Is He King Yet? - 2 Samuel 2
Prayer: Lord help us to grasp the situation that David & the Israelite people were facing after the defeat of their king and their army. Help us to come to an understanding of the turmoil and trouble, so we can empathize with the characters involved and better understand their actions. Help us to learn from their example, and look to you for guidance when changes come and conflicts arise.
Quickly Form Groups and answer the following questions:
1. If you know God has called you to a specific ministry or area of service, how quickly do you think God should place you in that service? How patient are you during the process of preparation? What can you learn from waiting that you might not learn if things fall in place right away?
2. How protective of your family are you? What is your family culture, what means were you taught to use when an "attack" came against your family? What example did you get from watching parents & grandparents dealing with "attacks" on the family?
Setting the Scene: I'm not going to go back over David's early years, if any of you weren't here for those lessons I strongly suggest reading over them (lessons 1-16). When we last left David he'd gotten the news that his predecessor and nemesis King Saul was dead, and that Saul's son Jonathan (David's best friend) was also dead, this was the result of Israel's war with the Philistines. So it would seem that things are finally set in place for David to ascend to the throne of Israel, after all he's already been anointed by God's prophet for that very position, but it's not that simple.
The nations around them practiced dynastic succession - when the king died the eldest son took over. Also, frequently there were cases where a powerful general would usurp the throne, frequently from a young or week son who was set to inherit. Keep this in mind as we move forward from this point, since there are sons of Saul still living as well as strong generals - both of David's & Saul's armies. The uncertainty of life in a country with no leader adds tension to the whole situation for the people of Israel, and soon they'll start taking sides.
David has been a fugitive for about 12 years at this point, hiding out from King Saul who wanted to kill him, this at the ages of about 17 - 30 years old. David has been living a nomadic type of life with his growing entourage of fighting men & families that had become oppressed under Saul. All along David never attacked Israel, and at least once sent gifts to people in Israel to help them as they lived under Saul's tyrannical reign. As we start today's passage David is still living in Ziklag, a town in Philistine territory, and the Philistine king still wrongly believes he has David under his control.
2 Samuel 2 v1: The words "in the course of time" speak volumes regarding David's patience. David didn't rush in, he didn't try to immediately take over, he didn't assume he knew what God had in mind. Instead David inquired of God, and he did so over time, making certain that he was going in God's time to the place God had chosen. How did David inquire of God? We don't have any clear indication, but it may have been through prayer or by the use of the Urim & Thummim. How did God speak to David? We also don't know that, but we do know that God was specific that David should go & the city he should go to was Hebron.
David had been told many years earlier that he was to be Israel's king, that he had been selected by God for that job, so it may have been tempting for him to simply march into Israel and assume command - but he didn't & this shows his depth of character. I am fully convinced that David did not proceed until he was absolutely certain he had heard from the Lord. As for me, I tend to run ahead and then ask the Lord to bless what I'm doing... how about you? Are you patient as God works out His plan for you, or are you running ahead and expecting God to join you?
2-4a: David moves his entire entourage to Hebron, a city with a rich history for the people of Israel. Hebron was a city where Abraham had settled, God spoke to Abraham there telling him Sarah would have a child (Genesis 18). Many years after Abraham, as the Israelites were returning from Egypt and conquering the peoples inhabiting the promised land, after capturing Hebron Joshua gave the city to Caleb as a reward for his bravery. Now David and his entourage will be able to stop running and settle down for a while in Hebron & its surrounding towns. The people of the tribe of Judah, David's tribe, came right away and publicly made David their king.
v4b-7: David sends word to the men who had bravely recovered the bodies of Saul & his sons after they had been hung up for display by the Philistines. David affirms that they were loyal to their king (Saul), and he commends them for that. These men may have feared that David would see them as an enemy since they had acted so valiantly on Saul's behalf; instead David sends word to reassure them, and to invite them to come under him as their king (Manasseh). We don't know if they accepted David's gracious invitation, but it speaks volumes of David's character that he wanted to reassure them that any prior allegiance to Saul would be honored and not avenged.
v8-11: Who is Abner? He was Saul's general, and also his cousin, and he seeks to keep the royal line "in the family" by making Saul's son Ish-Bosheth king in Saul's place. Remember that David had also served Saul, and David & Abner would have served under Saul together - these two men would have been well known to each other. Ish-Bosheth is a weak king, with the real power being the army's loyalty to Abner; however, the remainder of Israel (those that haven't gone over to David) has him as king. Ish-Bosheth only reigns 2 years (we'll hear of his demise in chapter 4). David remains in Hebron 7 1/2 years, content to rule over the house of Judah.
I want to pause at this point and remind us that the action happening in the narrative of 2 Samuel is not necessarily happening quickly - we shouldn't read our "instant" culture into the narrative. David likely took a bit of time returning to Israel, and time for Judah to gather and anoint him their king, but I'm guessing it wasn't particularly long - a couple months perhaps. As for Ish-Bosheth many Bible scholars believe it may have taken years to make him "king over Israel" - after all, they had been squarely defeated by the Philistines & most of their territory had been lost in war - it would have taken time to rebuild the army and also to establish Ish-Bosheth as a dynastic heir. From the timing of other events in the chapters to come it may have taken as much as 5 years to place Ish-Bosheth on the throne of Israel.
v12-14: We know who Abner is, but who is Joab? He is David's general, and also David's nephew (his sister's son). Joab has a vested family interest in David's reign, and in expanding David's reign to over all Israel. These two generals meet in Gibeon, in the tribal area of Benjamin (Saul's tribe), at the Pool of Gibeon - and there appears to be this stare-down happening. The Pool of Gibeon is a well known archaeological site, it is a rather large cistern, cut into solid rock, it is about 82 feet deep & 37 feet in diameter, you would access the water by going down a staircase that was set along the edges of the cistern & then once at the bottom following a tunnel to an underground water source. Water being a much needed commodity in an arid land, a pool like this would be something an army would try to capture in order to gain strength in an area. Apparently Joab is trying to extend David's territory into the tribal lands of Saul's family.
v15-17: It appears that diplomatic discussions have failed, so to resolve their differences Abner suggests a representative battle, Joab accepts. At this point 12 men from each side are selected, they all use the same tactic to attack, and they all die... hmm... well they were all trained in the ways of war of Israel. The place was renamed Helkath Hazzurim which means "field of daggers" or "field of hostilities". Since representative battle fails a full battle ensues and David's men are victorious - that's the short version, the long version is in the next verses.
v18-21: Three brothers, all David's nephews:
Joab - is David's general.
Abishai - we've heard of Abishai previously, he is the one who snuck into Saul's camp at night with David back in 1 Samuel 26.
Asahel - we're hearing about this 3rd brother, and apparently he can run like a wild gazelle.
Asahel is focused, he's after the top guy in the opposing army & will not let up. Remember these guys all know each other, these guys are all Israelites - all part of one big dysfunctional family & all have likely served together previously in Saul's army. This is a civil war, the two sides know each other. Abner knows Asahel, he tries to convince him to go after some of his men instead of him, but Asahel would not be deterred.
v22-23: Abner doesn't want to strike down Asahel and have Joab's vengeance focused on him, so he tries again to get Asahel to turn aside. Asahel's persistence cost him his life, he was no match for Abner. Did people notice, oh yes they did, it says "every man stopped when he came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died" - you don't take lightly killing the brother of the general of the enemy's forces. Blood revenge was common in those days as it is today in some parts of the world where tribal feuds occur, Abner had tried to avoid this but failed.
v24-26: The two remaining brothers are seeing blood, they continue to pursue Abner even as the day is ending. Suddenly more men are rallying to Abner, possibly men who were living in the area & had come out to join the battle, and they took their stand on a hill top. Abner again tries to reason with his pursuers: Do they really want to increase the bitterness that has grown from the division within the Israelite peoples? How long are you going to pursue your own people?
v27-29: Something in Abner's words caught Joab's attention, he realizes that their continued pursuit is not what God would want, so he blows the trumpet (likely a Shofar) signaling the troops to halt the battle. Abner's troops marched their retreat through the night - a smart move considering the potential danger to Abner himself after the death of Asahel.
v30-32: Joab returns, and they've had losses, depending on how you count them they've either lost 20 men (Asahel + 19) or 32 (Asahel + 19 + 12 in representative battle). In contrast Abner's forces have lost 360 men. They take Asahel and bury him in his home town of Bethlehem, then march through the night back to David's headquarters in Hebron.
Closing Prayer: Lord help us to be patient, patient to hear from you, patient to be placed where you want us, patient for you to work out things in your time. As you are helping us to be patient with how you work help us also to be patient with others around us, remembering to value people, remembering to love and forgive as you have loved and forgiven us.
Quickly Form Groups Again, and answer the following questions:
3. Is there someone against whom you hold a grudge? What should you do about it?
4. Why is it important to resolve conflicts with others? What is the Christian's responsibility if the conflict is with:
a. a fellow Christian?
b. a non-Christian?
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