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 23-24.

    Today’s passage talks about the Three and the Thirty, these were designations of the mightiest warriors among David’s followers. These appear to be designations which David gave to those who followed him. There are several places in this passage where the translation notes state that the meaning of the original Hebrew is unclear. I find it interesting that its list of “The Thirty” includes 37 men. Is this because some of them died and were replaced? Or did David, after designating the original thirty, decide that some additional men deserved being acknowledged along with the original thirty? For that matter, the passage says that Abishai was the leader of the Thirty, but the translation notes say that most Hebrew manuscripts actually say that he was leader of the Three. A few verses earlier someone else was named as leader of the Three, but it is always possible that when he died Abishai was elevated to take his place.
    Recently, I have read some articles which stated that the accounts given here of the feats of David’s mighty men were not credible. Certainly the idea that one man killed 800 opponents in one battle seems hyperbolic. However, I can construct several scenarios in my mind that make this practical, especially if the battle lasted all day. The passage does not say that he killed them all hand to hand. Perhaps he had set up a trap where a large number were killed by falling for it (there are several different types of trap which could kill multiple people at once). Or, perhaps, after he had dominated the battlefield for a period of time, numbers of men died while trying to avoid engaging with him (falling off of cliffs, falling into a river and drowning, or other similar things).

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 20-22.

    In the aftermath of Absalom’s rebellion conflict arose between the tribe of Judah and the rest of the tribes of Israel. The warriors of Judah claimed preeminence over the warriors of the other tribes because David was of the tribe of Judah. As a result, Sheba, from the tribe of Benjamin (which was the tribe Saul was from), was able to lead a rebellion. David sent Amasa (NOTE: Amasa and Joab were sons of different sisters of David) to muster the full fighting force of the tribe of Judah, giving him three days to gather them. It took Amasa longer than three days to muster the army. David knew better than to allow his enemy time to get organized, gather forces, and find a reliably defensible stronghold. So, David told Abishai, Joab’s brother, to take what troops David already had and chase down Sheba. I find it interesting that David spoke with Abishai rather than Joab. When Amasa, and the troops he had gathered, met up with Joab and Abishai, Joab killed him. My wife compared the stories of 1 and 2 Samuel to “The Game of Thrones” and there is certainly something to that (although I think “The Game of Thrones” would be much better if George R.R. Martin had used them as a model for his plot). Even the way the story of Sheba’s rebellion ends has a Game of Thrones feel to it. I will let you read that for yourself.

    I love the psalm recorded in chapter 22. David starts out by comparing God to the places where he hid from Saul when Saul was seeking his life. It was not the rocks among which he hid which protected him, nor the fortress he holed up in. No, it was God who was the true rock, the fortress which protected him when his life was in danger. When his own son sought his life, it was God who saved David from both the physical danger he was in and the depression he felt over that betrayal. Then we have imagery which is more than worthy of a fantasy novel like “The Game of Thrones.” Daenerys may have had dragons, but David had the God of Heaven:

Smoke poured from his nostrils;
fierce flames leaped from his mouth.
Glowing coals blazed forth from him.
He opened the heavens and came down;
dark storm clouds were beneath his feet.
Mounted on a mighty angelic being,[q] he flew,
soaring on the wings of the wind.

The imagery continues for a few more verses. There is a scene in “The Game of Thrones” where Daenerys is rescued by the dragons, but they just dealt destruction to the works of man. Here david describes how God can overcome barriers of nature to come to our rescue. However, perhaps the best part of this psalm is where David reminds us that the way God deals with us is a reflection of the way in which we approach Him. If we are faithful, God will show us His faithfulness. If we are pure, God will show Himself pure. However, if we are deceitful and corrupt, God will show us that He is more than cunning enough to counter our actions.

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 18-19.

    I think this passage really gives us some of the best insight into Joab’s character. It is in light of what Joab does here and then later at the end of David’s life that leads me to believe that Joab worked to maintain the stability of the Davidic dynasty. Joab was right to kill Absalom because as long as Absalom was alive he would represent a focal point for those seeking to overthrow David (and Absalom had just proven himself unable to rule effectively by failing to quickly pursue and kill David). Joab was also right in confronting David about mourning for Absalom while failing to acknowledge the victory his defenders had just won for him. In his mourning for Absalom, David was failing to live by the philosophy he expressed at the death of his first son by Bathsheba. Despite what Joab did for David here, and previously, David attempted to replace Joab as the commander of his army (this is the second time David offered Joab’s position to someone else).
    In his grief, David committed a sin which we all find too easy. He believed that his grief over the loss of his son gave him the freedom to ignore the feelings of others. He selfishly focused only on his own sense of loss and paid no attention to the relief felt by those who had risked their lives on his behalf. He went so far as to make them feel guilty for being happy that the war was over and they were victorious. Not on purpose, but that was the consequence of his actions. How often have you heard it said by or about someone that they had the right to be angry, rude, inconsiderate, or just plain miserable to others because they had just lost a loved one? There may be some truth to that, but I pray that I have someone like Joab to warn me from taking it too far if I am ever in that situation.

    When David returned to Jerusalem, Shimei hurried out to greet him and apologize for cursing him when he fled. Just as he had when they were fleeing Jerusalem, Abishai, Joab’s brother, wanted to kill Shimei. I had always thought that David’s reaction to Shimei and Abishai was similar to what Saul had done after his very first victory as king when his supporters wanted to kill those who had previously failed to support Saul. However, I noticed today that Shimei came to meet David with 1,000 men from the tribe of Benjamin. I suspect that this show of force had more to do with David extending mercy to Shimei than David’s merciful nature did. We will encounter Shimei once more when Solomon becomes king.

    Today I noticed another thing which my familiarity with this story led me to overlook. Ziba, the servant of Saul whom David had made steward for Saul’s grandson, Mephibosheth, was among the 1,000 men from Benjamin who traveled with Shimei to greet David. We are told that Mephibosheth also traveled to greet David as David returned to Jerusalem. David’s first question for Mephibosheth was why Mephibosheth had not left Jerusalem with him. Mephibosheth’s reply was that he had told Ziba to saddle a donkey for him but that Ziba had left without him. The fact that Mephibosheth had not groomed himself from the time that David left Jerusalem until his return supports Mephibosheth’s story here. What is interesting here is that David apparently believes Mephibosheth, but only returns half of the property he gave to Ziba when he believed that Mephibosheth had turned against him.

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 16-17.

    I want to note, but not actually comment on, what Ziba said to David about Mephibosheth, the grandson of Saul. Ziba said that Mephibosheth thought he was going to get the kingdom which his grandfather had ruled back. In a few chapters, Mephibosheth tells David a different story. This is followed by the story of Shimei cursing David as he flees. This is another story to be revisited later. However, there is a lesson to be learned from David’s reaction here. While David was down in this situation, fleeing for his life from his own son, he still had sufficient power to hurt, even to kill, Shimei. As a matter of fact, Abishai, who was David’s nephew and one of his military leaders, wanted to go over and kill Shimei. David ordered Abishai to leave Shimei alone. Since his own son was trying to kill him, David did not feel that he could blame someone else, someone who had some status as a result of David rising to power, for reveling in his downfall. The lesson for us is that we should not lash out at others when we suffer setbacks, especially serious ones.

    When Absalom arrived in Jerusalem, Ahithophel advised him to sleep with David’s concubines, who had been left to maintain the palace while David fled. There are several places in the Bible where the symbolism involved in this action is referenced. Earlier, when Ishbosheth, Saul’s son and successor, accused Abner of plotting by sleeping with one of Saul’s concubines. The later, when Adonijah tried to marry the last of David’s concubines in order to develop a claim to the throne to challenge Solomon. Absalom was quite willing to follow this advice.
    However, Ahithophel also advised Absalom to send him out with a band of men to pursue King David before he could get organized. Absalom was not as willing to follow this advice and turned to Hushai to see if he agreed. Hushai had wanted to accompany David as he fled, but was told by David that he would be a burden on the fleeing men so he should return and give Absalom bad advice. Hushai openly played on the reputations of David and his men, but he also subtly played on Absalom’s desire to be seen as a great leader. Hushai’s advice was to wait and gather the full army to pursue David and for Absalom to lead that pursuit himself. God used Absalom’s selfish desire for glory to thwart the good advice which he received.
    In this passage we see the contrast between David’s successful leadership style and Absalom’s failed leadership style. David humbly accepted being taunted when he lost. As a result, he did not delay to take revenge and was able to make his escape. Absalom, on the other hand, wanted the glory of being the one to defeat his father and so allowed David to escape and regroup.

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 14-15.

    There are a couple of things which we learn from this story. First, we learn that Joab had been trying to convince David to bring Absalom back for some time. I believe that Joab did this because he perceived that Absalom living in a foreign country would be used to foment rebellion, either against David or against his successor. Second we learn that Joab had probably heard about the story Nathan used to highlight David’s sin with Bathsheba to him.

    I do not usually like to draw spiritual lessons from things said by secondary characters but I believe that the woman whom Joab used to convince David said something very profound. When she made her case for David bringing Absalom back she said the following:

Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die. But that is not what God desires; rather, he devises ways so that a banished person does not remain banished from him.

God indeed does not desire for us to die and be forever separated from Him. He devised a way for us to be reconciled to Him through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In addition, He uses various strategies to convince us to accept this reconciliation. It is God’s desire that no one be banished from His presence. He is seeking even now to convince those who have banished themselves from His presence to return to Him.