Read the Bible in a Year (05APR19)

2 SAMUEL MOMENT – (05APR19) David had received the news from an Amalekite that Saul and Jonathan were dead. The Amalekite “claimed” to have killed Saul at his request because he was critically wounded and was dying. There is a problem with the Amalekite’s account, however, and bible scholars have tried to analyze what may be considered as two conflicting narratives. 1 Samuel 31 says that Saul took his own life after being critically wounded by the Philistines’ archers (expert bowmen), and asked his armor-bearer to kill him. The armour-bearer refused his request of doing an honor killing. Saul did not want a Philistine, an uncircumcised gentile, to be the one to kill him. Therefore, it was highly unlikely that he would have asked an Amalekite, another uncircumcised gentile, to finish him off because it would have been seen as disgraceful for him to die in such a manner. Second, the Bible says that “after” Saul fell on his own sword “then” his armor-bearer took his life as well. It is not probable that the armor-bearer would have taken his life before his master did and this is the biblical account’s order of how they died. So, one may ask, “What about the Amalekite’s version in 2 Samuel 1?” David had just come back from fighting the Amalekites, so this man, being an Amalekite himself, would have known that David would not have welcomed him with open arms. Some scholars believe that the man, having heard the conversation between Saul and his armor-bearer, was an opportunist who thought that he would be rewarded by David in claiming that he killed his enemy, and had possibly plundered Saul before the Philistines came the next day and chopped off his head. What the Amalekite did not know was that David had a respect for Saul because he was God’s anointed even though Saul considered him as his enemy. The Amalekite more than likely conjured up this story to be awarded for killing Saul not knowing that it was the last thing that David would have rewarded. Therefore, when David told the Amalekite that his blood was on his own head because his mouth testified against him, David probably did not care as to if the man was telling the truth or not, but the mere mention of doing such gave cause for David to kill him. David had rebuked his own men for wanting him to kill Saul, so what more would David have done to an Amalekite who wanted to take credit for killing the Lord’s anointed. Something to ponder…

QUESTION OF THE DAY – (05APR19) Abner, the commander over Ish-Bosheth, Saul son’s army, had killed Joab’s brother when he was in pursuit of him. But later, Ish-Bosheth accused Abner of sleeping with Saul’s concubine, which totally angered Abner due to his loyalty to him. Therefore, Abner decided to help David become king over all of Israel instead of just Judah. David and Abner made an agreement that if he would bring Michal, his first wife whom Saul had married off to another man with him, then they could meet and talk. Abner honored David’s request and they met together so that Abner could give him the information needed to reign over all of Israel. Has God ever allowed someone to bless you who was a very unlikely ally? Has God ever given you favor through your enemies? Sometimes God will use the people who were formerly against you to be the ones to bless you just as He did with David and Abner. We can never put God in a box because when we do, He has a way to let us know that His ways are too large to be confined. Something to ponder…

 2 SAMUEL MOMENT – (05APR19) Joab, David’s commander, was angry at the arrangement that he and Abner had made due to him killing his brother. Therefore, Joab took it upon himself to get revenge and tricked Abner into meeting with him and killed him. Upon hearing the news, David put a curse on Joab, his family and future generations because of what he had done. Sometimes we may make the mistake of reacting instead of responding to a situation. We may allow our anger to cloud our better judgment instead of taking time to cool down and think things over. It is never good to make a permanent decision during a temporary heated moment. Many people have said hurtful things to others that they could never take back. Some people have killed others in revenge, but that person will never live on this side of the sun again. Other people have ruined the reputation of others and it has never been positively restored. God says that vengeance is His and we must leave such matters in the hands of God. No one can render justice like God can and in the midst of us trying to extract justice for oneself, more harm may be done in the process. Something to ponder…