Teaching Notes

II SAMUEL

We have seen in our study of the book of I Samuel that it was a book that bridged the gap between the period of Judges to the period of the kings, as Israel moved from a theocracy, under Samuel, the last Judge, to a monarchy under king Saul, the first king in Israel. The book opened up with the birth of Samuel and closes with the tragic death of king Saul. This king had the potential to be used mightily by God but his flesh caused him to fall far short of reaching that goal, as we shall see in a few minutes. And so II Samuel picks-up where I Samuel closed, with the death of Saul and his sons in battle against the Philistines. It is a continuous story now focusing on the life of David. In fact the Hebrew Scriptures have I and II Samuel as one book.

II SAMUEL 1

VERSE 1

1. David has just completed the slaughter of the Amalekites and has taken back his family and the families of his men that the Amalekites had taken captive. And they return to their home in Ziklag, the city that Achish, king of Gath, had given to them. And we are going to see that after just 3 days of being home, news comes from the battle regarding what has taken place in the war between Israel and the Philistines.

VERSES 2-10

1. It seems that Saul, wounded by the Philistines, and unable to take his own life by the sword, see's this young man, an Amalekite, and asks him to kill him. And this Amalekite does just that. Now some say that Saul died before this young man came by, that he died back in I Samuel 31 by his own sword after being severally wounded by a Philistine arrow. Thus, this young man is just making this all up. Now these Amalekites would many times go in after a battle and strip the dead of their clothes and armor, before anyone else could do it. And when he found the king of Israel dead he thought he might get some kind of reward from David, so he made this story up. I don't think so. I think this young man came upon Saul, who was still alive, and he killed him.

Josephus, in The Antiquities Of The Jews, writes regarding Saul the following. "As for he himself he fought with great bravery, and when he had received so many wounds that he was not able to bear up, nor to oppose any longer, and yet was not able to kill himself...[he] asked a certain young man that stood by, who he was, and when he understood that he was an Amalekite, he desired him to force the sword through him, because he was not able to do it with his own hands, and thereby to procure him such a death as he desired. This young man did accordingly..." (Josephus, The Antiquities Of The Jews, book 6, 370-372). Thus, after he did this deed, he brought to David the news, and showed David the crown and bracelet of the king to verify what he had done, and waited for a reward from David. He will be rewarded for his deeds, but not the way he thinks.

VERSES 11-12

1. Notice the respect that David still has for Saul, not for Saul's actions, but because Saul was once anointed by God for service, even though that anointing was gone. And David, this warrior, must have felt in his own heart that maybe things would have been different if he would have fought with Israel. Maybe Saul and Jonathan would still be alive.

VERSES 13-16

1. This Amalekite was ready to be promoted by David, but instead he is executed for killing the Lord's anointed. Remember how David would not lay a hand on Saul and yet this Amalekite boasts in what he has done. That boasting cost him his life. David is saying to this young man before he is executed, "The blood you have shed is the cause of your death."

2. Also, the Amalekites are a type of the flesh, which God instructed Saul to utterly destroy, but he didn't. And in the end it was the flesh that caused Saul to be killed. His failure to deal with the flesh also caused him to be removed from ministry. God is not going to use anyone who makes a treaty with his flesh. Remember what Paul said to those in Corinth, "But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified." I Corinthians 9:27. You must crucify the flesh, put it to death, or it will rise-up and destroy you, it will remove you from the ministry.

VERSES 17-18

1. The book of Jasher, also spoken of in Joshua 10:13, may be a collection of songs and poetry to the various war heros. This book is lost today, but this is one of the songs that was placed in this book.

VERSES 19-20

1. Gath and Ashkelon are two of the five main Philistine cities located along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. And David rightly recognizes that once the enemies have heard what has happened, they will rejoice over it.

2. That is so true today, whenever a Christian succumbs to the flesh, the unsaved are ready to rejoice over it. Don't give them a reason to rejoice over our failures in the flesh, but let them see the victory we have in Christ.

VERSE 21

1. Saul and his men were slaughtered on Mount Gilboa, and here David pronounces a curse on this area. He calls for it to be a rocky, barren mountain, which it is to this day. The areas around Mount Gilboa are beautiful and throughout Israel millions of trees have been planted by the Jews, but not on Mount Gilboa, just as David said.

VERSE 22

1. David is saying that Saul and Johnathan fought valiantly. Josephus tells us "...Saul the king of Israel, and his sons fought courageously...So they brought upon themselves the whole power of the enemy, till they were encompassed round and slain, but not before they had killed many of the Philistines." (Josephus, The Antiquities Of The Jews, book 6, 368-369). VERSE 23 1. With all of Saul's irrational behavior, Johnathan, Saul's son, still loved him. That is unconditional love, AGAPE love, that we are to have flowing from our lives.

VERSE 24

1. Saul had brought the nation a time of prosperity but now the Philistines have eroded that away.

VERSES 25-27

1. Many liberals, and those in the gay community, try to use this verse to support their view that Johnathan and David had homosexual relations. That is ridiculous. This love is that of friends and it ran deep. Also, God continually condemns homosexuality in the Scriptures, and He therefore is not going to condone this type of relationship. But this only exists in the minds of those who want to justify their behavior and is not supported by the Scriptures.

The Philistines have successfully driven a wedge between the northern most tribes and the central area of Ephraim and Benjamin. The area east of the Jordan River was basically untouched, but the picture that is being painted is one of fragmentation and uncertainty. Israel had lost its king, and without a commander to lead the people, the people are scattered. They needed someone who could unite the country back together and lead the people. That is the basic idea that is flowing as we move into chapter 2.

II SAMUEL 2

VERSE 1

1. David remains in the city of Ziklag. For 10 years he has been running for his life from king Saul. It was over 10 years ago that David was anointed king in Israel by Samuel. And now that Saul is dead, David will step forward to lead the nation. But before he does anything, he inquires of the Lord in what he should do, and the Lord tells him to go to Hebron, which will become his base of operations for the next several years. It is as Proverbs 3:5-6 says "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths."

2. Hebron was located in the mountains of Judah, between Beersheba and Jerusalem, about 20 miles from each. It was also named Kirjath Arba in Genesis 23:2 and Joshua 14:15, 15:13.

3. It was also one of the 6 cities of refuge that are mentioned in Joshua chapter 20. There were 3 cities of refuge located on the east side of the Jordan River and 3 cites located on the west sideof the Jordan River, spread out from north to south throughout the land of Israel. They were established as a place of safety for those who accidentally murdered someone. A place of protection from the avenger of blood. But once you entered the city you could not leave it until the death of the high priest. If you did you were no longer safe from the avenger of blood.

VERSES 2-7

1. David was from the tribe of Judah and even when he was fleeing from Saul, he sent some of the spoils of his victory to the "elders of Judah." And now David is anointed king of Judah, and it will not be for another 7 1/2 years until he will be king over the entire nation.

2. David also honors the men of Jabesh Gilead for the respect they showed towards the bodies of Saul and his sons.

VERSES 8-11

1. Ishbosheth, Saul's youngest and only surviving son, has been established as king by Abner, who was the commander of Saul's army. And Ishbosheth was only a puppet king, the power behind his kingdom was Abner. And Ishbosheth reigned over 11 of the 12 tribes in Israel, and his base of operations was Mahanaim, on the east side of the Jordan River.

VERSES 12-14

1. Both Abner and Joab were ruthless, cold blooded men of war. And these 2 men come up with a plan to have 12 men from the followers of Ishbosheth and 12 men from the followers of David, do battle before them to see who would win. Life was meaningless to Joab and Abner.

VERSES 15-17

1. The battle is short lived as these 24 men kill each other, and what started out as a competitive skirmish, ended in a battle to the death. 24 men die for nothing and it escalated into a free for all as both sides start to fight and David's men triumph over Ishbosheth's.

VERSES 18-21

1. Joab, Abishai and Asahel were nephew's of David, son's of David's sister Zeruiah. And as they go after Abner, Asahel runs ahead and begins to catch up with him. And Abner tells Asahel "Son, if you know what is good for you, then turn and fight someone else, but don't come after me for you will be sorry if you do." He warns Asahel to leave him alone and amazingly, Asahel is not even prepared to fight, he is unarmed. What a mistake.

VERSE 22

1. "This is your last warning, Don't continue after me or you will regret it!" Abner gives him fair warning.

VERSE 23

1. With their spears they would sharpen the blunted end to stick it in the ground when they were not using it. They would not put the spear end into the ground for it would dull it. And so as this young man Asahel runs up behind Abner, Abner stops dead in his tracks and the blunt end of his spear goes right through Asahel, who was running full speed after Abner. And Asahel fell dead to the ground.

VERSES 24-25

1. As David's men continue to pursue Abner and his troops, they have enough time to regroup and station themselves on the top of a hill waiting for Joab.

VERSES 26-27

1. In the Hebrew, Joab's words are a little clearer. He said "As God lives, unless you had spoken, surely the people would not have given up pursuing their brethren." Joab is responding to Abner's plea for calmness in this situation. They are brethren fighting against each other. And if Abner's call for sanity would have gone unanswered, then more bloodshed would have been spilt and the only victor in this battle would have been the enemies of Israel.

VERSES 28-32

1. Joab lost 20 men in the battle while Abner had lost 360 men. But the reality is, no one really won the battle, they were brethren, and so both lost.

II SAMUEL 3

VERSES 1-5

1. Ishbosheth tried to usurp the kingdom from David, and the works of man will never overpower the will of God. God had appointed David as king, and David never tried to gain it through his own power and might. And thus, God raised David into that position and made him strong before the people. On the other hand, the works of Ishbosheth continued to grow weak for he tried to establish the kingdom by the works of his hands. (Philippians 4:13, 19).

2. We also see the weakness of David here, women! He is multiplying wives to himself which God forbid him to do. God said in Deuteronomy 17:17, in speaking to those who would be kings in Israel, "Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away..." They also were not to multiply riches and horses to themselves. David only broke one of the three, but his son Solomon did all three and it did affect his walk with God. We are going to see over the next several weeks that David was also affected by his actions. His household will be involved in rape, murder, sibling rivalry, dishonor towards David and trying to usurp the kingdom from David, and-so-on. All this because David did not obey God's commands.

VERSE 6

1. Here we see the real power behind Ishbosheth's kingdom, it is Abner. He really was the one in charge, and Ishbosheth was a weak and powerless figurehead.

VERSE 7

1. To take the wife or concubine of the late king was to appropriate his property and to make a bid for the throne. We will see this with Absalom in II Samuel 16:22, as he usurps the throne from David, his father. Now we don't know if Abner actually did this, but he probably did. He figured since he was running the show he wanted some of the fringe benefits and so he took Rizpah to himself. VERSES 8-11 1. Abner knew all along that God had anointed David as king over Saul, but Abner was trying to fight against the will of God. But now that Ishbosheth accused him of this action, he sides with David and says that David's kingdom will extend from Dan to Beersheba, or from the north to the south. And Ishbosheth could do nothing to Abner, because he feared this military man.

VERSE 12

1. Abner wants to make a covenant with David, a sort of peace treaty between the two of them.

VERSES 13-16

1. This is a very sad scene. David says he will sign the contract once he gets his wife Michal back. The only problem is that Michal was given by her father Saul to Paltiel, while David was running from Saul. And Paltiel loved Michal very much, but David was doing it more for a political move, I don't think he really loved her. David had several wives and now he is going to take Michal away from her husband who loves her very much. And as she is being taken away, her husband is in tears over what is taking place. He is broken hearted over the situation. And Abner, the sensitive man that he was, tells him to just go home and stop his whining. And this man heads home alone, while David adds to the number of wives he has.

VERSES 17-19

1. Abner is now endorsing David as king in Israel as he speaks with the various leaders encouraging them to do what God wants in this matter, to anoint David as king, they needed some kind of leadership, Israel was losing ground to the Philistines and that had to stop before they were pushed out of the land.

VERSES 20-25

1. Abner and David make this covenant, but Joab is not around. He was out leading a raid against their enemies and did not arrive home till after Abner had left. And once Joab finds out what David had done, he was furious. He could not believe David had trusted this man of war. He could have been setting a trap for David. Instead of letting him go, you should have kept himso we may put him to death. He saw David as a man who played the fool. Also remember that Joab still had bitterness towards Abner for killing his brother Asahel.

VERSE 26

1. Joab gets Abner to return, and David is completely unaware of what is transpiring.

VERSES 27-29

1. Joab is able to vindicate his brothers death by taking Abner outside the city gate of Hebron, and killing him. And David, upon hearing of what happened, places a curse on the house of Joab.

VERSES 30-34

1. Now some commentators believe that since Abner left Hebron, which was a city of refuge, that he was no longer under the protection of the city. And so Joab had every right to kill him. The only problem with that is Asahel was killed in wartime, and thus Abner was not guilty of premeditated murder, but justified in his actions.

2. David is lamenting the death of Abner, this great man of war, who died as a fool, at the hands of a wicked man, Joab. He did not die as a war hero, but a fool.

VERSES 35-37

1. This murder could have driven a bigger wedge between the nation. And as the people looked at the heart of David, they saw a man who was lamenting the death of Abner. That this was not planned by David but carried out by Joab himself. And God would use this to elevate David in the eyes of the people. David did not have to promote himself, just to be honest in his actions.

VERSES 38-39

1. Joab was a great man of war, but he also was uncontrollable. Even David could not control him. He was a lose cannon ready to explode and he did whatever he wanted. One of David's last charges to his son Solomon was to kill Joab for his wicked behavior. And that is what Solomon will do in I Kings chapter 2.

2. David is growing stronger and stronger before the people and will unite the 12 tribes of Israel into one kingdom shortly.