- Oct 16, 2023
- 6 min read

Lesson 692: II Samuel Chapter 2

"Shall the Sword Devour Forever?”

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II SAMUEL CHAPTER 2

1 And it came to pass after this, that David inquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah? And the Lord said unto him, Go up. And David said, Whither shall I go up? And he said, Unto Hebron. 2 So David went up thither, and his two wives also, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail Nabal’s wife the Carmelite. 3 And his men that were with him did David bring up, every man with his household: and they dwelt in the cities of Hebron. 4 And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. And they told David, saying, That the men of Jabesh-gilead were they that buried Saul. 5 And David sent messengers unto the men of Jabesh-gilead, and said unto them, Blessed be ye of the Lord, that ye have shewed this kindness unto your lord, even unto Saul, and have buried him. 6 And now the Lord shew kindness and truth unto you: and I also will requite you this kindness, because ye have done this thing. 7 Therefore now let your hands be strengthened, and be ye valiant: for your master Saul is dead, and also the house of Judah have anointed me king over them. Abner crowns Ish-bosheth king 8 But Abner the son of Ner, captain of Saul’s host, took Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahanaim; 9 and made him king over Gilead, and over the Ashurites, and over Jezreel, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and over all Israel. 10 Ish-bosheth Saul’s son was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and reigned two years. But the house of Judah followed David. 11 And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months. Civil war begins 12 And Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. 13 And Joab the son of Zeruiah, and the servants of David, went out, and met together by the pool of Gibeon: and they sat down, the one on the one side of the pool, and the other on the other side of the pool. 14 And Abner said to Joab, Let the young men now arise, and play before us. And Joab said, Let them arise. 15 Then there arose and went over by number twelve of Benjamin, which pertained to Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David. 16 And they caught every one his fellow by the head, and thrust his sword in his fellow’s side; so they fell down together: wherefore that place was called Helkath-hazzurim, which is in Gibeon. 17 And there was a very sore battle that day; and Abner was beaten, and the men of Israel, before the servants of David. 18 And there were three sons of Zeruiah there, Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel: and Asahel was as light of foot as a wild roe. 19 And Asahel pursued after Abner; and in going he turned not to the right hand nor to the left from following Abner. 20 Then Abner looked behind him, and said, Art thou Asahel? And he answered, I am. 21 And Abner said to him, Turn thee aside to thy right hand or to thy left, and lay thee hold on one of the young men, and take thee his armour. But Asahel would not turn aside from following of him. 22 And Abner said again to Asahel, Turn thee aside from following me: wherefore should I smite thee to the ground? how then should I hold up my face to Joab thy brother? 23 Howbeit he refused to turn aside: wherefore Abner with the hinder end of the spear smote him under the fifth rib, that the spear came out behind him; and he fell down there, and died in the same place: and it came to pass, that as many as came to the place where Asahel fell down and died stood still. 24 Joab also and Abishai pursued after Abner: and the sun went down when they were come to the hill of Ammah, that lieth before Giah by the way of the wilderness of Gibeon. 25 And the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together after Abner, and became one troop, and stood on the top of an hill. 26 Then Abner called to Joab, and said, Shall the sword devour for ever? knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end? how long shall it be then, ere thou bid the people return from following their brethren? 27 And Joab said, As God liveth, unless thou hadst spoken, surely then in the morning the people had gone up every one from following his brother. 28 So Joab blew a trumpet, and all the people stood still, and pursued after Israel no more, neither fought they any more. 29 And Abner and his men walked all that night through the plain, and passed over Jordan, and went through all Bithron, and they came to Mahanaim. 30 And Joab returned from following Abner: and when he had gathered all the people together, there lacked of David’s servants nineteen men and Asahel. 31 But the servants of David had smitten of Benjamin, and of Abner’s men, so that three hundred and threescore men died. 32 And they took up Asahel, and buried him in the sepulchre of his father, which was in Bethlehem. And Joab and his men went all night, and they came to Hebron at break of day.

Lesson No. 692 "Shall the Sword Devour Forever?” II Samuel Chapter 2 10/15/2023 1) David has learned the most important thing in verses 1-3, what is it? This is a two-part lesson here- asking and then doing!

2) What did David’s men do? Is that kosher? After that, what did David do for the ‘valiant men’ of Jabesh-gilead? Good shepherd move. (verses 4-7)

3) Trouble in river city…what does Abner do with Ishbosheth, Saul’s remaining son? Was this appropriate, traditional, or godly? (verses 8-11) Why do you suppose Abner is against David- that little incident with sleeping Abner??? Pride perhaps?

4) Joab and David’s men (no indication David was involved) do about it? Was this a good idea? (verses 12-16) Since it was an unfortunate ‘tie’, what happened then? (verse 17)

5) Three brothers, servants of David were Joab, Abishai, Asahel- what did Asahel do? Again was this of man or of God? (verses 18-23)

6) So Joab, Abishai and the servants of David caught up with Abner and the battle was poised to go forward. But what happened? What did Abner say that stopped the civil war? (verses 24-26) Perhaps we should do this today!

7) Do you think that God wanted a civil war between Judah and Israel? Which side was enquiring of God and trying to follow God’s leading?

8) What did Joab do after Abner’s speech? Was this of man or of God? (verses 27-28) If they went forward and smote Abner and his men, perhaps the war next week could have been avoided?

9) What was the outcome of the fighting? (verses 30-31)

10) Can we know that by the ‘body count’, if God wanted a united nation under David? It does not say that either Abner or Joab prayed before acting.

11) We see here a nation divided by loyalty to a leader. Man fighting against man without consulting God. This week we see war in the middle east over the right to live and territory. Where is God in this current situation? What should we be praying for in the middle east now?

NOTES:_____________________________________________________

ARE YOU READY FOR THE GATHERING?

RAPTURE!

I Thessalonians Chapter 4: 13-18

13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

2 Corinthians 5:8

8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

1 Corinthians 15: 55

O death, where is thy victory? O grave, where is thy sting?

KEY POINTS

Paul and others were not necessarily teaching about the topic or the death of our bodies- it just comes up in the promise of resurrection. Jesus through Paul tells us that He has defeated death and the grave has no sting.

Paul taught to not hold to closely to the things of this life but ‘bind’ the relationship with Jesus, our only hope.

Not sure about the dead in Christ shall rise first…but who cares!

Bottom line- the gathering will happen, and we hope in Christ for us it will be before the wrath of God comes. Are you ready to meet our Master the Lord on His return?