April
22nd
2 Samuel 20
Sheba’s Revolt
1:
And there happened to be there a man of Belial, whose name was Sheba,
the son of Bichri, a Benjamite: and he blew a trumpet, and said, We
have no part in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of
Jesse: every man to his tents, O Israel. 2:
So every man of Israel went up from after David, and followed Sheba
the son of Bichri: but the men of Judah clave unto their king, from
Jordan even to Jerusalem. 3:
And David came to his house at Jerusalem; and the king took the ten
women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put
them in ward, and fed them, but went not in unto them. So they were
shut up unto the day of their death, living in widowhood. 4:
Then said the king to Amasa, Assemble me the men of Judah within
three days, and be thou here present. 5:
So Amasa went to assemble the men of Judah: but he tarried longer
than the set time which he had appointed him. 6:
And David said to Abishai, Now shall Sheba the son of Bichri do us
more harm than did Absalom: take thou thy lord's servants, and pursue
after him, lest he get him fenced cities, and escape us. 7:
And there went out after him Joab's men, and the Cherethites, and the
Pelethites, and all the mighty men: and they went out of Jerusalem,
to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri. 8:
When they were at the great stone which is in Gibeon, Amasa went
before them. And Joab's garment that he had put on was girded unto
him, and upon it a girdle with a sword fastened upon his loins in the
sheath thereof; and as he went forth it fell out. 9:
And Joab said to Amasa, Art thou in health, my brother? And Joab took
Amasa by the beard with the right hand to kiss him. 10:
But Amasa took no heed to the sword that was in Joab's hand: so he
smote him therewith in the fifth rib, and shed out his bowels to the
ground, and struck him not again; and he died. So Joab and Abishai
his brother pursued after Sheba the son of Bichri. 11:
And one of Joab's men stood by him, and said, He that favoureth Joab,
and he that is for David, let him go after Joab. 12:
And Amasa wallowed in blood in the midst of the highway. And when the
man saw that all the people stood still, he removed Amasa out of the
highway into the field, and cast a cloth upon him, when he saw that
every one that came by him stood still. 13:
When he was removed out of the highway, all the people went on after
Joab, to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri. 14:
And he went through all the tribes of Israel unto Abel, and to
Beth-maachah, and all the Berites: and they were gathered together,
and went also after him. 15:
And they came and besieged him in Abel of Beth-maachah, and they cast
up a bank against the city, and it stood in the trench: and all the
people that were with Joab battered the wall, to throw it down. 16:
Then cried a wise woman out of the city, Hear, hear; say, I pray you,
unto Joab, Come near hither, that I may speak with thee. 17:
And when he was come near unto her, the woman said, Art thou Joab?
And he answered, I am he. Then she said unto him, Hear the words of
thine handmaid. And he answered, I do hear. 18:
Then she spake, saying, They were wont to speak in old time, saying,
They shall surely ask counsel at Abel: and so they ended the matter.
19:
I am one of them that are peaceable and faithful in Israel: thou
seekest to destroy a city and a mother in Israel: why wilt thou
swallow up the inheritance of the LORD? 20:
And Joab answered and said, Far be it, far be it from me, that I
should swallow up or destroy. 21:
The matter is not so: but a man of mount Ephraim, Sheba the son of
Bichri by name, hath lifted up his hand against the king, even
against David: deliver him only, and I will depart from the city. And
the woman said unto Joab, Behold, his head shall be thrown to thee
over the wall. 22:
Then the woman went unto all the people in her wisdom. And they cut
off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and cast it out to Joab. And
he blew a trumpet, and they retired from the city, every man to his
tent. And Joab returned to Jerusalem unto the king.
David’s
Officials
23:
Now Joab was over all the host of Israel: and Benaiah the son of
Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and over the Pelethites: 24:
And Adoram was over the tribute: and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud
was recorder: 25:
And Sheva was scribe: and Zadok and Abiathar were the priests: 26:
And Ira also the Jairite was a chief ruler about David.
2
Samuel 21 Gibeonites are avenged
1:
Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after
year; and David inquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, It is
for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites.
2:
And the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto them; (now the
Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of
the Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn unto them: and
Saul sought to slay them in his zeal to the children of Israel and
Judah.) 3:
Wherefore David said unto the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you?
and wherewith shall I make the atonement, that ye may bless the
inheritance of the LORD? 4:
And the Gibeonites said unto him, We will have no silver nor gold of
Saul, nor of his house; neither for us shalt thou kill any man in
Israel. And he said, What ye shall say, that will I do for you. 5:
And they answered the king, The man that consumed us, and that
devised against us that we should be destroyed from remaining in any
of the coasts of Israel, 6:
Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them
up unto the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, whom the LORD did choose. And the
king said, I will give them. 7:
But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of
Saul, because of the LORD's oath that was between them, between David
and Jonathan the son of Saul. 8:
But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom
she bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of
Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel the son
of Barzillai the Meholathite: 9:
And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they
hanged them in the hill before the LORD: and they fell all seven
together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first
days, in the beginning of barley harvest. 10:
And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her
upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water dropped upon
them out of heaven, and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest
on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night. 11:
And it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine
of Saul, had done. 12:
And David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan
his son from the men of Jabesh-gilead, which had stolen them from the
street of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them, when the
Philistines had slain Saul in Gilboa: 13:
And he brought up from thence the bones of Saul and the bones of
Jonathan his son; and they gathered the bones of them that were
hanged. 14:
And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son buried they in the country
of Benjamin in Zelah, in the sepulchre of Kish his father: and they
performed all that the king commanded. And after that God was
intreated for the land.
Philistine
Giants killed
15:
Moreover the Philistines had yet war again with Israel; and David
went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the
Philistines: and David waxed faint. 16:
And Ishbi-benob, which was of the sons of the giant, the weight of
whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of brass in weight, he
being girded with a new sword, thought to have slain David. 17:
But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him, and smote the
Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David sware unto him,
saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench
not the light of Israel. 18:
And it came to pass after this, that there was again a battle with
the Philistines at Gob: then Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Saph,
which was of the sons of the giant. 19:
And there was again a battle in Gob with the Philistines, where
Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim, a Bethlehemite, slew the brother of
Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's
beam. 20:
And there was yet a battle in Gath, where was a man of great stature,
that had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four
and twenty in number; and he also was born to the giant. 21:
And when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea the brother of
David slew him. 22:
These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of
David, and by the hand of his servants.
Today we read of
the revolt of Sheba and of how Joab went after him to kill him to
prevent another civil war in Israel. Then we read of how the
Gibeonities are avenged to bring peace back to Israel for a long term
breach of faith. And then we read of a series of small engagements
with the Philistines and of the victories of David’s men over the
giants of Gath – Goliaths family. But first we read of a very
wicked man called Sheba. He blew a trumpet in other words he summoned
an army and stated his policy to be to removal of David as king and
the total destruction of David and his family. The amazing thing was
that all Israel apart from Judah joined in with the conspiracy. The
first thing that David did was to make provision and protection for
the ten women who were his slave/wives. He put them in a safe place.
It was not their fault that men hated their husband so he put them in
a safe place but he did not go to sleep with them and they lived out
their days as token / widows. Then Amasa said to David assemble the
men of Judah in the following three days and come yourself. It took
longer than three days to assemble all Judah to war. So David said to
Abishai Sheba will do us more harm than did Absalom so take your
servants and go after him quickly so that he does not take control of
fenced - stockade cities. Joab his general and all the mighty men
went after him. When they arrived at Gibeon Amasa went ahead of them
and Joab had a secret weapon and when Amasa dropped his sword from
out of his sheath Joab approached Amasa and came near to kiss him
saying are you well? But when he was close he took him by his beard
and plunged a sword into his body killing him in one thrust. Then
Joab and Abishai went after Sheba. When one of Joab’s men saw the
soldiers staring at Amasai dying he moved him off the path and threw
a cloth over him. The men of Joab chased after Sheba a long time
until they came to Adam (which is in the Jordan valley on the far
side of the river. And the men besieged the city and made a ramp
against the wall to break through into the city. But in the city
there was a very wise woman who shouted from the wall to Joab. Saying
Come and speak with me. Joab came near and she said l am a god
fearing woman and she pleaded that he would spare the city. Joab
explained that Sheba had rebelled against David the rightful king.
She said we will execute Sheba. She the men of the city executed
Sheba and threw his head over the wall. Joab blew the trumpet to
signify the end of war and they withdrew from the city. Joab returned
to David. David had a really great administration. Joab was his
general. Benaiah was over the Cherethites and Pelethites. Adoram was
over those who served Israel from other nations. Jehoshaphat was
recorder. He wrote the Chronicle. Sheva was scribe. He wrote the word
of the Lord. Zadok and Abiathar were the Priests. Ira was a chief
ruler. Then something happened that was a strange and serious matter.
A famine descended on Israel. The famine lasted for three years.
David went to the LORD and he received an answer. There was still
bloodshed from the house of Saul that had never been redressed. Saul
had killed some of the Gibeonities who had a peace pact with Israel
from long ago. David called for the Gibeonities and said how can this
iniquity be redressed? The Gibeonities said we don’t want money or
treasure nor his house. They dais take seven of his sons and we will
hang them to the LORD. David said we will do it. David spared
Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan and grandson of Saul because he had
sworn to the LORD to protect him. But he took 2 sons of Rizpah and 5
sons of Michal the daughter of Saul and he handed them over to the
Gibeonities. And they hanged them in the hill in front of the LORD.
They died all together in the time of barley harvest. (Passover)
Rizpah took sackcloth and spread it on the rock until the rains came
again. She did not allow birds or animals to touch it. David was
informed of what she had done so David went and took the bones of
Saul and Jonathan from Jabesh-Gilead who had taken them from the
Philistines and they gathered the bones of those that were hanged and
they buried them in Zelah. From that time on God heard their cry for
rain. After this the Philistines went to war again with Israel. In
the battle David became faint and Ishbi-benob (Who was a giant, whose
spear weighted about 8lbs) thought that he would kill David with his
new sword but Abishai delivered David and killed the Philistine
giant. Then David’s men said you must not go out to battle anymore
because if you die than a light will go out in Israel. What a
wonderful sentiment. They saw in David the light of God. Then there
came another battle with the Philistines at Gob (in the valley of
Sorek. On the area where the mountains of Judea reach the plains near
Philistia) In this battle Sibbechai killed Saph another giant. Then
there was another battle with the Philistines at the same place Gob.
Here Elhanan killed the brother of Goliath. His staff was thick like
a weavers beam (possibly 3½” or 80mm in diameter). And then there
was another battle. (Each of these battles are getting nearer and
nearer to the Philistine strongholds.) In this place they met another
Giant who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. He
was a descendant of the Anakim or Nephilim. He was a son of a giant.
These freaks of nature were the cause of the flood in the days of
Noah and they were now being judged by God by the sword of Israel.
When he stood and defied Israel to come and fight as Goliath had done
Jonathan (son of Shimea brother of David. In other words David’s
nephew) killed him. All these four giants were killed by David and
his men. Now we realise why David went against Goliath with five
stones. He was ready to face the whole family.
- How did Sheba revolt against David?
- Who were Davids servants in government?
- How did David discover the reason for the Famine?
- Who killed the rest of the Giants of Gath?
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