Second Samuel 1-3

God’s message to me: It is God’s job to remove people from positions he has appointed them to. Our job is to accept God’s decisions.

Promises: God can use anybody to accomplish His goals. Whether or not the person gets to enjoy those successes depends on their willingness to serve God willingly.

Commands: An act of war is not an act of murder. This is one of the earliest passages to make that crystal clear. Abner killed Asahel in battle. He had given the man an opportunity to avoid the fight but Asahel refused and Abner stabbed him to death. Asahel’s brothers murdered Abner to avenge their brother. Theirs was not an act of war and, in fact, it was a cold-blooded ambush. David cursed them for their act because they avenged someone who was killed in war. If the right of vengeance extended to acts of war then wars would never end. David wrote another song of Lament. This time for Abner who was murdered after making peace.

Timeless principles: “How the mighty have fallen” The quote still gets heavy use today. David used it to describe his feelings over the death of the anointed king of Israel in a song he wrote to commemorate the dead. Saul may have been a murderous jerk but, David recognized how God used him. All to often, we as Christians, are quick to jump on the band wagon and tear down the men of God who fall to human frailty. Our pastors, evangelists and leaders are not supermen and are capable of grave errors and even sin. While it is sometimes prudent to support removing them from influence to prevent their leading others astray, we have no right to denounce the work they have done for God because of their weakness.

While David grew stronger as king he was starting a family which would bring trouble later on. His first son was Amnon sho’s mother was Ahinoam. His second son was Chileab(Danial) whose mother was Abigail. His Third was Absolom whose son was Maacah the daughter of the king of Geshur. His fourth son was Adonijah whose mother was Haggith. His fifth son was Shephatiah whose mother was Abital. His sixth son was Ithream whose mother was Eglah. Six son’s by six wives.

How can I apply what I’ve learned: Remember to uphold those God has put in positions of leadership, even when their actions and sins make it impossible for them to continue in that service.

more to learn for in-depth study: The Amalekite lied about killing Saul but, a confession is a confession and by claiming credit for the kill he marked himself as guilty. When a false confession is made we often feel it is a hindrance to the investigation. In this case it was an act against the state. Killing the man God anointed as king of Israel was an act that deserved retribution and if another were to have been found guilty later there would be no guilt for killing that man or the Amalekite since both would have been considered guilty, on by the act and one by claiming credit for the act. If we would treat terrorist groups the same we could quit waiting on investigations before taking action. Wiping out the group that claimed credit and, if we find some other group was responsible later, wiping out the true guilty parties. This would certainly cut down on false claims and reduce the number of terrorists in the world.

I mentioned earlier that the kingdom wasn’t divided until after Solomon’s reign but, I had forgotten about the first division of Israel when Saul’s people moved to maintain power after David took the throne. Whle David sought to honor Saul’s memory, Abner set Saul’s son in power in order to maintain his own position. Ishbosheth was meant to be the puppet leader controlled by the former general. Hi reign lasted only two years. Despite controlling most of the nation, Abner failed to remove David from power by battle. When they met to fight David’s army lost 20 men while Abner’s army lost 360. The war would rage on for many years and David’s position grew stronger while Abner’s grew weaker. This tends to make my earlier assertion incorrect. The books of Samuel may have been written anytime after David took the throne. The next chapter does establish that the books were written while the Beerothites were still living in Gittaim.

While David was having all those boys by all those wives Abner had taken one of Saul’s wives, stepmother to Ishbosheth, which got Saul’s son a bit upset to say the least. The general didn’t like being harassed by the man he had put into power and swore to deliver the entire nation to David. David’s price for peace was that Abner bring him Michal, his first wife and the daughter of Saul whom the king had given to another. Her husband followed her until she met Abner, mourning over her loss. Abner sent him away. David had not divorced the woman or even desired to leave her but she had been taken by her father to hurt him.

tomorrow: Second Samuel 4-7