David: 2nd Samuel 2:8 - 3:1
2:8-17
Abner makes Ishbosheth king over Israel
Abner was the son ofNer, captain of Saul's troops. Here was established a rival kingdom, which likely would have not existed except for Abner's effort.
Ishbosheth ( also known as Eshbaal in 1st Chronicles 8&9) was known for his less than stellar intellect and the Hebrews changed his name to reflect a word derived from "shame" as he was labeled with a name of Baal, a false god.
Abner was the cousin of Saul and was held in high respect and was in opposition to David. He took Ishbosheth across the Jordan river to Mahanaim and appointed him king of the northern nation of Israel. This place was considered.a hallowed place in much earlier days known to have divine presence (Gen 32:2). Here Abner made the son of Saul, Ishbosheth, the next king.
2:9-10
David neither could nor would force matters. He was content to wait upon God's time and he avoided any confrontation with the new king, until, after two years hostile intent was apparent.
2:12
Abner takes troops to Gibeon, coming nearer to Judah, a move that seemed to indicate hostile intent. David sent an army of observation, under the command of Joab, to watch the movements of Abner's army.
2:14
Abner suggests to Joab a contest in which 12 men were chosen from each side to compete only with each other to settle the unfortunate contention. The fight, which was to limit the discord, instead heated up the ill will and expanded to general combat, in which Abner and his men were defeated and fled.
2:19-32
Asahel, the brother of Joab, pursued Abner and the fleeing troops in order to gain personal victory over Abner and capture Abner's armor, after killing Abner. Abner knew that Asahel was no match for him physically and used his lance backward to pierce Asahel, who fell and died. Joab continued to purnue Abner until sunset and Abner had gathered helpful troops from the tribe of Benjamin. Abner sought to end the bloodshed in talking to Joab, hopirtg to avoid a general civil war with Judah.
Joab seemed to accept the need to avoid further battle and led his men.away. On Judah's side, the loss had been 19 men + Asahel, while the losses to Abner's troops was 360 men.
3:1
Now there began long war between the house of David and the house of Saul. There were successes on both sides at various times but now David knew that even though he had been divinely appointed by God to rule over both Judah AND Israel, he was beginning to understand that he would have to take the throne by force.
NOTE: While our assigned study verses in 2nd Samuel 2 do not include verses 1-7, it is important that we not skim over a very important item that is found there. We are told that David inquired of the Lord. This was not a one time event. David was consistently being led by God in his efforts and scripture is clear that David took his direction from the Lord to guide his decisions. He did this by means of the Urim & Thummim, the holy stones through which God answered the questions of His chosen people. These holy stones were sewn into the ephod of the priest keeping them close to his heart.
We see this type of questioning by David and answering by God in this chapter as well as 1st Samuel 23:6, 23:9, 30:7, & 30:8. While we do not have details as to how these holy stones worked, we know that they did open dialog to and from God on matters of great importance. These oracle stones were. shown to us in Exodus 28:30 and were commanded to be sewn inside the ephod Aaron wore, to rest against his heart. The names of these stones when translated means "light" & "perfection".