The Door To The Throne Is Paved In Blood | 2 Samuel 2-4

INTRODUCTION

Let’s turn our attention to 2 Samuel:2-4.

1 Samuel 31, Saul and his sons are dead in the battle with the Philistines.

2 Samuel 1 David laments the death of Saul and Jonathan.

The door to the throne has been opened for David. The section from 1 Samuel 2:1-5:5 is one unit is David’s journey to the throne covering 7 years. The journey is not going to be simple because the door to the throne is paved in blood.

David in these seven years faced military crisis, political crisis, and family crisis. We face various crises in our lives. Most of it is thrust upon us but we may also contribute in some ways to it as well.

2 Samuel 2:1, 4

¹In the course of time, David inquired of the Lord. “Shall I go up to one of the towns of Judah?” he asked. (David is not in a hurry. He has learned that he needs to wait on the Lord’s timing.)

The Lord said, “Go up.”

David asked, “Where shall I go?”

“To Hebron,” the Lord answered.

⁴Then the men of Judah came to Hebron, and there they anointed David king over the tribe of Judah. (David is made king of the tribe of Judah.)

David tries to unify Israel:

2 Samuel 2:4b-7

When David was told that it was the men from Jabesh Gilead who had buried Saul, ⁵he sent messengers to them to say to them, “The Lord bless you for showing this kindness to Saul your master by burying him. ⁶May the Lord now show you kindness and faithfulness, and I too will show you the same favor because you have done this. ⁷Now then, be strong and brave, for Saul your master is dead, and the people of Judah have anointed me king over them.”

So David is working diplomacy, spreading good will, bringing. He’s doing everything in his power to bring peace and calm. In the meantime, there’s another wave of crisis that is brewing:

The Battle of the Commanders:

2 Samuel 2:8

⁸Meanwhile, Abner (cousin to Saul) son of Ner, the commander of Saul’s army, had taken Ish-Bosheth (He is the only remaining son of Saul, means Baal lives) son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim. ⁹He made him king over Gilead, Ashuri and Jezreel, and also over Ephraim, Benjamin and all Israel.

In Abner’s mind, he is part of Saul’s family. There is one son of Saul left. He should be king.

2 Samuel 2:11

The length of time David was king in Hebron over Judah was seven years and six months.

So we have two kings and this is a problem.

Both of the commanders are very close family members.

Both of the commanders are very ambitious, power hungry men.

Civil War:

1 Samuel 2:12-14

¹²Abner son of Ner, together with the men of Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, left Mahanaim and went to Gibeon. ¹³Joab son of Zeruiah and David’s men went out and met them at the pool of Gibeon. One group sat down on one side of the pool and one group on the other side.

(The kings are not involved here. This is all about the commanders. Their power, their men.)

¹⁴Then Abner said to Joab, “Let’s have some of the young men get up and fight hand to hand in front of us.”

“All right, let them do it,” Joab said.

100% power showdown between these two commanders. Before you know it, there are 24 men 12 from each side fight with the sword and they are all dead. Maybe the commanders were trying to avoid a full-scale civil war by just bringing representatives to this spot and see who would win. Now, it’s a stalemate they’re all dead. So the full-scale civil war broke out anyway.

2 Samuel 2:18

The three sons of Zeruiah were there: Joab, Abishai and Asahel.

Who is Zeruiah? {Zeruiah is David’s sister (1 Chronicles 2:13-17), probably a sister that treated David like a son and had a lovely relationship with. She has three boys. These are David’s nephews.} Now Asahel was as fleet-footed as a wild gazelle. ¹⁹He chased Abner, turning neither to the right nor to the left as he pursued him.

Abner warns him three times, back off, back off. This is not going to be good. So Abner kills Asahel with his spear. Joab and Abishai pursued Abner.

2 Samuel 2:25

Then the men of Benjamin rallied behind Abner. They formed themselves into a group and took their stand on top of a hill.

Now you know it is time to back off, you are not in a position to win this.

2 Samuel 2:28

So Joab blew the trumpet, and all the troops came to a halt; they no longer pursued Israel, nor did they fight anymore.

Casualties: Joab (Representing David) lost 19 men. Abner (representing Israel) lost 360 men.

This was a civil war. These people should have all been on the same team. This is discouraging to us. What’s going on with Israelites killing each other, warring against each other? This is not the kind of drama that David wanted to begin his reign as king with. It was thrust upon him, These were Abner’s actions by making this son of Saul a king which caused the crisis.

2 Samuel 3:1

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.

Fractions weaken promise holds.

David in Hebron: 2 Sam. 3:2-4

All of a sudden Dave’s David’s got 6 wives and 6 sons. Where did these other four come?

In Deuteronomy 17 remember the ideal of kingship is that the king is not to multiply wives.

Deuteronomy 17:17

He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.

David has got 6 wives now and there’s going to be more later.  David is establishing a precedent here that Solomon will take to the nth degree. He is beginning to look like the typical King like all the successful nations.

I don’t think this is a good step. This is one of those cracks in the foundation. I find this disturbing. This could lead to problems and it does with Solomon later where he becomes a polygamist and polytheist.

2 Samuel 3:6

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.

The house of Saul is getting weaker, but not Abner, Abner is getting stronger in that house.

Ish-Bosheth comes to Abner he says you took my father’s concubine. He didn’t say no. So Abner eventually is looking at his weak King and he’s looking at David and he’s thinking I want to get transferred to that team over there. I want to be part of the winning team.

Abner goes over to David:

2 Samuel 3:8,12-14

⁸Abner was very angry because of what Ish-Bosheth said.

¹²Then 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 (David’s 1^st wife) daughter of Saul when you come to see me.” (It gets political now. Remember David had married Michael and then when David had to run away Saul gave her away to another man. That was wrong and it’s seems as if David has a legal right to her here.)

¹⁴Then 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.”

¹⁵So Ish-Bosheth gave orders and had her taken away from her husband Paltiel son of Laish. ¹⁶Her husband, however, went with her, weeping behind her all the way to Bahurim. (This is kind of a sad story here. Michael has been happily married to Paltiel. She helped David escape but her Saul gave her away.) Then Abner said to him, “Go back home!” So he went back.

Neither Michal or Paltiel has no power here. This is not a good situation.

Abner is kingmaking here:

2 Samuel 3:17-18

¹⁷Abner conferred with the elders of Israel and said, “For some time you have wanted to make David your king. ¹⁸Now 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.’”

How Abner suddenly remembers that God had promised David the throne after he himself had made someone else King. Abner is turned. He has become loyal to David.

2 Samuel 3:19-21

¹⁹Abner also spoke to the Benjamites (Saul’s house) in person. Then he went to Hebron to tell David everything that Israel and the whole tribe of Benjamin wanted to do. ²⁰When Abner, who had twenty men with him, came to David at Hebron, David prepared a feast for him and his men. ²¹Then Abner said to David, “Let me go at once and assemble all Israel for my lord the king, so that they may make a covenant with you, and that you may rule over all that your heart desires.” So David sent Abner away, and he went in peace. (War is over this is a time of peace.)

Like a movie: Abner is going out left and in comes Joab from the right.

2 Samuel 3:24-27

²⁴So 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! ²⁵You know Abner son of Ner; he came to deceive you and observe your movements and find out everything you are doing.”

²⁶Joab then left David and sent messengers after Abner, and they brought him back from the cistern at Sirah. But David did not know it. ²⁷Now when Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into an inner chamber, as if to speak with him privately. And there, to avenge the blood of his brother Asahel, Joab stabbed him in the stomach, and he died.

Motive: This was a murder of revenge. So Joab has murdered Abner at a very inopportune time. Just as Abner is ready to deliver the kingdom over to David Joab does.

2 Samuel 3:28-30

²⁸Later, 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. ²⁹May his blood fall on the head of Joab and on his whole family! May Joab’s family never be without someone who has a running sore or leprosy or who leans on a crutch or who falls by the sword or who lacks food.” (Cursed him)

³⁰(Joab and his brother Abishai murdered Abner because he had killed their brother Asahel in the battle at Gibeon.)

Remember ‘battle at Gibeon.’ It was war when Abner killed Asahel after 3 warnings. Now Joab, his brother puts him to death in peace time in private. Worse yet, Hebron was set apart a city of refuge. So this is wrong on all levels.

We want to throw Joab in the bad light. We learnt from 1^st Samuel that people are not all bad . He’s going to be David’s Commander for 33 years and he will still do some positive things for David and for the kingdom. This was a bad part of his life.

We do the same thing with David. What do we remember about David? Man after God’s Own Heart. So we want everything that he ever did to be good and after God’s heart. That is not what we’re going to see. Good people can do bad things. So we don’t want to uphold David as if he is the Messiah. He was the coming King, he’s the reigning King, he is not the Messiah. Jesus is our coming King. Jesus is our reigning King. He is the perfect king.

David did three things: Two sound moves and one soft move.

1. David disconnected himself from Joab’s actions. I had nothing to do with this.

2. David mourned for Abner. He leads a state-sponsored funeral procession. Wrote a lament.

3. David did not deal with Joab for murder. David does not take that kind of action. Here we find his inability to discipline close family members. This is going to be a weakness we’ll see in David’s life over the next coming chapters.

David admits his leniency in verse 39:

1 Samuel 3:39

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!”

David left it to the Lord. I  think there’s a problem here, it’s a crack in the foundation. David is not promoting justice as he should. Joab is a murderer and David does nothing about it.

2 Samuel 4

Two groups of People in Ch. 4. Baanah & Rekab. They were captains of Ish-Bosheth’s raiding party.

2 Samuel 4:1

¹When Ish-Bosheth son of Saul heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he lost courage, and all Israel became alarmed. ²Now Saul’s son had two men who were leaders of raiding bands. One was named Baanah and the other Rekab (They were captains of Ish-Bosheth’s raiding party)

2 Samuel 4:5-8

⁵Now Rekab and Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, set out for the house of Ish-Bosheth, and they arrived there in the heat of the day while he was taking his noonday rest. ⁶They went into the inner part of the house as if to get some wheat, and they stabbed him in the stomach. Then Rekab and his brother Baanah slipped away.

⁷They had gone into the house while he was lying on the bed in his bedroom. After they stabbed and killed him, they cut off his head. Taking it with them, they traveled all night by way of the Arabah. ⁸They brought the head of Ish-Bosheth to David at Hebron and said to the king, “Here is the head of Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, your enemy, who tried to kill you. This day the Lord has avenged my lord the king against Saul and his offspring.”

These two guys had not learned the lament that David wrote at the death of Saul.

2 Samuel 4:10:9-10, 12

⁹David answered Rekab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, “As surely as the Lord lives, who has delivered me out of every trouble, ¹⁰when someone told me, ‘Saul is dead,’ and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and put him to death in Ziklag. That was the reward I gave him for his news!

¹²So David gave an order to his men, and they killed them.

We see how easy it is for David to bring Swift judgment on this murder with two guys that he has no relationship with when it was impossible for him to do that with his nephew. Joab is a murderer and David does nothing about it. So we’re left to think about that.

LIFE APPLICATION:

1. Stay the Course in Crisis.

Don’t Allow the Crisis in Your Life to Cause You to Veer Off Course

Look at David’s life: In seven years he had two murders, two executions, one stabbing, two commanders who were equally power hungry, a generous helping of politics, power, and Pregnant wives. That was a lot of drama.

Friends, isn’t that how our lives feel at times? We step into a new season with hope: Marriage, ministry, career, even retirement only to find the way forward paved with conflict, confusion, and crisis. The temptation is to give up on God’s call.

But notice: David stays the course. He does not abandon the call of God on his life, even when crisis threatens to undo him. He remembers that he is anointed to be king.

Jesus, the Greater David, also stayed the course in crisis. When He faced Gethsemane, sweating drops of blood, tempted to let the cup pass, He prayed: “Not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42). He stayed the course through betrayal, trial, and the cross, until He could cry out: “It is finished.”

What has God called you to in this season? Parenting? Faithful marriage? Ministry service? Witness at work? Do not let crisis pull you off course.

Don’t let family politics derail your calling. Don’t let church conflict silence your ministry. Let not the suffering turn you from Christ.

Remember: If Christ stayed the course to the cross for you, then in Him, you have strength to stay the course in your crisis.

2. Do Justice, Even When it Costs.

David failed to bring justice and that’s his job as king. Joab is a murderer and when there’s a murderer the king has the authority under God to do something about that. He’s not bringing justice to the realm. He’s very quick to kill the Amalekite when the Amalekite

Crisis reveals whether we will do justice, even when it costs. David faltered.

But look to Jesus: the Greater David never compromises justice. At the cross, justice and mercy meet. God “does not leave the guilty unpunished” (Ex 34:7), but offers forgiveness to the ones who ask for him. That Jesus for our forgiveness was taken by him on the Cross. The Cross is a symbol of forgiveness and justice.

Parents: Don’t overlook your children’s sin just because discipline is hard.

Leaders: Don’t excuse wrong in your team because the person is talented.

3. Show Kindness to Your Inside Enemies.

What is inside enemies? People from the same team.

In other words, David showed kindness to inside enemies. These were not Philistines. These were Israelites, supposed to be on the same team.

Let’s quickly recap:

First of all to Saul became an inside enemy. David didn’t make him an enemy Saul made himself an inside enemy to David. But yet when he died, David mourned and lamented for him.

Second, when men of Jabesh Gilead showed kindness to Saul’s death and Jonathan’s death, he sent a blessing out to them and brought a sense of unity.

Third, David opened himself up to Abner when Abner said, “Hey, let’s talk let’s bring unity among this nation.” Listen Abner had made himself an inside enemy he was the commander of Saul’s realm.

Fourth, when Abner died David mourned for this inside enemy. Then when Is-Bosheth died David mourned for him.

Do we not also face “inside enemies”? Family members who wound us. Fellow believers who oppose us. Colleagues who undermine us. How do we respond?

Do everything in our power to show kindness to and to affirm people who have become inside enemies.

Matthew 5:43-44

⁴³“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor^[ and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you

4. Wait for God’s Time in God’s Way.

We may be waiting for something in our lives as well that we feel like we knew that God has called us to but we need to wait for God’s time and for God’s way.

Finally, step back and see the big picture. David knew he was anointed king over all Israel. But it took seven and a half years before the tribes united under him.

Why? Because God was teaching David, that His purposes are fulfilled in His time and in His way.

Are you waiting on God for something? A marriage? A breakthrough? A healing? A ministry opportunity? Don’t rush ahead of Him.

Psalm 138:8 promises: “The LORD will accomplish what concerns me; Your faithfulness, LORD, is everlasting.”

Be patient. Do the next right thing. God is never late.