Jan 3, 2021. II Samuel 4:1-12

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WARY IS THE HEAD.  II Samuel 4:1-12.  JAN 4, 2021.  #9.

2 Samuel 4 [New King James Version]

¹ When Saul’s son heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he lost heart, and all Israel was troubled. ² Now Saul’s son had two men who were captains of troops. The name of one was Baanah and the name of the other Rechab, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, of the children of Benjamin. (For Beeroth also was part of Benjamin, ³ because the Beerothites fled to Gittaim and have been sojourners there until this day.) ⁴ Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a son who was lame in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel; and his nurse took him up and fled. And it happened, as she made haste to flee, that he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth. ⁵ Then the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, set out and came at about the heat of the day to the house of Ishbosheth, who was lying on his bed at noon. ⁶ And they came there, all the way into the house, as though to get wheat, and they stabbed him in the stomach. Then Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped. ⁷ For when they came into the house, he was lying on his bed in his bedroom; then they struck him and killed him, beheaded him and took his head, and were all night escaping through the plain. ⁸ And they brought the head of Ishbosheth to David at Hebron, and said to the king, “Here is the head of Ishbosheth, the son of Saul your enemy, who sought your life; and the Lord has avenged my lord the king this day of Saul and his descendants.” ⁹ But David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, “As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from all adversity, ¹⁰ when someone told me, saying, ‘Look, Saul is dead,’ thinking to have brought good news, I arrested him and had him executed in Ziklag—the one who thought I would give him a reward for his news. ¹¹ How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous person in his own house on his bed? Therefore, shall I not now require his blood at your hand and remove you from the earth?” ¹² So David commanded his young men, and they executed them, cut off their hands and feet, and hanged them by the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ishbosheth and buried it in the tomb of Abner in Hebron.

• Dreaded sense of doom in the throne room
  • When news of Abner’s murder reached Ishbosheth, he grieved, for Abner was the strength of Israel
    • Ishbosheth couldn’t hold onto the throne without Abner
    • Ishbosheth didn’t inspire subjects (no leadership skills)
  • Israel also grieved
    • They had suffered a great defeat by Philistines
    • Judah had defeated them on many occasions
    • Israel looked to Abner for protection
  • The next in line for royal leadership was Mephibosheth
    • Mephibosheth was Jonathan’s son
    • When Israel was routed by the Philistines, Mephibosheth (age 5) was taken to safety by his nurse maid, but in her haste, she dropped him, crushing his leg
    • Lame Mephibosheth couldn’t lead Israel into battle
  • Abner had told Ishbosheth that he was going to give Isr. to David
    • Ishbosheth was powerless to stop him
    • Perhaps, Ishbosheth was hoping for a peaceful resolution
    • The murder of Abner indicated a rejection of Abner’s proposal & the ultimate defeat of Israel
• Snakes and the scepter
  • Captains Baanah & Rechab understood the implications
    • They knew that Israel must soon be defeated
    • They were loyal to Abner, not Ishbosheth
    • The brother had agreed to Abner’s plan
  • B. & R. saw an opportunity to further their own positions
    • Since they were already going to switch sides to David under Abner’s plan, they decided to act
    • They thought David would reward them
  • As in most Mediterranean countries, work ceased in the
  • heat of the day & inhabitants rested
    • Ishbosheth laid on his bed in the heat of the afternoon
    • Baanah & Rechab killed him & decapitated him
  • The traitors road all night to take Ishbosheth’s head to David
    • They expected praise, rewards, & positions
    • They had done David a great favor & finished what Abner had started
  • No one trusts a traitor
    • Like adulterers, if a traitor betrays once, he could potentially do it again
    • Two broad categories of traitors: (1) traitors with a cause (Hale, Bonhoeffer, Rommel) (2) traitors for personal gain (Balaam, Judas, Henry Phillips)
  • Traitors for a just cause are understood (the underground), traitors for personal gain are despised
• A just reward
  • Rimmon the Beerothite, bring the head of Ishbosheth to David as good tidings
  • David receives the traitors with disdain
    • David had refused to move against Saul, even though Saul had pursued him to kill him
    • David had a high regard for God appointed leadership & order
    • David was appalled that anyone would kill a duly crowned king
  • David’s response is classic
    • If I executed a messenger who had claimed to have killed King Saul, do you think that I would do any less to one who kills his son in his bed?
    • David orders the traitors to be executed & then has Ishbosheth’s head respectfully buried in Abner’s tomb
  • Forcing events never work out well in the end
    • God superintends all events
    • Those who manipulate situations don’t prosper
    • Even when a manipulator gets his way, he will not find the satisfaction in it (Psalm 106:15)
    • David came to the throne in God’s time & way
  • David was satisfied to wait upon the Lord