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At a time when the Lord gave David victory wherever he went, a grievous insult that was put upon Israel’s ambassadors led to a war against the ammonites
Nahash king of the Ammonites died and his son Hanun succeeded him.
In order to secure continued peace, David sent a delegation to express sympathy to Hanun concerning his father who had shown kindness to him while he was alive
The leaders of Ammon however advised King Hanun that David’s delegates were spies sent to explore the land so that he could conquer it
Hanun then humiliated David’s envoy by shaving off half of their beards and cutting off their garments so that their private parts were exposed
This terminated the diplomatic relations between Israel and Ammon and led to war.
Ammon invited allies, but David, with the help of his military leaders, Joab and his brother Abishai who both trusted in God defeated them
While Paul and Barnabas were at Antioch of Syria, some men from Judea arrived and began to teach the believers that unless they were circumcised as required by the law of Moses, they cannot be saved
These men were Judaizers who were conservative Jewish Christians and believed that Gentiles must first become Jews in order to be saved
This became a big problem because many Gentiles in Antioch had responded to the gospel without being required to keep the law
Paul and Barnabas who were the leaders of the church in Antioch argued and disagreed with them, and the case was transferred to the Early Church elders and leaders in Jerusalem
With the Pentecost experience as an example, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is evidence that God accepts them
Therefore the Gentile converts must not be burdened with the terms of the Jewish law, for the Jews and Gentiles alike are saved by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus