2 Samuel 3

Cracks in the Foundation

Big Idea: Since the plans of the righteous can be thwarted by the wicked, you must chose godly companions to associate with.

Intro

I remember the day that I discovered I had been loyal to someone who was a scoundrel. I had shunned the advice of others, and been blind to what at that moment of revelation should have been quite obvious to me. It was when I had discovered that my friend, my mentor, my elder, was not who he had said he was. As I tried to unravel my past based on these revelations of this man’s treatment of His family, I discovered I had been loyal to the wrong man. It was then that I discovered one of life’s most important lessons: choose your friends and companions wisely. Since you become like what you love, by associating with scoundrels, it will not take long for you to become one yourself. If the Lord spares you from that, you will find that your plans have been thwarted for bad company corrupts good morals.

In our text this evening our constellation of characters learn first-hand the value of this lesson when they are troubled by companions within their own household. Abner by Ish-bosheth and David by Joab. Along with these developments there is clear signs that the foundation of David’s kingship is already developing cracks, and these also have to do with the choice of companions, and a failure to deal with the sins of others correctly.

2 Sam. 3

A Quiet Revolution

There has been a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David, and His ascension as king over Judah has not caused that civil war to go away. But David has shown repeatedly that he will not take the kingdom by force, being content to wait until the lord gives it to him. That does not mean he hasn’t been doing things politically to strengthen his hand. So David wages a quiet revolution by making politically alliances with his neighbors through marriage.

Although polygamy was tolerated in Israel, it was specifically forbidden for kings. But it was such a common practice that the temptation proved to be formidable. So David marries women from advantageous families, some such as Maacah were in the same region that Ish-bosheth had been set-up as a puppet king by Abner.

But what is more striking in this is not that shrewdness of David, who is working politically to secure a succession to the throne of United Kingdom without shedding any blood, but the trouble it spells for succession in His own house when his reign is ended. Notice how many “first-born” sons are born to David. That is a lot of contenders for the throne. Here the first crack forms in David’s foundation. By turning from obeying the law of God, a copy of which David was to personally write out and keep with Him, signals trouble in he years ahead. Even before His great sin with Bathsheba, David’s failure to be a one woman man, provides one of the key ingredients for the downfall of his house. A sin exponentially repeated in his chosen successor Solomon, whose politically alliances lead him to take hundreds and hundreds of wives and concubines.

While we are considering companionship, let me say this to you young folks who desire marriage. Choosing a spouse is one of the most important things you can do. And the one requirement that must be your chief consideration is their relationship with the Lord. If your potential spouse is an unbeliever you may not even entertain ideas that they could be suitable for you as a companion. But the same could be said if they are a nominal Christian. For they will influence you one way or another. If it is a wife, she will tempt you to put her needs first, and draw you away from following the Lord. If it is a husband, he will lead you away from your pursuit of Christ after the cares of this world. So dear young people, choose wisely a godly companion, whose faith is evident, who burns with a zeal to follow Christ. Only then will your companionship be such a mutual blessing that it will spurn you both towards greater maturity in Christ.

Wasted Loyalty

But while David was making himself strong through these politically alliances, Abner (not Ish-bosheth) was growing strong in Saul’s house. Such that Ish-bosheth, out jealousy or envy, foolish accused Abner of taking his fathers concubine Rizpah. Essentially this is an accusation that Abner is trying to steal the kingdom. The text does not tell us if Abner had done this or not, but it’s high unlikely he did. Since Abner was Saul’s uncle, he is a generation older than Saul, and two over Ish-bosheth, and doubtful he is now making a move for the throne.

Again, as we noted last week, Abner was a decent fellow surrounded by scoundrels. Ish-bosheth has proved to be just as his father, with no shortage of false accusations driven as they were in Saul by envy. So Abner, has come to the point where he realized as I once did, that he had been loyal to the wrong household. And here Abner’s response is fitting, and god example of what to do if you find yourself having been loyal to someone who was false.

He vows to the Lord, that he will correct his misplaced loyalty by giving the kingdom to David. So he sets in motion a plan to deliver the kingdom to David, and change his loyalty to be true to David as the rightful king of Israel and the Lord’s anointed.

Here is then one solution when you find yourself the companion of fools, get out. I admit this is easier said then done, especilly when the foolish companions are within your own household. It takes wisdom to know how, and to what extent you should remove yourself from those kinds of companions. Certainly what you can begin to do is change your loyalty so that it aligns with companions who are godly, and moving in the same direction as you.

Union Begins

So then, Abner promises that if David will make a covenant with him, he will bring all of Israel over with him. David adds one condition, which functions as a test, and which David probably hopes will bring more unity between the House of Saul and his house. David will not covenant with Abner unless he brings Michal, Saul’s daughter, and David’s wife. She was taken from him when he had to run from Saul in the wilderness and given to another.

The test would be whether Abner had enough sway in the house of Saul to pull this off, which would be a sort of litmus test for whether he could “bring over all Israel” to David. And so he does. As Ish-bosheth sends and takes her from her current husband, Paltiel, who went crying after her until Abner sends him packing. But this move doesn’t quite have the effect David hoped for in smoothing out tensions with the Saulide party. For one Michal dies barren, after her jealousy caused her to confront David for his dancing before the young woman of Israel. It may be that the Lord closed her womb, or I think it rather likely that David never went into her again.

Then Abner speaks to the elders of Israel persuading them to do what has been in their heart for some time, and what the Lord has obviously promised too—that David should be king over Israel. The text goes out of the way to tell us that this included the elders of Benjamin, who had a vested interest in Saul since he was of that tribe. Abner had persuaded them also to embrace David and make him king.

So Abner comes with twenty men, and makes a covenant with David, promising to bring over all Israel to David to make him king. After feasting together David sends him out in peace. David has for the second time, made a covenant with someone influential in the house of Saul. First Jonathan, as heir-apparent, and now Abner, who is king in all but title having sway and influence over all Israel. And just as in Jonathan, Abner has the makings of a wise companion, he is loyal, cares for honor, and as we saw last week, is a peace-maker, despite being a skilled warrior who lead the armies of the Lord.

But alas David’s companionship with Abner would be short-lived, either because he did not recognize that his Foolish companionship with Joab would be a thorn in his side, or because he recognized it, but failed to do anything about it.

A Scoundrel’s Vendetta

As Abner had discovered he had misplaced Loyalties with the house of Saul, Joab proved to have misplaced loyalties too, but not for the house of David, but for his own personal vendetta.

You may recall that last week we considered that Abner had killed Asahel, the brother of Joab, not out of spite, but because the young man refused to be discouraged from the chase, despite Abner obvious experience. Pride led Asahel to His death. But it was not murder, Abner was justified in his self-defense having warned the young man, and also it being in battle.

Now, Joab returns to Hebron after some raid and discovers that Abner, whom he and his brother Abishai have sworn to put to death, has just left David in peace. And that David has made a covenant with him. Now it’s impossible to judge the motive of Joab in this situation. He may have convinced himself that Abner really was a bad man, not to be trusted, who had come to spy out David to somehow over throw him. But it was also equally true that he held a personal grudge against him for killing his brother, and if Abner brought all Israel to David, no doubt his reward would be to be his right hand man, since he was older, wiser, and had much more experience than Joab, who was either similar age to David or perhaps even younger, being Davids nephew.

So he calls Abner back, and takes him aside in the gate of Hebron, a place where justice is normally given, and he stabs unsuspecting Abner in the belly—perhaps as a nod to the way Abner had killed his brother. Ironically Hebron is a city of refuge, where if you had unintentional killed someone you would run to and find safety. Abner instead finds a vindictive man, on his own personal vendetta to carry out his vengeance on his enemy.

Here we have a picture of the fool, and a companion that should be avoided. Blinded by his own ambitions, and the misplaced loyalty of family for family sake. His zeal for justice has blinded him from seeing how much damage he is doing to the King, and how out of accord his actions are for a covenant member of the people of God. As Solomon would warn his sons later, that if he attended to His words of wisdom they would:

Proverbs 2:12–15 “delivering you from the way of evil, from men of perverted speech, who forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness, who rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perverseness of evil, men whose paths are crooked, and who are devious in their ways.”

More Cracks Appear

Notice David does respond, for Joab has put him in quite a predicament. For it could easily look as if David had dispatched Joab to get rid of any enemy in an effort bring over Israel by force. So David does two things to try to distance himself from this mess. He rebukes Joab and curses his family, so that there will always be uncleanness or effeminacy within their house.

Then he turns to the public and mourns the death Abner publicly, by calling for a fast with mourning with sackcloth, and composing a lament for Abner. By these outward facing gestures, David assures all Israel that it was not his will that Abner was put to death, but that the evil was done by the sons of Zeruiah, whose he publicly curses. While this satisfies Israel, and we have no reason to believe that these gestures are not genuine, still was it enough.

Unlike Abner who made a break of his foolish companionship with Ish-bosheth, David allows Joab to remain his companion, he doesn’t even remove him from office. Whereas when someone claimed to have killed Saul, and brought David his effects, he cursed him and gave him the death penalty, and we will see next week he does this again to the fools who kill Ish-bosheth thinking they have done David a favor, here David curses Joab but does not put him to death. In fact apart from cursing Him David does nothing else to Joab. In this we see the formation of another crack in David’s foundation.

This would develop into a repeated theme for David. He allowed a serpent to flourish in his garden, so he should not be surprised if that serpent later came to be a part of his downfall. Sin left unchecked will blossom and grow. David, has a penchant it would seem for nepotism. Making excuses for the sins in his own household, refusing to discipline sin, and continuing to be the companion of fools. David was a great king, one of Israel’s best, but even David must learn to rule according to the word of God.

Since the plans of the righteous can be thwarted by the wicked, you must choose godly companions to associate with.