This program of daily devotions is designed to take you through the Bible in three years. It is our desire to help you gain a better general understanding of God's Word.
Please understand that in a study this brief, we will be concerned with only the major emphases and context of the Scriptures.
Each day a devotion for one or two chapters is posted, beginning with chapter one of Genesis and going through chapter twenty-two of Revelation. You are free to print each page as it appears. If you miss a day, you may contact us and request that devotion. Please send your request, along with $.50 (p&h) for each page to:
Bruce McGee,Pastor
205 Adams
Columbia, LA 71418
HERE
Bro. Bruce's commentaries for the
books of Genesis, Exodus, and Leviticus are
now available in hard copy for $7.50. Just mail your request for
COMMENTARY ON GENESIS to the address above.
2SAMUEL
1 And it came to pass after this, that David inquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah? And the LORD said unto him, Go up. And David said, Whither shall I go up? And he said, Unto Hebron.
2 So David went up thither, and his two wives also, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail Nabal's wife the Carmelite.
3 And his men that were with him did David bring up, every man with his household: and they dwelt in the cities of Hebron.
David knew that he was now the legitimate king of Israel. But he wanted to be sure that he died things on God's timetable. So he came before God with questions to discern God's will more perfectly.
4 And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. And they told David, saying, That the men of Jabesh-gilead were they that buried Saul.
5 And David sent messengers unto the men of Jabesh-gilead, and said unto them, Blessed be ye of the LORD, that ye have shewed this kindness unto your lord, even unto Saul, and have buried him.
6 And now the LORD shew kindness and truth unto you: and I also will requite you this kindness, because ye have done this thing.
7 Therefore now let your hands be strengthened, and be ye valiant: for your master Saul is dead, and also the house of Judah have anointed me king over them.
David was of the tribe of Judah, and it is only natual that they should accept him as their king first.
8 But Abner the son of Ner, captain of Saul's host, took Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahanaim;
9 And made him king over Gilead, and over the Ashurites, and over Jezreel, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and over all Israel.
10 Ishbosheth Saul's son was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and reigned two years. But the house of Judah followed David.
11 And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.
Abner (Saul's chief army officer) didn't want to have David as his king. So he talked to Ishbosheth (Saul's son), and asked him to become king. It must have taken Abner almost 5 years to convince Ishbosheth to become king. Because he only served as king for two years, and David served in Hebron for seven years and six months before taking over Ishbosheth's kingdom.
12 And Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ishbosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.
13 And Joab the son of Zeruiah, and the servants of David, went out, and met together by the pool of Gibeon: and they sat down, the one on the one side of the pool, and the other on the other side of the pool.
14 And Abner said to Joab, Let the young men now arise, and play before us. And Joab said, Let them arise.
15 Then there arose and went over by number twelve of Benjamin, which pertained to Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David.
16 And they caught every one his fellow by the head, and thrust his sword in his fellow's side; so they fell down together: wherefore that place was called Helkath-hazzurim, which is in Gibeon.
17 And there was a very sore battle that day; and Abner was beaten, and the men of Israel, before the servants of David.
Abner (head of Ishbosheth's army) and Joab (head of David's army) met to fight. They chose 12 men each and sent them out to decide the battle. And Joab's men killed Abner's men.
18 And there were three sons of Zeruiah there, Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel: and Asahel was as light of foot as a wild roe.
19 And Asahel pursued after Abner; and in going he turned not to the right hand nor to the left from following Abner.
20 Then Abner looked behind him, and said, Art thou Asahel? And he answered, I am.
21 And Abner said to him, Turn thee aside to thy right hand or to thy left, and lay thee hold on one of the young men, and take thee his armour. But Asahel would not turn aside from following of him.
22 And Abner said again to Asahel, Turn thee aside from following me: wherefore should I smite thee to the ground? how then should I hold up my face to Joab thy brother?
23 Howbeit he refused to turn aside: wherefore Abner with the hinder end of the spear smote him under the fifth rib, that the spear came out behind him; and he fell down there, and died in the same place: and it came to pass, that as many as came to the place where Asahel fell down and died stood still.
David's sister, Zeruiah, had three sons: Joab, Abishai, and Azahel. They all served in David's army. Evidently, Asahel was the younger of the three sons, and probably a little brash. He knew he could keep up with Abner and was trying to capture him. Perhaps he wanted to get that glory for himself.
24 Joab also and Abishai pursued after Abner: and the sun went down when they were come to the hill of Ammah, that lieth before Giah by the way of the wilderness of Gibeon.
25 And the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together after Abner, and became one troop, and stood on the top of an hill.
26 Then Abner called to Joab, and said, Shall the sword devour for ever? knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end? how long shall it be then, ere thou bid the people return from following their brethren?
27 And Joab said, As God liveth, unless thou hadst spoken, surely then in the morning the people had gone up every one from following his brother.
28 So Joab blew a trumpet, and all the people stood still, and pursued after Israel no more, neither fought they any more.
29 And Abner and his men walked all that night through the plain, and passed over Jordan, and went through all Bithron, and they came to Mahanaim.
Joab chased Abner until his army was trapped on a hill. But Abner, being a wise warrior, realized his defeat and finally admitted it. He called out to Joab to put a stop to the war.
30 And Joab returned from following Abner: and when he had gathered all the people together, there lacked of David's servants nineteen men and Asahel.
31 But the servants of David had smitten of Benjamin, and of Abner's men, so that three hundred and threescore men died.
32 And they took up Asahel, and buried him in the sepulchre of his father, which was in Bethlehem. And Joab and his men went all night, and they came to Hebron at break of day.
Joab had lost only 20 men, including Azahel. But Abner had lost 360 men.
Please continue to follow along with us in daily Bible study.
CHAPTER 2
Sometimes we know that it is God's will that we do a certain thing. But we shouldn't be hasty to accomplish what God Himself will do with us.
David found not only that he should go and become the king, but he also found exactly WHERE he was to begin this kingdom - Hebron. So David moved there with all those who had been with him.
Now David finds out that it was the men of Jabeshgilead that had taken the care to bury Saul.
He was careful to send messengers to these men and compliment them for their kindness. He also assured them that, in turn, he would be kind to them.
We should take care to compliment and encourage those who do good deeds.
Abner knew that with David as king he would receive no honor and no power. Some people will rebel against authority at any cost because they want to be the ruler of their own lives.
Why do people want to be self-serving when they know that Jesus is the anointed eternal King? Because people want to have their own honor and power and run their own lives.
But Abner still has that PRIDE. He would not submit his army and tried to fight against Joab's forces.
Many are the people who struggle against Jesus as the Lord of their lives. But in the end, they will be like Abner and his army; beaten, defeated, ruined.
He had the speed to keep up with Abner, but he lacked the cunning ability to defeat him. His hope was probably to catch Abner unaware, and thus capture him.
Proverbs 25:27 says,
"It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search their own glory is not glory."
Abner tried to get Azahel to join him (verse 21), but he wouldn't. So Abner knew he would either have to kill Azahel, or be killed himself.
But Abner also knew that he didn't want to face Joab if he killed Azahel (verse 22).
Azahel continued to follow, so Abner finally killed him. And everyone knew that Joab was going to be very angry (verse 23).
Oh! What a tangled mess we see when men of pride, seeking glory, are set against one another!
Abner had been the one who made light of war and death (verse 14). What had begun only that morning seemed to him to have lasted "for ever" (verse 26).
He used right reasoning and said that continued war of brother against brother would cause "bitterness in the latter end."
Joab was very kind and gracious. He had the victory, but he didn't force the issue. He called for a retreat of his troops and allowed Abner to go home to Mahanaim.
Joab buried Azahel, but he never buried his grudge against Abner. He never spiritually dealt with the problem of unforgiveness in his heart.
When something like this happens, we need to deal with the difficulty immediately. We need to give forgiveness, and go on and deal with life efficiently in the love and will of God. Joab never did that. And we'll see more about this later.