106 - A Bloody Path to the Throne
- Gwen Diaz
- Apr 16, 2022
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 20
April 16 - Nº 106 2 Samuel 2 – 3; 1 Chronicles 12
After Saul's death, men came from all over Israel to join David's troops in Ziklag. Soon he had a great army. David asked the Lord if he should return to Judah. The Lord told him, “Yes, go to the city of Hebron.” So, David, with all his men and their families, moved back to Israel..
The men of Judah decided to make David the king of their tribe. But the remaining eleven tribes decided to follow Abner, who had been Saul’s commander. Still loyal to his former boss, Abner crowned Ish-Bosheth, one of Saul’s remaining sons, as their new king. This started a civil war between those who supported Saul’s family and those who supported David. It lasted seven and a half years.
Abner led Ish-Bosheth’s army, and David appointed Joab, his nephew, as his military commander. The two armies met for the first time on opposite sides of a pool of water. They selected twelve young men from each side to fight in hand-to-hand combat. They agreed that the side with the most men left standing would be the winner of the battle.
They paired up, but both groups had such skillful warriors that each one killed his opponent. All 24 men died! Immediately a fierce battle broke out between the remaining men. Eventually, David’s commander, Joab, was victorious. However, Abner, who led Ish-Bosheth’s army, killed Joab’s brother during the battle. Joab was heart-broken and very angry. He began to plot revenge.
Even though Abner’s men had been defeated, his influence continued to grow in Israel. But, one day Ish-Bosheth (Saul's son--whom Abner had crowned) accused him, of sleeping with his deceased father’s concubine. Abner was enraged! He said, “How dare you say that? My loyalty to your father Saul is the only thing that has kept me from handing you over to David. Now, because of this accusation, I am going to fight for David and make him the king over all of Israel.”
Abner sent a message to David, “I’m ready to sign an agreement that will unite Israel and make you the king.”
David responded, “I will make the agreement with you if you will bring Michal, the daughter of Saul, when you come.” (Although David had married Michal, Saul had given her to another man when David had become a fugitive.) So Abner sent guards, and they took her away from her new husband.
Abner convinced all the elders of the eleven northern tribes that David should become the new king of Israel. Then he went to Hebron to personally tell David the news. David prepared a feast for him and the men who had accompanied him. After the meal, Abner left to make the final arrangements for the coronation.
Meanwhile, Joab, who was still the commander of David's troops, returned from leading his men on a raid. When he heard that Abner had visited David and made an agreement him, he was furious. “Why did you let Abner escape?” he asked. “Don’t you realize that he is trying to trap you?”
Joab secretly sent men to find Abner and bring him back. He lied and said that David needed to talk with him again. When Abner returned, Joab took him aside privately—and stabbed him in the stomach! Abner fell to the ground and died.
When David heard the news, he was distraught. He knew that Joab had killed Abner in cold blood as an act of revenge for the death of his own brother.
Do you tend to try to take matters into your own hands when things aren’t going the way you want them to?
Joab certainly did, and his actions caused great pain for those in his family (see 2 Samuel 3:28-29).
Any justice we seek must be for God’s sake—never for our own revenge!
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