Body: | David in Hebron: 1010-1003 BC
David's Civil War: 1005-1003 BC
After Saul dies there is Civil war between
The House of David and the House of Saul
David is 30-38 years old during this period.
(The first Divided Kingdom period: 2 years)
2 Samuel 2-5
"Then Abner called to Joab and said, "Shall the sword devour forever?
Do you not know that it will be bitter in the end?
How long will you refrain from telling the people to turn back from
following their brothers?"
(Abner to Joab after Asahel, Joab's brother is killed: 2 Samuel 2:26)
"Now all the people took note of it, and it pleased them,
just as everything the king did pleased all the people."
(When David mourned for Abner, 2 Samuel 3:36)
"The LORD will return his blood on his [Joab] own head,
because he fell upon two men more righteous and better than he and killed
them with the sword,
while my father David did not know it:
Abner the son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel,
and Amasa the son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah." (1 Kings
2:32)
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King David in Hebron: Civil War
Introduction:
1. This is document is part 4 in the
series on Saul and David:
a. Part 1: Saul before David
b. Part 2: David in Saul's Palace:
Saul, the psychotic king who drove himself insane
c. Part 3: Saul hunts David
2. Cast of characters in the civil
war:
a. Saul: King of Judah and Israel who
tried to kill young David until he died in 1010 BC.
b. David: King of Judah in Hebron 1010
-1003 BC and king of both Judah and Israel in Jerusalem in 1003-970 BC.
c. Joab: Wicked army commander of
David during the civil was with Ish-bosheth until he was executed by
Solomon after David died. David made two attempts to fire and replace Joab
as his commander. First in the contest to sneak into Jerusalem to capture
the city. Second, when Absalom usurped the throne and appointed Amasa as
his army commander, this put Joab out of a job. But after Absalom was
killed, David was not going to reappoint Joab as commander because his
disobeyed David's order to capture Absalom alive but instead appoint
Amasa as his army commander (2 Samuel 19:13). Joab killed Amasa with
betraying "Judas Kiss" (2 Samuel 20:9). After the death of Solomon,
Joab betrayed David and Solomon by backing Adonijah, Solomon's brother
when he proclaimed himself king while David was on his death bed.
d. Ish-bosheth: Son of Saul, King of
Israel who succeeded Saul, who caused the civil war with David 1005-1003
BC.
e. Abner: Righteous army commander of
Ish-bosheth (Saul's son) during the civil war with David 1005-1003 BC.
Abner put Ish-bosheth into power but defected to David after he was falsely
accused by Ish-bosheth. Joab assassinated Abner before he had a chance to
deliver the 10 northern tribes to David. Ish-bosheth was killed soon
afterwards and David made Abner his army commander. Joab allied himself
with Adonijah, son of David, when he appointed himself as king as a
pre-emptive strike to usurp the throne away from Solomon
f. Asahel: Brother of Joab whom
Abner killed in the battle at Gibeon. Joab later killed Abner but David
cursed him for this cold blooded murder of a righteous man.
g. Absalom: David's usurping son
who seized the throne in 979 BC for a few months. Absalom was a type of the
Devil and was killed by Joab after his pretty hair caught in tree and left
him entangled and tangling off the ground.
h. Amasa: The army commander of Absalom
during the coup of David's kingdom in 979 BC. After Absalom was killed by
Joab, David was going to appoint Amasa as his army commander (2 Samuel
19:13). Joab killed Amasa with a Judas kiss as he was coming to Jerusalem
after the coup ended.
i. Bathsheba: Wife of David,
mother of Solomon who informed David that Adonijah had proclaimed himself
king.
j. Adonijah: Son of David who
proclaimed himself king while he was on his death bed with the allegiance
of Joab who betrayed David. David spares his half-brother but is later
executed when he asks Bathsheba to ask Solomon for Abishag, who lay with
David on his deathbed to keep warm, to be his wife.
k. Abishag: Winner of the beauty
contest to sleep with David to keep him warm. Adonijah was executed for
asking her to be his wife after David died. She is the same Shunamite girl
in the Song of Solomon whom Solomon unsuccessfully seduced. Instead Abishag
married the shepherd boy she loved rather than Solomon who already had 80
wives.
l. Baanah and Rechab: Two
brothers who served in high ranks of Ish-bosheth's army under Abner.
After Amber was assassinated, Baanah and Rechab then beheaded Ish-bosheth
and brought it to David. David executed the two for the same reason he
executed the Amalekite who brought him the head of Saul because they killed
"God's anointed".
m. Abiathar: Last High Priest of the Eli
line whom Solomon replaced with Zadok. This fulfilled the prophecy in 1094
BC that the house of Eli as high priest would come to an end.
3. Two Key Characters: Righteous
Abner and Wicked Joab.
a. It may come as both a shock and a
surprise that we are labeling David's army general "Joab" as wicked and
Ish-bosheth's army general "Abner" righteous, but that is the truth.
b. We have righteous army general named
Abner allied with the wicked king Ish-bosheth and a wicked army general
names Joab allied with righteous David.
4. Twice David fired Joab as his
commander:
a. When Abner defected from
Ish-bosheth to David in Hebron, Joab murdered Abner against the wishes of
David, who then pronounced two separate curses upon Joab and his household
for the assassination.
b. Most get so excited over exactly how
Joab snuck into Jebus (Jerusalem) through the water channel, they miss the
fact that David had just put Joab's job as army commander up for grabs as a
diplomatic way of firing him. To David's horror, Joab won his job back,
even though others would have entered the competition for such a lucrative
job.
i. It reminds me of the story that I took an unwanted male piglet
I had recently acquired to a party and then had a pig naming contest. 75
people filled in their choice of name on a paper. When I read the names out
everyone cheered for their choice. The winner was clearly "Sir Hamlette". I
then surprised everyone with the news that the winner of the piglet naming
contest, also won the piglet! To my horror by daughter was the winner! Just
couldn't get rid of that unwanted Piglet, just like David couldn't get rid
of Joab.
c. When David's son Absalom usurped
his father's throne, Absalom fired Joab and replaced him with Amasa as his
army commander. After Absalom was killed by Joab, it is quite puzzling why
David chose to keep Amasa as his new army general... until you keep in mind
that David did not want Joab to be his army commander. Joab then murdered
Amasa to get his job back.
d. David had already instructed Solomon
to find a way to execute Joab: (1 Kings 2:5-6) After David had appointed
Solomon as his successor on his deathbed, Joab allied himself with Adonijah
when he appointed himself as king as a pre-emptive strike to usurp the
throne away from Solomon. This final act of rebellion against the wishes of
King David was all Solomon needed to have Joab executed while he held the
horns of the Alter in Gibeon. (1 Kings 2:28-35) "The LORD will return his
blood on his own head, because he fell upon two men more righteous and
better than he and killed them with the sword, while my father David did
not know it: Abner the son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and
Amasa the son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah." (1 Kings 2:32)
e. With Joab executed, Solomon then
replaced Abiathar, the last high priest in the line of Eli, with Zadok.
5. The setting:
a. Saul finally died and David is now
able to finally take control of the kingdom as its sole monarch. However
one son of Saul named Ish-bosheth, is proclaimed king and for two years
ruled everywhere except Judah while David was king in Judah.
b. The Ark of covenant is at
Kiriath-jearim and the Mosaic Tabernacle is at Gibeon.
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c. Here is a panorama view of
Gibeon from the top of Ramah, where Samuel lived and oversaw the Mosaic
Tent of Meeting from 1018-1014 BC until he died. Saul had killed the
priests and none officiated during this period. The tabernacle of Moses
would remain in Gibeon until it is taken down after it is replaced by the
new tabernacle of David in Jerusalem. Once the Temple is built by Solomon,
this tabernacle of Moses will be put in a room inside the Temple for
storage where it vanishes from recorded history forever.
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d. There are still altars at Ramah
(Samuel's), Bethel (Jacob's Gen 35:1), Gilgal and at the two Levitical
cities of Gibeon and Geba.
e. Saul's royal palace is Gibeah of
Benjamin, also called Gibeah of Saul. Gibeah is the first Royal city.
David's royal city will be Jerusalem 7 years after Saul dies. Saul's
royal palace at Gibeah is the capital of Israel until he dies in 1010 BC.
f. Here is a panorama from the top
of Gibeah of Benjamin where Saul's palace stood. You can clearly see
Samuel's home at Ramah 5 km away.
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g. In 1967 King Hussein built his
Jordanian palace on the very spot that Saul's palace stood. Excavations of
this site are planned in the next few years. Past excavations have
uncovered a large square structure with corner towers that are believed to
be Saul's palace. Gibeah is also called the "second Sodom" because in 1290
BC (Judges 19:22), the men of the city committed acts of sodomy and rape
that closely parallels the story of Sodom and Gomorrah in Gen 19. This is
where the Levite priest had his Bethlehemite wife raped and murdered and he
cut her in pieces and sent her to through Israel. The result was a call to
war and the tribe of Benjamin was almost wiped out, save 600 men. Saul was
a descendant of those men and chose Gibeah, his home town, as his Royal
city. Echoing the woman being cut up 250 years earlier from this same spot,
Saul cuts up oxen in pieces and sends them throughout Israel as a call to
war to defend the men at Jabesh-Gilead who were under attack of Moab. This
is how it looks today:
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6. Timeline and chronology:
a. In 1082 BC, Saul is born.
b. In Jonathan is likely born around
1067 BC since he is Saul's oldest son.
c. In 1052 BC, Samuel was 52 years
old when he anointed Saul at age 30-year-old as king. 1 Sam 13:1
d. In 1040 BC, David is born when
Jonathan is about 27 years old and Saul is 42.
e. In 1025 BC, Saul had been king for
27 years but had failed to obey God twice and is told another will replace
him. (David)
f. 1025- 1018 BC: David's time in
the Saul's palace at Gibeah of Benjamin: 7 years
g. 1018-1014 BC: David's time on
the run: 4 years.
h. In 1014 Samuel dies an old man, at
88 years old. 1 Sam 25:1. For about 4 years, Samuel can look down from
Ramah where he lives and see the Tabernacle between 1018-1014 BC.
i. In 1010 BC Saul and Jonathan
die.
j. Saul was 72 years old when he
died
k. Jonathan was 57 years old when he
died.
l. David was 30 when he began to
reign as king in Hebron between 1010-1003 BC
m. In 1005 BC Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, is
made king by Abner, who has been out of a job as army commander ever since
Saul died 5 years earlier. This is the beginning of the divided kingdom
period for two years when David ruled Judah and Ish-bosheth ruled the other
11 tribes.
n. In 1003 BC Abner and Ish-bosheth
are killed, David then captures Jerusalem and begins his reign at age 37.
He reigns in Jerusalem for 33 years.
o. In 999 BC, Solomon is born.
A. David becomes king in Hebron after Saul dies: 2 Samuel 2:1
1. David always asked God for specific direction for everything
he did. Today we have scripture that provides a moral framework for our
choices. This contrasts with Saul who rarely consulted God and therefore
often brought a curse upon himself when he slaughtered the priests at Nob
and then Gibeonites thinking he was doing well.
2. David, the man of peace, sends a message of peace and
reconciliation to Jabesh Gilead because they buried their "hometown boy"
after the Philistines killed him. It is likely that Saul's mother descended
from one of the wives given to the Benjaminites after the tribe was nearly
driven to extinction in 1300 BC after they would not repent of the Sodomy
at Gibeah. (see Judges 19-20) David's kind words
3. Even though David made wise peace with those closely allied
with Saul, trouble was soon to follow because evil will never rest.
B. The House of Saul causes trouble for David: Ish-bosheth made King
over Israel: 2 Samuel 2:8
1. We often speak of the united kingdom vs the divided king
periods of Israel's history. In fact, the first divided kingdom period was
the two years Ish-bosheth was king of Israel and David was king of Judah.
2. Ish-bosheth is Saul's youngest son whom Abner made King at
age 40.
3. Abner, Saul's cousin and army commander while Saul was
alive, took Ish-bosheth and made him king in rebellion to the known will of
God that David was the rightful successor to Saul. Abner is actually a
righteous man., but he started off putting tribal allegiances over God's
will. Why? No doubt the wicked slander Saul had been spreading about David.
After all, it was Abner who lead the hunt for David at the bidding of Saul
who painted David as an evil person. (see Saul hunts David).
a. Shimei's wildly incorrect view of David likely had its
origin in Saul's slander: "Thus Shimei said when he cursed, "Get out,
get out, you man of bloodshed, and worthless fellow! "The LORD has
returned upon you all the bloodshed of the house of Saul, in whose place
you have reigned; and the LORD has given the kingdom into the hand of your
son Absalom. And behold, you are taken in your own evil, for you are a man
of bloodshed!"" (2 Samuel 16:7-8)
b. Abner was able to see through this when Ish-bosheth very
unwisely made a false accusation against Abner sleeping with his fther's
wife.
4. It is interesting that Abner took and made Ish-bosheth king
in the transjordan city of Mahanaim and not Gibeah of Saul. This is a
puzzle. Why would the son of Saul not be crowned king in the first royal
city and the palace of his father Saul? We don't know why, but perhaps the
palace was destroyed. What we do no, is that Gibeah of Saul is never again
used as a place of any kind of importance again after Saul dies. There are
only two references to Gibeah of Saul after the death of Saul:
a. When David hung 7 of Saul's relatives at Gibeah of Saul, in
revenge for Saul's killing of the Gibeonites: 2 Samuel 21:6
b. In 730 BC when Isaiah simply mentions it poetically: Isaiah
10:29.
c. The final reference to Gibeah in the Bible invokes the
memory of the sodomy of 1300 BC before Saul was born (Judges 19) Hosea
9:9-10
5. The transjordan city of Mahanaim was about 10 km south of
Jabesh-Gilead, the tribal origin of Saul's grandmother or great-grandmother
who was given to the Benjaminites so the tribe could continue (Judges 19).
a. Mahanaim had an ancient connection with Jacob as being a
place where Jacob saw angels: "Now as Jacob went on his way, the angels
of God met him. Jacob said when he saw them, "This is God's camp." So
he named that place Mahanaim." (Genesis 32:1-2)
b. Later, David would seek refuge in Mahanaim during the coup
of Absalom. "Then David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom crossed the Jordan,
he and all the men of Israel with him." (2 Samuel 17:24)
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C. The battle of Abner and Joab at the pool of Gibeon: 2 Samuel
2:12
1. Abner was Saul's army general and Joab was
David's army general.
2. Abner was Saul's cousin and Joab was David's
nephew: David's sister's (Zuruiah) son.
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3. The battle at the pool of Gibeon:
a. "And Joab the son of Zeruiah and the servants of David went
out and met them [Abner and the servants of Ish-bosheth] by the pool of
Gibeon; and they sat down, one on the one side of the pool and the other on
the other side of the pool." (2 Samuel 2:13)
b. Archeology has given us a rich historical view of the actual
pool at Gibeon: See study of Gibeon.
c. You can imagine Joab and his soldiers sitting with his feet
dangling over the edge of the pool on one side and Abner with his soldiers
sitting on the opposite side! This is the photo of when the pool of Gibeon
was first excavated in 1956-1960 by J. B. Pritchard. Here is an excavation
photo:
Description: Description: click to view
d. In 2 Samuel 2:12-16, Abner challenges Joab to a battle
challenge where each side would choose 12 soldiers who line up and face
each other. After a one, two, three, GO command, each grabs his opposite
opponent by the hair and runs the other through with his sword, killing all
24 soldiers at the same time. This may be where they got the idea in the
Battle of 1812, where the Red coats would line up in rows against the Blue
coats and when the command was given, each fired at his opponent across the
way, killing all soldiers in both front lines. Kind of dumb and senseless.
The native Indians fighting on the Canadian side changed all this when they
ambushed the American troops, contrary to established battle methods. The
USA and Canada have only had one war against each other and the Canadians
"wamped" the USA, forcing them to retreat and who have never had the
courage since to fight Canada. The Americans are taught a false and partial
history of the battle of 1812 and often protest at the truth that they lost
the war. If they had won the war, Canada would now be part of the USA! In
fact, Canada owned all the land for 100 miles south of the Great Lakes but
decided to make the border in the middle of the lakes because of the
strategic protection these large lakes provided against any future USA
aggression. Fortunately, Canada invented the telephone, Lacrosse, Hockey,
Basketball and insulin and peace has existed between the two great nations
ever since! But I digress...
e. After the 24 soldiers were killed in the challenge, a great
battle broke out between David's army and Ish-bosheth's army.
f. Asahel was Joab's brother and his mother was Zeruiah the
sister of David. He began to chase Abner. Now the story that follows is in
great detail in the Bible. The reason for the extra detail, is to show that
Abner was a righteous man who warned Asahel twice to stop chasing him
before he thrust his spear backwards killing Asahel in self-defense. Later,
Joab would murder innocent Abner and David pronounced a curse on Joab, who
was later killed himself. 2 Samuel 2:21
g. After Asahel is killed the entire battle stops and the
soldiers on both sides stand and look at the corpse. Abner then takes the
moral initiative to offer a cease fire: "Then Abner called to Joab and
said, "Shall the sword devour forever? Do you not know that it will be
bitter in the end? How long will you refrain from telling the people to
turn back from following their brothers?" (2 Samuel 2:26)
h. Abner's words are wise and show that war is not a good
solution to any problems and people die. Joab blames the death of his
brother Asahel on Abner because he is the one who initially made the
"battle of 1812" challenge at the pool of Gibeon. Joab then blows the
trumpet in formal ceasefire and both armies return home.
i. Nineteen of David's men were killed in the battle and 360
of Abner's men were killed in the battle.
j. Abner returns to Mahanaim and Joab returns to Hebron.
k. After this there was long and continued civil warfare during
the two years Ish-bosheth was king of the 11 northern tribes (the ten, plus
Benjamin)
4. Below are actual photos of the pool of Gibeon
that can be seen today! This is an amazing proof from archeology that the
Bible stories are true and real history!
a. This is the photo of when the pool of Gibeon was first
excavated in 1956-1960 by J. B. Pritchard. Here is an excavation photo
beside a recent photo:
Description: Description: click to view
b. "J. B. Pritchard's excavations at el-Jib in 1956, 1957,
1959, and 1960. Included among the finds were thirty-one jar handles
inscribed with the name "Gibeon" (gbʿn) in ancient Hebrew script"
(ABD)
Description: Description: click to view
c. The snail-like appearance of the spiral staircase goes
underground and continues to the water source deep underground:
Description: Description: click to view
D. Abner falsely accused, defects to David: 2 Samuel 3:6
1. Every decision of Saul while he was alive and those
of his household, including Ish-bosheth, was stupid or unwise.
a. Saul twice directly disobeyed God's commands and made an
edicts that resulted in him trying to execute his righteous son Jonathan,
when he ate the honey. Saul was king, but he was as "dumb as an ox".
b. This stupidity seemed to run in the family when Ish-bosheth
falsely accused Abner, the very one who not only made him king, but kept
him in power, of sleeping with one of his father's wives.
2. Ish-bosheth accused Abner of sleeping with his
father's concubine, Rizpah, an otherwise unknown woman until this event.
3. Why would Ish-bosheth accuse Abner of this capital
crime?
a. Men would sleep with the wives of a dead king, as a way of
proclaiming themselves as king. Ish-bosheth may have actually believed this
to be true or it may have been a deliberate false charge in order to have
Abner killed.
b. Abner was in fact more powerful than the king. Abner was the
one who made Ish-bosheth king. Abner also was the army general in control
of the entire army.
c. Most likely, the paranoia that plagued Saul towards
perfect David, became a family tradition with his son Ish-bosheth towards
Abner.
4. Abner was a great man who was as wise as he was
righteous and therefore knew Ish-bosheth was looking for ways to have him
killed to satisfy his own paranoid insecurities.
5. Abner's reply tells us a huge amount of information:
"Then Abner was very angry over the words of Ish-bosheth and said, "Am
I a dog's head that belongs to Judah? Today I show kindness to the house
of Saul your father, to his brothers and to his friends, and have not
delivered you into the hands of David; and yet today you charge me with a
guilt concerning the woman. "May God do so to Abner, and more also, if as
the Lord has sworn to David, I do not accomplish this for him, to transfer
the kingdom from the house of Saul and to establish the throne of David
over Israel and over Judah, from Dan even to Beersheba." And he could no
longer answer Abner a word, because he was afraid of him." (2 Samuel
3:8-11)
a. First, Abner knew Ish-bosheth wanted him beheaded: "Am I a
dog's head that belongs to Judah?"
b. Second, Abner knew the only reason Ish-bosheth was king at
all, was because Abner not only made him king in the first place, but also
fought to protect him from David. Abner knew he had the power in his hands
to turn Ish-bosheth over to David. This is likely why Ish-bosheth feared
Abner, without cause, and made the false accusation.
c. Abner was fully aware that God had sworn an oath to David
to be king, not Ish-bosheth.
6. If Abner knew God had chosen David to be king, why
did he rebel and make Ish-bosheth king and stand by his side for two years?
a. Abner was Saul's army general for many years. He was the one
who led the hunt for David, nearly capturing him once.
b. Saul had likely spread a large amount of slander and false
rumors about how wicked David was.
c. Shimei's wildly incorrect view of David likely had its
origin in Saul's slander: "Thus Shimei said when he cursed, "Get out,
get out, you man of bloodshed, and worthless fellow! "The LORD has
returned upon you all the bloodshed of the house of Saul; in whose place
you have reigned; and the LORD has given the kingdom into the hand of your
son Absalom. And behold, you are taken in your own evil, for you are a man
of bloodshed!"" (2 Samuel 16:7-8)
d. Therefore, it is likely that Abner questioned David's
righteousness but in time, learned that the house of Saul was worthless.
e. Abner's gradual comprehension that the house of David was
blessed of God for good reason, and that the house of Saul was under a
curse, for good reason, came to a head when Ish-bosheth trumped up the
false charge for no reason at all.
f. Abner suddenly connected Ish-bosheth's narcissistic
paranoia and false accusations against himself with Saul's psychotic
slander against David years earlier.
g. Abner was a righteous man as seen in his double warning to
Asahel before he killed him in self-defense, or be killed himself. David
always viewed Abner as a righteous man.
h. Being a righteous man, he chose to defect to David. If he
was unrighteous, he would have just killed Ish-bosheth right there and made
himself king.
i. Abner walks down to Hebron and joins David!
7. The story of the defection of Abner to David is
important because sometimes good and honest souls are aligned with wicked
men. But in time, they see the light and break their ties with the Devil
and his servants.
8. Abner comes to David and says: "Then Abner sent
messengers to David in his place, saying, "Whose is the land? Make your
covenant with me, and behold, my hand shall be with you to bring all Israel
over to you." He said, "Good! I will make a covenant with you, but I
demand one thing of you, namely, you shall not see my face unless you first
bring Michal, Saul's daughter, when you come to see me."" (2 Samuel
3:12-13)
a. David could easily have killed Abner, but was a man after
God's own heart and a man of peace, not bloodshed.
b. David demands that Michel, his wife who had been given to
another man by Saul, be returned to him. This illustrates the power of
females who were the daughters or wives of kings. It is a paradox that
Abner had been false accused of insurrection by sleeping with Saul's wife,
and the first request David makes of Abner is to have Saul's daughter
Michel, returned to him because of the symbolic significance that came with
it as Saul's rightful successor to the throne. We know that good looking
Michel was barren her entire life and was therefore a "sports model", but
this is not likely why David wanted her back.
9. Abner agrees and begins his journey north to hand
over control of the 11 northern tribes to David... but this will never
happen because he is assassinated by Joab.
E. Joab ruthlessly murders Abner: 2 Samuel 3:26
1. Joab had always carried a grudge against Abner for killing his
younger brother Asahel. However, we know from the story that Abner was
being chased by Asahel and gave Asahel two warnings before killing him in
self-defense, or be killed himself.
a. Joab may or may not have ever known these details.
b. It seems that he may not have, since the scripture goes into
such specific detail to exonerate Abner in killing Asahel. Remember, 2
Samuel was written long after David died.
2. As David's longest serving and most trusted army general, Joab
had long viewed Abner as an enemy.
a. Joab was an army general, not a king.
b. Joab lacked the larger insight of a king like David, to see
that Abner could indeed be trusted as much as Joab.
3. When Joab learned that David had made peace with Abner, Joab
rebuked David for his "naivety".
a. Instead of submitting the decision of the king, Joab took
matters into his own hands in rebellion to the wishes of a king.
b. Joab was now doing what Abner never did to Ish-bosheth:
disobey an decision of the king and murder Abner.
c. Joab was himself guilty of the very deception Joab had
falsely accused of Abner to David.
d. Joab, in a way, made himself king over righteous David and
killed Abner, who never considered usurping wicked Ish-bosheth.
4. It is clear from the narration, that Joab was serving himself
in avenging his brother, in complete disregard to the greater good that
might be accomplished by Abner's defection.
5. Had Abner lived and had a chance to peacefully deliver the 11
tribes over to David, it might have been done peacefully so that even
Ish-bosheth might have not needed to have been killed.
6. When David learned Joab had executed of Abner, he pronounced a
curse against the house of Joab: "May it fall on the head of Joab and on
all his father's house; and may there not fail from the house of Joab one
who has a discharge, or who is a leper, or who takes hold of a distaff, or
who falls by the sword, or who lacks bread." (2 Samuel 3:29)
7. Joab's selfish act of revenge created three problems for
David:
a. It removed a bloodless and peaceful path to David ending the
civil war as king of all 12 tribes.
b. It created the appearance that David instructed Joab to
murder Abner.
c. It created the appearance that David cannot be trusted
when he makes an oath to someone. Saul broke his oaths countless times.
8. David is struck with genuine grief and personally follows the
wake for Abner to his grave in Hebron.
9. David refuses to eat all day and the people took note with
this amazing statement. If only this could be said about all our own
personal conduct as others view it:
a. "Now all the people took note of it, and it pleased them,
just as everything the king did pleased all the people." (2 Samuel 3:36)
b. It was clear to the people that David did not order Abner's
execution.
c. David proclaims a further curse upon his sister Zeruiah's
two remaining sons, Joab and Abishai, who worked together to kill Abner.
10. In this story, we see the righteousness of Abner shining through and
like Jonathan, met an unfair and unjust end to their lives.
F. Ish-bosheth turns coward and is killed: 2 Samuel 4:1
1. Upon hearing the news that Abner wasa dead, Ish-bosheth
"lost courage, and all Israel was disturbed." This illustrates that he
really wasn't king material in the first place for he was so dependent upon
others to support him in the vacuum of his own lack of leadership.
2. After Abner was assassinated by Joab, it became clear to two
of Ish-bosheth's army commanders, that it was time for them to flee in fear
since they wrongly thought David ordered the execution of Abner, they would
be next on the list! These two commanders were brothers named Baanah and
Rechab.
a. "Saul's son had two men who were commanders of bands:
the name of the one was Baanah and the name of the other Rechab, sons of
Rimmon the Beerothite, of the sons of Benjamin (for Beeroth is also
considered part of Benjamin, and the Beerothites fled to Gittaim and have
been aliens there until this day)." (2 Samuel 4:2-3)
b. According to Eusebius Onomasticon the town lay between
Antipatris and Jamnia, but the Madeba Map places it between Beth-dagon and
Lod. The name may appear in the Amarna Letters as Akk. Gamteti."
(Eeardman's Bible Dictionary, Gittaim).
3. After army commander Abner was assassinated by Joab, Baanah
and Rechab moved from Beeroth to Gittaim (lit: double wine press), they
travelled over to the palace of Ish-bosheth at Mahanaim and killed him
during his afternoon sleep.
4. The took the head of Ish-bosheth to David, unaware of their
impending execution.
a. David reminded Baanah and Rechab of what happened when the
Amelekite told David that he killed Saul, then had the two executed.
b. What is sad here, is that lies kill people. Had these two
known that David did not order the murder of Abner, they might not have
felt the need to flee to foreign town like Gittaim.
c. They killed Ish-bosheth in order to preserve their own
lives, when that action is what got them both killed.
d. If David was a wicked king, he would likely have rewarded
them and made them commanders in his army.
e. Righteous and wicked men think and act in very different
ways.
5. It is clear that David actually thought that he could rule
all 12 tribes and allow Ish-bosheth to live.
6. David was not happy when Jonathan was killed since he had
agreed to serve David as his second in command. With Abner and Ish-bosheth
dead, whether right or wrong, it now cleared the way for David to take
control of the entire land and be the king of all the 12 tribes. The civil
war was over.
a. "So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron,
and David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the LORD; and they
anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of the LORD through
Samuel." (1 Chronicles 11:3)
F. David capture Jerusalem: 2 Samuel 5
1. David was 30 when he became king in Hebron and reigned 7.5
years. Then he reigned 33 years in Jerusalem.
2. Jerusalem was a Jebusite stronghold that had never been
fully conquered by Israel.
3. David had taken the head of Goliath to Jebus (Jerusalem) for
reasons unknown. However, it may have been a way to intimidate and warn the
Jebusites for his eventual take-over of their city.
4. David promises: "Now David had said, "Whoever strikes
down a Jebusite first shall be chief and commander." Joab the son of
Zeruiah went up first, so he became chief." (1 Chronicles 11:6)
a. So although Joab was under a curse by David for killing
Abner, he proved himself once again as an able warrior by sneaking into
Jebus through the "water tunnel." 2 Samuel 5:8
b. The water tunnel would be either a freshwater channel of the
Gihon Spring near its gate, or a sewer channel that came under the gate.
c. Pictured here is an example of just such a water tunnel
for sewage at the recently discovered double gated Elah fortress which
overlooks the Elah Valley where David killed Goliath.
d. Khirbet Qeiyafa (Elah fortress) Here is the south gate
facing the Elah Valley in which David killed Goliath. There are two gates
at Qeiyafa: a southern facing gage pictured below and a western facing
gate. Both gates are standard Iron age "triple gates" that date from the
time of Saul and David. Although the Jebusite city of Jerusalem was much
older, it is likely that the water channel that Joab used to sneak into the
city was like this. These water channels was used for sewage and were
common constructions for both cities and fortresses.
Description: Description: click to view
e. Here is the same gate looking from the outside, notice the
opening for the sewage that runs under the entire triple gate structure.
Description: Description: click to view
5. Hiram, the king of Tyre sent cedar and skilled labourers in
stonework and woodwork to build david a palace. Archeologically, then
David's palace would be of the same design at that seen in Ancient Tyre.
6. The Philistines attack David in Jerusalem (the valley of
Rephaim is the south end of the valley of Hinnom: Joshua 15:8), but God
strikes them with insanity and they likely start killing each other, like
so many times in the past and David defeats them. It is interesting that
the Philistines abandoned their idols where they were camped and David
gathered them all up and hopefully disposed of them.
a. The signal was the sound of many men marching above the
trees. This auditory miracle of God was similar to Gideon's 300 when he
used the torches, trumpets and broken pots to trigger mass confusion among
the enemy so they destroy themselves.
b. David then attacked and rid the land of Philistines from
north of Jerusalem at Geba to west of Jerusalem at Gezer.
Conclusion:
1. David was king in Hebron for about 5 years before Abner made
Ish-bosheth king and created the first period of the divided kingdom. In
the last two years of David's reign in Hebron, Ish-bosheth was king of the
11 northern tribes at Mahanaim: 1005-1003 BC
2. We have righteous army general named Abner allied with the
wicked king Ish-bosheth and a wicked army general names Joab allied with
righteous David. In fact, David tried to diplomatically replace Joab when
he offered his position as leader of the army to the man who was able to
break into Jebusite Jerusalem through the water channel. Joab understood
the rebuke, but also was truly a highly skilled commander and logistical
soldier. When he won the contest, David had no choice but to give him his
job back, but it must have been obvious to all that David was not really
happy with Joab, especially since he was under a double curse by David for
killing Abner. Although Joab Killed Absalom the usurper of David's
throne, David never reinstated Joab's Job but allowed Amasa to continue as
as army commander (2 Samuel 19:13). This would be particularly bitter for
Joab, since Absalom replaced Joab with Amasa as his army commander when he
usurped David's throne. Joab finally went on to murder innocent Amasa!
When David was on his death bed Joab allied himself with David's other
son Adonijah instead of Solomon. David instructed Solomon to find a way to
execute him. "Now you also know what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me,
what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to Abner the son
of Ner, and to Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed; he also shed the
blood of war in peace. And he put the blood of war on his belt about his
waist, and on his sandals on his feet." (1 Kings 2:5). Joab was executed by
Solomon for his insurrection and disloyalty: 1 Kings 2:28-35. ""The
LORD will return his blood on his own head, because he fell upon two men
more righteous and better than he and killed them with the sword, while my
father David did not know it: Abner the son of Ner, commander of the army
of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah."
(1 Kings 2:32)
3. David did his best to navigate with peace, the foolish and
dangerous vengeful hatred of Joab and the self-serving paranoid insecurity
of Ish-bosheth.
4. In all of David's choices, everything he did pleased the
people. He truly was the most righteous king Israel ever had.
5. The lesson for Christians is that we will suffer from the
consequences of the poor choices of those around us. We need to be part of
the solution, never the problem. This is what David did.
By Steve Rudd: Contact the author for comments, input or corrections.
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