#444 Take a Moment

And it came to pass after this, that David enquired 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 Jabeshgilead were they that buried Saul.

5 And David sent messengers unto the men of Jabeshgilead, 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.

8 But Abner the son of Ner, captain of Saul's host, took Ishbosheth 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 Ishbosheth 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.

12 And Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ishbosheth 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 Ishbosheth 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 Helkathhazzurim, 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. 2 Samuel 2 KJV

David is still very slow moving into his new position, as men should be slow to speak and measure themselves honestly. It was promised to him, like Israel to Abraham's seed, but God does not put forth dates with men, rather He provides and proves their faith. He has taught his hands for war, has put him in the courts to know the practicalities of his position, and now he is anointed king over Judah. Judah does not choose for the rest, but as for their house they will follow the Lord's anointed. David will lead this tribe but not on an unlit path. 

He thanks the men who have tried to remove the shame of Israel, who have covered a multitude of sins. Jabesh Gilead did not forget when Saul was kind and they returned such kindness in his burial. David ask God's blessing on them, and not only will he make words, but will look for such opportunity to strengthen them himself, for faith without works is dead. 

David is also slow to war, but Abner has anointed one of Saul's sons as king, in defiance of David's anointing. The more after God's heart a man will be, the less desirable he is to his neighbor. Abner enjoys position, power, and riches that come with his place in Saul's kingdom. Though Saul is dead, Abner sees no reason to have such end, and will embrace the customs of the kings of the uncircumcised. He will anoint the hereditary crown, for this is his bread and his butter. It is a weak faith, a false gospel, that is fluid to the wants and wills of it's followers. God said this, but that shall be the end to what I think is better, I shall lose my self and my glorious pedestal. Well by all means then, make the gospel more acceptable, call yourself an Israelite in word, but forego the deed. Don't embrace anything that would make you low, take away your position, cause you to step down. So now Abner will test his strength, since David will only stand, he probably comes to see him as weak for not imposing his own will, for waiting upon the Lord. Abner is the one who has defied God, but is willing to test and disturb the waters a little more. Let's have a bit of a contest, some sport, this will not only be a possible indication of things to come, but it will also be entertaining. If the end of it is death though, how is it that we can so easily tread into such arenas? I understand that we live in a fallen world, that because of this there is war, the necessity of government to protect it's people and even the need of self defense. These things have to be practiced at and most certainly those test of such arts will arise in the arena, but how gross a matter is it that it is agreed upon by those who rule and they who would entertain, that it should be here to the death? It is a tie, so how shall we read this, that their are no winners? A battle breaks out to which Israel takes the greater loss, and as Abner retreats, he is followed by one of Joab's brothers. Asahel is like a gazelle, but we know that the battle is not always to the swift or the strong. Abner respects his name and ask that he turn aside, either for fear of Joab or respect to his brother's position, a professional courtesy. Asahel will not be dissuade, his eye is on the prize, but his eyes may be a bit bigger than his stomach. I am a fan of mixed martial arts, and in the eyes of the judges, they often perceive the one moving forward as the one who is winning, but sometimes that's a trap. It is the style of some to counter, to fade back, to use your momentum against you. Asahel is probably feeling good about his position, like Achilles' cousin in Achilles' armor. I am on the side of God's anointed, I know his name, my pedigree is a good one, like seven sons of Sceva though, Paul I know and Jesus I know, but who are you? His heart is set on this trophy, but his speed, his inability to measure himself and his opponent, to know that he is outclassed, he sees the sharp end of the stick and is only prepared for that. It is the lesser, blunt side of the spear, that trades places in this business. He is dead, and everyone that comes to him seems in awe of the fact, like this should not be. How is it? His brothers go hard after Abner. Now this all culminates at a hill, maybe in thinking that this is an advantage, that of the higher ground, maybe exhaustion, but here they stand. Now Abner, who earlier was so quick to shed blood, to sacrifice the lives of his men for sport or to prove a point, has seen the light. It is his own head now, he measures blood a precious thing and does this not call back upon the time of Benjamin when all Israel came to mourn over the sin and then the sinner. He that started it does not want the bitterness of it's end, he is not willing to see it through, not now that it is no longer in his favor. Joab has learned well from David here, and though he is not the instigator, and he would like to avenge his brother, he waits. He blows the horn and they cease from chasing. David does not want to destroy Israel, so he will gradually come to rule in stages. The tares will go on till the harvest. 

The good commentator, Henry, does note here in the end, that men are not always treated equally here in life, even to the dust of Asahel. Some men's lives were of much lesser value to Joab, and they were given to the idol of a very bloody sport, but Asahel was buried in honor. It will not be that way in the kingdom of heaven, for the last shall be first and the first shall be last. 

And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. 13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” 14 Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. 15 But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” 16 And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all[d] of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17 And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. 18 Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. 19 And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily. Acts 19: 11-20