April 4: 2 Samuel 2-4
So, after years of
being chased through the desert, David finally becomes king, albeit just over a
portion of Israel. The land of Judah is a large area that encompasses almost
the entire southern region (however the tribe of Simeon has land in the center
of Judah’s region).
The rest of the land
is ruled by Saul’s remaining son, Ish-Bosheth. We don’t know when he takes over
the reign of Israel – it’s possible this happened before Judah named David as
their king. We haven’t heard of Ish-Bosheth before, and he apparently wasn’t
involved in the battle where his brothers and father died. Under the control of
Abner the army battles against David’s men to hopefully gain control of the
entire kingdom, however David’s men are victorious in battle.
We have a lot of
players in the kingdom game and it can get confusing! On Judah’s side we ‘meet’
three brothers who were actually David’s nephews. Zeruiah was his sister, and
her sons were Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. We don’t know where Zeruiah fell in
the birth order and we don’t know the ages of these men. Asahel was killed by
Abner, Joab will become commander of David’s army, and Abishai will also lead a
large portion of David’s army. You may remember Abishai was the one who snuck
into Saul’s camp when David took Saul’s spear but didn’t kill him.
Ish-Bosheth is
actually afraid of Abner and he accuses him of sleeping with Saul’s concubine.
In our day that doesn’t seem to be a huge deal, but in those days the taking of
a king’s current or former concubine was essentially an act of laying claim to
his entire house and property. True or not, Abner is offended enough to switch
sides.
What did you think of
David’s request to get Michal back in exchange for Abner’s loyalty? Obviously
her husband loved her – I wonder if she saw this as an abduction or if she was
secretly glad to be back with David. Of course he now had at least six other
wives.
Lots of fighting,
death, and intrigue today!
TOMORROW’S TEXT: 2 Sam
5:1-6:11; 1 Chron 11:1-9; 12:23-40;13-14
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