in this story is not referred to by name, but by attribute. She is declared by God to be wise. Joab, who was the captain of King David's army, would have certainly destroyed those that would harbor one coming out against the king. In her wisdom she delivered justice to the unrighteous rebel, in order to save the city. Wisdom indeed. The peace of a city is worth no one man, the peace of a family is worth no one man, and the peace of a church is worth no one man. Obviously, I am not advocating beheading, but there comes a time where you may find yourself to have to depart from one, in order to save the whole.

Elder Ray Blanchard