II Samuel 2:8-32 – Abner Seeks Power
The Living Word With Chuck Davis
II Samuel 2:8-32 – Abner Seeks Power
"Welcome to the Living Word with Chuck Davis." 2 Samuel 2, 8-32, Abner seeks power. But Abner the son of Nair, commander of Saul's army, took Ishposheth, the son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanheim and he made him king over Gilead and the Asherites and Jezreel and Ephraim and Benjamin and all Israel. Ishposheth saw his son was 40 years old when he began to reign over Israel and he reigned two years. But the house of Judah followed David. And the time of David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was 7 years and 6 months. Abner the son of Nair, the servants of Ishposheth and the son of Saul went out from Mahanheim to Gibeon. And Jeoab the son of Zeruiah and the servants of David went out and met them at the pool of Gibeon. And they sat down, the one on the one side of the pool and the other on the other side of the pool. And the Abner said to Jeoab, "Let the young men arise and compete before us." And Jeoab said, "Let them arise." Then they arose and passed over by number 12 for Benjamin and Ishposheth the sons of Saul and 12 of the servants of David. And each caught his opponent by the head and thrust his sword in his opponent's side so they fell down together. Therefore, the place was called Helzath-Bazurim, which is at Gibeon. And the battle was very fierce that day. And Abner and the men of Israel were beaten before the servants of David. And the three sons of Zeruah were there, Jeoab, Abishai, and Asal. Now Asal was as swift as foot as a wild gazelle, and Asal pursued Abner. And as he went, he turned neither to the right hand nor the left from following Abner. The Abner looked behind him and said, "Is it you, Asal?" And he answered, "It is I." Abner said to him, "Turn aside to your right hand or to your left. Seize one of the young men and take his spoil. But Asal would not turn aside from following him." And Abner said again to Asal, "Turn aside from following me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How then could I lift up my face to your brother, Jeoab?" But he refused to turn aside. Therefore Abner struck him in the stomach with the butt of his spear so that the spear came out of his back and he fell there and died where he was. And all who came to the place where Asal had fallen and died stood still. But Jeoab and Abishai pursued Abner. And as the sun was going down, they came to the hill of Amah, which lies before Gia. On the way to the wilderness of Gibeon, and the people of Benjamin gathered themselves together behind Abner and became one group and took their stand on top of a hill. Then Abner called to Jeoab, "Shall the sword devour forever? Do you not know that the end will be bitter? How long will it be before you tell people to turn from their pursuit of their brothers?" And Jeoab said, "As God lives, if you had not spoken, surely the men would not have given up the pursuit of their brothers until the morning." So Joab blew the trumpet and all the men stopped and pursued Israel no more, nor did they fight anymore. And Abner and his men went all that night through the arabah. They crossed the Jordan and marching the whole morning. They came to Amah and Naim. Joab returned from the pursuit of Abner, and when they had gathered all the people together, there were missing from David's servants 19 men besides Asal. And the servants of David had struck down Benjamin 360 of Abner's men. Then they took up Asal and buried him in the tomb of his father, which was at Bethlehem. And Joab and his men marched all night, and they broke upon them at Hebron. What we see here is basically civil war, Abner and the men of Israel. This would be the northern designation. We see the tribe of Benjamin that's mentioned here, out of which Saul comes and Joab. There's a shift from the previous narrative where David announces, has said, the loving kindness of God and emit faithfulness over his potential enemies to this violent war setting. The basic question that is launched by Abner is, when is the violence going to stop? And somehow, in the course of this, Joab hears and turns away from the battle. This gives us a clue that there could be a change coming. We anticipate that a better way, a peaceful way, a uniting of all the tribes of Israel. And so there's expectancy as the text moves us this far in the story. So what of this passage is to see that there's a natural inclination to retaliation, making sides, demonizing a people for our own benefit. It's not good stuff. When is the violence going to stop? So now what of this is a reminder for me to be alert to prejudices and stereotypes that I still hold in my mind that keep me distant from people, to live out God's way in a fresh expression. And so Lord, today, help us not to be people of civil war, but help us to be people that have said in the myth, before you and before the people that we get to serve. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.