2 Samuel 12:26-31 English Standard Version Rabbah Is Captured 26 Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and took the royal city. 27 And Joab sent messengers to David and said, “I have fought against Rabbah; moreover, I have taken the city of waters. 28 Now then gather the rest of the people together and encamp against the city and take it, lest I take the city and it be called by my name.” 29 So David gathered all the people together and went to Rabbah and fought against it and took it. 30 And he took the crown of their king from his head. The weight of it was a talent of gold, and in it was a precious stone, and it was placed on David's head. And he brought out the spoil of the city, a very great amount. 31 And he brought out the people who were in it and set them to labor with saws and iron picks and iron axes and made them toil at the brick kilns. And thus he did to all the cities of the Ammonites. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem. This text deals with David's unfinished business with the Ammonites, specifically the city of Rabbah where Uriah was murdered. Joab fought to take that city, the royal city of the Ammonites, though it appears Joab did this without direct instructions from David (understandable since David has had a lot going on at home). Joab sends the message, “I have fought against Rabbah; moreover, I have taken the city of waters. Now then gather the rest of the people together and encamp against the city and take it, lest I take the city and it be called by my name.”
Basically, Joab is giving David a chance to come out with the regular army and take credit for the victory even though Joab and his special forces had already secured it. Joab knew David needed the victory and feel that he had given Rabbah retribution for what had happened to Uriah the Hittite. David gathered the people together, went to Rabbah, and took it. He took the crown of gold from their king--a crown weighing a talent in gold, that is, about 75 pounds (very heavy). It was also had a precious stone. David seized the city and all the riches in it. The people that lived there became slaves doing forced labor for the Israelites. All the cities of the Ammonites were subjugated--yet another people group that the LORD has allowed them to have victory over. There are still some peoples that needed to be defeated that were around at the time of Moses and Joshua, but most of those people groups are now defeated or at least subjugated and Israel will live in relative peace with its neighbors for most of the rest of 2 Samuel--the battles will now shift to internal issues within the house of David just like the LORD promised that were a direct result of David's sin with Bathsheba. David will have to deal with sons that will openly rebel and wish to take the throne from him and he will even have to leave Jerusalem for a time. It will not be until Chapter 21 when we will again see war break out with the Philistines (because they see the political turmoil happening inside David's house and will try to take advantage of it). The last few chapters speak of the last acts of David and another mistake that David will make in taking a census that the LORD did not command, for David started to trust in the numbers of his armed forces instead of the arm of the LORD for his protection. 2 Samuel 12:15-25 English Standard Version David's Child Dies 16 David therefore sought God on behalf of the child. And David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. 17 And the elders of his house stood beside him, to raise him from the ground, but he would not, nor did he eat food with them. 18 On the seventh day the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke to him, and he did not listen to us. How then can we say to him the child is dead? He may do himself some harm.” 19 But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David understood that the child was dead. And David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” They said, “He is dead.” 20 Then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. He then went to his own house. And when he asked, they set food before him, and he ate. 21 Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive; but when the child died, you arose and ate food.” 22 He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows whether the LORD will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ 23 But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.” Solomon's Birth 24 Then David comforted his wife, Bathsheba, and went in to her and lay with her, and she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. And the LORD loved him 25 and sent a message by Nathan the prophet. So he called his name Jedidiah, because of the LORD. Nathan's prophetic message from the LORD comes true in this section. The child became ill and David fasted and prayed, laying on the ground all night and he did not eat. For a whole week, he mourned until the child died on the seventh day. On that day, David's servants feared to tell him that the child had died, but David saw them whispering and figured out what the news was that they didn't want to tell them. He asked them plainly, "Is the child dead?"
When they told him that the child was indeed dead, the took off his clothes of mourning, washed and anointed himself, and put on his royal regular clothes again. His servants did not understand how it was that while the child was alive he was sad, but now that the child is dead, he seemed to no longer grieve. David explains that his mourning was an act of contrition and repentance, hoping that the LORD perhaps might change His mind and spare the child's life, but he knew that the child who had done nothing wrong was with the LORD, and one day he'd see the child again (in the LORD's presence that they called Paradise or Abraham's Bosem and ultimately in the Kingdom of God that we call The New Heavens and the New Earth). So then, we too as Christians are not to mourn like the world when we lose others who are part of the Body of Christ. See the following verses which are to give us hope not only for those who precede us in death, but for those who remain that one day we will all be reunited. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 English Standard Version The Coming of the Lord 13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words. I wanted to finish this section with a message of hope. Even in the midst of this very sad passage, there is a glint of hope, and it's not unintentional as this next child that would be born of David and Bathsheba would be the one that would be the first one to succeed his father David, and he would build the Temple that David could not, and the LORD would greatly bless him. The name Solomon was the name chosen by his parents (and the one we know him by), but his name was also called Jedediah which means, "Beloved of the LORD." The LORD would love Solomon for the sake of his father David. That is not to say that Solomon will be the perfect fulfillment of the LORD's covenant with David, but he will partially fulfill this covenant and point towards the ultimate fulfillment that will come through Christ. 2 Samuel 12:1-15 English Standard Version Nathan Rebukes David 12 And the LORD sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said to him, “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had very many flocks and herds, 3 but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him. 4 Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him, but he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” 5 Then David's anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the LORD lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, 6 and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.” 7 Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. 8 And I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. 9 Why have you despised the word of the LORD, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ 11 Thus says the LORD, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. 12 For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.’” 13 David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” And Nathan said to David, “The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die. 14 Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the LORD, the child who is born to you shall die.” 15 Then Nathan went to his house. And the Lord afflicted the child that Uriah's wife bore to David, and he became sick. In God's grace, He did not allow David to to be cut off from His people, the Tabernacle, and Himself as the Law demanded, nor did He require David's life for these awful sins that he had committed. The LORD instead sent a prophet to David. We have not seen prophets being sent to David usually because he's been doing well at asking the LORD's guidance when it comes to issues about going to war and listening to the LORD's commandments, but it seems that he has failed now in his duty to faithfully uphold the Law and live a life that would be an example for all the Israelites to follow after.
Nathan comes to David and speaks to him in a parable saying, “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. The rich man had very many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him. Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him, but he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” This spoke directly to David's heart as a shepherd. He would understand the connection the shepherd had with this little lamb and how it was spoiled and treated like a member of the family. The story had its intended purpose to enrage David at the actions of a man so heartless that he would not sacrifice even one of his own sheep when he had so many for the traveler coming to see him and instead he would climb over the wall and go and steal the lamb away from his neighbor, kill it, and cook it for his traveler friend. On top of this the one with many sheep was rich and the one with only one lamb was poor--this was all he had. As I said, it provoked the proper reaction in David when David proclaimed with all the authority vested in him as king over all of Israel, “As the LORD lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.” It's one thing when the theft was of an animal that you can replace out of your own flock with another of equal or greater value. It's another when the theft was of a woman's purity and the life of her husband which can never be replaced. By David's own mouth though he has been proclaimed guilty and David points his finger and David and says "You are the man!" It sinks in and David knows that his sin has found him out. He has hidden nothing from the LORD and the LORD has sought out David when David had no intent to seek after the LORD. Then once Nathan and the LORD have David's attention does Nathan speak the words of prophecy (in this case indictment) that the LORD had for David to hear: "I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. 8 And I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. 9 Why have you despised the word of the LORD, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife." The LORD knew about all of it and had seen all of it, even the parts that David thought that only he and Joab knew about. The LORD shows David that this has all sprung up from the sin of covetousness that was within him, for he was not content with what the LORD had given to him and thought that he needed something that someone else had to make him happy and he desired it so much that he was willing to take it by force and even kill to get it. The LORD puts the death of Uriah the Hittite squarely on the shoulders of David, though it was done by the sword of the Ammonites, and then the LORD proclaims His judgment on David, "Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife." We won't fully understand what this judgment means until we read the books of 1 and 2 Kings, but we start to get some idea of it here in the rest of 2 Samuel. The LORD promises that he will raise up evil against David out of his own house (his sons would rebel against him) and that David's neighbors would take his wives from him and do to them publicly what David did in secret (it would actually be one of David's own sons that would set up a tent on the roof of the palace to do this in plain view of the whole city of Jerusalem, and would do it in broad daylight, just as the LORD has said would happen here). David finally breaks down and repents. Maybe he's hoping to avoid the judgment that has been proclaimed, but I don't think that's it, as we have Psalm 51 to go along with this passage and it lets us know that David is mostly concerned about his own salvation. Let's take a look at that now since we are at the point in the story where David is broken and repenting, for it is at this very moment when Nathan has confronted David that the Holy Spirit gives these words to David. Psalm 51 English Standard Version Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. 51 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. 5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. 6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. 7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. 13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. 14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. 15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. 16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. 18 Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem; 19 then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar. Read this Psalm in the context of what we just read in 1 Samuel--all the David has done, the fact that he's been trying to hide it, and the fact that the LORD has to send Nathan the prophet to him. David will not even mention the LORD here, but instead he speaks to the Lord (that's a different word in Hebrew), and it means he's speaking directly to the second person of the Trinity, the one we would call "Jesus," to ask Him to take away David's sin. Did David understand through the Holy Spirit that the only answer to his high-handed sins of rebellion would be the double-imputation that Christ would give where He would take all of our sin upon Himself so that we might receive all His righteousness? It seems so! David's main concern here is for his own soul when he prays that he may not be cast away from the LORD's presence and that the Holy Spirit would not be taken from him (as it was with King Saul). He knows there is no sacrifice he can make, for if there was he would make it. All he can do is pray for God to forgive him and choose to not remember his sins, and to blot them out from the record books that he knows God is keeping. He asks for God to deliver him from the bloodguilt of his sin and to restore to him the joy of his salvation so that he could return to praising God for who He is and what He has done (it would seem that David had not desired to worship the LORD during this time that he was living in sin, which is quite common for us too when we have unconfessed sin and are living unrepentant lives). Let's return now to the end of our test from 2 Samuel 12. A final judgment is passed that because of the way in which David has scorned the LORD through his actions, that the child that Bathsheba is pregnant with would die. One bit of good news was delivered that David himself would not die as a result of this--he would die eventually, but he had many years ahead of him to see the LORD's curse on his household play out, but he will never fully get to see the LORD's covenant fulfilled--he will only get to see it slightly fulfilled through his son Solomon who will be a very imperfect prophetic type of Christ (Jesus' kingdom would also be one of peace, but it will not come by marrying with the kingdoms of the world and setting up all kinds of places for the worship of foreign gods who Saul and David had fought to destroy in the Land). The text for today ends with the fulfillment of this prophecy by saying that the LORD afflicted the child of Uriah's wife (it wants to point out that David's marriage to her is illegitimate and remind us of the adultery and murder) and that the child became sick. We'll look more next time how David will fast and pray for this child while the child is ill, but will make a great statement of faith at the child's death "But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.” We'll talk about this and how it speak to a New Testament commandment that we have as Christians to not grieve like the world does next time. 2 Samuel 11 English Standard Version David and Bathsheba 11 In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. 2 It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king's house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. 3 And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” 4 So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house. 5 And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.” 6 So David sent word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab was doing and how the people were doing and how the war was going. 8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” And Uriah went out of the king's house, and there followed him a present from the king. 9 But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. 10 When they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?” 11 Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.” 12 Then David said to Uriah, “Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 And David invited him, and he ate in his presence and drank, so that he made him drunk. And in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house. 14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 15 In the letter he wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die.” 16 And as Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant men. 17 And the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, and some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uriah the Hittite also died. 18 Then Joab sent and told David all the news about the fighting. 19 And he instructed the messenger, “When you have finished telling all the news about the fighting to the king, 20 then, if the king's anger rises, and if he says to you, ‘Why did you go so near the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? 21 Who killed Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Did not a woman cast an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?’ then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’” 22 So the messenger went and came and told David all that Joab had sent him to tell. 23 The messenger said to David, “The men gained an advantage over us and came out against us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate. 24 Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall. Some of the king's servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.” 25 David said to the messenger, “Thus shall you say to Joab, ‘Do not let this matter displease you, for the sword devours now one and now another. Strengthen your attack against the city and overthrow it.’ And encourage him.” 26 When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she lamented over her husband. 27 And when the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD. Today's text is likely a familiar story to many of us as it talks about one of the few times that it says that what David did displeased the LORD. This event didn't "just happen" though, as this comes on the heels of many years of blessings so that David assumed that he didn't even need to go to fight with his men when the whole nation was called to war anymore. The victory was sure, wasn't it? The LORD always caused the Israelites to win and their enemies to be defeated, right? What would David be able to do anyways? He was now probably much older than that young shepherd boy that we read about in 1 Samuel who charged out to meet Goliath and the Philistines. The years of being a king probably had taken quite a toll on him (just read some of the Psalms and you'll see how his body was wasting away, he had trouble sleeping and he seemed to be aging quickly due to the weight of feeling like the weight of the whole kingdom was on his shoulders).
If David had been out at the front lines with his people, the opportunity for this particular sin would not have been there, but that is not to say that it wouldn't have been waiting for him when he came home. David was up there on the roof letting both his mind and his eyes wander. He was on the roof of the tallest building because his palace stood high above everyone's houses and so he could see everyone's house--even places where people assumed they had privacy, like where Bathsheba was bathing, for it is unlikely that she was doing this in a place where the whole world was meant to see her. David falls to temptation in much the same way that Eve did in the Garden of Eden. First he was in the place where he should not have been. Have you ever wondered what Adam and Eve were even doing there next to the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden? They were both there. Why even go near it if they knew the danger that it posed. So David if he knew his state of mind, for he probably felt lonely having sent all the men away to war and he was not with them, probably should not have been up on the roof letting his eyes look for "companionship." He then saw something desirable to him (that is to the fleshly part of him at least for she was beautiful and it made sense to him that this was the way to make himself not feel lonely anymore), then he ignored the direct command of God to not covet your neighbor's wife and to not commit adultery (for both he and Bathsheba were married), and he took her--possibly by force, making this passage all the worse if that's the case, and he involved others in the process bringing guilt onto them for their involvement as well. But then came the consequences for the moment that he thought would make him happy and satisfy him. He had probably told himself that it was just a moment of weakness and made all kinds of excuses about it, but there was no kind of atonement for this kind of high-handed sin of rebellion. You don't just "accidently" have sex with someone, even if that someone is very beautiful. It's a series of choices of the will that usually both parties are involved in (sometimes one person forces themselves on the other which is another kind of sin too, but even then, that person that does this makes that choice). They put the desires of their flesh and their momentary gratification above the commandments of God and His call for them to live a pure and holy life. So then, David was confronted with the consequences of his actions when he was told that Bathsheba was pregnant (probably because she missed her period) and David knew that Uriah would be able to do the math and figure out that he was away at war when this happened. So, David tried to quickly figure out a way to trick Uriah and everyone else into thinking that he caused the pregnancy. Everyone would just imagine the baby was born a little early, which can happen, even though it would be big enough to appear to be full-term. No one would suspect a thing if David's plan worked out, but both David and Bathsheba would know, and it would eat away at both of them. When Uriah proves himself to be a more righteous man than David, the only way that David sees out of this is for Uriah to die in battle and for David to use his own army to assist him in the murder of Uriah. It is even worse than that though, as David has Uriah carry his own execution order as a sealed order for Joab the commander of the armies of Israel back to the front lines and trusts Uriah's integrity so much that he knows Uriah wouldn't open the sealed orders to read them and know what was coming. Joab obeys the kings orders and ends up losing even more men in the process because he needed to make it look good like Uriah was just lost in battle like so many others were. He sent Uriah close to the walled city where he knew valiant men were fighting, and then had the other Israelites pull away from him, but unfortunately, others died in the process for that is the purpose of a walled city--you can be attacked from above and have little to no defense against those attacks. Joab presumed that David would be angry with Joab for using such tactics when they both knew the danger of getting close to the city wall, but Joab made sure to tell the messenger to end the message with "Uriah the Hittite is also dead." David would get the message loud and clear that that deaths of all the men were now on his head on their blood on his hands because this were the means necessary to fulfil David's orders to murder Uriah the Hittite. David tells the messenger to go back to Joab with a kind of encouragement telling him something along the lines of "These things just happen sometimes." That's not the truth at all, and both David and Joab know it. David then takes Bathsheba into his own house as his own wife, and she bears him a son. It will not be the child's fault that any of this happened, but we'll see next chapter that the LORD is not going to let this child live because He wants to send David a message that this is not okay. The LORD is very displeased with what David has done for he not only gave into temptation, but he refused to confess his sin and repent of it, and he tried to cover it up and involved many others in other high-handed sins of rebellion that were as bad as or worse than the first sin. It will take the LORD sending the prophet Nathan to David to speak to him to get David's attention and get him to confess and repent. The LORD hasn't had to send prophets to David very much because the LORD spoke directly to David, and David obeyed all that the LORD commanded him (until now). Now it seems that David has stopped talking to the LORD and stopped listening to Him so that the LORD has to speak to David through another man. We are in trouble when the LORD has to send others into our lives to speak to us the Word that He has spoken to us plainly and we would not listen. This was a dangerous assignment for Nathan the prophet (and the other prophets of the Old Testament) to go in and confront the king and point out his sin and call him to repent. Yet, the LORD would protect Nathan and use him to get the message across to David in a way that David would understand, using a parable. We'll talk about that, and probably about Psalm 51 as well next time. 2 Samuel 10 English Standard Version David Defeats Ammon and Syria 10 After this the king of the Ammonites died, and Hanun his son reigned in his place. 2 And David said, “I will deal loyally with Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father dealt loyally with me.” So David sent by his servants to console him concerning his father. And David's servants came into the land of the Ammonites. 3 But the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun their lord, “Do you think, because David has sent comforters to you, that he is honoring your father? Has not David sent his servants to you to search the city and to spy it out and to overthrow it?” 4 So Hanun took David's servants and shaved off half the beard of each and cut off their garments in the middle, at their hips, and sent them away. 5 When it was told David, he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, “Remain at Jericho until your beards have grown and then return.” 6 When the Ammonites saw that they had become a stench to David, the Ammonites sent and hired the Syrians of Beth-rehob, and the Syrians of Zobah, 20,000 foot soldiers, and the king of Maacah with 1,000 men, and the men of Tob, 12,000 men. 7 And when David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the host of the mighty men. 8 And the Ammonites came out and drew up in battle array at the entrance of the gate, and the Syrians of Zobah and of Rehob and the men of Tob and Maacah were by themselves in the open country. 9 When Joab saw that the battle was set against him both in front and in the rear, he chose some of the best men of Israel and arrayed them against the Syrians. 10 The rest of his men he put in the charge of Abishai his brother, and he arrayed them against the Ammonites. 11 And he said, “If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me, but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come and help you. 12 Be of good courage, and let us be courageous for our people, and for the cities of our God, and may the LORD do what seems good to him.” 13 So Joab and the people who were with him drew near to battle against the Syrians, and they fled before him. 14 And when the Ammonites saw that the Syrians fled, they likewise fled before Abishai and entered the city. Then Joab returned from fighting against the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem. 15 But when the Syrians saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they gathered themselves together. 16 And Hadadezer sent and brought out the Syrians who were beyond the Euphrates. They came to Helam, with Shobach the commander of the army of Hadadezer at their head. 17 And when it was told David, he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan and came to Helam. The Syrians arrayed themselves against David and fought with him. 18 And the Syrians fled before Israel, and David killed of the Syrians the men of 700 chariots, and 40,000 horsemen, and wounded Shobach the commander of their army, so that he died there. 19 And when all the kings who were servants of Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel and became subject to them. So the Syrians were afraid to save the Ammonites anymore. We haven't heard much about the Ammonites for a long time. The last time they were in 1 Samuel 14 where they were included in the list of enemies that King Saul fought against. The king of Ammon died leaving his son, Hanun, in charge. Apparently the father had been one of the countries that had subjugated himself to David, and David sends messengers to Hanun planning to deal loyally with him because of the loyal relations Hanun's father had had with David. However, when David's messengers got there, the young princes of the Ammonites gave foolish advice to their new king and whispered in his ear that David's messengers were not there to comfort him in his time of loss and grieving, nor to honor his father, but instead they were there to take advantage of the situation and David had sent them as spies into the land to search out everything and learn how to overthrow his cities and his kingdom. I would note here that this is likely projection of the evil intents that would be in their own hearts if the roles were reversed.
Hanun mistreated David's servents who were there as messengers by cutting off half of their beards and cutting their robes in half at the hip (probably so that their nakedness was exposed), and he sen them away. When word reached David of what happened, then David told these servants to remain in the town of Jericho until their beards had a chance to grow back (so that could have been quite a long time). The Ammonites saw that David's attitude towards them had changed and that they were now like a stench to David, so they became afraid of David and tried to hire the Syrians of Beth-rehob, and the Syrians of Zobah, 20,000 foot soldiers, and the king of Maacah with 1,000 men, and the men of Tob, 12,000 men to be mercenaries for them. They hoped these would be enough to help protect them or at least to dissuade David from attacking them, but this posturing only made things worse and made David know that he had to attack them and subjugate them by force (which hasn't had to be done since the early part of King Saul's rule). The Syrians used all their regular forces to protect their city gates and these mercenaries were hired to make their battle lines in the open country so that David would have to get through them to get to the Ammonite cities. When David saw the Ammonites arrayed for battle along with the Syrians they had hired as mercenaries, there was no alternative but for him to command Joab to prepare for battle as well. Joab commanded a group of elite soldiers, the cream of the crop so to speak, and Joab entrusted command of all the regular forces to his brother Abishai. They split into two groups each vowing to be reinforcements for one another as needed if the Ammonites proved to be too strong for either group by themselves. When Joab and his men approached the front lines, the Syrian mercenaries fled before him. The Ammonites saw this and then they too fled because they knew they were defeated without the assistance of their Syrian mercenaries, so they fled from Abishai and took shelter in their walled cities where they could close and bar the gates. Thinking the battle was over, Joab and the army returned to Jerusalem, but the king of Syria was greatly embarrassed by this defeat that his soldiers had suffered (even though they were only serving as mercenaries for another country), and he decided to marshal all of his regular forces and reserves to march against Israel. David hears of this and the armies of Israel crossed the Jordan River to meet them in battle at a place called Halam. The LORD gave David a great victory there that day allowing the Israelites to kill the men of 700 chariots (essentially the mechanized infantry/tanks of that day), 40,000 horsemen, and they wounded the commander of the Syrian army named Shobach so that he died there. This was a loss that Syria would not easily recover from. The king of Syria saw they had been defeated by Israel and he made a peace treaty with them and Syria was subjugated and became servants of Israel, and the Syrians would no longer come to the aid of the Ammonites if they called for aid. On the heals of this amazing battle though is going to come David greatest moral defeat, for it will be in the next chapter that we will see David send the army out to battle against the Ammonites in the spring time (when the kings usually go to war with one another), but he will stay home. If only he had gone to war with his men like a king should have done, the sin between David and Bathsheba may never have happened and he almost certainly would not have murdered Uriah the Hittite by proxy (using Joab and the army to murder him). We'll talk about that next time and when we get to Nathan's rebuke in chapter 12, we will probably also look at Psalm 51 along with it so that we can see David's repentant heart (for that is another place where we see the gospel since all these sins David commits in chapter 11 were high-handed sins of rebellion for which no sacrifice could be made--death was the only option under the Law for those who committed such iniquity). 2 Samuel 9 English Standard Version David's Kindness to Mephibosheth 9 And David said, “Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?” 2 Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba, and they called him to David. And the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” And he said, “I am your servant.” 3 And the king said, “Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God to him?” Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in his feet.” 4 The king said to him, “Where is he?” And Ziba said to the king, “He is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar.” 5 Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar. 6 And Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and paid homage. And David said, “Mephibosheth!” And he answered, “Behold, I am your servant.” 7 And David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan, and I will restore to you all the land of Saul your father, and you shall eat at my table always.” 8 And he paid homage and said, “What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?” 9 Then the king called Ziba, Saul's servant, and said to him, “All that belonged to Saul and to all his house I have given to your master's grandson. 10 And you and your sons and your servants shall till the land for him and shall bring in the produce, that your master's grandson may have bread to eat. But Mephibosheth your master's grandson shall always eat at my table.” Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. 11 Then Ziba said to the king, “According to all that my lord the king commands his servant, so will your servant do.” So Mephibosheth ate at David's table, like one of the king's sons. 12 And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Mica. And all who lived in Ziba's house became Mephibosheth's servants. 13 So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he ate always at the king's table. Now he was lame in both his feet. I've been talking about the kindness of David to Mephibosheth for a while now because it such a great image of the gospel of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. It may only give us just a glimpse of one facet of the gospel, but seeing that facet makes us appreciate the beauty of it all the more and understand it a little better. Mephibosheth was the last remaining male heir of the kingdom of Saul (a kingdom which would be at enmity with the kingdom of the LORD who had established David on the throne as His prince over all of Israel (the LORD does not call David "king" for He Himself remains their King, but David has been established as a "prince"). Yet those who were "far off" and "at enmity" with God have been "brought near" and been made both "sons" and "heirs" by "the Spirit of adoption" so that we sit at the King's table one day in the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, just like Mephibosheth here who was poor, disabled, and unable to provide for himself was brought near to David for the sake of the covenant that David made with Jonathan (and Saul, but mostly with Jonathan) and David treated Mephibosheth like his own son. Do you not see the gospel here? It is such a wonderful picture of us, and of God, and of the work that Christ has done to reconcile us, adopt us, and to lavish His blessings on us with grace upon grace.
Now that you have a good idea with what "eyes" I want you to see today's passage, let's go ahead and examine it verse by verse here like we typically do. First, we see that the enemy nations have been defeated or subjugated like we studied last time. The very next thing on David's mind is if there is someone left from the house of Saul that he can show kindness to for Jonathan's sake. I would imagine that he wished to be able to celebrate these victories with his best friend and that even the victories the LORD provided to him brought some sadness because he couldn't share them with the one he wanted to. So, he wishes to find some other person in Saul's family to be kind to and probably wanted to both celebrate and grieve together, as it would be hard to find anyone outside of Saul's family that would understand David's sadness that these victories brought. David calls one of Saul's servants to himself named Ziba to ask Ziba if there were still any living relatives of Saul so that David could show mercy to them. It would be a dangerous thing to answer this for most kings because it would mean that they would be looking to eliminate potential threats to their throne, but Ziba seems to know this is not the case and he answers that there is but one son of Jonathan left, a crippled man by the name of Mephibosheth. David asks, "Where is he?" and he gets a very detailed answer, "He is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar." There is no mistaking that Ziba wants David to find Mephibosheth because giving him the city, family and individual is as good as giving a mailing address to someone today that has city, street name and house number included. David immediately sent men to bring Mephibosheth to himself (remember that Mephibosheth was crippled and could not walk, so they would have probably needed to provided some kind of transportation for him or maybe even a way to carry him). Mephibosheth came into the presence of David and payed homage to him by bowing and saying "I am your servant" (the typical greeting for a king), but David, probably seeing the fear in his eyes, and imagining the thoughts that must be going through his head that David might have brought him there to kill him says, “Do not fear, for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan, and I will restore to you all the land of Saul your father, and you shall eat at my table always.” Mephibosheth responds correctly because he is an "enemy" and a cripple which in many ways makes him just as unclean as the wild dogs which is why he says to David, "What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?” That is truly how he saw himself, and probably how everyone else saw him too. It is really how the LORD should see us if He didn't look at us through the finished work of Christ on the cross. Jesus took away all our uncleanliness and purified us and clothed us in the garments of His own righteousness so that we are now justified (put in right standing with God), sanctified (made pure and holy), and will one day be glorified to be made into the very likeness of Jesus and be made one with Him. David looked at Mephibosheth through these kinds of eyes and through the eyes of the covenant that he made with Jonathan, and when he saw Mephibosheth, he saw Jonathan and loved him in the same way that he loved Jonathan, even though Mephibosheth had done nothing to deserve that love. This is much like how the Father looks at us and see His Son and loves us like He would love His Son, even though we have done nothing to deserve that love. 2 Samuel 8 English Standard Version David's Victories 8 After this David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and David took Metheg-ammah out of the hand of the Philistines. 2 And he defeated Moab and he measured them with a line, making them lie down on the ground. Two lines he measured to be put to death, and one full line to be spared. And the Moabites became servants to David and brought tribute. 3 David also defeated Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to restore his power at the river Euphrates. 4 And David took from him 1,700 horsemen, and 20,000 foot soldiers. And David hamstrung all the chariot horses but left enough for 100 chariots. 5 And when the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David struck down 22,000 men of the Syrians. 6 Then David put garrisons in Aram of Damascus, and the Syrians became servants to David and brought tribute. And the LORD gave victory to David wherever he went. 7 And David took the shields of gold that were carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. 8 And from Betah and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, King David took very much bronze. 9 When Toi king of Hamath heard that David had defeated the whole army of Hadadezer, 10 Toi sent his son Joram to King David, to ask about his health and to bless him because he had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him, for Hadadezer had often been at war with Toi. And Joram brought with him articles of silver, of gold, and of bronze. 11 These also King David dedicated to the LORD, together with the silver and gold that he dedicated from all the nations he subdued, 12 from Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, Amalek, and from the spoil of Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah. 13 And David made a name for himself when he returned from striking down 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. 14 Then he put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom he put garrisons, and all the Edomites became David's servants. And the LORD gave victory to David wherever he went. David's Officials 15 So David reigned over all Israel. And David administered justice and equity to all his people. 16 Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder, 17 and Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were priests, and Seraiah was secretary, 18 and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and David's sons were priests. I took the title today from verse 15 (which we'll get to later in the article), but I think it's a good summary statement of this entire chapter as all of it speaks of David's administration of justice towards the LORD's enemies and mercy towards the people of the LORD. David defeated many of the remaining kingdoms that were not defeated at the time of the Conquest. First, David subdued the Philistines and they would not bother Israel for most of the reign of David.
Next, David defeated the Moabites (the kingdom that his great-grandmother, Ruth, was from. The Moabites were put into subjugation and they were forced to pay tribute to David and the Israelites. David also defeated the king of Zobah and hamstrung all but enough of the horses for 100 chariots so that they could no longer be a military super-power (probably most of you have never heard of them). They must have been a protectorate of the Syrian empire, because the Syrians came to their defense, and David also defeated and subjugated the Syrians. He put garrisons Amram of Damascus (the capital of the Syrian people) and they also became servants of the Israelites and were forced to pay tribute to King David. He also captured all the silver and gold that was carried by Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, and took it back to Jerusalem (seemingly taking the entire treasury of that nation). Soon other nations, even very strong ones, saw the military victories of David and decided to send messengers to make peace before war was made with them. All the silver and gold that David took from these other nations he dedicated to the LORD (likely much of this becomes the source of the materials used to build the Temple. Just like how the LORD caused the Egyptians to provide all the raw materials necessary to build the Tabernacle, so the LORD will cause the other nations around Israel to provide the raw materials necessary to build the Temple). David even defeated the Edomites (the descendants of Esau) who have not been friendly towards the Israelites and have a history of allying themselves with the enemies of Israel. David also put garrisons in Edom and all the people of Edom became his servants as well. David was not able to administer justice and mercy to such a large kingdom all by himself, so the next passage focuses on naming some of the key members of David's administration. First, we are already familiar with Joab, the commander of David's army. Also listed here is Jehosaphat, the official historian and records keeper for the administration. Next were Zadok and Ahimelech the priests (since they are mentioned here, they probably both served as high priest during David's administration). Seraiah served as David's secretary. This last person in the administration mentioned was very important to David, for David entrusted the care of his own sons to this man (probably not the best idea seeing as how his sons turned out). This man's name was Benaiah. Benaiah also had the important role of overseeing the Cherethites and the Pelethites. Though I'm not exactly sure who the Cherethites and the Pelethites are, I would assume they would be equally important as the care of David's own children to be listed alongside them in the same sentence. Many assume these are special, elite forces made up by subjugated Philistines who provided personal protection for David and his family. While that's possible, I don't see that directly in the text (or any other text), so I can't say that for sure, but it would make sense if that's true to say that Benaiah was like the head of David's bodyguards and part of his duties was to personally watch over David's sons, any of whom could be the next heir to the throne since the LORD has now made a promise that one of David's sons will take the throne after him. That would be quite the important role to have in the king's administration for sure. The LORD blessed David in everything that he did, and we see a pattern in David's life that tells us why that would be. Though we don't see David stop to ask the LORD whether to go to war against all these nations, we know that has always been his pattern in every battle (not just every war). Every day he would ask the LORD if it was His will to do whatever seemed right to him, and He'd let the LORD have the last word on if his thoughts aligned with the LORD's thoughts. That is why everything David set his hand to prospered, because David was careful to do all that the LORD commanded and to seek the LORD's will in everything he did. |
Daniel WestfallI will mostly use this space for recording my "journal" from my daily devotions as I hope to encourage others to read the Bible along with me and to leave a legacy for others. Archives
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