2 Samuel 1-4 - Daily Study Questions

1. 2 Samuel 1:1-16. What news did David receive and who told him? What was his ‘”story”? Describe and explain David’s response to the news and to the messenger. What truth to believe is found here? / The day after the battle at Aphek between Israel, led by Saul and Jonathan, and the Philistines news came to David that Israel had been defeated and that Saul and Jonathan were dead. David would have been in fighting in this battle for the Philistines, had not the Philistine military leaders demanded that the king dismiss him and his men. This news came from an Amalekite who happened to have been passing by when Saul and Jonathan died. The account in 1 Sam 28 says that Saul and Jonathan died on their spear, taking their own lives, but the Amalekite had a different version. When David questioned how the Amalekite told him that Saul had asked him to kill him so he would linger long in his agony. He then took the crown from his head and the bracelet from his arm and brought them to David. David had two responses; one of intense grief along with the men around him. They tore their clothes, mourned, and fasted until evening, not only for Saul and Jonathan, but also for the Israel who had been defeated. His second response was to question the Amalekite regarding his claim to have killed Saul and Jonathan. He wanted to know how he could not be afraid to take the life of God’s anointed, the king of Israel, and then gave orders for him to be executed. This reveals an important truth to believe – we must not harm God’s appointed authority over us in any way, even if we are destined to take his place, as David was Saul. Rather, we must uphold and support them, unless it causes us to violate our conscience before God. He is God’s man, and to dishonor him is to dishonor God who appointed him.
2. 2 Samuel 1:17-27. What does David say about Saul and Jonathan in his lament over their deaths? How did he feel about them and why is his attitude about Saul surprising in view of their history? How can we apply this? / David called Saul and Jonathan the “beauty of Israel” and “the mighty”. Swifter than eagles and stronger than lions, they were beloved and pleasant in their life and in their death they were still together. As king Saul had clothed the daughters of Israel luxuriously in scarlet and had put gold ornaments on their clothes, meaning he had brought prosperity through his victories and spoils in battle. David felt deeply about him, calling for Israel to weep over him, even though Saul had pursued him and tried to kill him. Furthermore, Jonathan had been the closest of friends to him; his love was more wonderful to him that the love of women. He was very distressed because of his death. In his mind these were mighty men who had fallen, men whom he revered and cherished. David was able to step back and see the big picture – they had led and fought for Israel, and a defeat for them was a defeat for his nation, a nation whose God was the Lord. We must feel the same way about fellow believers who fall in spiritual battle; we must not allow our personal disappointment to block our sadness over their defeat. It is a defeat for all of us when any of us falls – so we must constantly lift up and encourage one another.
3. 2 Sam 2:1-11. What 2 steps did David take to become king (v1-4, 5-7) and how did he decide this (v1)? What was good about this? What obstacle stood in David’s way to ruling over all Israel (v8-11)? / In time (maybe as much as five years later)David asked the Lord the next step he should take. He, his family and his men were at Ziklag in Philistia, and he asked the Lord if he should move to Judah, then asked where specifically. The Lord told him to go up to Judah and to the city of Hebron. It is significant that he asked the Lord because he could have trusted his common sense and done this, but he was sensitive to the leading of the Lord. We must never simply “follow our nose”, but intentionally listen without distraction for the voice of the Lord that He may lead us. When David moved then the men of Judah came to him and anointed him king over Judah (but not all Israel). The 2nd step David took was to commend the men of Jabesh-Gilead for burying Saul and Jonathan’s bodies, which had required them to go to Beth-shan in Philistia to retrieve them, an act of bravery and honor. For doing this David prayed God’s blessings on them and promised to do good for them. In reality he was making an overture to them to affirm him as king over them. Unfortunately Abner, Saul’s commander, had other ideas. He had installed Saul’s son, Ish-bosheth, as king over the rest of Israel. Thus, while David was king over Judah at Hebron for 7 ½ years, Israel was still outside his realm because of Abner. Since Ish-bosheth was only king for 2 years, then he must have become the king in David’s 5th year, showing that Israel was “in the balance” for these 5 years before Abner coalesced the tribes of Israel into a “nation”.
4. 2 Sam 2:12-32. Describe the stages of the initial conflict of the civil war between Judah and Israel—2:12-17; 2:18-23; 2:24-29. What were the results on each side (v30-32)? What errors to avoid and examples to follow can we learn from this incident? / 1) The first stage of this civil war involved the 2 commanders, Abner and Joab, taking a group of their men to Gibeon and letting them fight one another in a representative contest to see who was strongest. Twelve from each side fought each other and all were killed, which led to 2) a further severe battle between the 2 sides that Joab won. 3) One of his two brothers, Asahel, pursued Abner to kill him and when he caught up with him Abner tried to dissuade him from fighting him. He told him he wouldn’t have an answer for his brother Joab if he killed him. He refused to turn back so Abner killed him with the butt end of his spear. 4) Of course Joab and their other brother, Abishai, continued to pursue Abner and Israel until 5) Abner called out for an end to this skirmish. Joab told him that if he hadn’t said this the battle would have continued on until morning, but he agreed to stop and the battle was over. The results were that 19 of the men of Judah had been killed, but 360 of Israel’s soldiers were dead. However, one of the men of Judah who had died was Asahel, Joab’s brother, which would later cause disastrous repercussions. Joab took Asahel and buried him at Bethlehem, David’s hometown (he was the son of Zeruiah, David’s sister), and the men of Judah returned to Hebron. Meanwhile, Abner’s troops returned to Mahanaim, their base. The errors to avoid here are unnecessary bloodshed; there was no need to go to battle with each other because these were all brothers in Israel. However, Abner didn’t want to relinquish his power. On the other hand Abner provides a good example of not wanting to kill Asahel, knowing it would lead to even more bloodshed. His call to stop the fighting was also wise. Joab’s agreement was a mark of humility (of which he had very little) probably. He was willing to do the right thing even though he wanted revenge (which would later occur).
5. 2 Sam 3:1-21. What were 2 trends were occurring in the war (v1, 6)? What did King Ishbosheth say that changed this and why do you think he did (v7-11)? What results occurred from this (v12, 13-16, 17-19, 20-21)? What lessons can we learn from this story? / The first trend was that the dynasty of Saul was becoming weaker while David’s was growing stronger. In addition Abner, commander of Israel’s forces, was growing stronger. When Ish-bosheth accused Abner of “going into” Saul’s concubine, which essentially would have been considered treason (he would have been taking an action reserved for the king), Abner became very angry with him. The reason that he accused him was probably because he was paranoid just like his father, Saul, had been. This occurs with insecure people; they imagine it will only be a matter of time before their weakness is discovered and advantage is taken of them. This led to Abner deriding the king for insulting him in this way and then he told him he would begin to transfer the kingdom from Saul to David. He then went to David to make this covenant with him, and David said he would only if he brought his wife, Michal to him. Of course Michal was remarried and this meant she would be taken away from her husband, Paltiel, which caused great grief for him. With Michal delivered to David, Abner held a consultation with the elders of Israel, proposing that they go over to David’s side, as they had previously desired. They agreed and Abner, along with twenty of them went to David, who agreed to this. So, Abner left to call all Israel together to crown David as king over the twelve tribes. This story shows that insecurity breeds insanity; there was no good reason for Ish-bosheth to accuse Abner, but he was paranoid because he was getting stronger – just like Saul had felt about David. Also, the story shows the fickleness of human nature as exhibited by Abner and the conditional loyalty that most have. As the old song says “the arm of flesh will fail you”; Ish-bosheth was relying on a man rather than God. In contrast David was waiting on God for the kingship and it finally was brought to him. Unfortunately he exhibited a depraved indifference to Michal and Paltiel; he didn’t need another wife, but he wanted what was rightfully his. This wasn’t necessary; he should have relinquished her for the sake of her husband. This would later come back to haunt him.
6. 2 Sam 3:22-39. How did Joab react to the news of Abner’s visit (v22-25) and what did he do next (v26-27)? Why (v30)? How did David handle this (v28-29) and how did he deal with Abner’s death? Why was this good and what principle does it give for us to follow (v31-39)? / Joab “went ballistic” – he called David on the carpet, asking him why he had let Abner come in without apprehending him. He told him that Abner only wanted to spy on David so he would know how to attack him. He then sent messengers to Abner asking him to come back to the well of Sirah, and when he met him he killed him out of revenge for his brother’s death. When David heard what he had done he declared himself and his house innocent of Abner’s blood, and then pronounced a curse on Joab. He prayed that Joab and his descendants would never fail to have a leper, one who has a discharge (a running sore on a leper), one who takes hold of a distaff (one lame who leans on a crutch), one who falls by the sword, or one who lacks bread. This shows that David first was not afraid of Joab and that secondly he refused to be party to random, unnecessary violence. He then mourned Abner as he had Saul and Jonathan. He tore his clothes, joined in the funeral procession, and refused to eat that day. Thus, all Israel knew that it had not been the will of David to put Abner to death, and this pleased them. In fact everything David did pleased the people at this time. David then eulogized Abner before his servants, telling them that a prince and great man had fallen in Israel that day. Furthermore, he acknowledged his weakness in allowing Joab and his brothers to do this evil in Israel. He prayed that the Lord would repay them according to their evil. Even though Abner had been against him at first David still honored him in his death, while even though Joab was on his side he refused to honor such a perpetrator of violence and evil. He was committed to what was right and honorable. He was a man of honor.
7. 2 Sam 4:1-12. What happened to Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son (v1-3, 5-6), and Mephibosheth (v4), Jonathan’s son? How did the sons of Rimmon explain their actions to David (v7-8) and how did David respond (v9-12)? Look back over 2 Sam 1-4—how did David show honor to those who opposed him and what can we learn from this? / Ish-bosheth was murdered in his own bed during his midday nap by Recab and Baanah, two of Saul’s commanders. They thought they were doing David a favor, and probably expected a reward for removing his claimant to the throne. When they brought Ish-bosheth’s head to David at Hebron, explaining the Lord had given David revenge on his enemies, they received a different response. David first pointed to the Lord as the one to whom he looked by saying, “As the Lord lives, who has redeemed me from all my distress”, instead of accepting that these men had avenged him. This “arm of flesh” had instead acted contrary to God’s will; they had killed an innocent man in his bed and thus were worthy of death according to the Mosaic law. In addition he took the head of Ish-bosheth and buried it in the grave of Abner, his brother-in-law, thus showing him respect. In this story David shows honor to those who opposed him; his reasons for this reveal several good principles for us to follow. First, as just stated, he looked to the Lord who had delivered him from his distress to guide him and accomplish His will in his life. He didn’t need to insert human will and power into this – God would work it out if he would just trust Him. Also, he had respect for the man God had put into place, the man He had set apart by anointing. He had respect for the position of authority because all authority is ordained of God and must be followed unless it violates our obedience to God (Rom 13:1; 1 Pet 2:13). Finally, David didn’t allow violence to be affirmed, but punished it according to God’s law. He did what was right, not what he could merely “justify” based on another’s evil actions. We must do the same; we must trust God to work his will out in our lives and not take matters into our own hands to force the process. We also must trust God by showing respect for the authority He has ordained. Finally, we must uphold what is right, regardless of the reasons or results. The end never justifies the means.