2 Samuel 2:1 - 3:39: Living in a Fallen World

2 Samuel 2:1 - 3:39: Living in a Fallen World

We’ve been working our way passage by passage through the book of 2 Samuel, and today the next passage we come to is 2 Samuel chapter 2 verse 1 through chapter 3 verse 39, so I’ll be reading a selection of verses from that passage. Hear now the words of the Living and True God:

¹ After this David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?” And the Lord said to him, “Go up.” David said, “To which shall I go up?” And he said, “To Hebron.” ² So David went up there, and his two wives also, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. ³ And David brought up his men who were with him, everyone with his household, and they lived in the towns of Hebron. ⁴ And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah…. ⁸ But Abner the son of Ner, commander of Saul’s army, took Ish-bosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim, ⁹ and he made him king over Gilead and the Ashurites and Jezreel and Ephraim and Benjamin and all Israel…. ¹² Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. ¹³ And Joab the son of Zeruiah and the servants of David went out and met them at the pool of Gibeon…. ¹⁷ And the battle was very fierce that day. And Abner and the men of Israel were beaten before the servants of David…. ⁷ Now Saul had a concubine whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. And Ish-bosheth said to Abner, “Why have you gone in to my father’s concubine?” ⁸ Then Abner was very angry over the words of Ish-bosheth and said, “Am I a dog’s head of Judah? To this day I keep showing steadfast love to the house of Saul your father, to his brothers, and to his friends, and have not given you into the hand of David. And yet you charge me today with a fault concerning a woman. ⁹ God do so to Abner and more also, if I do not accomplish for David what the Lord has sworn to him, ¹⁰ to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan to Beersheba.”… ²⁰ When Abner came with twenty men to David at Hebron, David made a feast for Abner and the men who were with him. ²¹ And Abner said to David, “I will arise and go and will gather all Israel to my lord the king, that they may make a covenant with you, and that you may reign over all that your heart desires.” So David sent Abner away, and he went in peace…. ²³ When Joab and all the army that was with him came, it was told Joab, “Abner the son of Ner came to the king, and he has let him go, and he has gone in peace.”… ²⁶ When Joab came out from David’s presence, he sent messengers after Abner, and they brought him back from the cistern of Sirah. But David did not know about it. ²⁷ And when Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into the midst of the gate to speak with him privately, and there he struck him in the stomach, so that he died, for the blood of Asahel his brother. ²⁸ Afterward, when David heard of it, he said, “I and my kingdom are forever guiltless before the Lord for the blood of Abner the son of Ner. ²⁹ May it fall upon the head of Joab and upon all his father’s house, and may the house of Joab never be without one who has a discharge or who is leprous or who holds a spindle or who falls by the sword or who lacks bread!” ³⁰ So Joab and Abishai his brother killed Abner, because he had put their brother Asahel to death in the battle at Gibeon….

May God bless the reading of his Word.

Let’s pray: Father, we understand from Hebrews 4 that your Word is living and active. So may it be living and active in our lives today. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

One thing that almost everyone has in common is the sense that something’s just not right with our world. Regardless of what political or religious views a person holds, just about everyone intuitively recognizes that there’s something wrong with the world in which we live.

Now, of course, if you ask people about what exactly that “something” is, you’ll get vastly different answers. For example, many on the political left will say that the main thing wrong with our world is economic inequality, systemic racism, religious bigotry, climate change, capitalism, or misinformation. On the other hand, many political conservatives will say that the main thing wrong with our world is government corruption, the radical bias of mainstream media, big tech censorship, or the leftist ideological takeover of the vast majority of universities. And there are many others who might fall into either political camp who might say that the biggest problem our world faces is the ideological polarization fueled by social media, the ever-worsening mental health crisis, authoritarian governments around the world, or the abuse of power by the elites of society. So, I think it’s safe to say that there’s no shortage of ideas about what’s wrong with this world.  

Yet the Bible teaches that these kinds of things are merely symptoms of a much deeper problem—a problem that’s more sinister and pervasive than most people have ever imagined. And that problem is sin.

You see, the Bible tells us that God originally created this world as a wonderful paradise characterized by perfect harmony. Yet the first humans, Adam and Eve, rebelled against God—an event we commonly refer to as “the fall.” And as a result of the fall, this entire world was plunged into a state of brokenness, turmoil, disease, and death. All of these things came about because of humanity’s sin against God.

Not only that, we now have a sinful nature. Our spiritual DNA is thoroughly and irreparably corrupted by sin. We’re sinners to the very core of our being. So, if you’re trying to identify our deepest and most fundamental problem, that’s what the Bible says it is. The problem with the human race is the human heart. And that’s what leads to countless other problems that we face in this fallen world.

And as we turn our attention to our main passage of 2 Samuel 2-3, we see that David faces some significant challenges related to living in a fallen world and is forced to navigate those challenges. That’s the main idea of these two chapters. David is forced to navigate the challenges of living in a fallen world. Again, David is forced to navigate the challenges of living in a fallen world. And as we’ll see, there are three specific challenges David faces: resistance, rivalry, and revenge.

Now, to back up a little bit and remind you of the context here, a man named Saul was originally the king of Israel. But because of Saul’s disobedience, God rejected him as king and made it clear that he’d chosen David to be the new king. And when Saul eventually dies in battle, the door appears to be open for David to officially become king of Israel. However, as is so often the case in our fallen world, David’s ascension to the throne doesn’t end up being quite so easy—as we’ll see in the next few chapters.

So, in chapter 2, David’s just learned of Saul’s death. And after spending some time in public mourning, David looks to God for guidance about how to proceed. Verses 1-4: ¹ After this David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?” And the Lord said to him, “Go up.” David said, “To which shall I go up?” And he said, “To Hebron.” ² So David went up there, and his two wives also, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. ³ And David brought up his men who were with him, everyone with his household, and they lived in the towns of Hebron. ⁴ And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah…. So far, so good, right? But notice that David’s only anointed king over Judah rather than being anointed king over all Israel.

I. Resistance

And that brings us to the first of the three challenges related to human fallenness that David encounters in this passage—the challenge of resistance. Look at verses 8-10: ⁸ But Abner the son of Ner, commander of Saul’s army, took Ish-bosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim, ⁹ and he made him king over Gilead and the Ashurites and Jezreel and Ephraim and Benjamin and all Israel. ¹⁰ Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years. But the house of Judah followed David. 

So, Abner, the former commander of Saul’s army, resists what he knows to be God’s will by helping Saul’s son Ish-bosheth to become king of the remaining tribes of Israel. Of course, we might wonder whether Abner was simply unaware of the fact that God had chosen David to be the next king. Yet, in verses 9-10 of the next chapter, Abner demonstrates that he was indeed fully aware that God had promised David the throne. So, it’s pretty clear that, in throwing his support behind Ish-bosheth, Abner’s deliberately disregarding what he knows to be God’s will.

Abner likely does this because he sees an opportunity to acquire more power for himself. As will soon become apparent, Ish-bosheth is a very weak leader and is basically a puppet king controlled by Abner. And it’s not long before Abner starts making some moves seemingly designed to appropriate the kingship for himself. So, Abner’s resistance to God’s will seems to be an outgrowth of his own royal ambitions.

This is a valuable reminder for us that there’s a vast difference between knowing God’s will and obeying God’s will. James 1:22-24 states, ²² But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. ²³ For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. ²⁴ For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.

So, simply hearing God’s Word but not doing what it says is like looking at yourself in a mirror but then immediately forgetting what you look like. Imagine looking at yourself in the mirror and seeing that you have a very noticeable piece of broccoli or something stuck in your teeth. Yet instead of removing the broccoli, you just go on as if nothing’s wrong. In that scenario, looking in the mirror didn’t do you any good whatsoever. Likewise, it does us no good to read the Bible if we don’t follow through by actually doing what it says.

Yet how often, like Abner, do we knowingly deviate from God’s instructions? How often does God tell us to go in one direction and yet we deliberately go in another direction? Of course, we often find a way to make our sin socially respectable—just as Abner initially masks his ambitions for power by supporting Saul’s son Ish-bosheth as king. But that doesn’t change the fact that we’re still rejecting God’s will so we can follow our own sinful desires.

II. Rivalry

In addition, not only does David encounter the challenge of Abner’s resistance, he also has to deal with the challenge of the rivalry that results. Verses 12-14 tell us, ¹² Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. ¹³ And Joab 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. ¹⁴ And Abner said to Joab, “Let the young men arise and compete before us.” And Joab said, “Let them arise.”

So, this was initially going to be a simple MMA-style competition between young men who were loyal to David and young men who were loyal to Ish-bosheth. However, tensions are so high that this MMA match quickly devolves into something much more serious.

Verses 15-17: ¹⁵ Then they arose and passed over by number, twelve for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David. ¹⁶ And each caught his opponent by the head and thrust his sword in his opponent’s side, so they fell down together. Therefore that place was called Helkath-hazzurim, which is at Gibeon. ¹⁷ And the battle was very fierce that day. And Abner and the men of Israel were beaten before the servants of David.

So, in case you were wondering why men tend to have shorter average lifespans than women, I’m pretty sure this is one of the reasons. These guys get together for an MMA match to see who’s more macho but end up taking it way too far—with the result that a “fierce” battle breaks out.

And at this point, it’s helpful to remind ourselves that, throughout the Bible, peacemakers are commended—as in Matthew 5:9, where Jesus states, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” And James 3:18 tells us, “Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.” Yet we don’t see any of that in these verses. Instead, we see men who are proud and looking to prove themselves getting into a needless battle that results in significant bloodshed and accomplishes next to nothing.

III. Revenge

Then a third challenge related to living in a fallen world that David faces is revenge. Verse 18 introduces us to the three sons of Zeruiah, named Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. These were three of David’s mightiest soldiers. And verses 19-23 tell us, ¹⁹ And Asahel pursued Abner, and as he went, he turned neither to the right hand nor to the left from following Abner. ²⁰ Then Abner looked behind him and said, “Is it you, Asahel?” And he answered, “It is I.” ²¹ Abner said to him, “Turn aside to your right hand or to your left, and seize one of the young men and take his spoil.” But Asahel would not turn aside from following him. ²² And Abner said again to Asahel, “Turn aside from following me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How then could I lift up my face to your brother Joab?” ²³ 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 at his back. And he fell there and died where he was. So, that’s how this incident went down.

Afterwards, Joab ends up calling off the rest of David’s men from further fighting on that particular day. Yet verse 1 of the next chapter tells us, “There was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David. And David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul became weaker and weaker.”

We then find Abner up to no good in verses 6-7, which tell us, ⁶ While there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner was making himself strong in the house of Saul. ⁷ Now Saul had a concubine whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. And Ish-bosheth said to Abner, “Why have you gone in to my father’s concubine?” In ancient times, to have sexual relations with a king’s concubine was tantamount to challenging the king for the throne. So, assuming Ish-bosheth’s accusation is true, Abner is trying to become king in Ish-bosheth’s place. And when Ish-bosheth calls him out on it, Abner becomes quite upset and tells Ish-bosheth he’s now going to get all the tribes of Israel to recognize David as their king.

Abner then reaches out to David, offers to make a covenant with him, and convinces the rest of leaders of Israel to recognize David as their king. Abner and 20 of these men then join David for a feast in Hebron and subsequently depart from Hebron peacefully. However, Joab then shows up in Hebron and tells David how foolish he was to let Abner leave without killing him, since Abner probably only came to Hebron to spy out the city.

After that, we read in verses 26-30: ²⁶ When Joab came out from David’s presence, he sent messengers after Abner, and they brought him back from the cistern of Sirah. But David did not know about it. ²⁷ And when Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside into the midst of the gate to speak with him privately, and there he struck him in the stomach, so that he died, for the blood of Asahel his brother. ²⁸ Afterward, when David heard of it, he said, “I and my kingdom are forever guiltless before the Lord for the blood of Abner the son of Ner. ²⁹ May it fall upon the head of Joab and upon all his father’s house….” ³⁰ So Joab and Abishai his brother killed Abner, because he had put their brother Asahel to death in the battle at Gibeon.

So, as you can see, we encounter one dramatic event after another. These chapters read like a cross between an action movie and a soap opera. There’s pride, hatred, ambition, intrigue, immorality, trickery—all eventually culminating in Joab taking revenge on Abner by murdering him.

Joab’s action, of course, is the exact opposite of how God instructs of us to live. Romans 12:19 says, “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’” Yet, like Joab, we nevertheless sometimes find ourselves desiring revenge as well. That’s what our sinful hearts naturally desire.

You can see it even in early childhood, right? Like when a child, let’s say, hits their sibling, how does their sibling usually respond? Do they politely say, “Excuse me, I didn’t like that very much. Could you please not do that any more?” Not usually. I mean, if that’s the way your kids usually respond, then we need to get you to teach a parenting class or something, because that certainly wasn’t the typical response in the Tancordo household when our kids were younger—at least, not until we made them say something like that. Instead, the sibling would typically respond by hitting back. Or, if they were significantly outmatched, they’d try to get even by telling mom or dad and maybe even exaggerating things just a bit so the offending party would get into even more trouble. But one way or another, they’d try to get revenge.

Now, chances are that, as an adult, you’ve figured out ways to get even with others that are a little more sophisticated but not fundamentally different. One behavior that seems to be particularly widespread is gossiping. When we feel that someone has slighted us or deliberately wronged us in some way, it’s very tempting for us to talk about them behind their back. And it feels so good, doesn’t it? We often feel so justified in saying the things we say because, we tell ourselves, “They deserve it. They hurt me, so I’ll hurt them.”

Or maybe we engage in passive-aggressive behavior. Instead of addressing issues we have with people in an open and direct way, we express our frustration indirectly. For those of us who are married, maybe we give our spouse the “silent treatment” or withdraw from the relationship in some way. It’s also possible to exhibit passive aggressive behavior in the workplace. Maybe we deliberately try to make a coworker’s job more difficult or reply to them sarcastically or with snarky comments. So, even though our main passage lays before us a very dramatic and severe example of someone getting revenge, don’t miss all of the more subtle ways we often try to get revenge in the course of our everyday lives.

Yet being a follower of Jesus means that we forgive others instead of exacting revenge. And the reason we extend this forgiveness is because we know how much Jesus has forgiven us. As C. S. Lewis has aptly observed, “To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.”

However, that’s not at all what we see in our main passage. Instead, we find one moral disaster after another, climaxing in Joab being so consumed with a desire for revenge that he murders Abner. And when you think about it, Joab does this at the worst possible time for David. Remember that Abner was in the process of getting all the elders of the remaining tribes of Israel to recognize David as their king. But Joab just can’t stop himself from killing Abner right in the middle of this delicate peace process.

And that isn’t at all a good look for David. It would be very easy for the elders of the other Israelite tribes to assume that Joab was operating under David’s orders and therefore to scrap their plans for recognizing David as their king.

Fortunately, David quickly goes into damage control mode. Verses 31-32 tell us, ³¹ Then David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, “Tear your clothes and put on sackcloth and mourn before Abner.” And King David followed the bier. ³² They buried Abner at Hebron. And the king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner, and all the people wept. David then publicly mourns and fasts in the aftermath of Abner’s death. Verses 36-37 then say, ³⁶ And all the people took notice of it, and it pleased them, as everything that the king did pleased all the people. ³⁷ So all the people and all Israel understood that day that it had not been the king’s will to put to death Abner the son of Ner.

So, David effectively demonstrates that he had nothing to do with Abner’s death. And that’s part of a larger pattern we find in these two chapters of David having to deal with numerous challenges of life in a fallen world. David’s surrounded by devious schemes, bitter rivalries, political intrigue, and murderous acts of vengeance. Yet he somehow manages to conduct himself honorably even as so many around him conduct themselves dishonorably.

This is the case especially in the way David responds to Joab murdering Abner. David lived a life of transparency and righteousness among the people of Israel and thereby earned their respect and allegiance. It’s in this way that he stands in stark contrast to both Saul and Abner. And that seems to be the larger reality these chapters are intending to demonstrate. David’s going to be a new kind of king—a king who, unlike his predecessor, seeks to honor God and walk in God’s ways. And the people of Israel recognize that and are drawn to that and therefore hold David in high esteem.

However, we also see in these chapters that even David has some serious character deficiencies. For example, even though God established in Genesis the pattern of marriage being between one man and one woman, we read in

2 Samuel 3:2-5 about the six wives David had—Ahinoam, Abigail, Maacah, Haggith, Abital, and Eglah. Although God had explicitly prohibited kings from “acquir[ing] many wives” in Deuteronomy 17:17, David did it anyway. And David married some of these women, such as Maacah, for the sake of political alliances with nearby kingdoms, which had further moral complications. In light of all this, we probably shouldn’t be too surprised when we read later in 2 Samuel that some of the children listed in these verses end up being the cause of nearly unbearable grief for David. So, for all of his admirable character qualities, David also has some very notable character deficiencies.

This is an important reminder for us, as we consider the fallen world in which we live, that the problem isn’t just around us—it’s within us. The problem isn’t just out there—it’s in here. It reminds me of something G. K. Chesterton wrote in 1908 in response to a question posed by The London Times. The newspaper asked, “What’s wrong with the world?” and invited several well-known writers to answer. So, Chesterton simply wrote, “Dear Sirs, I am. Sincerely yours, G. K. Chesterton.” That’s the realization we all have to come to. “What’s wrong with the world?” “I am.” Each one of us is a sinner in desperate need of a Savior.

Thankfully, God saw our desperate need and sent his own Son Jesus into this world to rescue us. Unlike most of the characters described in our main passage, Jesus entered this world in humility rather than pride, and sacrificial love rather than personal ambition. Philippians 2:5-8 says, ⁵ Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

So, not only did Jesus exhibit astonishing humility in entering our world as one of us, he exhibited astonishing love by dying on the cross in our place and to pay for our sin. Even though we should have suffered forever in hell for our sins against such a holy God, Jesus endured that punishment so we wouldn’t have to. He functioned as our substitute and made atonement for our sins.

Yet that’s not the end of the story because, three days later, Jesus was triumphantly raised from the dead and now offers to rescue everyone who turns from their sins and puts their full confidence in him as their only hope of rescue.

Not only that, we understand that Jesus is the only one who can restore this world to the place of perfect harmony that God intended it to be. In 2 Samuel 2-3, we’ve seen plenty of reminders of the fallen world in which we live—a world of hatred, turmoil, enmity, conflict, and violence. And of course, there’s no shortage of all these things in our world today. Just spend 30 seconds scrolling through the news headlines any time you want to be reminded of just how bad it is.

And unfortunately, we can’t fix these things simply through our own human efforts. Despite what many people believe, we can’t fix what’s wrong with our world through better education, as if we could simply educate people out of behaving in the ways they often behave. We also can’t fix the turmoil of our world through technological innovation. In many ways, new technologies have exacerbated the problems of our world rather than making them better. And finally, we can’t fix this world by putting the right people into positions of power or by getting those in power to pass the right laws. Even the best people will still let us down in some ways, and even the best laws are woefully insufficient in what they’re capable of accomplishing. So, if you put your hope in any of these things, you’re going to be disappointed.

Because, remember that the most fundamental problem of the human race is what? The human heart. This world is filled with hatred and turmoil because our hearts are filled with sin and selfishness. James 4:1-2 spells it out for us when it asks, ¹ What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions [that is, your sinful and selfish desires] are at war within you? ² You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel….

So, the reason we can’t fix this broken world through any of our human interventions is because we’re all driven by sinful and selfish desires. In fact, the Bible says elsewhere that we’re actually enslaved to our sinful and selfish desires. They have a hold on us that we can’t break. Trying to rise above our sinful and selfish desires is like trying to outrun our shadow. It just won’t work.

Instead, we need God to change us from within. Ezekiel 36:26 speaks of it as a spiritual heart transplant. God says, “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” That’s what we need. In order to have a world of peace and harmony once again, we need God to replace our old sinful heart with a new godly heart. Thankfully, that’s exactly what God does through Jesus and through the gospel.

So, you might desire to see this world made into a place of peace and harmony. And that desire’s good, but understand that only Jesus can bring it about. That’s why the Bible speaks of Jesus as the “Prince of Peace.” He’s the only one who can bring perfect peace and harmony to our fallen world once again.

And according to the Bible, it’s not just that Jesus might do this but that he will do this. It’s only a matter of time. Even though our world might be all too similar to the world of turmoil and dysfunction we’ve read about in our main passage today, the Bible says that Jesus is making all things new.

We’re told in Revelation 21:1-5, ¹ Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. ² And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. ⁴ He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” ⁵ And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” … What a glorious picture!