2 Samuel 3:6-39

We study through books of the Bible here at the village chapel.

So if you'd like a paper copy, I'd invite you to just lift your hand up and someone will bring one along to you.

Of course, you can use your own or your iPad or phone or whatever it might be.

So glad you're here.

So this morning we're going to continue our study of 2 Samuel, the Old Testament book.

As a reminder, the literary genre that we're studying here in the Old Testament is historical narrative.

The author is describing to us what is really happening at this pivotal point in the history of God's people.

Israel's first king, Saul, has died, and his son Ishbosheth is reigning.

He's been reigning for the last two years over the northern tribes and King David in the southern tribe of Judah.

At this point in the story, we are starting to see the political, the military, and the national drama play out as we near the start of the reign of King David over all the tribes.

You and I live in an unprecedented time of media access, of entertainment access.

I was looking it up yesterday.

When you open the Netflix app or go to the website, there are over 13,000 movies or TV series.

That's not episodes, that's series that we have access to in just an instant.

13,000.

When we open up the Kindle app or your Kindle device, six million books that you can download instantly.

And when we have such easy access, some of it's really good, some of it not so good.

But when you have such easy access to this, sometimes it can influence how we read stories.

Think about the pacing of movies now compared to, say, Star Wars.

Things that we have access to constantly, this quick access to entertainment, influences sometimes how we read the Bible.

So it's important when we look at historical narrative to remember that this is not like Aesop's fables, where there's a little moral nugget at the end.

There certainly are moral implications.

It's not a heroic tale like the Avengers or Star Wars meant to entertain.

There certainly are moral implications, but the Lord has so much more for us to learn from this inspired text.

The Lord, by a Spirit, has preserved for us these true stories of God's work, and this is the important distinction.

It's the true story of God's work of redemption in the world to make all things new.

And this story, as we've been learning the past few weeks, it includes both the sometimes foolish, sometimes faithful actions of men and women, not too different from you and I.

But it is Yahweh, God, who is always sure and steady.

He's always the faithful one.

These historical narratives are not whitewashed.

That's partly how I know they're true.

They're real.

The Bible is refreshingly honest, shockingly honest sometimes.

But above all, we see the God of the Bible accomplishing his purposes.

Between the story of the garden in Genesis, where the fall and sin corrupted a good creation, all the way to the end of the story in Revelation, the city of God, which we hinted at in the Psalm, we're right here in the middle, in this middle section.

We are witness to the redemptive work of God fulfilled in these historical accounts.

So if you're anything like me, you like your stories nice and tidy.

Superman defeating Lex Luther in the span of 90 minutes.

That's how I like my stories.

But that's obviously not how real life works.

2 Samuel is not always like our modern-day superhero movies.

But the story of God's mission in the world is better.

Because it's true, and it matters to us today, boots on the ground today, because we can see, feel, touch the pollution, the corruption, the decay of sin in the world all around us, turn on the news, but also in our own hearts.

So historical accounts like this are a mirror that show us that we need a redeemer, just like they did.

A true and lasting peace that can only come from a king, as we just sang about, who will lay down his life for rebels like me.

So this morning I invite you to turn to 2 Samuel 3, if you would, and we're gonna start in verse 6.

So this account is pretty long, and it's a beautiful day outside, so we'll get you out.

This account can be broken up into three different segments.

I'm gonna call them scenes, three different scenes.

That's how we're gonna approach the text today.

Before we do that, let's uh let's pray, if you would, with me.

Living God, help us, help me to hear your word.

In understanding that word, I pray that you would bear fruit, that I might obey and be faithful, bowing before you, seeking your honor and glory and all that I do and all that we do, because you're worthy.

In Jesus' name we all said.

Amen.

Alright, 2 Samuel chapter 3, we'll start with verse 6.

2 Samuel 3 · chapter mention

So read along.

While there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner was making himself strong in the house of Saul.

Now Saul had a concubine whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Ayah.

And Ishbosheth said to Abner, Why have you gone into my father's concubine?

Then Abner was very angry over the words of Ishbosheth and said, Am I a dog's head of Judah?

To this day I keep showing steadfast love to the house of Saul your father, to his brothers, and to his friends, and have not given you into the hand of David.

And yet you charge me today with a fault concerning a woman?

God do so to Abner and more also, he's speaking in the third person here.

So God do so to me, Abner, and more also, if I do not accomplish for David what the Lord has sworn to him, to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan to Beersheba.

And Ishbasheth could not answer Abner another word because he feared him.

That's the close of scene one.

Like any great storyteller, the author has now started to zoom in closely to the power drama of the outgoing house of Saul and the incoming administration of the house of David.

If you recall from last week, we read it last week, the start of chapter three actually states this plainly.

The text says Abner was making himself strong in the house of Saul.

It doesn't say he was making the house of Saul stronger.

It doesn't say he was inquiring of the Lord.

He was strengthening himself.

And from the get-go, we know that Abner is concerned about power, at least in part.

Abner is concerned about all things, Abner.

So this morning, as we go through this narrative, I wanted to put up a chart and we'll progressively add more things to it so we can see some of the characters.

So in this first scene, we have King Ishbosheth of the Northern Tribes.

This is Saul's son.

And of course, we just introduced Abner, his commander, the top military of the northern tribes.

So that's who we're talking about here in this first scene.

Ishbosheth is a weak king.

That's true.

And Abner articulates that, although very defensively.

Much like, by the way, King Saul turned out to be weak.

He's not obviously, or he's not totally oblivious, rather, seemingly from out of nowhere, he decides to accuse Abner of sleeping with Rizpah, King Saul's wife.

So why did he do that?

Well, we don't know for sure.

However, in the ancient Near East, it was not unusual for a leader to assert himself after the death of a king by taking one of the king's wives, perhaps to take over the kingdom himself.

It's a show of power.

We don't know if this is the case with certainty.

But it does appear that Abner is guilty of the affair.

He immediately goes into defense mode, and you'll notice that he never denies the accusation.

It could be easy, though, to, and it was when I first read this, to stand in judgment, and that would be somewhat appropriate.

But the ways of Abner are not always far from my own heart.

That's why in great literature and movies, we often see when somebody's accused, especially if they're guilty, they often get very defensive very quickly, very loud.

Well, I've never been idle.

And they look around, and that's that's usually when you're watching a movie, you know, oh, that person's guilty.

Towards the end of his defense, Abner then makes a radical shift.

Another possible show of dominance, of switching loyalties from the house of Saul to the house of David and all the tribes along with him, basically saying, Look, Ish Basheth, I'm the real power here.

And I'm gonna take all this to King David.

And he even subtly uses the authority of God of Yahweh, correctly stating that the Lord has anointed King David.

He's promised the throne to David.

Although it does seem that Abner deploys the word of God when it suits him.

That seems to be his normal pattern.

The political winds are shifting, and Abner is more than willing to shift with them.

From Dan to Beersheba, he says, from north to south, he's basically saying, This entire kingdom, I have all the power here, Ish Rashes.

It'd be like us saying, from Anchorage to Miami, Florida, from San Diego to Portland, Maine, all of it is under my command.

There's a subtle threat there.

So although we can't possibly know all the motives of Abner, we can see the promise of the Lord.

To have the people of God unified under the reign of the anointed King David.

We can start to see this promise be fulfilled.

The bluster, the defensiveness, the weakness of Ishbasheth, the Lord is working through even these things to accomplish his purposes.

So let's pick it up at scene two, verse 12.

And Abner sent messengers to David.

Interesting.

Not the king Ishbasheth, Abner sends messengers, messengers to David, saying, To whom does the land belong?

Make your covenant with me, and behold, my hand shall be with you to bring over all Israel to you.

And he said, meaning David, Good, I will make a covenant with you, but one thing I require of you, that is, you shall not see my face unless you first bring Mikal, Saul's daughter, when you come to see my face.

Then David sent messengers to Ishbasheth.

Interesting, David then goes to the king directly, Saul's son, saying, Give me my wife Mikal, for whom I paid the bridal price of a hundred four skins of the Philistines.

And Ishbosheth sent and took her from her husband Paltiel, the son of Laish.

But her husband went with her, weeping after her all the way to Baharim.

Then Abner said to him, Go return.

And he returned.

Now we're not done with scene two yet, but I want to pause here for a minute to address this emotionally wrenching moment in the story.

First of all, the ultimate responsibility of this tragic scene that we see here rests at the previous king, Saul.

David was married to Macal sometime after the battle with Goliath, if you'll recall.

When Saul becomes jealous of David later on in the story, David flees for his life, and Saul foolishly gives Macal, David's wife, to another man, Paltiel.

The original marriage to David was never annulled.

We don't have record of it, so the marriage still stood.

Here the Bible is brutally honest about the reality of a sin-corrupted world.

The reality of relationships polluted by sin.

The scene shows us it's not the way it's supposed to be.

As a reminder, Jim taught us this last week.

Just because it's being reported, we have to remind ourselves it doesn't mean this is an example for us to follow, obviously.

Why did David request this as a part of the deal, as a part of this covenant?

Perhaps he still loved Macau, we don't know.

From the context of the story, at least the immediate context, it seems like McCall is being used as a pawn in this political drama between Abner and David and Ishbeshef.

And in the wake of King Saul's madness before, we are given a glimpse of excruciating pain.

Macall's king-appointed husband, Paul Tiel, is sent away weeping.

There are also some strategic reasons for this exchange.

The daughter of the previous king joining the household of the incoming king could bring a sense of continuity, of legitimacy.

There is a reunification of this marriage.

There's so much at play here, but we can't avoid the real sadness that we see in the text.

Again, this is like a mirror.

We know the senseless destruction that sin brings in the world.

One of the central areas where you and I viscerally experience this sin-polluted world, it's in our relationships.

I would venture to guess that most in this room have been touched in some way by the ravages of divorce.

Or have tasted the shame and grief of abuse or neglect.

The evil of sin that we see in this text and that we see in this day and experience demands justice and it requires a redeemer.

Cornelius Plantinga Jr.

says it this way I love this.

God is, after all, not arbitrarily offended.

God hates sin, not just because it violates his law, but more substantively because it violates shalom.

Because it breaks the peace, because it interferes with the way things are supposed to be.

God is for shalom and therefore against sin.

It's a great reminder for us.

We'll continue on, verse 17.

And Abner conferred with the elders of Israel.

So he's gone back and he's getting this deal in place.

He confirmed with the conferred with the elders of Israel, saying, For some time past you have been seeking David as king over you.

Now then bring it about.

For the Lord has promised David, saying, By the hand of my servant David, I will save my people Israel from the hand of the Philistines and from the hand of all their enemies.

Abner also spoke to Benjamin.

Benjamin was the first king Saul's tribe.

Need a little bit of extra diplomacy there.

And then Abner went to tell David at Hebron all that Israel and the whole house of Benjamin thought good to do.

When Abner came with twenty men to David at Hebron, this is the capital of Judah, David made a feast for Abner and the men who are with him.

What an honor.

This is a huge honor.

And Abner said to David, I will arise and go and will gather all Israel to my Lord the King, that they may make a covenant with you, and that you may reign over all that your heart desires.

So David sent Abner away, and he went in peace.

Close of scene two.

So in this scene, we've witnessed one of the first steps to the uniting of these two kingdoms.

Abner, with all of his mixed motives, proves to be a good diplomat, a skilled negotiator.

David, shrewd in his own right, honors Abner and his men with a feast to finalize this deal.

And after the deal is completed, after the covenant is signed, Abner is sent away in peace.

And it literally was a legal term.

And we use it, they actually use it in the text two more times that we'll see here in a minute.

He sends them away in peace, basically confirming Abner is now on our side.

He has safe passage in all of our country.

Abner's loyalty is now officially to the house of David.

So although we don't have time to address all the questions that could possibly arise from the text this morning, a couple of things just interesting to ask.

There's a speed and a pace at which this covenant was signed, this deal was put in place that was in stark or is in stark contrast to the patience that we've seen in David in previous stories.

Why did David feel the need to deal with his rogue Abner?

And where is Ishbesheth in all this?

We aren't told of anyone inquiring of the Lord, just like last week.

Interesting questions.

Ultimately, we won't know the answers to these.

But from our vantage point, although messy and chaotic, again, we see the Lord working through these flawed men to bring about his purposes, a united kingdom under David.

So we get to scene three, and as we start scene three, we'll throw up another chart as we add a little bit more, add a few more characters.

So we already saw in the house of Saul Ishbasheth, commander Abner of the northern tribe.

So now we're going to introduce a new character, Joab, the top military guy for David, who is king over Judah.

So starting at verse 22.

Just then the servants of David arrived with Joab from a raid, bringing much spoil with them.

But Abner was not with David at Hebron, for he had sent him away and he had gone in peace.

When Joab and all the army that was with him came, it was told Joab, Abner, the son of Nur came to the king, and he has let him go, and he is gone in peace.

Basically, we have a royal tattletale here.

Verse 24 Then Joab went to the king and said, What have you done?

Behold, Abner came to you.

Why is it that you have sent him away so that he is gone?

You know that Abner the son of Nur came to deceive you and to know your going out and your coming in, and to know all that you are doing.

When Joab came out from David's presence, he sent messengers after Abner, and they brought him back from the cistern of Sarah.

But David did not know about it.

So we'll pause here for just a moment.

Our scene isn't finished yet.

Just a reminder that this nation is still vulnerable from the inside and the outside.

We're not united yet.

Joab has just returned from a successful mission, likely against the Philistines, a raid.

And he's been told that David, his king, has made an agreement with Abner, and in his eyes, Abner is the enemy.

So while he's away serving his king, the king makes a deal with the enemy.

So, in many ways, Joab does show some common sense here.

Joab is rightly concerned for the safety of his own troops, for the safety of his kingdom, for the safety of his king.

But he might have also identified a potential rival.

When a military commander brokers a deal, it's likely that that broker, Abner, would gain power and influence.

It may have even been written into the deal, we don't know.

And at whose expense?

Joab.

Joab also has a history with Abner.

In the midst of battle, Abner killed his brother Azahel, as we studied last week.

This is not just loyalty to the king.

There are mixed motives here, likely.

Loyalty to a nation, but this is also personal.

It's a mix: loyalty, envy, vengeance.

We're told that David didn't know what Joab was up to, so there may even be some deception here.

So we'll continue reading at verse 27, if you would.

And when Abner returned to Hebron, remember he had safe passage, so he had no reason to fear when he was called back.

And Joab took him aside into the midst of the gate to speak with him privately, and there he struck him in the stomach so that he died for the blood of Azahel his brother.

Afterward, when David heard of it, he said, I and my kingdom are forever guiltless before the Lord for the blood of Abner the son of Nur.

May it fall upon the head of Joab and upon all his father's house, and may the house of Joab never be without one who has a discharge or who is leprous, or who holds a spindle, who falls by the sword, or who lacks bread.

So David is outraged here, and he pronounces this curse on Joab and his family.

And this curse essentially is with the leprosy and the discharge, you can never worship in the temple again.

And the rest of it is about poverty, about his work, about this family's work.

You shall never have wealth again.

David is rightfully upset.

So Joab in verse 30, and Abishai his brother, killed Abner because he had put their brother Azahel to death in the battle at Gibeon.

Verse 31.

Then David said to Joab and to all the people who are with him, tear your clothes and put on sackcloth and mourn before Abner.

So the murderer has to lead the funeral procession of the one he murdered.

Humiliation.

It's basically the casket or the cot that they would keep the body on as they went down the funeral.

King David is at the front of the line.

They buried Abner at Hebron, and the king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner, and all the people wept.

And the king lamented for Abner, saying, Should Abner die as a fool dies?

Your hands were not bound, your feet were not fettered, as one falls before the wicked you have fallen, throwing shade again at Joab and his family, the wicked.

And all the people wept again over him.

Then all the people came to persuade David to eat bread while it was yet day, but David swore, saying, God, do so to me, and more also if I taste bread or anything else until the sun goes down.

There's real mourning going on here.

36.

And all the people took notice of it, and it pleased them as everything that the king did pleased all the people.

So all the people and all Israel understood that day that it had not been the king's will to put to death Abner the son of Nur.

And the king said to his servants, Do you not know that a prince and a great man has fallen this day in Israel?

And I was gentle today, though anointed king.

These men's, the son of Zariah, that's Joab's family, are more severe than I.

The Lord repay the evildoer according to all his wickedness.

Close of scene three.

A lot going on here.

David is rightfully appalled at the naked vengeance of Joab.

This will become a pattern of Joab as we continue to study 2 Samuel.

He is loyal, yes, but he's often violent and vengeful.

Often rogue, and we'll continue to see that play out.

Many questions will arise from this text, many more than even this.

But why was David so mournful of Abner's death?

Almost over the top.

It seems clear to me that there was genuine mourning there.

But again, this was a fragile kingdom.

And David wanted the northern tribes to know that it was not his will that their top commander be put to death.

And he made it clear.

David does humiliate and punish Joab and his family, forcing them to publicly mourn for his enemy.

But we have to ask the question: why didn't David then bring swift justice to Joab and his family?

That would have been the duty of the king.

And he falls short of that.

And we can see that if you read in Deuteronomy 17, the ideal king.

We don't know with certainty why David didn't carry out justice to completion.

Fear, political or military shrewdness, we don't know.

Although Joab will be loyal to David's kingdom throughout his reign, the same pattern of brutality will show itself time and time again, even to the point of Joab killing David's own son, his traitorous son, Absalom, later on in the story, after being told explicitly not to.

So this will come back to haunt David.

This is another mirror that shows you and it shows me the depravity of our heart.

Should also arise in us, though, a God-given sense of justice.

If we're honest, our own hearts are not often that far from Abner or Joab.

We may not be murderous, I hope not.

But vengeance and envy are temptations for me.

Temptations for you.

Pastor Jim mentioned to Matt Pearson and I this week that it's clear from the scriptures that we humans are not made to bear the weight of vengeance.

Only God.

This mirror should remind us of our own need for a renewed heart.

Even more than that, a dead heart to come to life.

Yet out of this account of chaos and calamity, again, we see the Lord working his promises.

So a lot of text to read today, but what are a few things we've learned?

Well, number one, we've said this over and over, God will accomplish his redemptive purposes, even through men and women with foolish and mixed motives.

That includes me.

Did you notice that the author in verse 31, for the first time, uses both the personal name and the royal office, King David?

That's good news.

The northern tribes are no longer a threat, and the promises of God are coming to fruition.

A united king under the anointed, a united kingdom, rather, under an anointed king, King David.

It shows us, though, the sure and steady sovereignty of the God of the Bible.

He intends to set things right.

This kingdom of David, let's remind ourselves, is a foreshadow of the king who's reigning now, Jesus Christ.

Almost 300 years after this text that we read this morning took place, almost 300 years when the people of God are in exile, the prophet Isaiah says that from the root of Jesse, a Messiah will come.

Who is Jesse but David's father?

700 years after that, in the genealogy of the book of Matthew, we see that Jesus, our Messiah, comes through the line of David.

And we're reading that about his kingdom today in this text.

Sometimes we don't know the purposes of the Lord in a moment, sometimes not even in a lifetime, sometimes not even in a generation, and we may not know until glory.

But the faithfulness of God is on full display, and that should give me hope, that should give you hope.

This word from the Lord to remind us and give us assurance that God is all wise and he's all good.

Also in Isaiah, the Lord says this.

I love this in 46.

For I am God, there is no other.

I am God, there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from the ancient times things not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish my purpose.

I have spoken and I will bring it to pass.

I have purposed and I will do it.

Pastor J.D.

Greer said it this way, a little more succinctly, in the great mystery of grace, God commandeers even our stupid decisions to accomplish his purposes in us.

I thank God for that.

Point number two.

Sin, we can see this in the text, brings disorder, it distorts reality, and is destructive to human flourishing.

How do we see disorder?

Well, for one, the good gift of marriage is distorted by Abner with his affair with Rizpah.

And as we learned last week, the multiple wives of David, including Macau and the heart-wrenching sadness of her second king-appointed husband, Paul Tiel, there's disorder.

Sin distorts reality.

What do I mean by reality?

Well, what is actually true, good, and beautiful?

Sin distorts that.

Avarice and ambition are rampant in Abner and Joab, at least in part.

There's only so much power, and I must have it.

But in God's economy and Jesus, the last shall be first.

And you must lose your life in order to find it.

Jesus always reminds us of what actually is true and good and beautiful.

How do we see sin's destructive nature in this story?

We see it in the cold-blooded murder of Abner, in the vengeance of Joab, in the broken marriage, a war-torn and fragile kingdom.

Sin chains us to a kingdom of our own desires and it makes us less than human.

The gospel offers another way.

We find true freedom when we turn from sin.

We run to the cross of Christ where both justice and mercy are on full display.

And we are set free to submit to the one who offers true freedom to live as we were intended to live by the power of the Spirit of God.

Thomas Watson said this.

I love this, a Puritan pastor, till sin be bitter, Christ will not be sweet.

And we sure can see the bitterness of sin in this text.

We need, as Dallas Willard says, a renovation of the heart.

And that can only come through the cross of Christ.

By the work of his Spirit, a growth in grace.

Christopher Wright said it this way.

I love this.

The redemptive work of God through the cross of Christ is good news for every area of life on earth that has been touched by sin, which means every area of life.

Bluntly, we need a holistic gospel because the world is in a holistic mess.

And by God's incredible grace, we have a gospel big enough to redeem all that sin and evil has touched.

And every dimension of that good news is good news utterly and only because of the blood of Christ on the cross.

If you believe that, say amen.

Number three, our only hope is the true and final King, Jesus Christ, who has dealt decisively with our sin, who is reigning now, and who will return to establish true and lasting peace.

And he's pointed in this scripture or in this text that we're reading this morning, we can see in David's kingdom the foreshadowing of Christ who will come and indeed for us has come.

So I've used this quote before, but I love it.

In the third and final volume of The Lord of the Rings, the Return of the King.

I love the question that Sam Gange poses to Gandalf.

He says, Gandalf, I thought you were dead, but then I thought I was dead myself.

Is everything sad going to come untrue?

The Bible's answer to that question is an unequivocal yes in the person of Jesus.

We have no hope, I have no hope, you have no hope, other than Christ our Lord.

Without his rescue, without his redemptive work on the cross, we have no hope.

The historical account this morning reminds us that the faithfulness of God to that end, that he will make all things new, including you and me, is coming to fruition.

And again, Isaiah says, and his kingdom will have no end.

The prophet Isaiah says it correctly.

And that should bring us great hope this morning.

So how could our response be anything other than turning to him in faith, grateful dependence, resting in the good news that this gracious God has come to rescue this disordered creation, rescue me and rescue you.

We can rest in that.

The return of the king.

And N.T.

Wright, as we wrap up, Christianity is all about the belief that the living God, in fulfillment of his promises, and is the climax of the story of Israel, has accomplished all this.

The finding, the saving, the giving of new life in Jesus, he has done it.

With Jesus, God's rescue operation has been put into effect once and for all.

And for that I'm grateful, and I hope you are this morning as well.

Let's pray together.

Lord, we come to you this morning grateful that you are our King.

I confess that sometimes I'm unsettled by the disorder and the destruction that we see around us, and sometimes in my own heart.

Lord, we pray for your will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, as you taught us.

And we pray for the grace to place all our hope and trust on you as we wait patiently for your return when you promise to set all things right.

Come, Lord Jesus, come, we pray in expectant hope.

And we all said, Amen.