I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.
Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Samuel 1-3.
The Book of 2 Samuel begins with the story of how David received the news of Saul’s death. It tells us of a messenger who brought the news to David, claiming to have committed the coup-de-gras to Saul. The messenger appears to have expected a reward from David for his actions. Instead, David has the messenger killed. This story establishes a pattern which David will follow throughout his life, David executed those who thought to curry favor with him by bringing him news that they had killed one of his enemies. Once David had finished mourning the death of Saul and Jonathan, he sought God’s guidance on returning to the land controlled by the tribe of Judah. As soon as he had established himself there, the leaders of Judah came to him and made him their king.
About the same time that the leaders of Judah made David their king, Abner, Saul’s army commander, made Saul’s remaining son king over the rest of Israel. Abner then marched his army to Gibeon (despite the fact that Saul’s son, Ishbosheth, was king, it was Abner’s army). The city of Gibeon was a city of significant political importance in Israel, including Judah, and Joab, David’s army commander, would not allow Abner to claim it for Ishbosheth. So, with the two armies facing each other and neither willing to make the first move, Abner suggests to Joab that they have a battle of twelve champions (that number is significant, at least partially because of the twelve tribes). All twelve fights end in each fighter killing his opponent. While Joab’s forces won the day, I believe that battle of champions shows us that neither side could win the ensuing war militarily. Unfortunately, during the battle, Abner could not escape from Joab’s younger brother and was forced to kill him.
During the ensuing war, we learn that Abner is the true power behind the throne of Saul’s son. When the two men have a falling out, Abner promises to turn Ishbosheth’s throne over to David. What I find interesting is that Ishbosheth cooperated with Abner’s negotiation with David. Joab did not believe that Abner was dealing honestly with David and killed Abner by trickery. The passage tells us that Joab killed Abner in revenge for Abner killing his own brother. Right after this we learn that David and Joab do not have the most cordial of relationships. Joab and David are cousins (as were Abner and Saul), which makes me wonder if some members of the tribe of Judah had greater loyalty to Joab than to David.