David Reunifies as King of Israel

Transcription

1 David Reunifies as King of Israel Sheba s Revolt and Gibeonite s Revenge 2 Samuel 20-21

2 Demonstrate the sovereignty of God. o David survives the challenge to his authority as anointed king o A degree of order is restored in Israel Show that God provides leadership for His people. o Presumably guided by the Lord, David makes decisions that help restore unity to the nation of Israel.

3 Record what happens to nations and individuals when they trust and obey God s word, or when they fail to do so. o David s trust in God wins the day. Teach spiritual lessons to those who will listen. o Compromise may be needed to preserve the unity of God s people. o Appeasement may turn out to be an unwise choice in the long run.

4 1. Finding order in the midst of chaos 2. Dealing with individual cases a. Shimei forgiving the antagonist b. Mephibosheth/Ziba restoring the betrayed c. Barzillai rewarding the faithful 3. Overcoming obstacles to reunification

5 VI. David's troubles chs C. David's rejection and return chs Events leading up to Absalom's rebellion chs Absalom's attempt to usurp David's throne chs Sheba's rebellion 20: David's remaining cabinet 20:23-26 VII. Summary illustrations chs A. Famine from Saul's sin 21: Saul's broken treaty with the Gibeonites 21: David's justice and mercy 21: David's honoring of Saul and Jonathan 21:10-14 B. Four giant killers 21:15-22

6 20: 1 Now a worthless fellow happened to be there whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite; and he blew the trumpet and said, We have no portion in David, Nor do we have inheritance in the son of Jesse; Every man to his tents, O Israel! 2 So all the men of Israel withdrew from following David and followed Sheba the son of Bichri; but the men of Judah remained steadfast to their king, from the Jordan even to Jerusalem.

7 3 Then David came to his house at Jerusalem, and the king took the ten women, the concubines whom he had left to keep the house, and placed them under guard and provided them with sustenance, but did not go in to them. So they were shut up until the day of their death, living as widows. and her second husband dislikes her and writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, or if he dies, 4 then her first husband, who divorced her, is not allowed to marry her again after she has been defiled. 5 If a man has recently married, he must not be sent to war or have any other duty laid on him. For one year he is to be free to stay at home and bring happiness to the wife he has married. Deut 24: 4-5

8 4 Then the king said to Amasa, Call out the men of Judah for me within three days, and be present here yourself. 5 So Amasa went to call out the men of Judah, but he delayed longer than the set time which he had appointed him. 6 And David said to Abishai, Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom; take your lord s servants and pursue him, so that he does not find for himself fortified cities and escape from our sight. 7 So Joab s men went out after him, along with the Cherethites and the Pelethites and all the mighty men; and they went out from Jerusalem to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri. 8 When they were at the large stone which is in Gibeon, Amasa came [c] to meet them.. And Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him.

9 10 But Amasa was not on guard against the sword which was in Joab s hand so he struck him in the belly with it and poured out his inward parts on the ground, and did not strike him again, and he died. Then Joab and Abishai his brother pursued Sheba the son of Bichri. 11 Now there stood by him one of Joab s young men, and said, Whoever favors Joab and whoever is for David, let him follow Joab.. 4 Now he went through all the tribes of Israel to Abel, even Beth-maacah, and all the Berites; and they were gathered together and also went after him. 15 They came and besieged him in Abel Bethmaacah, and they cast up a siege ramp against the city, and it stood by the rampart; and all the people who were with Joab were wreaking destruction in order to topple the wall.

10 16 Then a wise woman called from the city, Hear, hear! Please tell Joab, Come here that I may speak with you. 17 So he approached her, and the woman said, Are you Joab? And he answered, I am. Then she said to him, Listen to the words of your maidservant. And he answered, I am listening. 18 Then she spoke, saying, Formerly they used to say, They will surely ask advice at Abel, and thus they ended the dispute. 19 I am of those who are peaceable and faithful in Israel. You are seeking to destroy a city, even a mother in Israel. Why would you swallow up the inheritance of the LORD? 20 Joab replied, Far be it, far be it from me that I should swallow up or destroy! 21 Such is not the case. But a man from the hill country of Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name,. And the woman said to Joab, Behold, his head will be thrown to you over the wall. 22 Then the woman wisely came to all the people. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri and threw it to Joab. So he blew the trumpet, and they were dispersed from the city,

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12 "Abel is characterized in the proverb as a city with a long reputation for wisdom and faithfulness to the tradition of Israel. It is, therefore, a mother in the same way Deborah was: a creator and hence a symbol of the unity that bound Israel together under one God Yahweh. And it is the wise woman's implicit appeal to this unity that stops Joab in his tracks. "Wise words override ruthless policy. At the end, not only the woman and the city are saved; something of David's dignity and self-respect are also rescued from Joab's mad, obedient intent. *Brueggemann

13 1. First of all the woman saw the problem realistically; the danger must have been clear enough to everyone in Abel, but there may have been some false hopes of rescue or intervention. 2. she did something about it she did not wait for somebody else to act but took the initiative herself. Then she argued her case, challenging the rightness of Joab's actions; and he was forced to agree with what she said. So a compromise was reached; and finally 3. she took steps to fulfil the terms agreed. In other words, wisdom was a combination of intelligent insight and bold action. The Old Testament rarely separates the intellectual from the pragmatic: wisdom is not simply knowing but also doing."

14 23 Now Joab was over the whole army of Israel, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; 24 and Adoram was over the forced labor, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder; 25 and Sheva was scribe, and Zadok and Abiathar were priests; 26 and Ira the Jairite was also a priest to David.

15 Seven sub-conflicts appear within this sixth major conflict section in Samuel. Mephibosheth and Jonathan's line conflicts with David's faithfulness (ch. 9). The Ammonite coalition conflicts with David (10:1 11:1). David's unfaithfulness to the covenant conflicts with Yahweh's faithfulness (11:2 12:25). Ammon conflicts with David (12:26-31). Amnon conflicts with Absalom (chs ). Absalom conflicts with David (ch ), and Sheba conflicts with David (chs ).

16 God's basic commitment to David resulted in his anointing, which guaranteed much blessing. David's basic commitment, his heart for God, resulted in his never losing a battle with a foreign nation, as far as the text records. David's occasional violation of the covenant resulted in some other losses (11:2 12:25; ch. 25). Similarly God's election of the believer results in much blessing for him or her. The believer's commitment to God as lord of his or her life results in a life characterized mainly by victory and success. The believer's occasional violation of God's revealed will results in some defeat for him or her. Even an elect believer, such as Saul, can experience a tragic life if he or she does not commit himself or herself to following God faithfully (Rom. 12:1-2).

17 o o o The last major section of the Book of Samuel (2 Sam ) consists of six separate pericopes that together constitute a conclusion to the whole book. Each pericope emphasizes the theological message of the book and the major theological points the writer wanted his readers to learn. They also seem to focus on the divine and human sides of leadership. "... the final four chapters, far from being a clumsy appendix, offer a highly reflective, theological interpretation of David's whole career adumbrating the messianic hope." Brevard S. Childs

18 1 Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David sought the presence of the LORD. And the LORD said, It is for Saul and his bloody house, because he put the Gibeonites to death. 2 So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them (now the Gibeonites were not of the sons of Israel but of the remnant of the Amorites, and the sons of Israel made a covenant with them, but Saul had sought to kill them in his zeal for the sons of Israel and Judah). 3 Thus David said to the Gibeonites, What should I do for you? And how can I make atonement that you may bless the inheritance of the LORD?

19 The man who consumed us and who planned to exterminate us from remaining within any border of Israel, 6 let seven men from his sons be given to us, and we will hang them before the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the LORD. And the king said, I will give them. 7 But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the oath of the LORD which was between them, between David and Saul s son Jonathan. 8 So the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, Armoni and Mephibosheth whom she had borne to Saul, and the five sons of Merab the daughter of Saul, whom she had borne to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite. 9 Then he gave them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they [l] hanged them in the mountain before the LORD, so that the seven of them fell together;

20 10 And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until it rained on them from the sky; and she allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on them by day nor the beasts of the field by night. 11 When it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done, 12 then David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the open square of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them on the day the Philistines struck down Saul in Gilboa. 13 He brought up the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from there, and they gathered the bones of those who had been hanged. 14 They buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in Zela, in the grave of Kish his father; thus they did all that the king commanded, and after that God was moved by prayer for the land.

21 Because Saul had been unfaithful to Israel's covenant with the Gibeonites, God punished the nation with famine (lack of fertility). When David, who followed the Mosaic Law, righted this wrong, God restored fertility to the land. God reduced Saul's line from one of the most powerfullooking men in Israel, Saul, to one of the weakestlooking, Mephibosheth. David's faithfulness to his covenant with Jonathan shows he was a covenant-keeping king like Yahweh. Saul, on the other hand, broke Israel's covenant with the Gibeonites.

22 15 Now when the Philistines were at war again with Israel, David went down and his servants with him; and as they fought against the Philistines, David became weary. 16 Then Ishbibenob, who was among the descendants of the giant, the weight of whose spear was three hundred shekels of bronze in weight, was girded with a new sword, and he intended to kill David. 17 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah helped him, and struck the Philistine and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, You shall not go out again with us to battle, so that you do not extinguish the lamp of Israel.

23 18 Now it came about after this that there was war again with the Philistines at Gob; then Sibbecai the Hushathite struck down Saph, who was among the descendants of the giant. 19 There was war with the Philistines again at Gob, and Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim the Bethlehemite killed Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver s beam. 20 There was war at Gath again, where there was a man of great stature who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twentyfour in number; and he also had been born to the giant. 21 When he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David s brother, struck him down. 22 These four were born to the giant in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.

24 The two lists of David's mighty men (21:15-22 and 23:8-39) show God's remarkable blessing of David for his submission to Israel's Commander-In-Chief. David's small army accomplished amazing feats because God was with David. David's divine election, coupled with his customary trust and obedience Godward, resulted in many forms of fertility (military, political, and influential). This record of four giant killers emphasizes the supernatural character of the victories David was able to enjoy because God fought for him by using various men in his army.

25 "If there is one thing 2 Samuel 21 reveals, it is the fact that God judges nations. McGee

26 David s Praise- A Psalm of Deliverance 2 Samuel 22