The Deep End

On the Horns of a Dilemma

God’s law provided a place of r­efuge when a person committed manslaughter, so that he could not be harmed until the facts were heard.

He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death. And if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand; then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee. But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die.

Exodus 21:12-14

And thou shalt make an altar of shittim wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare: and the height thereof shall be three cubits. And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof: his horns shall be of the same: and thou shalt overlay it with brass.

Exodus 27:1-2

These were the instructions that God gave to Moses for building the altar of sacrifice. The altar was built with what we call acacia wood, and it had, at each of its four corners, a horn, like a bull’s horn, curving upward.

Many centuries later, when King David was on his death bed, this feature became relevant in an important Biblical narrative. The altar of burnt offerings had horns which could be seized in an attempt to claim sanctuary. This altar was kept in a tent or a tabernacle in anticipation of its being moved into its future home in the Temple, which David’s son, Solomon, would build. David learned that his eldest son Adonijah was going to seize the throne for himself and try to circumvent God’s promise that Solomon would replace David as King, so David went ahead and had Solomon anointed as King (co-regent) while David was still alive. Adonijah, along with those who had conspired with him to seize the throne, was celebrating when word reached them that David had beaten them to the punch and named Solomon as king. A messenger showed up at Adonijah’s coronation celebration and said this:

And also Solomon sitteth on the throne of the kingdom. And moreover the king’s servants came to bless our lord king David, saying, God make the name of Solomon better than thy name, and make his throne greater than thy throne. And the king bowed himself upon the bed. And also thus said the king, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which hath given one to sit on my throne this day, mine eyes even seeing it. And all the guests that were with Adonijah were afraid, and rose up, and went every man his way. And Adonijah feared because of Solomon, and arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.

I Kings 1:46-50

Adonijah feared that his treason against his father the King, and against his own brother, the newly-crowned co-king, would mean his death, so he fled to a place that he thought would secure his safety. Sometimes in movies, a fugitive will run into a church, thought to be a safe-haven or a place of sanctuary.

There were cities of refuge for this purpose under the Mosaic covenant.

And it was told Solomon, saying, Behold, Adonijah feareth king Solomon: for, lo, he hath caught hold on the horns of the altar, saying, Let king Solomon swear unto me today that he will not slay his servant with the sword.

I Kings 1:51

This tactic did work. Solomon allowed Adonijah to live, and to go home, but when David ultimately died, Adonijah tried again. His co-conspirators included Abiathar, the high priest, and Joab, men who at times had been loyal to David, but had turned against him at the end. Joab, who was the general of David’s armies, had committed two murders many years ago, for which he had never been punished. When he learned that Adonijah had been killed for this second attempt to take the throne from Solomon, he knew that his number was up, and, perhaps remembering Adonijah’s tactic, tried the same thing:

Then tidings came to Joab: for Joab had turned after Adonijah, though he turned not after Absalom. And Joab fled unto the tabernacle of the Lord, and caught hold on the horns of the altar. And it was told king Solomon that Joab was fled unto the tabernacle of the Lord; and, behold, he is by the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, Go, fall upon him. And Benaiah came to the tabernacle of the Lord, and said unto him, Thus saith the king, Come forth. And he said, Nay; but I will die here. And Benaiah brought the king word again, saying, Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.

I Kings 2:28-30

To be caught on the “horns of a dilemma” is two face two alternatives, either of which has an unpleasant or undesired consequence:

Child: Can I have ice cream?
Parent: Only if you eat a vegetable.
Child: What vegetable are we having?
Parent: You can choose between broccoli and bruussels sprouts.

Or, in a more serious example, parents sometimes find themselves on the horns of a dilemma which looks something like this: We can spend more hours working to afford better things for our children, or we can actually spend time with them at the expense of providing some enjoyable things. Life would be simple if all choices were clear-cut.

We can see a couple of lessons about the predicament in which Joab found himself after fleeing to the altar and seizing the horns for protection.

1. When we have sinned, safety from the consequences of our sins is not found in a place.

I am thankful for the building we call the church. I am even more thankful for the “actual” Church: God’s people who meet together to encourage each other, to build each other up, to minister as a team, to comfort and pray for each other and with each other. Church is a Biblical activity. We are commanded to be a part of it and to participate in it.

Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Hebrews 10:25

However, church itself is not our place of refuge when we have sinned against God. Joab was a military man. He was a man of war, a man of bloodshed, and a man of military opportunism. We could praise him for his loyalty to God’s anointed king, David – while it lasted. However, if your loyalty is to another person, more so than to God Himself, you are risking disappointment and discouragement, and are missing out on the joy, blessings, benefits, and security that come from having a true loyalty to God Himself first and foremost. There is no indication in the history of Joab’s public service, as we find it in Scripture, that he was a man who visited the altar regularly. There is no evidence of his piety or a meaningful and personal relationship with the Lord. At the end of your life, or at a time of crisis, a visit to a location associated with the worship of God is no guarantee of safety.

Church is a place and a body where we invest our lives, not a place to visit once in a while for appearance’s sake or as a last ditch desperate attempt to appease a God we only “knew” through second- or third-hand reports. Make sure you are no stranger to the altar where sins are confessed and forgiveness is granted. It can be a sweet place of intimacy and fellowship with the Lord for those who seek to know HIM, not only his human representatives or the accessories of his worship.

2. The ordinances of God are not a substitute for true grace and true faith.

The horns on the altar of sacrifice to which Joab clung were never intended as a superstitious talisman. They did not hold any magic power, any more than the pole designated as “base” does in a game of playground tag. The Lord’s Supper is no substitute for God’s grace. Baptism is not a substitute for faith in Christ. Church membership is no substitute for true salvation. Having a grandpa who was a faithful Chrsitian preacher or ten generations of great-grandpas who were all church deacons is no substitute for being born again as a child of God. We praise the Lord for His ordinances. They help us to remember Him, and they encourage us to examine our lives, but they do not infuse grace supernaturally, and a non-Christian who partakes of the Lord’s Supper, gets baptized, or joins a church commits a greater sin than one who admits these things are forbidden to him unless he surrenders to Christ. Joab, in a desperate attempt to keep from reaping the consequences of his sins, suddenly became very serious about getting to the altar. Did it work?

So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up, and fell upon him, and slew him: and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness.

I Kings 2:34

There is a picture here of the Gospel, and there is a foreshadowing of the Person and work of Christ which was to come, as there is in so many of the Old Testament stories.

The person who lives in egregious sin throughout his life, as well as the person who is a religious hypocrite, is in line for God’s wrath, just as Joab was in line for Solomon’s wrath. God’s justice will be done on those who have broken His law. However, there is a place of refuge even greater and more secure than the horns of the altar, and the sincere sinner, who is truly sorry for his sins, may flee there, even in the last moment of his life, and find safety, pardon, and forgiveness.

Joab did not find it because he only wanted the opportunity to get out of trouble. People will not find in Christ a superficial loophole to escape God’s wrath, but they may find the bloody Cross, the real altar which the Tabernacle altar pointed to, with two “horns,” upon which the Son of God’s arms were stretched wide, and, on the horns of that dilemma, they may find a perfect and dying Savior who did not try to escape the righteous wrath of God, but suffered it in the place of those who truly believe in Him, and there they may humbly beg His forgiveness and receive His salvation.