2Samuel 4-6
Sunday Evening Bible Study
March 24, 2002
Introduction
When Saul was killed in a battle with the Philistines, the tribe of Judah asked David to be their king. The rest of Israel, under the influence of Saul’s general, Abner, asked Saul’s son Ishbosheth to be their king. For a while, there was war between Ishbosheth and David. In one battle, Abner was being chased by one of David’s nephews, Asahel, and in self-defense ended up killing Asahel. When Ishbosheth insulted and humiliated Abner, Abner decided that he had been foolish in having Ishbosheth rule, and he promised David to turn the kingdom over to David. But when David’s nephew Joab found out that Abner was hanging around, he tricked Abner into meeting with him and ended up murdering Abner as revenge for Abner having killed his brother Asahel. David was appalled at Joab’s move.
Ishbosheth – ‘Iysh-Bosheth – “man of shame”
2Samuel 4
:1-8 Ishbosheth is killed
:1 And when Saul's son heard that Abner was dead in Hebron, his hands were feeble, and all the Israelites were troubled.
(2 Sam 4:1 NLT) …he lost all courage, and his people were
paralyzed with fear.
Ishbosheth was a pretty cowardly guy as it was. Abner was the one who had made him king. And now that Abner was gone, Ishbosheth is afraid for his life.
:2 the name of the one was Baanah, and the name of the other Rechab, the sons of Rimmon a Beerothite
Baanah – Ba‘anah – “in affliction”
Rechab – Rekab – “rider”
Beeroth – B@’erowth – “wells” see map
These two men were from the tribe of Benjamin, the same tribe as Ishbosheth and the same tribe as Abner.
:3 And the Beerothites fled to Gittaim
Gittaim – Gittayim – “two winepresses” see map
:4 And Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son that was lame of his feet … Mephibosheth
Mephibosheth – M@phiybosheth – “exterminating the idol”. We’ll see Mephibosheth later when we get to 2Sam. 9.
:5 to the house of Ishbosheth, who lay on a bed at noon.
Ishbosheth had been ruling from Mahanaim, see map
:6 as though they would have fetched wheat
Apparently the food stores for the army was being kept at Ishbosheth’s house. Being captains of their regiments, Rechab and Baanah went to the house supposedly to pick up the next day’s rations for the men. But instead of getting wheat, they went in and killed their king.
Josephus records that there was a woman who kept watch at the door, and she had fallen asleep.
:7 took his head, and gat them away through the plain all night.
They behead Ishbosheth as proof of his death. Then from Mahanaim, they cross the Jordan River and travel all night to get to David.
:8 the LORD hath avenged my lord the king this day of Saul, and of his seed.
Lesson
Be careful what you give God credit
for
David certainly isn’t going to appreciate what has happened. I kind of think that God doesn’t either.
:9-12 David punishes the
murderers
:9 As the LORD liveth, who hath redeemed my soul out of all adversity,
God has rescued David over and over from Saul, but it was not by David killing Saul.
:10 I took hold of him, and slew him in Ziklag
This happened back in 2Sam. 1:1-16. David had the Amalekite killed who claimed to have killed Saul.
:11 when wicked men have slain a righteous person
The Amalekite had at least killed Saul in a battle after Saul had been wounded and had asked to be put to death. These men plotted and killed Ishbosheth while he was taking a nap.
:12 they slew them, and cut off their hands and their feet
Why did they cut off their hands and feet? Perhaps as indicating the parts of their bodies that had perpetrated the crime.
Lesson
Right is right
There might be people who would have thought, “Well even though it wasn’t pretty, it got the job done!”
David was appalled that it happened at all. These men were punished appropriately. The end doesn’t justify the means.
2Samuel 5
:1-5 David made king over Israel
:1 Then came all the tribes of Israel to David unto Hebron,
In Chronicles, we read that each of the tribes sends men to join David’s army, something like 350,000 joining David (1Chr. 12).
:2 Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be a captain
Thou shalt feed – ra‘ah – to pasture, tend, graze, feed; to shepherd; of ruler, teacher (fig)
a captain – nagiyd – leader, ruler, captain, prince
The shepherd boy will now shepherd a nation.
:3 king David made a league … they anointed David king
a league – b@riyth – covenant, alliance, pledge
they anointed – mashach – to smear, anoint, spread a liquid. This is the root of the word “Messiah”, the “anointed one”.
:5 in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years over all Israel
From Saul’s death, it took 7 ½ years for Israel to finally realize that David was to be king.
Lesson
It doesn’t always happen overnight
Before David had become king of the tribe of Judah, before David had become a mighty man with his own army, before David had killed the giant Goliath, he had met the prophet Samuel:
(1 Sam 16:11-13 KJV) And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy
children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he
keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will
not sit down till he come hither. {12} And he sent, and brought him in. Now he
was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And
the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he. {13} Then Samuel took the
horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the spirit of
the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to
Ramah.
We think that David could have been something like twelve to fifteen years old at the time. But David is not thirty-seven years old when he is finally crowned king of Israel.
We might get upset at the people of Israel for taking so long to finally realize that David was to be their king. Yet sometimes God requires time to take a shepherd of sheep and make him a shepherd of men.
Don’t be impatient when the things you think God has promised you don’t happen overnight.
Pastor Chuck was in ministry for seventeen years before he moved his family to Costa Mesa to pastor a little church of twenty-five people.
I knew that God had called me to be a pastor when I was eighteen years old. But I didn’t become a senior pastor until I was thirty-eight years old. And I have a feeling that I’m far from having “arrived”. I know there is still room for LOTS more work in my life.
:6-10 David takes Jerusalem
:6 the king and his men went to Jerusalem unto the Jebusites
Jerusalem – Y@ruwshalaim - “teaching of peace”. this was a city that was given partly to Judah (Josh 15:8) and partly to Benjamin (Josh 18:28). It is twenty miles from Hebron. With the entire nation wanting him to be their king, David chooses to find a new capitol, since Hebron was the traditional capitol of Judah. It seems he doesn’t want to be the King of Judah reigning over Israel, but the King of Israel. Perhaps there is something of reaching out to the tribe of Benjamin, Saul’s tribe, as well. see map
Jebusites – These were one of the Canaanite tribes, descendants of Jebus, one of the sons of Canaan (Gen. 10:16).
These were supposed to be people that Israel was supposed to remove from the land:
De 20:17 But thou shalt utterly destroy them;
[namely], the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites,
the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee:
But these were some of the people that Israel was not able to remove.
Jos 15:63 As for the Jebusites the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, the children of Judah could not drive them out: but the Jebusites
dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem unto this day.
Jud 1:21 And the children of Benjamin did not drive
out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the
children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day.
Up to this point, this is still one of the cities that has not been fully claimed for Israel.
:6 Except thou take away the blind and the lame
(NLT) "You’ll never get
in here," the Jebusites taunted. "Even the blind and lame could keep
you out!" For the Jebusites thought they were safe.
:7 the strong hold of Zion: the same is the city of David.
Zion – Tsiyown – “sunny” or “parched place”. The name of this hill becomes synonymous with Jerusalem.
Jerusalem will become David’s capitol city.
:8 And David said on that day, Whosoever getteth up to the gutter, and smiteth the Jebusites …
gutter – tsinnuwr – pipe, spout, conduit, water conduit
Warren’s Shaft, which connects the Gihon Spring outside of Jerusalem with the city. It was through this shaft that David’s soldiers entered Jerusalem.
(NLT) "Go up through
the water tunnel into the city and destroy those ‘lame’ and ‘blind’ Jebusites.
How I hate them." That is the origin of the saying, "The blind and
the lame may not enter the house."
Apparently there was a saying going around at the time about the lame and the blind. It came from the taunt that the Jebusites made towards David.
The writer of Chronicles records,
(1 Chr 11:6 KJV) And David said, Whosoever smiteth the
Jebusites first shall be chief and captain. So Joab the son of Zeruiah went
first up, and was chief.
Some have suggested that Joab had been demoted after killing Abner. With the taking of Jerusalem, Joab once again becomes the top general in David’s army.
:9 So David dwelt in the fort…David built round about from Millo
fort – matsuwd – net, prey, net prey; fastness, stronghold
Millo – millow’ – “rampart” or “mound; a part of the fortifications of Jerusalem
:11-12 A Palace
:11 Hiram king of Tyre … built David an house.
Hiram – Chiyram – “noble”. Hiram was king of Tyre, the chief city of the Phoenicians, a sea-faring people.
Hiram would later help Solomon build the temple:
(1 Ki 5:1 KJV) And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants
unto Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of
his father: for Hiram was ever a lover of David.
house – bayith –
house. The idea is that David now has a
“king’s house”, a “palace”. For kings in those days, it was considered essential for a king to build his own royal
palace to authenticate his kingdom.
:12 And David perceived that the LORD had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for his people Israel's sake.
This seems to certainly be a high point for David in his life.
As Hiram has this palace built for him, it begins to sink in that he’s really a king.
But there’s something else built into David’s heart here. He doesn’t seem to have the idea that he’s king because he’s awesome and deserves to be king. He realizes that it is all for the sake of the nation.
(2 Sam 5:12 NLT) And David realized that the LORD had made
him king over Israel and had made his kingdom great for the sake of his people
Israel.
Lesson
It’s for others
I think this is what a leader ought to be like. A leader ought to be thinking of what is good for those he is leading, not what is good for himself.
Our spiritual gifts are not given to us to make us wonderful. They are given so that others might be helped:
(1 Cor
12:7 NLT) A spiritual gift is given to
each of us as a means of helping the entire church.
We need to be thinking of others more than ourselves.
(Phil 2:3-4 NLT) Don't be selfish; don't live to make a good
impression on others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself.
{4} Don't think only about your own affairs, but be interested in others, too,
and what they are doing.
Jesus said,
(Mat 20:25-28 NASB) But Jesus called them to Himself, and said,
"You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their
great men exercise authority over them. {26} "It is not so among you, but
whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, {27} and
whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; {28} just as the Son
of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom
for many."
:13-16 More wives and kids
:13 David took him more concubines and wives out of Jerusalem
more concubines and wives –
David already has seven wives (six mentioned in 2Sam. 3:2-5 plus Michal, his first wife).
We saw before that God has a law concerning kings and wives:
(Deu 17:17 KJV) Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away
Lesson
From plateau to plunge
It seems that whenever we
have reached a spiritual plateau in our lives, we need to be careful for the
next step, the plunge afterwards.
Peter, after coming up with the winning
answer, declaring, “You are the Christ”, next tries to keep Jesus from going to
the cross (get thee behind me Satan) (Matt.16:16, 22,23)
Elijah, after having had a tremendous
triumph over the priests of Baal (1Ki.18), hears that the king’s wife, Jezebel,
wants to kill him, and he runs (1Ki.19:3).
Jesus, after having been baptized, having
the Holy Spirit come upon Him (Matt.3:16), was tempted in the wilderness for
forty days (Matt.4).
When you’re on a
spiritual high, get ready for the attack.
Paul writes,
(1 Cor 10:12 KJV) Wherefore
let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
:14 …and Solomon
Even with David doing things wrong, God will bring good out of it. David’s great sin would be with Bathsheba in Jerusalem. Yet Bathsheba would one day give birth to a son, Solomon, who would rule in David’s place and built the temple.
:17-25 The Philistines attack
:17 all the Philistines came up to seek David
I wonder if this included David’s Philistine “buddy”, Ahimelech, the king of Gath?
:18 in the valley of Rephaim.
Rephaim – rapha’ – giants, Rephaim. see map
:20 The LORD hath broken forth … as the breach of waters … Baalperazim.
broken forth – parats – to break through or down or over, burst, breach
breach – perets – breach, gap, bursting forth
The Lord helped them break through the enemy lines like a flood. Picture yourself standing in front of a wave at the beach and trying to hold it back. It just goes right around you.
Baalperazim –Ba‘al P@‘ratsiym – “lord of the breaks” or “lord of the breakthrough” see map
Lesson
The God of breakthroughs
Nothing it too difficult for God.
(Jer 32:27 KJV) Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh:
is there any thing too hard for me?
(Mark 10:27 KJV) And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men
it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.
I think that sometimes we need to be praying for the “breakthroughs”.
:21 left their images, and David and his men burned them.
images – ‘atsab – idol, image
burned them – most of the other translations say that David and his men carried the idols away, that they “confiscated them”.
In the parallel passage (1Chr. 14:12), we are told for sure that they did more than just carry them away. They burned them. They built a bonfire and roasted the Philistine idols.
The Philistines were idol worshippers. When the Israelites overflowed them, they left their idols behind and ran away. Their “gods” were of no more use to them.
David and his men wisely collect the idols and have them all burned. They are following God’s guidelines:
(Deu 7:5 KJV) But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall
destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves,
and burn their graven images with fire.
Lesson
Stay away from the world
The things that the world admires can bring us down. There are things in the world that are nothing but enticements to sin. When we play around with them we are only going to cause ourselves trouble.
Illustration
King Amaziah went out to fight with the Edomites.
(2 Chr 25:14-16 NLT) When King Amaziah returned from defeating the Edomites, he brought with him idols taken from the people of Seir. He set them up as his own gods, bowed down in front of them, and presented sacrifices to them!
Apparently, Amaziah found some of the Edomite idols fascinating. He thought he’d even try a little Edomite worship, maybe just to see what it felt like!
{15} This
made the LORD very angry, and he sent a prophet to ask, "Why have you
worshiped gods who could not even save their own people from you?" {16}
But the king interrupted him and said, "Since when have I asked your
advice? Be quiet now before I have you killed!" So the prophet left with
this warning: "I know that God has determined to destroy you because you
have done this and have not accepted my counsel."
Amaziah then went out and decided to challenge the king in the north, the king of Israel. His pride blinded him to the fact that he was going to lose.
(2 Chr
25:20-22 NLT) But Amaziah would not
listen, for God was arranging to destroy him for worshiping the gods of Edom.
{21} So King Jehoash of Israel mobilized his army against King Amaziah of
Judah. The two armies drew up their battle lines at Beth-shemesh in Judah. {22}
Judah was routed by the army of Israel, and its army scattered and fled for home.
Amaziah’s curiousity (if you could call it that) led him caused him defeat. Don’t get into bondage by the things of the world. Burn the idols, don’t play with them.
:22 And the Philistines came up yet again
They’re baaaaaaack!
Josephus records (Antiquities, 7:2:75) that when the Philistines came back the second time, they had an army three times the size of their original army.
:23 fetch a compass behind them
Better, “circle around behind them”
:24 the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees
(2 Sam 5:24 NLT) When you hear a sound like marching feet in
the tops of the balsam trees…
God was going to give
David a signal to start fighting. The
sound was going to be like that of an army marching, coming from the tops of
the trees.
Perhaps God was sending
His angelic army into the battle? David
was told that the LORD would go out before him.
Perhaps it would be
nothing more than just the wind in the trees.
But it’s good to learn to move when the wind does, to move when the
Spirit is moving.
:25 And David did so…and smote the Philistines from Geba until thou come to Gazer.
Geba – Geba‘– “hill” see map
Gazer – Gezer – “portion” see map
Lesson #1
Ask God for help. (vs.19,23)
When the enemy came,
David turned to God for help
100 yrs. earlier, when
going into battle with the ark, using it as a good luck charm, and not
inquiring of the Lord, the Philistines were victorious, capturing the ark. Here, Israel is victorious, the Philistines
leaving their idols behind, and David burning them.
Josephus records
(Antiquities, 7:2:72),
but the king of the Jews, who never permitted himself to do anything
without prophecy, and the command of God, and without depending on him as a
security for the time to come, bade the high priest to foretell to him what was
the will of God, and what would be the event of this battle.
Lesson #2
Don’t forget past
victories. (vs.20)
Because God had done such
a great deliverance, David named the place for the victory.
Every time someone would
go by that valley and ask, “What is this place”, they would hear the answer,
“Baal-perazim” and probably hear the story of God’s deliverance.
Remember. It will encourage you during the times you
face new trials.
When David himself faced Goliath,
he did so remembering how God had delivered him from earlier problems (1Sam.
17:34-37)
Lesson #3
Be ready for fresh directions (vs.23)
Don’t get stuck in a rut.
David could have looked at the situation and thought, “Well, let’s do what worked last time!” But he didn’t. Instead he wisely asked God for advice again, and God gave him a new battle plan.
The first time, God said to hit the Philistines straight on, face to face. But the second time, God told David NOT to go face to face. Instead, David was to circle around behind the Philistines and attack.
What works one time may
not work another. What works for one
person may not be what works for you.
Pulpit Commentary: “God will have his people entirely
dependent upon himself, and not upon past experiences.”
Lesson #4
Do what He says. (vs.25)
David had victory because
he didn’t just hear, he obeyed.
James 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only,
deceiving your own selves.
Jesus said that the way
to make it through the storms of life is to build your life on something solid.
(Mat 7:24-27 KJV) Therefore
whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto
a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: {25} And the rain descended, and
the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not:
for it was founded upon a rock. {26} And every one that heareth these sayings
of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built
his house upon the sand: {27} And the rain descended, and the floods came, and
the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall
of it.
The
storms of life will hit all of us. No
one escapes the storms. But some
survive the storm and while others are devastated. What’s the difference between the two? One obeyed, one didn’t.
2Samuel 6
:1 David gathered together all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand.
chosen – bachar – to choose, elect, decide for. These are the leaders of the people. The writer in Chronicles records that David consulted with the leaders of the people in this matter of bringing the ark to Jerusalem (1Chro. 13:1-5).
When David gathers the people, he gives them his reason for wanting to move the Ark:
(1 Chr 13:3 KJV) And let us bring again the ark of our God to
us: for we inquired not at it in the days of Saul.
It’s sad to think that this is the nation of God’s chosen people, yet they had not taken advantage of the things that God had given to them. They had not cultivated a close relationship with the Lord.
:2 from Baale of Judah, to bring up from thence the ark of God
Baale of Judah –Ba‘aley Y@huwdah – “the lords of Judah”. A place in Judah named for the Baalim, also known as Kirjath-jearim, Kirjath-baal. see map
the ark of God – this is the Ark of the Covenant, the gold covered box built by Moses to house the two stone tablets with the Ten Commandments written on them.
The lid of the box was called the “Mercy Seat”. The lid was made of solid gold, with two winged angelic beings molded on the lid, called cherubim.
God had told Moses:
(Exo 25:22 KJV) And there I will meet with thee, and I will
commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims
which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee
in commandment unto the children of Israel.
The Ark and its Mercy Seat were to be a picture of God’s throne in heaven. God “dwells” in the presence of the heavenly angels.
David wants to bring the Ark to his new capitol, Jerusalem.
:3 the house of Abinadab that was in Gibeah
Abinadab – ‘Abiynadab – “my father is noble” or “my father is willing”
Gibeah – Gib‘ah – “hill”
or, “the hillside home of Abinadab” (NLT)
:3 and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drave the new cart.
Uzzah – ‘Uzza’ – “strength”
Ahio – ‘Achyow – “brotherly” or “fraternal”
There’s a problem here.
They are moving the Ark in the wrong way.
God designed the Ark to be carried on the shoulders of the priests (Num. 7:6-9), not placed on an ox cart.
Numbers 7:6-9 And Moses took the wagons and the oxen, and gave them
unto the Levites. Two wagons and four
oxen he gave unto the sons of Gershon, according to their service: And four wagons and eight oxen he gave unto
the sons of Merari, according unto their service, under the hand of Ithamar the
son of Aaron the priest. But unto the
sons of Kohath he gave none: because the service of the sanctuary belonging
unto them [was that] they should bear upon their shoulders.
The idea of transporting the Ark on an oxcart came from the Philistines.
About fifty years earlier, the Philistines had fought against Israel and had captured the Ark of the Covenant in battle. When they found out that they really didn’t like what happened to them when the Ark was in Philistine hands, they decided to return the Ark back to Israel. They returned it by putting it on an oxcart,
Lesson
God cares about how we do things
Sometimes we can get to thinking that all God cares about is that things get done, that perhaps He doesn’t really care about how we do things.
I think we are aware that God wants us to tell people about Jesus. He wants us to “preach the gospel”. And sometimes we can fall into the trap of thinking that God doesn’t care “how” as long as it gets done.
:5 played before the LORD on all manner of instruments
(NLT) lyres, harps,
tambourines, castanets, and cymbals.
The writer of Chronicles records:
(1 Chr 13:8 KJV) And David and all Israel played before God with
all their might…
:6 the oxen shook it.
The writer of Chronicles says that the oxen stumbled (1Chr. 13:9)
:7 God smote him there for his error
For the simple act of touch the Ark to try and keep it from falling off the cart, God puts Uzzah to death.
Actually, the root problem isn’t that Uzzah touched the Ark, the root problem is that they were transporting the Ark improperly, which led to Uzzah touching it.
Lesson
God’s holiness
Holiness is that quality
about God describing His absolute purity, glory, power, and absence of sin.
Lev.9:22 - 10:3 Nadab and Abihu. They were killed instantly by God’s holiness.
It’s like walking outside
your space ship without your space suit on.
Instant death.
We down here on earth
really have no idea what it is to be holy.
It’s getting so bad, that people now even have the gall to say that man
is basically good.
The difference between us
and God in holiness:
It’s like being invited
to a dinner party. You open the door
and every body is dressed extremely formally.
You think you’re at a fashion show.
Then you look at yourself and realize that you wore your dirty overalls
and are covered with grease and dirt from changing your car’s oil that
afternoon, you’re filty, slimy, and you stink.
That’s
just a taste of what it’s like.
