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April 3 - 2 Samuel 2 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's shown here. It's Wednesday, it is the 3rd of
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  April and I am so delighted that you have clicked on, tapped on,
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  swiped on whatever method of selection you have chosen on
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  this podcast. And here we are ready to take on
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  another chapter, take on another section of God's Words that we
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  will dive into and learn a bit more about God.
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  And this is a fascinating part of the story where David will go
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  on conquest after conquest and he will be so successful and he
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  will really shore up this incredible dominance and
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  stability that his son Solomon will enjoy.
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  And the the fruits of that time will be to build up Israel into
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  its high points in history and all that splendour.
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  And the reason that can happen is during David's time, well,
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  Egypt and Mesopotamia they are busy dealing with other things
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  to to bother about going and trying to expand their territory
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  into the space between them. And so all these small Syro
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  Palestinian nations are left to battle it out together.
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  And this is where Israel really comes into its own and shores up
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  its space for generations to come.
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  But that is all to come. We are just witnessing the part
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  of the story where David is going to come to the throne and
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  begin his rule. So let's read it together, shall
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  we? Let's read together Second
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  Samuel, chapter 2. After this, David asked the
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  Lord, should I move back to one of the towns of Judah?
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  Yes, the Lord replied. Then David asked Which town
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  should I go to? To Hebron?
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  The Lord answered. David's two wives were a high
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  loam from Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabil from Carmel.
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  Sir David and his wives and his men and their families all moved
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  to Judah, and they settled in the villages near Hebron.
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  Then the men of Judah came to David and anointed him king over
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  the people of Judah. When David heard that the men of
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  Jabesh Gilead had buried Saul, he sent them this message.
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  May the Lord bless you for being so loyal to your master soul and
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  giving him a decent burial. May the Lord be loyal to you in
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  return and reward you with his unfailing love.
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  And I, too, will reward you for what you have done now that soul
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  is dead. I ask you to be my strong and
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  loyal subjects, like the people of Judah who have anointed me as
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  their new king. But Abna son Abner, the
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  commander of Saul's army, had already gone to Mahanaim with
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  Saul's son Ishbosheth. There he proclaimed Ishbosheth
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  king over Gilead, Jezreel, Ephraim, Benjamin and the land
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  of the Asharites and all the rest of Israel.
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  Ishbosheth Solson was 40 years old when he became king and he
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  ruled from Maha name for two years.
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  Meanwhile, the people of Judah remained loyal to David.
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  David made Hebron his capital and he ruled as King of Judah
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  for 7 1/2 years. One day, Abner LED Ishbosheth's
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  troops from Mahanaim to Gibian. About the same time, Joab, son
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  of Zeruiah, LED David's troops out and met them at the Pool of
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  Gibeon. The two groups sat down there,
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  facing each other from opposite sides of the pool.
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  Then, Abner suggested to Joab. Let's have a few of our warriors
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  fight hand to hand here in front of us.
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  All right, Joe, about greed. So 12 men were chosen to fight
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  from each side, 12 men of Benjamin representing
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  Ishbosheth, son of Saul, and 12 representing David.
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  Each one grabbed his opponent by the hair and thrust his sword
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  into the other side, so that all of them died.
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  So this place at Gibeon has been known ever since as the Field of
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  Swords. A fierce battle followed that
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  day, and Abner and the men of Israel were defeated by the
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  forces of David, Joab, Abishai and Asahel.
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  The three sons of Jeremiah were among David's forces that day.
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  A sale could run like a gazelle, and he began chasing Abner.
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  He pursued him relentlessly, not stopping for anything.
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  When Abner looked back and saw him coming, he called out.
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  His that you a say? Hell, yes it is, he replied.
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  Go fight someone else, Abner warned.
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  Take on one of the younger men and strip him of his weapons.
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  Better say he'll kept right on chasing Abner again, Abner
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  shouted to him. Get away from here.
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  I don't want to kill you. How could I ever face your
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  brother? Joe.
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  Abigail, but Asahel refused to turn back, so Abner thrust the
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  butt end of his spear through a sahil's stomach and the spear
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  came out through his back. He stumbled to the ground and
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  died there, and everyone who came by that spot stopped and
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  stood still when they saw a Sahill lying there.
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  When Johan B and Abishai found out what had happened, they set
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  out after Abner. The sun was just going down as
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  they arrived at the hill of Amma near Gaya, along the road to the
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  wilderness of Gibeon. Abner's troops from the tribe of
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  Benjamin regrouped there at the top of the hill to take a stand.
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  Abner shouted down to Joab. Must we always be killing each
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  other? Don't you realise that
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  bitterness is the only result? When will you call off your men
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  from chasing their Israelite brothers?
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  Then Joab said. God only knows what would have
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  happened if you hadn't spoken for.
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  We would have chased you all night if necessary.
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  So Joab blew the Rams. Horn and his men stopped chasing
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  the troops of Israel. All that night, Abner and his
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  men retreated through the Jordan Valley.
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  They crossed the Jordan River, travelling all through the
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  morning, and didn't stop until they arrived at Mahanam.
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  Meanwhile, Joe B and his men also returned home.
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  When Joeb counted his casualties, he discovered that
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  only 19 men were missing in addition to Asahel.
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  But 300 and 60s of Abner's men had been killed, all from the
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  tribe of Benjamin. Joab and his men took a Sahill's
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  body to Bethlehem and buried him there in his father's tomb.
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  Then they travelled all night and reached Hebron at Daybreak.
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  Jesus, you know how to keep your eye on what's most important.
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  Lord, continue to shape us. That our eye can rest on the
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  thing that matters. That we can look up from the
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  fray around us and see you and see your goal and your prize.
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  That we can keep on striving to be closer to you and more like
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  you. And that we don't get so
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  convinced that the thing that we're doing must continue to its
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  natural end, even if it makes no sense anymore.
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  Thank you for the wisdom of your scriptures that show that when
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  we are going down one path, totally determined to see it to
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  its end, that you can pull us out.
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  You can draw us back to you to a different way, to a better way.
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  May that better way be our natural way.
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  Lord, just continue to shape us, Continue to draw us always to
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  your will over ours. Thank you, Jesus, for all that
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  you've done for us and for continuing, even though we're
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  broken and keep on going our own way, continuing to draw us back,
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  shape us, mould us, use us now. We love you, Jesus, and it's all
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  in your name that we pray. Amen.