2 Samuel 20 -22 part 12

We left off last week with David and his people crossing the Jordan making their way back to Jerusalem and we ended the lesson with the Northern and Southern tribes arguing over King David and tonight we will be looking at how this argument spawns into another rebellion against David and many other interesting events.

2 Samuel 20:1And there happened to be there a rebel, whose name was Sheba the son of Bichri, (bick-rih) a Benjamite. And he blew a trumpet, and said: "We have no share in David, Nor do we have inheritance in the son of Jesse; Every man to his tents, O Israel!" ² So every man of Israel deserted David, and followed Sheba the son of Bichri. (bick-rih) But the men of Judah, from the Jordan as far as Jerusalem, remained loyal to their king.

Here we see this man Sheba uses this disagreement between the north and the south to start a new rebellion against David. Now when it says that every man of Israel deserted David, this is talking about the northern tribes because Judah remained loyal to David and escorted him into Jerusalem. Now I find this interesting because if you remember last week it was the northern tribes that had first wanted David to be King once again while Judah had not invited him back as King. But after David act of making Amasa his commander then they welcomed him back with open arms and now that they have changed their mind they argued how much more David belongs to them then he does to the northern tribes. I can just imagine felt like he was in tug of war match and now all this bickering has led to this rebellion. Now David has enter back to his thrown with this unpredictable rebellion led Sheba.

2 Samuel 20:3 And David came to his house at Jerusalem. And the king took the ten concubines whom he had left to care for the house and put them in a house under guard and provided for them, but did not go in to them. So they were shut up until the day of their death, living as if in widowhood.

These 10 women had committed no crime but were helpless victims to Absalom yet David put them into confinement which is basically like prison as they under guard and they were to remain like this until they died. Even though he provided for them they were like widows because David would not go and see them. They certainly didn’t deserve this type of treatment but this is what David choose to do.

2 Samuel 20:4 And the king said to Amasa, "Assemble the men of Judah for me within three days, and be present here yourself." ⁵ So Amasa went to assemble the men of Judah. But he delayed longer than the set time which David had appointed him. ⁶ And David said to Abishai, "Now Sheba the son of Bichri (bick-rih) will do us more harm than Absalom. Take your lord's servants and pursue him, lest he find for himself fortified cities, and escape us." ⁷ So Joab's men, with the Cherethites, the Pelethites, and all the mighty men, went out after him. And they went out of Jerusalem to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri. (bick-rih) ⁸ When they were at the large stone which is in Gibeon, Amasa came before them. Now Joab was dressed in battle armor; on it was a belt with a sword fastened in its sheath at his hips; and as he was going forward, it fell out. ⁹ Then Joab said to Amasa, "Are you in health, my brother?" And Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him. ¹⁰ But Amasa did not notice the sword that was in Joab's hand. And he struck him with it in the stomach, and his entrails poured out on the ground; and he did not strike him again. Thus he died. Then Joab and Abishai his brother pursued Sheba the son of Bichri. (bick-rih)

First thing we learn is that Amasa is not very good at following orders. David wants them to go find Sheba right away but for whatever reason Amasa delays following this order. Next, instead of using Joab, David asks Abishai to go track down Sheba. Now Joab and all his men followed Abishai as their leader for now. Next, we see Joab repeat his sneaky ways of killing those whom he doesn’t care for. As you see on the map they were all gathered at Gibeon which was about 6 miles from Jerusalem. Notice he walk toward Amasa and his sword fall to the ground, I personally believe this was a planned deception by Joab to make Amasa think that he was unarmed. Then Joab pretends to be concerned about his cousin Amasa and asked him about his health. Then as we read he grabs by the beard with his right and leans in to kiss him and with his left hand he stabs Amasa with a hidden sword and he dies. Now the way I see it there are at least 2 possibilities of why he killed Amasa. 1. It could have been because Joab was Jealous of Amasa since David had given him his position as commander. 2. Joab may have killed him because he still viewed him as enemy and one that could not be trusted especially in such a high position. But whatever the reason he is now dead and now Joab is the new leader as implied by his name being put first in that last verse.

2 Samuel 20:11 Meanwhile one of Joab's men stood near Amasa, and said, "Whoever favors Joab and whoever is for David -- follow Joab!" ¹² But Amasa wallowed in his blood in the middle of the highway. And when the man saw that all the people stood still, he moved Amasa from the highway to the field and threw a garment over him, when he saw that everyone who came upon him halted. ¹³ When he was removed from the highway, all the people went on after Joab to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri. (bick-rih) ¹⁴ And he went through all the tribes of Israel to Abel and Beth Maachah and all the Berites. So they were gathered together and also went after Sheba.

Here we see this man standing near the slain body of Amasa and he start rallying the people to be on David and Joab’s side. Then Amasa body was drug out into the field and covered with garments. Now Sheba had tried his best to raise an army but he was unsuccessful and only had his clan with him and he found himself trapped with in a fortified city. Now Joab and all these men were after him.

2 Samuel 20:15 Then they came and besieged him in Abel of Beth Maachah; and they cast up a siege mound against the city, and it stood by the rampart. And all the people who were with Joab battered the wall to throw it down.

As bird flies this city was located 27 miles north of Jerusalem. This city was surrounded by protective walls as most cities were during this time. Joab and his men start trying to break through this wall to get at Sheba and they assumed that this city was willing to die for this man.

¹⁶ Then a wise woman cried out from the city, "Hear, Hear! Please say to Joab, 'Come nearby, that I may speak with you.' " ¹⁷ When he had come near to her, the woman said, "Are you Joab?" He answered, "I am." Then she said to him, "Hear the words of your maidservant." And he answered, "I am listening." ¹⁸ So she spoke, saying, "They used to talk in former times, saying, 'They shall surely seek guidance at Abel,' and so they would end disputes. ¹⁹ "I am among the peaceable and faithful in Israel. You seek to destroy a city and a mother in Israel. Why would you swallow up the inheritance of the LORD?" ²⁰ And Joab answered and said, "Far be it, far be it from me, that I should swallow up or destroy! ²¹ "That is not so. But a man from the mountains of Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri (bick-rih) by name, has raised his hand against the king, against David. Deliver him only, and I will depart from the city." So the woman said to Joab, "Watch, his head will be thrown to you over the wall." ²² Then the woman in her wisdom went to all the people. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, (bick-rih) and threw it out to Joab. Then he blew a trumpet, and they withdrew from the city, every man to his tent. So Joab returned to the king at Jerusalem.

This unnamed women and her wisdom would be what saved many innocent lives from being destroyed that day. She was a true peace maker and as soon as she found out why Joab and his men were trying to penetrate their walls she uses her wisdom on her people and they find Sheba and cut off his head and throw it over the wall. This was enough appease Joab and so he and his men returned back to the kingdom. This is one instance when Joab didn’t allow his rage to get the better of him because he actually listened to the women. We can learn from this in that when we find ourselves in the heat of the moment that we must train ourselves to listen because their may be a better way for us to handle a situation that we are intensely engaged in.

2 Samuel 20:23 And Joab was over all the army of Israel; Benaiah the son of Jehoiada (juh-hoi-uh-duh) was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; ²⁴ Adoram (a-doe-rum) was in charge of revenue; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; ²⁵ Sheva was scribe; Zadok and Abiathar were the priests; ²⁶ and Ira (I-ruh) the Jairite was a chief minister under David.

These last few verses are just showing us who make up David’s administration and it shows us that Joab is back in his position of power.

Now as we move into Chapter 29 we are not for sure when this takes place, however some have suggested maybe it happened at the beginning of David’s reign. This chapter is very challenging and it gives some information not found anywhere else.

2 Samuel 21:1 Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David inquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, "It is because of Saul and his bloodthirsty house, because he killed the Gibeonites." ² So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; the children of Israel had sworn protection to them, but Saul had sought to kill them in his zeal for the children of Israel and Judah.

Now as far as I know this is the first time we learn about Saul killing these Gibeonites and we find out because of this there was a 3 year famine. Now David summons them up to talk to them.

2 Samuel 21:3 Therefore David said to the Gibeonites, "What shall I do for you? And with what shall I make atonement, that you may bless the inheritance of the LORD?" ⁴ And the Gibeonites said to him, "We will have no silver or gold from Saul or from his house, nor shall you kill any man in Israel for us." So he said, "Whatever you say, I will do for you." ⁵ Then they answered the king, "As for the man who consumed us and plotted against us, that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the territories of Israel, ⁶ "let seven men of his descendants be delivered to us, and we will hang them before the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, whom the LORD chose." And the king said, "I will give them."

These men had the opportunity to have what ever they wanted. Now I want to point out that they were slaves and it would makes sense to me that they would use this as way to free themselves from their slavery, but no, instead they want to kill of 7 of Saul’s descendants and David agrees to this.

2 Samuel 21:7 But the king spared Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the LORD's oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul. ⁸ So the king took Armoni (ar-moe-nih) and Mephibosheth, the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul; and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai (bar-zillai) the Meholathite; ⁹ and he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the hill before the LORD. So they fell, all seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, in the beginning of barley harvest.

Ok we have to do a little bit of work here to see what is going on here. First we can see that David would not allow Mephibosheth Jonathan’s son to be one of those that were killed. Now lets back track just a little bit. As far we know from the Bible Saul had 1 wife and 1 concubine. Technically he had 2 wives because as pointed in one of our past lessons a concubine was wife in every sense but she was considered as secondary in rank as a wife. To prove this to be true all you have to do is look at the example found in Judges 19:1-5.

1. A Levite takes himself a concubine.

2. She runs away to her fathers house.

Judges 19:3 Then her husband arose and went after her,

Judges 19:4 Now his father-in-law, the young woman's father,

Judges 19:5 the young woman's father said to his son-in-law,

So there no doubt that a concubine is a wife even though the she lower on the scale than one actually called a wife.

Now Saul’s wife Ahinoam had born him 4 sons and at this time they were already dead. So, David takes 2 of Saul’s sons from Rizpah his concubine to give to these Gibeonites and interesting to note that one of these sons names was Mephibosheth as well. So, Saul had a son and grandson with the same name. Next we run into a textual variance as it says that David gives 5 sons of Michael over to be killed as well. We’ve talked about this in the past as well. Some versions say Merab instead which was one of Saul’s daughters as well. Now personally I think Merab should be name here especially when consider the fact that it says the woman named here was associated with the man named Adriel. Now watch this.

1 Samuel 18:19 But it happened at the time when Merab, Saul's daughter, should have been given to David, that she was given to Adriel the Meholathite as a wife.

We can clearly see that it was Merab that was associated with Adriel and not Michael. In any case these 2 sons and 5 grandson were handed over and killed at the beginning of the barely harvest which means it was some time around the 1^st of April.

2 Samuel 21:10 Now Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until the late rains poured on them from heaven. And she did not allow the birds of the air to rest on them by day nor the beasts of the field by night. ¹¹ And David was told what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done. ¹² Then David went and took the bones of Saul, and the bones of Jonathan his son, from the men of Jabesh Gilead who had stolen them from the street of Beth Shan, where the Philistines had hung them up, after the Philistines had struck down Saul in Gilboa. ¹³ So he brought up the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from there; and they gathered the bones of those who had been hanged. ¹⁴ They buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in Zelah, in the tomb of Kish his father. So they performed all that the king commanded. And after that God heeded the prayer for the land.

Now according to God’s law in Deut. 21:23 a man was only to hang during the day but was to be buried before night fall. Well these men remain out in the open some 6 months. We can know this because the rains that came mentioned in our text came around November or December. This shows how much love Rizpah had for her sons as she stayed out there day after day keeping the animals from her sons bodies. When David hears about what this woman had done he goes gathers the bones of Saul, Jonathan and the rest of those who were hanged and buried them in the tomb of Kish. After all this God heeded the prayer of for the land.

2 Samuel 21:15 When the Philistines were at war again with Israel, David and his servants with him went down and fought against the Philistines; and David grew faint. ¹⁶ Then Ishbi-Benob, (ish-bigh-bee-nahb) who was one of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose bronze spear was three hundred shekels, who was bearing a new sword, thought he could kill David. ¹⁷ But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid, and struck the Philistine and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, "You shall go out no more with us to battle, lest you quench the lamp of Israel."

Now we don’t know the timeline here but we do know that David was exhausted and he grew faint and we see that another Giant is killed, but this time it was done by Abishai.

2 Samuel 21:¹⁸ Now it happened afterward that there was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob. Then Sibbechai (sib-uh-kie) the Hushathite (hoo-shuh-thight) killed Saph, (saf) who was one of the sons of the giant. ¹⁹ Again there was war at Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan (el-hay-nun) the son of Jaare-Oregim (jay-uh-ree-or-uh-jim) the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. ²⁰ Yet again there was war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; and he also was born to the giant. ²¹ So when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea, (shem-i-uh) David's brother, killed him. ²² These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.

As we end this chapter we see that a lot of Giants are being killed.

1. Sibbechai (sib-uh-kie) kills Saph (saf)

2. Elhanan (el-hay-nun) kill’s Goliath’s brother whose name is Lahmi (lay-migh) according to 1 Chronicles 20:5.

3. This giant with 6 fingers and 6 toes was killed by Jonathan, David’s nephew.

Including the giant that Abishai killed this is 4 dead giants in one chapter.

Now as we enter into chapter 22 we see David giving thanks for God’s powerful deliverance and his multitude of blessings. This Psalm in this chapter is repeated almost word for word in Psalm 18. Now this chapter kind of long and I struggled on how to present it in our lesson. I have decided for the sake of time to allow it to speak for itself and so I am simply going to read it and I hope that you will follow a long and pay close attention to the numerous beautiful thought given to us by David.

2 Samuel 22:1 Then David spoke to the LORD the words of this song, on the day when the LORD had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. ² And he said: "The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; ³ The God of my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, My stronghold and my refuge; My Savior, You save me from violence. ⁴ I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies. ⁵ 'When the waves of death surrounded me, The floods of ungodliness made me afraid. ⁶ The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me. ⁷ In my distress I called upon the LORD, And cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, And my cry entered His ears. ⁸ "Then the earth shook and trembled; The foundations of heaven quaked and were shaken, Because He was angry. ⁹ Smoke went up from His nostrils, And devouring fire from His mouth; Coals were kindled by it. ¹⁰ He bowed the heavens also, and came down With darkness under His feet. ¹¹ He rode upon a cherub, and flew; And He was seen upon the wings of the wind. ¹² He made darkness canopies around Him, Dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. ¹³ From the brightness before Him Coals of fire were kindled. ¹⁴ "The LORD thundered from heaven, And the Most High uttered His voice. ¹⁵ He sent out arrows and scattered them; Lightning bolts, and He vanquished them. ¹⁶ Then the channels of the sea were seen, The foundations of the world were uncovered, At the rebuke of the LORD, At the blast of the breath of His nostrils. ¹⁷ "He sent from above, He took me, He drew me out of many waters. ¹⁸ He delivered me from my strong enemy, From those who hated me; For they were too strong for me. ¹⁹ They confronted me in the day of my calamity, But the LORD was my support. ²⁰ He also brought me out into a broad place; He delivered me because He delighted in me. ²¹ "The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me. ²² For I have kept the ways of the LORD, And have not wickedly departed from my God. ²³ For all His judgments were before me; And as for His statutes, I did not depart from them. ²⁴ I was also blameless before Him, And I kept myself from my iniquity. ²⁵ Therefore the LORD has recompensed me according to my righteousness, According to my cleanness in His eyes. ²⁶ "With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful; With a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless; ²⁷ With the pure You will show Yourself pure; And with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd. ²⁸ You will save the humble people; But Your eyes are on the haughty, that You may bring them down. ²⁹ "For You are my lamp, O LORD; The LORD shall enlighten my darkness. ³⁰ For by You I can run against a troop; By my God I can leap over a wall. ³¹ As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him. ³² "For who is God, except the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God? ³³ God is my strength and power, And He makes my way perfect. ³⁴ He makes my feet like the feet of deer, And sets me on my high places. ³⁵ He teaches my hands to make war, So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. ³⁶ "You have also given me the shield of Your salvation; Your gentleness has made me great. ³⁷ You enlarged my path under me; So my feet did not slip. ³⁸ "I have pursued my enemies and destroyed them; Neither did I turn back again till they were destroyed. ³⁹ And I have destroyed them and wounded them, So that they could not rise; They have fallen under my feet. ⁴⁰ For You have armed me with strength for the battle; You have subdued under me those who rose against me. ⁴¹ You have also given me the necks of my enemies, So that I destroyed those who hated me. ⁴² They looked, but there was none to save; Even to the LORD, but He did not answer them. ⁴³ Then I beat them as fine as the dust of the earth; I trod them like dirt in the streets, And I spread them out. ⁴⁴ "You have also delivered me from the strivings of my people; You have kept me as the head of the nations. A people I have not known shall serve me. ⁴⁵ The foreigners submit to me; As soon as they hear, they obey me. ⁴⁶ The foreigners fade away, And come frightened from their hideouts. ⁴⁷ "The LORD lives! Blessed be my Rock! Let God be exalted, The Rock of my salvation! ⁴⁸ It is God who avenges me, And subdues the peoples under me; ⁴⁹ He delivers me from my enemies. You also lift me up above those who rise against me; You have delivered me from the violent man. ⁵⁰ Therefore I will give thanks to You, O LORD, among the Gentiles, And sing praises to Your name. ⁵¹ He is the tower of salvation to His king, And shows mercy to His anointed, To David and his descendants forevermore."