A Shift in Power - 2 Samuel 3:1-21
Prayer: Lord help us to be at peace with those around us, to be kind and considerate, and to be respectful of those you have put in authority. In today's lesson we see a civil war, a power struggle, and people are hurt in the process. Lord, we don't always know why trouble and struggles come, but we pray that we will learn from our troubles.
Quickly Form Groups:
1. Briefly have each person share 1 trouble or struggle they are facing (think single sentence), say a brief (think single sentence) prayer for each. (share, pray, share, pray, ....)
2. Has your family ever faced a problem that caused division? What was done or could be done to try to resolve the division & bring peace?
There is a civil war that's started in Israel, though a temporary cease in hostilities was seen at the end of Chapter 2 the war is far from over. We must keep in mind that these people are all related, the houses of Judah (David) & Benjamin (Saul) are intermixed - remember David's first wife Michal is Saul's daughter! So though we call it a civil war we cannot think of it like we think of the U.S. civil war because the ties between the people in this instance are much greater - they're family!
2 Samuel 3 v1-5: The war continues, David's followers become stronger & Saul's become weaker, but its more than just that. David's personal family also becomes stronger, evidenced by the sons born to him, while Saul's family is dying out.
In chapter 2 he had two wives, Adonijah & Abigail, when he returned to Judah; but now he has at least 6 who have born a son to him while settled in Judah. It's possible he had sons & daughters when arriving in Judah, it's also possible that he had additional sons from these wives as well as daughters from these & possibly other wives. Keep in mind that in the times when this was written sons were considered of more value since they would be more able to provide physical strength for manual labor or for war, also remember that the first son was always seen as the most significant. I'm speculating that David had several wives and lots & lots of kids by this time, but we really don't know for certain. Several of the sons named here will be mentioned significantly in the narrative of later portions of David's life, they would have been considered the "head" of their respective groups of full-siblings, but I won't go further than to just mention that now.
You notice that David's not being called on the carpet for having multiple wives, you'd think that the priest that traveled with him would have corrected this behavior, but he didn't. It's possible that David was unaware of the scriptures concerning this, it's also possible that the priest was unaware - they had been on the run & not in a place where the scrolls of scripture would have been stored. This points to a problem in Israel at this time, apparently there was a lack of knowledge of God's ways & laws (evidence of this will be seen in later chapters), and apparently there was an adoption of the ways of the cultures around them. Fast forward to today - we all know people today who call themselves Christians, and even people who are Christians, who are living and acting just like the culture around us; in fact, I think if we were honest we would each see in ourselves a bit of this happening as well - this is something that should cause us to pause, reflect, repent, and pray!!
6-7: Abner is gaining popularity and strength within the family of Saul, and he is a cousin of Saul. I mentioned last week that it was not unusual in the nations of those times for a strong general to take over if there was a weak king on the throne, and we know Ish-Bosheth is a weak king. Apparently it was believed that Abner had taken up with one of Saul's former concubines, whether this is true & to what degree we don't know, and there is nothing particularly wrong with him taking this woman as a wife for himself; however, in the culture of the nations of those days taking a former king's concubine was seen as taking some of that king's power - this should not have been seen as a power grab for a God follower, but Ish-Bosheth perceives it as a threat. What Ish-Bosheth is really doing is accusing Abner of trying to take Saul's place, trying to grab the throne, this is a serious accusation.
v8-11: Abner is livid, he's done everything he can to preserve Saul's throne & has been loyal to Saul's family & friends. Pay attention to what he said in verse 10, he was aware that God had promised the throne to David, yet he has continued to be loyal to Saul even after Saul's death. I'm guessing that Saul demanded a pledge of loyalty from his general, even if it was his cousin, and it was likely a pledge that included keeping his family on the throne. I get a sense that Abner wasn't exactly happy with the situation but was continuing to be faithful, and this accusation becomes the last straw, he's had enough of Saul's dynasty - he's now going to support & promote David, the king of God's choosing. Ish-Bosheth is silenced, he is fearful of his powerful general - this is one more proof that the real power & influence in the house of Saul lies with Abner not Ish-Bosheth.
v12: Abner sends word to David saying "Whose land is it?", implying he believes one of the following:
- the land belongs to God, therefor God's choice should be in charge
- the land belongs to God's appointed king - David
- the lands of the non-Judah clans are under his (Abner's) power to be done with as he pleases
Whatever he meant may never be known to us, but the result is that he's letting David know that he intends to help David bring all Israel under David's rule.
v13-16: David is pleased with Abner's message, and he makes an interesting demand. He demands from both Abner & Ish-Bosheth that Michal, his first wife, be returned to him. Did David know that Michal had been given to another man? I think he would have known this! Did David love Michal so much that he just had to have her back? I don't think so, this doesn't appear to be about love so much as it appears to be about power and authority. Michal is Saul's daughter, David's marriage to her makes him Saul's son-in-law, David had earned this position by engaging in a war-effort that put him at great personal risk, David's marriage to Michal would strengthen David's claim to the throne in the eyes of those who might not accept that he was chosen for this position by God.
Let's take a look at this situation: Michal was David's first wife, the one wife of his that would have been considered his true wife in the eyes of God - even though she had been given to someone else by her father Saul, and even though he had taken other wives. This is a mess, she was likely about 12-14 years old when she was married to David & he fled, and at this point in the narrative she's probably in her early 30s. She had a husband who obviously loved her, who followed after and wept & had to be ordered home by Abner. She most likely had several children as well, they would have been left behind with her husband. Michal has to be devastated, and once again we see her being used as a pawn in a power-struggle for the throne of Israel.
This seems to be cruel on David's part, but I believe David tried to make things as good as he could for Michal. We will see Michal again many years later in the narrative, and when we do her resentment comes out against David - she despises & looks down on him even though he's the king. In that passage we see a picture of her character that is not pretty - could it be that she was a spoiled little vindictive princess? Could it be that she had been a demanding and cruel wife to her obviously devoted husband? Notice that her husband was weeping but it doesn't say anything about her weeping. She was royalty as Saul's daughter & would continue to be royalty as David's wife, was her attitude one of entitlement? We don't know...
v17-18: Abner meets with the elders of those who have Ish-Bosheth as their king, apparently they have wanted to make David their king for a while. In those times the strength of a king and that king's forces were as source of security for the peoples, apparently the elders had been wanting to shift power to David who had proven himself to be a strong king. Abner tells them to go ahead and ally themselves with David, indicating that the army of the family of Saul is also going over to David - leaving Ish-Bosheth with no army to support his kingdom. Abner confirms that this was what God had indicated He wanted all along, and that it's time to shift their loyalties to David.
v19-21: Abner is wise, he takes extra care to speak to the Benjamites (Saul's tribe) to make certain that they are also ready to shift authority to David. Finally Abner goes with a delegation to David, and he is coming as a negotiator of peace - telling David what the peoples of Israel plan to do. David responds by throwing a feast, this is joyous news, the end of a civil war and the reuniting of all Israel under one king - the king of God's choosing. David sends Abner away in peace, to make the arrangements for David to become the king over all of Israel.
Closing Prayer: Lord, sometimes we resist your will even when you have shown it clearly. Help us Lord to repent from this behavior, to humble ourselves and submit to you. Help us Lord to do whatever we can in our lives to be at peace with others, but help us never to do this at the cost of being in your will.
Quickly Form Groups Again:
3. Thinking of Michal, share a time when you felt you had been treated unfairly. How did you respond to the treatment? Could you have responded in a more Godly manner?
4. Think of the social issues facing us today. How can we be at peace with people who we are at odds with regarding social issues? How can we demonstrate God's love but at the same time uphold His statutes?
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