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 Davids 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 honour thy father, that he hath sent comforters unto thee? Hath not David rather sent his servants unto thee, to search the city, and to spy it out, and to overthrow it? Wherefore Hanun took Davids 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 unto 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. [2 Samuel 10:1-5]

BACKGROUND!!!
“And it came to pass after this, that the king of the children of Ammon died…”

David the king of Israel resolved to reciprocate kindness unto Hanun the new king of the Ammonites, because when the father of Hanun, Nahash was alive, he showed much kindness unto David. David therefore sent his trusted servants to comfort Hanun on the death of father. But surprisingly, Hanun dealt cruelly with the servants of David because, his mind was polluted against them by thinking the servants of David had come to spy out his city in preparation for an eventual overthrow. Hanun in his maltreatment did two terrible things to the servants of David, and these two maltreatments are worth considering:
The first maltreatment was: He shaved off one half of their beards,
While the second maltreatment was: He cut their garments to the buttocks, exposing their nakedness thereby, and he sent them away.

David, on hearing this, strangely did not sympathize with his trusted servants on this shameful and humiliating treatment, instead, he got very angry with those servants. He did not pity them in their shame, he did not receive them back into the palace also, and neither did he wage war immediately in revenge on Hanun the king of Ammon and his kingdom for such disrespect. In the contrary, he insisted that his servants remain back at Jericho, far from the palace "UNTIL their beards be grown". Only after their beards had grown back could they return to appear in the presence of the king as aforetime, and see his face. This is strange! The question in our hearts today is, "Why is the King angry with his servants, and why is he particular ONLY about their shaved beards, not even about their thorn garments that exposed their nakedness for all to see?

Whatsoever is written for us in the Old Testament, are not just stories or history lessons, they are for our learning and admonition so that we can be encouraged, know the Lord, and love Him more through the instructions (Romans 15:4). What then are the instructions this passage has for our lives today?

“…And David sent to comfort him by the hand of his servants…”

David sent his servants and confidants who dwelt continually in his presence. These were men the king trusted, and they could stand for him. They were his ambassadors. They go on his behalf and represent him always. Whenever you see them, you had seen the king.

Similarly, Christians, the true disciples of the Lord Jesus, are the representatives and the voice of the King of kings, and whatever God wants to do, He beckons on them to go for Him since He trusts them. God has bound Himself by an oath never to work alone, but to use His servants, the true disciples as Vessels through which He would work in the world. In other words, if God would work, He must FIRST have found a Vessel whom He would use. Gods works are delayed until He finds correct vessels for them, therefore, each disciple of Jesus as Gods vessel, must never trivialize his worth in the hands of God by misbehaving. Any misconduct would hinder God from using him, and by his wrong life, he would stop the move of God.

As the servants of Davids assignment was to go and comfort the bereaved, so also, our ministry on earth is the ministry of reconciliation (2Corinthians 5:18-20). It is to comfort the brokenhearted, bring hope to a dying world, shine the light of Jesus in the midst of darkness, and draw men out of perdition into the grace of God.

“Hanun...shaved… half their beards, cut their garments...to their buttocks...”

These servants of David were humiliated, their nakedness was exposed, their beards were shaved, and they were sent away shamefully. But the reaction of David here to the shaving of his servants beards speaks volumes about how God reacts when His trusted servants are shaved of their beards of grace…

“...Tarry at Jericho until your beards be grown, then return.”

Beard in those days used to be very elaborate. Men, especially the loyalists to the kings always kept and nurtured their beards for years until it grew massively. It was very easy to differentiate men from boys simply by the size of beards they carried. Since it is impossible for a small boy to grow beards no matter how much he tried, beards were perfect signals of growth and maturity. Growing of beards is a function of age, and you could not fake it unless you had actually grown. Therefore in those days, you could tell who the DEVOTEES OF THE KING who had spent years in his presence were. They were different from the ordinary laymen just by the size of their beards because they grew them over the years as a mark of devotion. You could not be counted as matured to appear before the king except your beard set you apart.

On this occasion, David expected his men to have protected their beards jealously from being shaved. He would have honoured them greatly even if they fought to death just to protect their beards. As far as the king was concerned, it was better to die protecting your beard from being shaved, than to save your life and surrender the beard you had grown for years to the clipper blades.

By extension today, those disciples standing in the presence of God, the King of kings, are very careful to maintain and sustain their spiritual beards, which is the grace of God that had grown in their lives over the years of dwelling in Gods presence. It was better to die with your beards of grace intact, than to compromise, relinquishing your beards and live an empty life shaved of grace. It was better to die a martyr than compromise and lose Gods presence while still alive.

As far as David was concerned, the only thing that qualified these men to stand in his presence, WAS THEIR BEARD. The beard was the sign of MANLINESS. It was the ONLY sign of commitment to the king, a seal of their loyalty and fellowship, a signet of authority and confidence to access the king. Without the beard, you could not meet him. It was the basis of fellowship with the king. No reason was justifiable for any of the Kings servants to allow his beards to be shaved, even on the face of death…

The usual casual expectation after this humiliating incidence was that David should send beautiful garments to cover his servants, and send the presidential jet to recover them. But instead, he seemed to say, "I have nothing to do with you anymore, because your beard is shaved. Your beard, the symbol of your connection with me, is shaved, hence, you cannot stand before me, regardless of your portfolio. Beardless men have no space in my court, they are naked. Unless your beard grows back, you will NOT see my face… Your beard is the symbol of authority, beauty, maturity, and sign of perpetual fellowship with me. It is the only thing that grants you access to the king, and YOU HAVE LOST IT…" No man can appear before the king with his beard shaved.

“…shaved off one half of their beards, cut their garments...to their buttocks...”

Two humiliating things were done to the servants of the king, but David was only concerned about one. Why? As far as the king is concerned, the garment that is cut to the buttocks can easily be replaced in no time and at little cost, but the beard, it takes GOD ALONE to grow it… The garment can easily be copied, but the beard is what shows who you really are. The garment can easily be sewn and compromised, but the beard cannot be faked, it is a true sign of maturity and manliness. Garment is what man looks for, but beard is what God is interested in. Garment is just a cover and it can be changed any day, but beard is intrinsic to the man. Garment can easily deceive, but beard is not transferrable and cannot be borrowed. The garment is external and anybody can buy it, but beard grows from within, it is internal, even riches cannot buy it. Garment is easy to come by, but nobody can grow beard, except he is first A MAN, and he has GROWN… The state of your beard is the state of your life.

Today, people are more concerned about the garment that is cut to the buttocks. We are quick to cover our exposed nakedness because to us, that is what men see, and that is what shows that "I am naked". I suppose that when the servants of David were leaving the country of the Ammonites, they would have felt so ashamed, not because of their shaved beard, but most importantly because of their exposed buttocks. They would have been looking for ways to cover up their nakedness before men, while their true nakedness the shaved beard would have carried less weight before their eyes. They were more concerned about what men would see more than what God was seeing. They loved appreciation and acceptance before men, even at the expense of the true picture of their inner lives before the King of kings. The peril of today is that men feel that “if people see my half-shaved beards, they will think it is a new style, since I am not the only culprit”. What an evil!!!. Men wallowing in ungodliness but relaxing because they have got company… Gods verdict is, "Remain at Jericho till your beards be grown".

For a Christian who has been in Gods presence, loved God, walked with Him, and has grown his beards elaborately, if such person suddenly falls into sin and compromise and gets his beards shaved and garment torn to the buttocks, instead of him to find his way back to the cross by TARRYING in Gods presence UNTIL HIS BEARS GROW BACK, you suddenly find that he is one who is more concerned about his garment than the beard. He is concerned about how men see him than what God sees. He begins to organize cover-ups to sew his garment of shame caring less about the beards that cannot be put together easily. Many avoid sin, not because God hates it, but because their reputation before men would be tarnished. They dread the shame before men rather than the value of their relationship with God. Men love applause and admiration, hence, want to appear godly outside irrespective of what heaven sees of them in secret. Woe unto the man whom the world flatters, whereas heaven keeps him afar off. God is more interested, not just in your external displays, anybody can achieve that without stress but in your beard.
No man can grow his beards in few days, weeks or months. It takes time. It is not easy to grow the beard, but within seconds of carelessness and presumption, the beards you have grown for years could be gone, and it cannot be fixed back by human skills, new ones need to be grown again and that takes time as you tarry in Gods presence.

Have you been in Gods presence for many days? Your inner man has waxed stronger, and you are becoming tender like Jesus? And your beards are steadily growing? Be careful of the scissors of sin and the razor blade of compromise. They are very effective in shaving your beards and slashing your garments to the buttocks. It is a pity that many are quicker in putting back their garments, than growing back their beards. They would quickly cover up their shame before men, and repent superficially. They would sew beautiful garments for their buttocks, and leave the most important beard unattended to. They would not tarry before the Lord for complete restoration.

For admission back into Gods presence, you need to tarry in tears at Jericho. The beard is the symbol of your depth of with God, not your garment. What men see outside is the garment the ordinary clothes that anyone can easily sew and cover up with. But God is not looking at your garment, He is instead looking at the beard your inner man, which takes time to grow and can only be grown in God.

“Tarry at Jericho…”

Friend, are you covering up your nakedness before man, without thinking about your true nakedness your shaved beard and smooth chin. Are you covering up with some garments of religion, garments of churchianity, garments of church portfolio, church attendance, church activities, humanitarian services, philantropism, moral goodness, external sanctimony, good outward dressing… whereas, the beard of grace, holiness, joy of the Lord, sweet daily communion and fellowship with Jesus has been shaved? You cannot grow your beards with your own power, it is only grown by God in His presence. What God demands, is not what you can do by multiple efforts, ONLY God in his infinite mercy must grow in you needed beards of grace as far as you are able to tarry in dust and ashes in his presence again.

The weight of your life with God is NOT measured by the scale of men or any external displays. If the beard of grace has been shaved off from your life due to presumption and sin, God demands you tarry in tears at Jericho for restoration and freshness until grace returns and heaven smiles at you again.