Bible Study on 2 Samuel 3

Bible Study on 2 Samuel 3
- As shared by Rev. Don Schink

1 The war between the house of Saul and the house of David lasted a long time. David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker.
2 Sons were born to David in Hebron: His firstborn was Amnon the son of Ahinoam of Jezreel;
3 his second, Kileab the son of Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel; the third, Absalom the son of Maacah daughter of Talmai king of Geshur;
4 the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital;
5 and the sixth, Ithream the son of David's wife Eglah. These were born to David in Hebron.
Abner Goes Over to David
6 During the war between the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner had been strengthening his own position in the house of Saul. 7 Now Saul had had a concubine named Rizpah daughter of Aiah. And Ish-Bosheth said to Abner, "Why did you sleep with my father's concubine?"
8 Abner was very angry because of what Ish-Bosheth said and he answered, "Am I a dog's head-on Judah's side? This very day I am loyal to the house of your father Saul and to his family and friends. I haven't handed you over to David. Yet now you accuse me of an offense involving this woman! 9 May God deal with Abner, be it ever so severely, if I do not do for David what the LORD promised him on oath 10 and transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and establish David's throne over Israel and Judah from Dan to Beersheba." 11 Ish-Bosheth did not dare to say another word to Abner, because he was afraid of him.
12 Then Abner sent messengers on his behalf to say to David, "Whose land is it? Make an agreement with me, and I will help you bring all Israel over to you."
13 "Good," said David. "I will make an agreement with you. But I demand one thing of you: Do not come into my presence unless you bring Michal daughter of Saul when you come to see me." 14 Then David sent messengers to Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, demanding, "Give me my wife Michal, whom I betrothed to myself for the price of a hundred Philistine foreskins."
15 So Ish-Bosheth gave orders and had her taken away from her husband Paltiel son of Laish. 16 Her husband, however, went with her, weeping behind her all the way to Bahurim. Then Abner said to him, "Go back home!" So he went back.
17 Abner conferred with the elders of Israel and said, "For some time you have wanted to make David your king. 18 Now do it! For the LORD promised David, 'By my servant David I will rescue my people Israel from the hand of the Philistines and from the hand of all their enemies.' "
19 Abner also spoke to the Benjamites in person. Then he went to Hebron to tell David everything that Israel and the whole house of Benjamin wanted to do. 20 When Abner, who had twenty men with him, came to David at Hebron, David prepared a feast for him and his men. 21 Then Abner said to David, "Let me go at once and assemble all Israel for my lord the king, so that they may make a compact with you, and that you may rule over all that your heart desires." So David sent Abner away, and he went in peace.
Joab Murders Abner
22 Just then David's men and Joab returned from a raid and brought with them a great deal of plunder. But Abner was no longer with David in Hebron, because David had sent him away, and he had gone in peace. 23 When Joab and all the soldiers with him arrived, he was told that Abner son of Ner had come to the king and that the king had sent him away and that he had gone in peace.
24 So Joab went to the king and said, "What have you done? Look, Abner came to you. Why did you let him go? Now he is gone! 25 You know Abner son of Ner; he came to deceive you and observe your movements and find out everything you are doing."
26 Joab then left David and sent messengers after Abner, and they brought him back from the well of Sirah. But David did not know it. 27 Now when Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into the gateway, as though to speak with him privately. And there, to avenge the blood of his brother Asahel, Joab stabbed him in the stomach, and he died.
28 Later, when David heard about this, he said, "I and my kingdom are forever innocent before the LORD concerning the blood of Abner son of Ner. 29 May his blood fall upon the head of Joab and upon all his father's house! May Joab's house never be without someone who has a running sore or leprosy [a] or who leans on a crutch or who falls by the sword or who lacks food."
30 (Joab and his brother Abishai murdered Abner because he had killed their brother Asahel in the battle at Gibeon.)
31 Then David said to Joab and all the people with him, "Tear your clothes and put on sackcloth and walk in mourning in front of Abner." King David himself walked behind the bier. 32 They buried Abner in Hebron, and the king wept aloud at Abner's tomb. All the people wept also.
33 The king sang this lament for Abner:
"Should Abner have died as the lawless die?
34 Your hands were not bound,
your feet were not fettered.
You fell as one falls before wicked men."
And all the people wept over him again.
35 Then they all came and urged David to eat something while it was still day; but David took an oath, saying, "May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun sets!"
36 All the people took note and were pleased; indeed, everything the king did pleased them. 37 So on that day all the people and all Israel knew that the king had no part in the murder of Abner son of Ner.
38 Then the king said to his men, "Do you not realize that a prince and a great man has fallen in Israel this day? 39 And today, though I am the anointed king, I am weak, and these sons of Zeruiah are too strong for me. May the LORD repay the evildoer according to his evil deeds!"

Footnotes:
2 Samuel 3:29 The Hebrew word was used for various diseases affecting the skin-not necessarily leprosy.

David's rise to power was a long, slow process with many strange twists and turns. Yet through it all, we see God's hand upon David overall. As we've hit on in previous studies, David is described as "a man after God's own heart." In spite of some negative circumstances and decisions on David's part, God's Word described him that way. We often see how we, as humans on this earth, often make decisions and judgments regarding people based on what we see.

However, God sees the bigger picture. God sees and knows what we cannot possibly see or know, many times. So as we trust and pray as to God's hand upon an individual, or seemingly lack of it at times, we need to keep in mind that our view upon others must always be redemptive. It must always be with eternal results in mind. It is a faith and trust in God's will upon one's heart and life in a way that we cannot possibly know. We see external and present-day fruits in one's lifestyle. God sees the heart. God sees ahead as to what a man, woman, boy or girl can become. We are warned not to become judgmental. We are to be faithful and redemptive in our outreach toward others. The results are clearly in God's hands. He is the Almighty! He is all-powerful! He always has been. He always will be. Count on it!

Questions for Reflection:

Why did Saul's household decrease while David's increase?
What does this situation teach us in principle?

Verses 2-5 - David's Family:

Here the story takes a turn to give a brief account of David's family, which is common practice of biblical writers during any point of transition [1 Samuel 14:49-51; 2 Samuel 5:13-16; 1 Kings 3:1; 14:21; 15:2,9]. While David was a refugee, he had married Ahinoam and Abigail. So Ahinoam's first son appeared to be David's heir. Four other wives are listed, including the daughter of the king of Geshur. This is also not that unusual due to political alliances which in Old Testament times were often sealed with a marriage between members of the royal families involved. The record of David's family with a list of even more sons is found in 1 Chronicles 3:5-9.

On the issue of plural marriages, polygamy [plural wives] was permitted by the Law of Moses [Deuteronomy 21:15-16: "If a man has two wives, and he loves one but not the other, and both bear him sons but the firstborn is the son of the wife he does not love, [16] when he wills his property to his sons, he must not give the rights of the firstborn to the son of the wife he loves in preference to his actual firstborn, the son of the wife he does not love."] Jesus made it clear that God's original plan for marriage was to be that of one man to come for a woman for life [Matthew 19:8-9: "[8] Jesus said, "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. [9] I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery""}. The Old Testament record shows that there was always trouble following the practice of plural marriages.

Questions for Reflection:

What do we observe in the differences between marriages in the Old Testament and those as described as Biblical in the New Testament by Jesus?
Why were multiple mates permitted in the Old Testament by the Law of Moses?
What were some of the problems that would have arisen due to multiple mates in that day?
Why is divorce so devastating?
What can we do to impact such results in our day and time?

Verses 6-37 - The Collapse of Ish-Bosheth's Reign:

Abner, was the power behind Ish-Bosheth's throne. Abner, as the military commander, had become a strong leader during Saul's reign [6]. Ish-Bosheth rebuked Abner for having an improper affair with one of Saul's concubines, or secondary wives, named Rizpah [7]. If this were true, it could be that Abner was plotting to seize the throne. This was due to the fact that the harem of an Oriental king always went to his successor.

This really ticked Abner off. He made a vow to turn over the kingdom to David, which left Ish-Bosheth unable to speak, gripped with fear [8-11]. The reference to "a dog's head" in verse #8 was an expression to show utter contempt. Beersheba was already in David's possession. Ish-Bosheth's territory would unite the entire country under David's rule.

Abner didn't waste any time in getting to David. He sent messengers to Hebron with an offer [12] in that he would bring all of Israel under David's reign. David agreed to negotiations only on the condition that Michal, Saul's daughter, be returned to him [13]. While David's intentions were probably sincere enough in his love and desire for Michal, it would also naturally serve to strengthen his position in claiming the kingdom, by being recognized as Saul's son-in-law. David directed his request straight to Ish-Bosheth. Ish-Bosheth permitted Abner to take Michal from her current husband [14-16]. This did not turn out to be beneficial to David as Michal's previous love and devotion for David apparently never returned [6:20-23].

Meanwhile, Abner sent messengers to the elders of Israel instructing them to act quickly. He reminded them of God's promise to deliver the people from the Philistines through David [17-18]. He particularly reached out seeking favor of Saul's tribe of Benjamin, then going personally to David in Hebron, with a token guard of twenty men [19-20]. They feasted in celebration of their agreement. Afterwards, Abner and his men set out to carry through with the plan to bring the entire nation under David's rule.

Joab had been out of town on a military expedition while this was going on in Hebron. He came home to discover what had been happening. He was furious to learn of Abner's visit with David, accusing him of having improper motives as a spy [22-25]. Unbeknown to David, Joab sent messengers after Abner, who caught up with him about two miles from Hebron, at the well of Sirah. Joab had Abner come back to Hebron on false pretenses. So as he called Abner aside in a private conference, Joab murdered Abner in cold blood in vengeance for the death of his brother Asahel. It seems that his other brother, Abishai, was an accomplice in this deceit.

David's reaction was to declare innocence of himself and his household, calling down judgment upon Joab and all of his father's house [29]. King David declared the most bitter of calamities: that is, that they would die by the sword, as in battle, or of hemorrhage or leprosy. Such ones were only fit to die horrible deaths such as by the sword, suicide or starvation. This wording shows how utterly repulsive that David felt against such treason to such a one as Abner, whom had just been enjoying David's hospitality.

David declared a time of mourning, accompanying Abner's body to the burial site at Hebron. He called upon the people to rend their garments, putting on sackcloth, [31], signifying the deep mourning of the nation over such a senseless and tragic loss. Afterall, hadn't an honorable man died at the hand of a worthless and sinful man? [33] Abner didn't have opportunity for self-defense. He was struck down, unable to run. King and people, alike, fasted throughout the day in honor of Abner's death [35-36].

David's sincere conduct and response to this situation clearly justified him before his people. David was innocent of any and all involvement in Abner's murder [37]. Verse #38 has been used often to honor great individuals in funerals down throughout biblical history: "Do you not realize that a prince and a great man has fallen in Israel this day?" David's own weakness is felt and proclaimed in view of the bitter vengeance of Joab and Abishai, the sons of Zeruiah [39]. David recognized his humanity, testifying that any repayment of such a dastardly deed would be up to the Lord. He knew that to leave the results in the Lord's hands would be far better than any human action and reaction that he might take if left on his own. God is greater than any and all trouble that comes our way. We serve a great and awesome God! He rules! He will do that which is right when we reach up to Him in faith for His good and perfect will, not ours! Hallelujah!

Questions for Reflection:

What was Abner's source of confidence that his plan would work?
How much does prophesy play in the direction of current events of that day?
What do we learn regarding God's hand interacting on man's behalf?
What lessons are seen in the results of disobedience?
What lessons are seen in the results of obedience?

As we pray today:

Recall the events described in the Word in this chapter today.
What particular truths stand out to you from lessons learned here?
How can you personally apply truths to enable you to make sound judgments that will positively impact your own destiny, as well as that of others that you would seek to properly impact for eternity?



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Since Update on December 28, 2004