2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Readers,
This morning as we continue our examination of how covenants made with God transcend generations, I am led to write about how David consolidated his power to become king not only of Judah, but of all Israel. This effort, which I believe was God-led to work on achieving God’s important agenda, really began its forward motion right after the deaths of Saul and Jonathan at Mt. Gilboa [1 SAM 31]. Throughout this series of messages on the events that unfold after David’s covenant with Jonathan, we can see God putting His covenant promises in action. We can also see how God supernaturally transformed David’s mind by its renewal [RO 12: 2], which has been in sharp contrast to Saul’s. PR 14: 30, “Peace of mind makes the body healthy, but jealousy is like a cancer.” PR 19: 16, “Keep God’s laws and you will love longer; if you ignore them, you will die.” These two proverbs certainly applied to Saul. The price this unrighteous king paid was great. God removed his authority to rule as king of Israel, giving it to David. Then, Saul was forced to watch three of his own sons die before he died himself. David’s transformed mind and faithful heart led him to be part of the royal line that the Lord established from which Jesus Christ would arise.
Let’s return now to the story of how David’s power is consolidated now that we have it in context. Remember that in 2 SAM 2: 7, we learned that David is anointed king of Judah by the men at Hebron. But, at that point, Israel was suffering from the aftermath of the battle at Mt. Gilboa, so it wasn’t entirely unified. 2 SAM 2: 8-11, “The commander of Saul’s army, Abner son of Ner [Saul’s uncle], had fled with Saul’s son, Ishbosheth, across the Jordan to Mahanaim [pronounced: ma-ha-nai-eem]. There Abner made Ishbosheth king of the territories of Gilead, Asher, Jezreel, Ephraim, and Benjamin-indeed, over all Israel. He was forty years old when he was made king of Israel, and he ruled for two years. But the tribe of Judah was loyal to David and he ruled in Hebron for seven and one half years.” We can almost see the foreshadowing of the eventual division of Israel which would happen after Solomon’s death in their future here. But God’s time table would determine that course of events.
The next turn of events would be for a war to erupt between the two factions. It began with the decision of officials from both Judah and Israel deciding that twelve men from each side would fight an armed contest. The net result was the death of all twenty-four men by the sword, and so their battlefield in Gibeon is called the Field of Swords (14-15). That led to a furious battle between the two sides. Nineteen of Joab’s men were missing, and David’s men had killed 360 men before the two sides agreed to put a stop to this warfare to give time to bury the dead. However 2 SAM 3 opens with the statement that the fighting between these two sides went on for a long time. 2 SAM 3: 1b, “As David became stronger and stronger, his opponents became weaker and weaker.
Our modern sensibilities might be offended by the number of wives David had acquired. 2 SAM 3: 2-4 is inserted to let us know that David had six sons while he was at Hebron, Amnon, Chileab, Absalom, Adonijah, Shephatiah, Ithream, each by a different wife. David was also married to Saul’s daughter, Michal, but she was not a mother of any of these children. I do not know where and when the practice of polygamy by the Jews was stopped, but thankfully it was. In David’s time, it was acceptable. One of these sons, Absalom, was to cause David considerable trouble. But it is not time yet for that to happen.
When God is with one side in a conflict and not the other, problems that arise for the side without God can sometimes be from within. In this case a dispute arose between Ishbosheth, Israel’s king, and his army commander and great-uncle, Abner. That drove Abner to the decide in (2 SAM 3: 12) to make an agreement with David that would help David bring the Israelites over to the side of Judah. Abner spoke to the leaders of Israel in (18), “Now her is your chance. Remember that the Lord has said, ‘I will use my servant David to rescue My people from the Philistines and from all their other enemies.’” Then Abner told David in ( 21), “I will go now and win all Israel over to Your Majesty. They will accept you as king, and then you will get what you have wanted and will rule over the whole land.” Granted safety, Abner left.
Space limitations force me to leave off here, and to reflect on what we may learn from this series of events. This is done with the promise to return to David’s story tomorrow. As we look at our own situation with the terrorism that has beset our country this month, we need to strengthen our faith that even if we can’t see all the details of it, God’s bigger picture is to eventually stamp out evil once and for all. The same goal was true in David’s times. Our Lord does this in slow degrees and in ways we don’t always grasp. But we can take comfort in knowing that His reasons are always righteous an in the long-term best interests for the spiritual salvation of His children. Please pray that our country’s leaders will continually pray for God’s direction just as David did.
PRAYER: O Lord, when we are amidst the “belly of the beast” attempting to solve immediate and dangerous problems, it is easy for us to forget to appeal to You for Your help and direction. David never did that, which is why You were able to use him to carry out Your agenda. David had no idea that he was establishing a royal line out of which the Savior would come. But, he did know that taking Your direction against the evils that befell him was the wise and right thing to do. Even at a time when he felt shock and grief, he was willing to listen to Your direction. We can only pray that our country’s leaders will do the same. Thank you, Dear Abba, for letting President Bush and the other leaders know exactly who are enemies are. Just as David’s power to rule all of Israel was consolidated in accordance with Your agenda, we offer prayers of thanks that so many other countries have agreed to help America in this effort to meet terrorism face to face and stamp it out. We pray for Your protection to the innocent, that as many of them as possible might be saved from wanton destruction. We ask for You to watch over all the young men and women who are soon to put themselves in harm’s way to protect freedom and democracy in the world. We offer You sincerest appreciation for the many volunteers who work in the clean-up, donate money, time, blood, and talent, so that America’s enemies will find out that her spirit is not broken from their activity of 9-11-01. Unite us all under Christ’s direction, O Lord, and we dedicate ourselves to demonstrate obedience, courage of faith, trust in You, thanksgiving and humility before You. In Christ’s name, amen.
More events will happen in David’s story, events that will allow us to see God’s hand in them. We bow our heads to a righteous and loving God, Whom we can trust to lead us to His eternal Kingdom if we will obey Him. Such an opportunity is not possible without the love our Lord has for each of us. Not one single believer is unimportant to Him. He loves us, which is why He asks us to trust Him and to love each other. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn