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Introduction
- The outline of II Samuel…
- There are 24 chapters in the book of II Samuel…
- We will cover between 1-2 chapters a week (3 months) – highlighting key sections…
- I Samuel 1-4 – David’s reign over the tribe of Judah…
- I Samuel 6-10 – David’s reign over the whole nation of Israel…
- I Samuel 11-20 – David’s sin with Bathsheba – and the consequences…
- I Samuel 21-24 – The final years of King David…
- Who wrote the book of I Samuel…
- Samuel was not the only author of the books – I and II Samuel…
- His death is recorded as part of the history in the book in I Samuel 25…
- Rather the books bear his name because he was so influential in the history of Israel…
- Overview of the book of II Samuel…
- The 2nd of the 6 books of the Kings of Israel – I Samuel through II Chronicles…
- I Samuel followed the anointing / reign / and fall of King Saul…
- II Samuel is focused on the life of King David – from his coronation to his death…
- I Kings deals with the reign of Solomon in the first 11 chapters…
- The rest of the book and II Kings – follows the divided Kingdom…
- The 40 kings of the Northern & Southern Kingdoms of Israel…
- Concluding with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Babylon captivity
- The Latin Vulgate labels these books – the I / II / III / and IV book of Kings
- I and II Chronicles – retells the history of only Judah (the southern Kingdom)
- The book of II Samuel picks up immediately after the end of I Samuel…
- The Philistines gathered an army to go to war with Israel…
- Saul sought the help of the Lord – but God was silent and would not answer him…
- So Saul went to a medium – asked her to bring Samuel back from the grave…
- To the medium’s surprise Samuel came up to speak with king Saul…
- But there was nothing he could do to help – God had rejected him…
- And the next day both Saul and his sons would be killed in battle!
- The battle went poorly for Israel – the three oldest sons of Saul died…
- Saul was mortally wounded – and asked his armor bearer to kill him…
- When the armor bearer refused – Saul fell on his own sword…
- The Philistines gathered an army to go to war with Israel…
- The 2nd of the 6 books of the Kings of Israel – I Samuel through II Chronicles…
A new king of Israel… (3 things)
It sets us free – we do not dwell on the past – we get to move forward in Jesus!
1st – Killed by an Amalekite… vs. 1-16 Read: I Samuel 1:1-10, 14-15
1st – David had returned from his battle with the Amalekites… vs. 1-9
He had been in the city of Ziglag for 3 days when he heard about the death of Saul…
A man came with torn clothes and dust on his head – a sign of deep mourning…
He told David many had died in the battle – including Saul and Jonathan!
The man knew because he was there…
As it happened he was on Mt. Gilboa when he saw Saul severely wounded…
Saul asked the man to kill him and spare him from his suffering…
There is some controversy today about ‘mercy killing’ – euthanasia…
If someone is suffering horribly from terminal cancer – they should be allowed to die…
But there is NEVER a good excuse to take a life – even if someone is suffering…
Who is to say that suffering might bring them to salvation…
Should we stop a moment of suffering – only to send them to eternal torment…
Only God has the right to take a life – only He knows the number of our days!
2nd – Seeing there was no way Saul could survive – the AMALEKITE killed him… vs. 10
He took the crown and bracelet of Saul – and brought them to David…
King Saul failed to obey God and completely destroy Amalek – I Samuel 15:2
And his disobedience to completely wipe out Amalek cost him his life…
Because Saul did not kill all the Amalekites – and Amalekite killed him…
And as a result of his sin the crown was taken from his head!
God desires to give us a crown of life – James 1:12 – to sit of the throne of Jesus!
But if we are not careful – our sin can take that crown from us!
In the Bible ‘Amalek’ is a type/picture of our flesh (sinful desires / sinful nature)…
Our flesh does not want to obey to God – in fact it desires to keep us from the Lord…
There is a battle inside of us every day – between our sinful flesh / and our Spirit…
It is the battle between what I ‘know’ God wants – and what I ‘want’…
Romans 7:15 – “I really want to do what is right, but I do not. Instead, I do what I hate.”
Why do I do what I know is sin – because I want to – no one forces me…
My problem is my heart/desires – I am the problem – I sin because I want to!
And the challenge is I cannot change my heart – change what I want
It is only when we realize we are the problem – we look for a better answer
We understand we need to cry out to Jesus – the one who can change our heart!
Jesus changes our desires so we do not want to do the things that are wrong…
Instead we want to obey and do those things that please the Lord…
Knowing in the end that there is a crown of life waiting for us!
3rd – There was a problem with the Amalekite’s story… vs. 11-16
According to I Samuel 31:4 – Saul fell on his own sword and killed himself…
It is possible that Saul was not ‘quite’ dead even after falling on his own sword…
So when the Amalekite came along – he found Saul still ‘clinging’ to life…
But the more likely truth is the man found Saul already dead…
It is unlikely that he was even really part of the Israeli army – being an Amalekite…
He was probably scavenging after the battle – stole the crown off the body of Saul…
Then brought it to David with his story – hoping to get a reward…
The rivalry of Saul and David was well known – and David was to be the next king!
David asked the Amalekite – why were you not afraid to touch God’s anointed…
It would have been understandable for David to be grateful to this man…
Whether he killed Saul or not – the new that Saul was dead meant David was free…
But whether a liar or murderer – this man was not from the Lord…
David would not compromise – instead of a reward he had his men kill the Amalekite!
The Amalekites in our life are not always obvious – they can seem innocent…
That ‘one drink’ that could not possibly hurt – the ‘one night’ we go to…
The ‘one Sunday’ we miss church because we are so busy…
When we give in to the flesh – the flesh desires more – and then more…
We end up on a slippery slope that quickly draws us away from the Lord!
2nd – The funeral song of Saul and Jonathan… vs. 17-27 Read: I Samuel 1:17-21
1st – Called ‘the bow’ – because it was the bow that ended Saul and Jonathan’s life… vs.17-18
David later commanded that it be taught to all the children of Israel…
An encouragement to the young to learn archery – so they would never be defeated again!
Failure is part of the Christian walk – we do not learn well from our successes…
Often the best teachers in life are our mistakes – the consequences of our sin…
So do not beat yourself up when you make a mistake – just be sure to learn from it!
2nd – How the mighty have fallen… vs. 19-21
Do not tell it is Gath or Ashkelon – cities of the Philistines – because they would rejoice…
Do not let it rain on the Mt. Gilboa – a curse on because Saul died there…
Interesting if you go to Israel today – look at Mount Gilboa – it is a rocky / barren mountain…
All around it the mountains are just covered with trees lush – but Gilboa is empty…
Israel sort of helped this prophecy out because they planted millions of trees…
But they will not plant trees on Mount Gilboa because of this song of David!
3rd – The greatness of Saul and Jonathan… vs. 22-27
Both Saul and Jonathan killed their strongest enemies – they did not run in battle…
They were quicker than eagles / they were stronger than lions…
They brought prosperity to Israel – they clothed the women in gold…
David would especially miss his beloved ‘brother’ Jonathan!
What amazes me about the song– is the light with which David paints Saul…
Here is a tormented man / driven by his pride to hunt and kill David…
Yet David only remembers what is good – and honorable in the life of the former king!
Parents have the worst time being honest about the failures of their children…
No matter how bad their child may be – if you ask – at heart they are a ‘good boy’!
Just like when God sees us – He looks at us with the eyes of a Father…
We have made LOTS of mistakes – but God sees us as perfect – Song of Solomon 4:7
While it is easy to focus on the mistakes and shortcomings of others…
We need to look on others with those same eyes – not seeing flaws / but seeing Jesus!
3rd – The anointed King… vs. 1-32 Read: I Samuel 2:1-4, 8-9, 17-23
David asked the Lord – should I move back to Judah… vs. 1-11
The Lord answered and told him Hebron – so David and his men moved there…
Hebron was the capitol of Judah (political) – one of the cities of the Levites (spiritual)…
David knew that the death of Saul left a void in the leadership of Israel…
Judah was his home tribe – and the obvious place to begin his ‘campaign’ for King…
The leaders of Judah came to meet him there – and crowned him as THEIR king…
As his first act as King – David sent a message to the men of Jabesh-Gilead…
He thanked them for ‘rescuing’ the body of Saul from the walls of Bet-Shan…
Now since Saul was dead – David asked them to be just as loyal to him…
But Abner – commander of Saul’s army – had already proclaimed Ishbosheth king…
He was one of the younger son’s of Saul – his names means ‘ son of shame’…
Reeling from the defeat by the Philistines – with David already King in Judah…
It was a rush decision – a desperate attempt to hold onto power – but it would not last!
It had been 10 years since Samuel anointed David to be King…
For 10 years David had run for his life – learning to trust in the Lord…
Now he was king – of Judah – it would take another 7 years before he would rule Israel
God had taught David to trust – now he wanted to teach him patience!
One of the greatest tests we will ever face in our Christian walk is patience…
I hate waiting – I would rather do almost anything – than just wait!
More often we try to get things done our way in our time…
We rarely take the time to consider that God has a much better plan…
God will allow us to be in circumstances that force us to do nothing – Psalms 46:10
The reason – He wants us to learn to lean and trust in Him and not in ourselves!
Civil war within Israel… vs. 12-24
Abner took his army to Gibeon – near Judah – provoking a confrontation…
Joab – the cousin of David – went out to meet them at the ‘pool of Gibeon’…
Abner suggested they have a ‘completion’ – 12 of his men against 12 of Joab’s men…
Rather than have a civil war – he wanted to settle it by testing their ‘best’…
Every man grabbed their opponents hair – and killed them – so all 24 men died…
Rather than preventing a civil war – it enraged both armies and started one!
Abner and his men were soundly defeated by the forces of David…
Asahel – the younger brother of Joab – began to chase after Abner…
When Abner saw who was chasing – twice he urged Asahel to chase someone else…
He did not want to be responsible for killing the little brother of Joab…
He refused so Abner hit him with the blunt end of his spear (knock the wind out of him)
But instead it went all the way through him – and he died!
When Joab and Abishai (brother) say Asahel – they chased after Abner…
But his men had rallied to him at the top of a tall hill…
Abner called down to Joab – ‘must we always solve our problems with a sword’…
So Joab called off his troops – having lost just 19 men / while Abner lost 362 men!
But Joab would never forgive Abner for the death of Asahel…
He plotted and schemed till for the day he would get his revenge – II Samuel 3:30
But that revenge would end up costing Joab his life – I Kings 2:32
When we are hurt by someone – and refuse to forgive – it plants a seed in our heart…
It can quickly grow into bitterness – we become consumed with what ‘they did to us’!
Its roots can grow down deep – poisoning and hardening – separating us from God…
As a result we become sour and spiteful – eventually leading to spiritual death…
Matthew 6:15 – “But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
Forgiveness is not just for the one who did us wrong – it is also for us…
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