2 Samuel 4 – 5 part 3

 

Now last week we ended with Abner putting things into place so that David would reign over all of Israel. However if you will remember Joab David’s nephew decided to take revenge on Abner for killing his brother and so he cowardly kill’s Abner behind David’s back. We pick up where we left off in Chapter 4.

 

2 Samuel 4:1 When Saul's son heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he lost heart, and all Israel was troubled.

 

When Saul’s son hears about Abner’s death it causes him to lose all hope and his death had troubled all Israel. The reason why it troubled them was because he had such great influence among the people and they highly respected him. Even though Saul’s son was afraid of him and know that Abner was going put his reign to a end he respected him as well.

 

2 Samuel 4:2 Now Saul's son had two men who were captains of troops. The name of one was Baanah (bay-uh-nah) and the name of the other Rechab, (ree-kab) the sons of Rimmon (rim-uhn) the Beerothite, (bee-uh-roth-ite) of the children of Benjamin. (For Beeroth (bee-uh-roth) also was part of Benjamin,  3 because the Beerothites fled to Gittaim (git-tah-em) and have been sojourners there until this day.)

 

Now the only thing we need to take in here is the detail that the writer goes into showing us that these 2 men were part of the tribe of Benjamin. I believe he points this out to show that these men should be loyal to Saul’s house hold but we will get to that in just a min but first we have to look at this next verse.

 

2 Samuel 4:4 Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son who was lame in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel; and his nurse took him up and fled. And it happened, as she made haste to flee, that he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth. (meh-fib-oh-shehth)

 

Besides Isbosheth Jonathan’s son is one of the living heirs to the thrown. However as we just read because of an accident at the age of 5 he was now crippled which meant to the people back then that he would never reign as king.

 

2 Samuel 4:5 Then the sons of Rimmon (rim-uhn) the Beerothite, (bee-uh-roth-ite)  Rechab (ree-kab) and Baanah, (bay-uh-nah) set out and came at about the heat of the day to the house of Ishbosheth, who was lying on his bed at noon.  6 And they came there, all the way into the house, as though to get wheat, and they stabbed him in the stomach. Then Rechab (ree-kab) and Baanah (bay-uh-nah)  his brother escaped.  7 For when they came into the house, he was lying on his bed in his bedroom; then they struck him and killed him, beheaded him and took his head, and were all night escaping through the plain.  8 And they brought the head of Ishbosheth to David at Hebron, and said to the king, "Here is the head of Ishbosheth, the son of Saul your enemy, who sought your life; and the LORD has avenged my lord the king this day of Saul and his descendants."

 

Again here we have these 2 men mentioned that should have been loyal to household of Saul especially since they had their roots with the Benjamites. Now these 2 men were used to being important people as they served as captains over their troops. So I think about their situation to me it appears that in their mind they want to make sure that they will still be important people under the reign of David. No doubt they knew that the power was shifting to David’s side and they would soon be out of job and so they thought if they killed Saul’s son and brought his head to David that maybe he would reward them with a position of honor and power within his kingdom.

 

Well notice David’s response to what they did as we read in,

 

2 Samuel 4:9 But David answered Rechab (ree-kab) and Baanah (bay-uh-nah) his brother, the sons of Rimmon (rim-uhn)  the Beerothite, (bee-uh-roth-ite)  and said to them, "As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my life from all adversity,  10 "when someone told me, saying, 'Look, Saul is dead,' thinking to have brought good news, I arrested him and had him executed in Ziklag -- the one who thought I would give him a reward for his news.  11 "How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous person in his own house on his bed? Therefore, shall I not now require his blood at your hand and remove you from the earth?"  12 So David commanded his young men, and they executed them, cut off their hands and feet, and hanged them by the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ishbosheth and buried it in the tomb of Abner in Hebron.

 

Once again we find some men thinking they had done good thing that would cause them to have a reward and it backfires on them. First of all notice David gives credit to God for saving his life from all the hardships that he had to endure and then he compares these 2 men to that Amalekite who had told him that he had killed king Saul hoping for a reward and because of what the 2 men did to a unarmed man sleeping in his bed David was now going to put them to death and we read he cuts of there hands and feet and hangs them up for display. This would accomplish 2 things.

 

1. It would show that David had no intentions of killing Saul’s son.

2. It would teach a future lesson to anyone else who thinks carrying out similar action trying to impress King David.

 

2 Samuel 5:1 Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and spoke, saying, "Indeed we are your bone and your flesh.  2 "Also, in time past, when Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel out and brought them in; and the LORD said to you, 'You shall shepherd My people Israel, and be ruler over Israel.' "  3 Therefore all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the LORD. And they anointed David king over Israel.  4 David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.  5 In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.  

 

 

So after the death of Isbosheth a huge group of elders and warriors go to Hebron to let David know that they are ready to make a covenant with him. We find out more details about this even in 1 Chron. 12:23-40.

 

1 Chronicles 12:23 Now these were the numbers of the divisions that were equipped for war, and came to David at Hebron to turn over the kingdom of Saul to him, according to the word of the LORD:


In verses 24 – 37 you can read a break down of all the different tribes and people that are represented. Basically there was somewhere between 300 to 350,000 people that came to David in Hebron. Notice what else is revealed to us starting in,

 

1 Chronicles 12:38 All these men of war, who could keep ranks, came to Hebron with a loyal heart, to make David king over all Israel; and all the rest of Israel were of one mind to make David king.  39 And they were there with David three days, eating and drinking, for their brethren had prepared for them.  40 Moreover those who were near to them, from as far away as Issachar (ihz-ah-car) and Zebulun (zebb-you-lun) and Naphtali, (naf-tuh-lie) were bringing food on donkeys and camels, on mules and oxen -- provisions of flour and cakes of figs and cakes of raisins, wine and oil and oxen and sheep abundantly, for there was joy in Israel.

 

Here we learn that all of these people spent 3 day with David and they had a big feast in celebration of David being their new king. You know sometimes we don’t think a whole lot about the little details but I can help but think how crowed Hebron was at this time or how much food and drink had to be provided for this huge group of people. Now our text says that David began his reign at 30 and so now at this particular time he was either 37 or 38 years old and I cant even began to imagine the emotions David was going through at this moment realizing that he was not reigning over all Israel as God said he would.

 

Now back in our text in 2 Samuel we learn that there was 3 reason why the children of Israel wanted united with David as their king.

 

1. we are your bone and your flesh. There were the children of Israel God’s people and so it would make sense for them to united together.

2. when Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel out and brought them in You see the recognized the fact that though Saul was their king David was the one who had lead them to victory over and over again and so he would be a great choice for a king.

3. the LORD said to you, 'You shall shepherd My people Israel, and be ruler over Israel.' " In this the children of Israel we accepting God will that David would be their king and we learn from our text the David would reign of all of Israel for the next 33 years.

 

Psalm 78 sums it up this way.

 

Psalm 78:70 He also chose David His servant, And took him from the sheepfolds;  71 From following the ewes that had young He brought him, To shepherd Jacob His people, And Israel His inheritance.  72 So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.

 

Now look at what happens  next starting in verse 6

 

2 Samuel 5:6 And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who spoke to David, saying, "You shall not come in here; but the blind and the lame will repel you," thinking, "David cannot come in here."  7 Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion (that is, the City of David).  8 Now David said on that day, "Whoever climbs up by way of the water shaft and defeats the Jebusites (the lame and the blind, who are hated by David's soul), he shall be chief and captain." Therefore they say, "The blind and the lame shall not come into the house."  9 Then David dwelt in the stronghold, and called it the City of David. And David built all around from the Millo (mill-oh) and inward.  10 So David went on and became great, and the LORD God of hosts was with him.

 

Now that David had all these men at his disposal he was ready to reign from Jerusalem and so he and his men go to take this city from Jebusites. Now to remember that back in the day when Joshua was capture the promise land for the children of Israel one thing they failed to do was to run Jebusties all the way out. Josh. 15:63. Now at this time in history they had control of Jerusalem and we need to realize that Jerusalem was a very strategic site because it located upon a plateau surrounded on 3 sides by deep ravines. It was natural fortress.

 

This is why these Jebusites were being so cocky. They didn’t think David and his men would be able to defeat them. But they were wrong and David ran them out and took control of that great city. From this time forward Jerusalem would play a very important part in history of the Jewish nation.

 

2 Samuel 5:11 Then Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and carpenters and masons. And they built David a house.  12 So David knew that the LORD had established him as king over Israel, and that He had exalted His kingdom for the sake of His people Israel.

 

Here we are introduced to the King of Tyre for the first time. This king would end up having a very long reign because we will find out the he was still reigning as a king at the 24th year of Solomon’s reign. Apparently David’s victory over the Jebusites had made a big impression on this King of Tyre because he sends men and supplies to build David a house. Now Tyre was famous for its commerce, wealth and its skilled labors and the King of Tyre was doing what he could to be a peace with David. After a long hard road David was finally getting to experience what God had promised him and David Give God the credit and also recognizes the fact that his kingdom was not to make him richer but it was for all of the children of Israel.

 

2 Samuel 5:13 And David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, after he had come from Hebron. Also more sons and daughters were born to David. 

 

Now in verse 14-16 it list the names of his children. Again I want to point out that having a huge harem back then was considered a reflection on just how powerful and rich a king was. However as I pointed out last week this was a sin and David just kept adding more and more women to the mix. This opened all kind of problems for David and his family life and later on we will see just how bad it gets. We know that David’s lifestyle also was passed on to his son Solomon who had even more wives and concubines than David every dreamed of having.

 

2 Samuel 5:17 Now when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. And David heard of it and went down to the stronghold.  18 The Philistines also went and deployed themselves in the Valley of Rephaim. (reph-ih-yuhm) 19 So David inquired of the LORD, saying, "Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand?" And the LORD said to David, "Go up, for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into your hand."  20 So David went to Baal Perazim, (pih-ray-zim) and David defeated them there; and he said, "The LORD has broken through my enemies before me, like a breakthrough of water." Therefore he called the name of that place Baal Perazim. (pih-ray-zim) 21 And they left their images there, and David and his men carried them away.

 

The Philistines had been gaining more control of the land and when the heard about David victory over of the Jebusites this got their undivided attention and they probably wanted to attach David and his newly formed kingdom before it became stronger. Now somehow David finds out from someone what the Philistines are up to and so David does a great thing because he ask God what he should do and he gets his answer. He is to go fight the Philistines and he will win. Just as God promises David defeats the Philistines. Once again we see the David gives God the glory for the victory. It interesting to note how David describes how he defeated his enemy.

 

"The LORD has broken through my enemies before me, like a breakthrough of water."

 

What this is describing is like water that is breaking through a Dam.

 

 22 Then the Philistines went up once again and deployed themselves in the Valley of Rephaim. (reph-ih-yuhm)  23 Therefore David inquired of the LORD, and He said, "You shall not go up; circle around behind them, and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees.  24 "And it shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall advance quickly. For then the LORD will go out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines."  25 And David did so, as the LORD commanded him; and he drove back the Philistines from Geba (ghee-buh) as far as Gezer. 

 

Well we see that the Philistines don’t give up very easily and they try to attack David again. But this time they were in for a surprise. Based on God instructions David and his men were going to ambush the Philistines from behind and God was going to help them win. In fact we are told the God will strike there camp before David and them get there themselves. Now sometimes God would do this for his people but God still wanted David and his men to do their part as well. They still had to go and fight what was left after God did what he did to them. This was just the beginning of many battles that David and his people would have to fight throughout his reign.

 

There are several lessons that we can learn from these 2 chapters.

 

1. No matter how big of a battle we face against our adversary the devil if we trust in God and we are faithful to him he will deliver us just as he made possible for David to defeat the Jebusites and the Philistines.

2. We also learn that no matter how big our problems may seem they can never stand against the power of God.

3. Finally we learned how important it is for us to follow David’s example by praying to God for answers to those difficult situations in our lives.