2 Sam. 4-5:   “Ishbosheth Is Murdered, Then David Is Made King Over All Israel”

By

Jim Bomkamp

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1.     INTRO:

 

1.1.     In our last study, we looked at chapters 2 and 3 of 2 Samuel and how it came to pass that David was made king over the tribe of Judah and then how that Ishbosheth, the only surviving son of King Saul, was made to be king over all of the remaining tribes of Israel.  Then, civil war broke out between the house of David and the house of Saul.  However, this war was called off by Joab and Abner, the two opposing generals for David and Ishbosheth, in order to keep all Israel from destroying each other.

 

1.2.     In our study today, we are going to look at chapters 4 and 5 of 2 Samuel.  In this study, we will see in chapter 4 how that Ishbosheth, the only remaining son of King Saul and the one who had been made king over all of the tribes of Israel after the death of King Saul, is murdered.  Then, in chapter 5 we will see that with Ishbosheth having been murdered that all of the tribes of Israel come together and make David to be king over all Israel.  A glorious day begins then for Israel as God’s man is finally placed upon the throne to rule over His people!

 

1.2.1.  Upon being made king over all of the tribes of Israel, David immediately takes his army and captures the city of Jerusalem.

 

1.2.2.  Next, when the Philistines hear that David has been made king over all Israel they immediately mount an offensive against Israel and David and his army have two great victories in battle over the Philistines.

 

2.       VS 4:1-6  - “1 Now when Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he lost courage, and all Israel was disturbed. 2 Saul’s son had two men who were commanders of bands: the name of the one was Baanah and the name of the other Rechab, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, of the sons of Benjamin (for Beeroth is also considered part of Benjamin, 3 and the Beerothites fled to Gittaim and have been aliens there until this day). 4 Now Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a son crippled in his feet. He was five years old when the report of Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel, and his nurse took him up and fled. And it happened that in her hurry to flee, he fell and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth. 5 So the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, departed and came to the house of Ish-bosheth in the heat of the day while he was taking his midday rest. 6 They came to the middle of the house as if to get wheat, and they struck him in the belly; and Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped.” -  Ishbosheth is murdered by Baanah and Rechab, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite

 

2.1.     In verse one we see that when Ishbosheth, the only remaining son of King Saul who had also been made by Saul’s general Abner to be king over the 11 tribes of Israel minus Judah, heard that Abner had died that he ‘was disturbed.’  In the Hebrew it literally means that “his hands dropped.”  He lost all confidence and really could no longer rule as king.

 

2.2.     Since Ishbosheth was no longer confident enough to continue trying to reign as king, two sons of Rimmon the Beerothite decide that they will ingratiate themselves to king David by murdering Ishbosheth so that David can now become king.  We will see that their plan to ingratiate themselves to David backfires and that they are executed for this murder of Ishbosheth.

 

2.3.     Though it was wrong for these men to kill Ishbosheth, this occurred as part of God’s sovereign will in bringing David, His man, to the throne.

 

2.4.     We see sandwiched in these verses a note about a crippled boy named Mephibosheth who was a son of Jonathan, the son of Saul.  He had survived the murder of Saul’s descendants which occurred at the news of the death of Saul.  We will discuss later in our study of this book how that after David is made king over all Israel that he will do a search for all of the descendants of Saul so that he can show kindness to them, and, that he brings Mephibosheth into his palace to live and takes care of Mephibosheth the rest of his life.

 

3.       VS 4:7-12  - “7 Now when they came into the house, as he was lying on his bed in his bedroom, they struck him and killed him and beheaded him. And they took his head and traveled by way of the Arabah all night. 8 Then they brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron and said to the king, “Behold, the head of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life; thus the Lord has given my lord the king vengeance this day on Saul and his descendants.” 9 David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, “As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from all distress, 10 when one told me, saying, ‘Behold, Saul is dead,’ and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and killed him in Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news. 11 “How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house on his bed, shall I not now require his blood from your hand and destroy you from the earth?” 12 Then David commanded the young men, and they killed them and cut off their hands and feet and hung them up beside the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth and buried it in the grave of Abner in Hebron.” -  Rechab and Baanah are executed by David for having murdered Ishbosheth

 

3.1.     David’s character is seen clearly in how he deals with the news of the death of King Saul and also in hearing of the death of Ishbosheth, the son of Saul and the man who had opposed him as king over Israel.  David did not rejoice over the death of these men but rather genuinely grieved over them.

 

3.1.1.  We as believers in Christ should never be happy at the news of anyone’s tragic downfall.

 

3.2.     Notice here also that David speaks of Ishbosheth as being a righteous man in verse 11.  He speaks of him this way because Ishbosheth really had done no evil except to take the throne of his father after his father’s death. 

 

3.3.     David had these assassins killed, then had their hands and feet cut off.  Then, David had these men hung in public as a public humiliation and example for those who should attempt such a treacherous deed.

 

3.4.     David saw that Ishbosheth was given a proper burial in the grave with Abner in Hebron.

 

4.       VS 5:1-3  - “1 Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “Behold, we are your bone and your flesh. 2 “Previously, when Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel out and in. And the Lord said to you, ‘You will shepherd My people Israel, and you will be a ruler over Israel.’ ” 3 So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a covenant with them before the Lord at Hebron; then they anointed David king over Israel.” -  A glorious day and era begins as David is made to be king over all Israel

 

4.1.     It is both moving and humbling here to see the 11 tribes of Israel minus Judah come to David here and embrace him as their king.  This is a parallel to the way that sinners come to Christ ( David’s anti-type in the scriptures) for salvation:

 

4.1.1.  The elders of Israel confess their genetic and familial relation to David, “Behold we are your bone and your flesh.”

 

4.1.1.1.  The Lord Jesus was in His incarnation 100% God but also 100% man, and as such fulfilled the role of our “kinsman redeemer” so that he could die in our place.

 

4.1.2.  They recognized and confessed the fact that now they realize that all along David had been anointed by the Lord as king to rule over them.

 

4.1.2.1.  A person comes to salvation when they finally accept the lordship of Jesus over their life, and put Him in His proper place as king to rule over them.

 

4.1.3.  In humility they are admitting their error in not accepting David as their king all along.

 

4.1.3.1.  A person has to humble himself and admit that he is a sinner in order to come to believe upon Christ for salvation.

 

4.2.     The books of 1 & 2 Chronicles contain additional accounts of events described in the book of 2 Samuel:

 

4.2.1.  In 1 Chron. 12:1-22, we read of the continual stream of people that began defecting over to David even during the reign of King Saul, before the time when David began to rule over the tribe of Judah and Ishbosheth had been set up to be king over the 11 tribes of Israel, and in 1 Chron. 12:22 we read the following which is a summary of what was going on during this period of time, “22 For day by day men came to David to help him, until there was a great army like the army of God.”

 

4.2.2.  In 1 Chron. 12:23-40 we read not only of how many of each tribe came to turn over the kingdom to David to rule over them, but also of the feast and reception that David and his men prepared for the men of these tribes, “23 Now these are the numbers of the divisions equipped for war, who came to David at Hebron, to turn the kingdom of Saul to him, according to the word of the Lord. 24 The sons of Judah who bore shield and spear were 6,800, equipped for war. 25 Of the sons of Simeon, mighty men of valor for war, 7,100. 26 Of the sons of Levi 4,600. 27 Now Jehoiada was the leader of the house of Aaron, and with him were 3,700, 28 also Zadok, a young man mighty of valor, and of his father’s house twenty-two captains. 29 Of the sons of Benjamin, Saul’s kinsmen, 3,000; for until now the greatest part of them had kept their allegiance to the house of Saul. 30 Of the sons of Ephraim 20,800, mighty men of valor, famous men in their fathers’ households. 31 Of the half-tribe of Manasseh 18,000, who were designated by name to come and make David king. 32 Of the sons of Issachar, men who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do, their chiefs were two hundred; and all their kinsmen were at their command. 33 Of Zebulun, there were 50,000 who went out in the army, who could draw up in battle formation with all kinds of weapons of war and helped David with an undivided heart. 34 Of Naphtali there were 1,000 captains, and with them 37,000 with shield and spear. 35 Of the Danites who could draw up in battle formation, there were 28,600. 36 Of Asher there were 40,000 who went out in the army to draw up in battle formation. 37 From the other side of the Jordan, of the Reubenites and the Gadites and of the half-tribe of Manasseh, there were 120,000 with all kinds of weapons of war for the battle. 38 All these, being men of war who could draw up in battle formation, came to Hebron with a perfect heart to make David king over all Israel; and all the rest also of Israel were of one mind to make David king. 39 They were there with David three days, eating and drinking, for their kinsmen had prepared for them. 40 Moreover those who were near to them, even as far as Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, brought food on donkeys, camels, mules and on oxen, great quantities of flour cakes, fig cakes and bunches of raisins, wine, oil, oxen and sheep. There was joy indeed in Israel.”

 

4.3.     David made a covenant with all Israel to rule over them faithfully as God’s representative, and the children of Israel for their part anointed David to be king over them. 

 

4.3.1.  Many years earlier, when David was just a young lad.  We have already seen that David had received God’s anointing on him to be king when Samuel had sought him out at the Lord’s leading.  Now, the people are accepting David as king and he receives “their” anointing.

 

4.4.     In David being made king over all Israel the incredible prophesy of Gen. 49:8 was fulfilled concerning the exalted role for the tribe of Judah over the other tribes Israel, “8 “Judah, your brothers shall praise you; Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; Your father’s sons shall bow down to you.”

 

4.4.1.  Note also that in the victories that David led Israel to have over the Philistines, Israel’s enemy from the land of Canaan, that in fulfillment of this prophesy that Judah had his hand on the neck of his enemies.

 

4.5.     Just as David’s period of humiliation, as King Saul was constantly hunting him like an animal, was followed by David’s exaltation as king, so the Lord Jesus’ period of humiliation during His incarnation and death upon the cross of Calvary was followed by His exaltation as Lord to the right hand of God where He is seated and reigns.

 

4.6.     Likewise, this day of coronation of David as king over all of the tribes of Israel symbolizes that day at the end of the 7 year tribulation of the book of Revelation when Jesus shall be made king over the earth and establish His Millennial kingdom over all of the earth. 

 

5.       VS 5:5-6  - “4 David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years. 5 At Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.” -  David’s age when he began to reign as well as the length of his reign is given

 

5.1.     Just as the Lord Jesus, David’s anti-type, began His ministry at the age of 30, so David began to reign as king over Israel at the age of 30.

 

5.2.     At Hebron, David reigned over the tribe of Judah for 7 1/2 years, and he reigned at Jerusalem over all Israel for 33 years. 

 

5.3.     The total time of David’s reign was 40 years.

 

6.       VS 5:6-9  - “6 Now the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, and they said to David, “You shall not come in here, but the blind and lame will turn you away”; thinking, “David cannot enter here.” 7 Nevertheless, David captured the stronghold of Zion, that is the city of David. 8 David said on that day, “Whoever would strike the Jebusites, let him reach the lame and the blind, who are hated by David’s soul, through the water tunnel.” Therefore they say, “The blind or the lame shall not come into the house.” 9 So David lived in the stronghold and called it the city of David. And David built all around from the Millo and inward.” -  Upon entering His reign as king over all Israel, David immediately captures Jerusalem (Jebus of the Jebusites) and calls it the “city of David”

 

6.1.     From the Psalms which David wrote, we learn about how that “Zion” was the place that David loved most upon the earth. 

 

6.2.     Since Zion was the stronghold of Jerusalem, as far as its protection was concerned, David captured this first.  Thus, we see written here that David’s army captured the ‘stronghold of Zion.’  Arthur Pink writes the following about Zion, “The literal or material “Zion” was a steep hill which lay just outside Jerusalem, to the south west, on which had been built a fortress to protect the city.  It had two heads or peaks:  Moriah, on which the temple was afterwards erected, and the other on which was built the future residence of the kings of Israel.  So steep and inaccessible was Zion that, like a smaller Gibralter, it had remained in the hands of Israel’s foes.”

 

6.3.     The Jebusites had boasted that the lame and blind could defend Jerusalem from David’s forces, and this taunting aggravated David so much that he told his men to make sure that they conquered the lame and the blind when they captured the city. 

 

6.4.     J. Carl Laney has written the following about David’s capturing of Jerusalem at this time, “David’s first tasks as king were to eliminate the foreign wedge between the northern and southern tribes and to establish his capital in a neutral area.  Both objectives were accomplished with the conquest of the Jebusite fortress at Jerusalem.  Jebus, situated near the border of Judah and Benjamin, was an excellent fortress city because the surrounding deep valleys made it naturally defensible on three sides.  In addition, it had a good water supply- the Gihon spring – and was close to travel routes for trade.”

 

6.5.     The city of Jerusalem may have been called Salem in early times, and may have been the city which the man named Melchizedek, who was a priest and a king, was from. 

 

6.6.     Jerusalem had always been a thorn in the side of the Israelites.  After entering the promised land under Joshua, the Israelites had never been able to remove the Canaanites from the city and take possession of it.  Being on the edge of both the tribe of Benjamin and Judah neither tribe had been successful in battle against the inhabitants of the city.  Finally, the Jebusites ( a Canaanite group ) had come to live there.

 

6.7.     Just as Jerusalem was the city of King David from which he would rule his kingdom, so shall also Jerusalem be the city of the rule of Christ’s Millennial Kingdom.  And just as the first thing that David when he took up his reign over Israel was to capture and live in Jerusalem, so Jesus shall do likewise at His second coming as He descends to earth during the Battle of Armageddon and then takes up His reign in Jerusalem.

 

6.8.     It is also important for us to realize that David’s having come to power was not the end all in itself, rather it was just the beginning of his work as king.  Now David will begin his work that the Lord has called him to as king over Israel.  That work will involve taking up the mission where Joshua left off of conquering the people’s within the land of Canaan and taking possession of that which the Lord had given His people in the promised land which flowed with milk and honey.

 

6.8.1.  In similar fashion, the Lord Jesus having been raised from the dead and come to sit upon the throne of heaven and at the right hand of God, was not as an end all in itself, but rather in order to begin ruling over the earth and guiding His church to the bringing of the lost of this world to salvation through His shed blood on their behalf.  He ascended to heaven so that He could guide us His visible church in the conquering of souls in the fulfilling of His great commission to us to preach the gospel in all the world and make disciples of all of the nations.

 

6.9.     When we Christians enthrone the Lord in our life as lord and master we enter into the calling God has for us.  We were saved not as an end in itself, but rather so that we might grow and be used by the Lord and fulfill a unique and crucial calling as part of the body of Christ.  Likewise, spiritual warfare will be continual whenever Christ is on the throne of our life.

 

6.10. According to Arthur Pink the “millo” seems to have been a town hall, state house, or a place of public convention.  Around the “millo” David will erect the government buildings of his new capital.

 

6.11. The Jebusites were deeply entrenched in the city of Jerusalem and the children of Israel had tried many times to be rid of them, however it was only when David, God’s king the man after God’s own heart, was finally placed upon the throne that this stronghold was able to be conquered.  In the same way, in a spiritual sense when a person finally makes Jesus the lord and master of his life, suddenly those areas where the enemy had been deeply entrenched in his life are overthrown and conquered by the Lord.  This is just the product of having Jesus enthroned upon our life.

 

7.       VS 5:10-12  - “10 David became greater and greater, for the Lord God of hosts was with him. 11 Then Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David with cedar trees and carpenters and stonemasons; and they built a house for David. 12 And David realized that the Lord had established him as king over Israel, and that He had exalted his kingdom for the sake of His people Israel.” -  The Lord began to establish and exalt David now that he had been made king over all Israel

 

7.1.     We see here that David even gained international attention as Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to him and even built a house for David. 

 

7.2.     This mutual relationship of David with Hiram king of Tyre will be important later in the history of the nation when Solomon begins to build the temple of the Lord.

 

8.       VS 5:13-16  - “13 Meanwhile David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, after he came from Hebron; and more sons and daughters were born to David. 14 Now these are the names of those who were born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, 15 Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, 16 Elishama, Eliada and Eliphelet.” -  David continued to add to his harem now that he had been made king over all of Israel

 

8.1.     We have already talked at length about how that David was violating the commands of Deut. 17:17 by multiplying wives to himself, and we have also mentioned in depth the difficulties that will be encountered by David because of his allowing this weakness for women in his life.

 

9.       VS 5:17-21  - “17 When the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to seek out David; and when David heard of it, he went down to the stronghold. 18 Now the Philistines came and spread themselves out in the valley of Rephaim. 19 Then David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You give them into my hand?” And the Lord said to David, “Go up, for I will certainly give the Philistines into your hand.” 20 So David came to Baal-perazim and defeated them there; and he said, “The Lord has broken through my enemies before me like the breakthrough of waters.” Therefore he named that place Baal-perazim. 21 They abandoned their idols there, so David and his men carried them away.” -  When the Philistines hear that David had been anointed as king over all Israel they decide to attack Israel however the Lord gives David and his army victory over them

 

9.1.     We see here that as soon as the Lord lifts David up and begins to work mightily through his life that the enemy immediately hears about this and makes a counter offensive attack against David.

 

9.1.1.  In our lives as Christians, this is exactly what happens in our lives is it not?  Whenever we finally begin to get spiritual victories that we had never had before our enemy the Devil does not want to give newly gained territory back so we suddenly find ourselves in a fiery trial that is being waged against us to take away our joy and the land we have gained.  The Lord allows these testings in our life.

 

9.1.2.  We see this same principle portrayed in the stories of God’s people throughout the scripture.  For instance, in the book of Acts we see that persecution after persecution occurred to the apostles as the gospel was going forth and people were being brought into the kingdom Christ.

 

9.2.     We are heartened to see here that David is not making any moves, nor planning any attack of the enemy, without first inquiring of the Lord about what he should do.  Inquiring of the Lord then becomes a recipe for success in his life.

 

9.3.     The abandoned idols of the Philistines are picked up as spoils by David’s army, only to be destroyed later.

 

10.    VS 5:22-25  - “22 Now the Philistines came up once again and spread themselves out in the valley of Rephaim. 23 When David inquired of the Lord, He said, “You shall not go directly up; circle around behind them and come at them in front of the balsam trees. 24 “It shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then you shall act promptly, for then the Lord will have gone out before you to strike the army of the Philistines.” 25 Then David did so, just as the Lord had commanded him, and struck down the Philistines from Geba as far as Gezer.” -  David has another victory over the Philistines

 

10.1. We see here that David does not presume upon the Lord here and immediately go up and again make a frontal attack upon the Philistines, even though this had been successful in the previous battle and the Lord had given him victory in this way.  No, David inquires of the Lord as to what he should do, and it is a good thing that he did this for the Lord tells him to use the opposite strategy this time for the battle and march around behind them and then wait for the Lord’s signal to attack.  If David hadn’t inquired of the Lord before this second battle he surely would not have had a glorious victory.

 

10.1.1.      We as Christians must never presume upon the Lord either.  Concerning the decisions that we make we must always inquire of the Lord and not lean upon our own understanding ( Prov. 3:5-6 ).

 

10.1.2.      Sometimes we Christians can sort of mechanically go through the routines that we have become comfortable with instead of seeking the Lord in case He might have a new strategy, a new ministry, a new burden for the work that He has for us.  Then, we fail because we have not sought the Lord’s leading and waited upon Him.

 

10.2. Notice here that David was told by the Lord to go around to the rear of the Philistines but then he was to also wait until he heard a sound in the tops of the balsam trees before he attacked.  In other words, David had to wait for the wind of God before he marched.  This is exactly what we as Christians must do in our lives.  We must be people who wait upon the Lord to move, the Holy Spirit to reveal His breath to us, before we step out and begin any new campaigns for the Lord.  We must become comfortable moving as God moves, listening closely to His voice and promptings, and as we are judging all things against the scriptures we must be careful also not to quench the Holy Spirit’s working.

 

11.    CONCLUSIONS:

 

11.1. It is heartening to see that all of the trials and tribulations that David had gone through during those ten years of his wanderings had all been worth while.  The Lord came through on His promise to make David king, as if there was any doubt that God could be anything but faithful, and finally we see that David is receiving that blessing that the Lord had foretold to give to him. 

 

11.2. In our lives, we can take heart then that God has everything in control and that every trial and tribulation that we go through has a divine purpose.  Through those trials and tribulations we will be molded into the person that the Lord wants us to be and He will eventually use our lives greatly for His kingdom.  However, this path will never take us where we expect it to go, and there will be many things that we never imagined that the Lord will want us to experience and deal with upon this path, all for the building of our character. 

 

11.3. But from this story, we must hold onto the fact that in the end we will one day realize that everything that we have gone through has been for our good and has done a great and very important work in our heart and life and for God’s kingdom.

 

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