The Second Book of Samuel
Chapter 2
Abner Bible Study Teaching
Asahel and Abner in the Bible Concern
It's a great day at Daily Bread! The last time we had the pleasure of
sharing Daily Bread together, we were there with David when he found
out about the death of his best friend Jonathan, and Saul, the king
of Israel.
Now, with Saul dead, David asked God if he should go to any of the
cities of Judah and the Lord gave him Hebron, so he took his two
wives and his men and their families and they resided in the cities
of Hebron. And the men of Judah came and anointed David king over
Judah.
Finally, David was king ... After Saul had reigned for forty years
... But thus far, only over Judah.
Don't forget now, that David never was vengeful toward Saul ... Well,
we learned in our last chapter that he rent his clothes when he found
out that Saul and Jonathan were killed and in his song of lamentation
he wrote:
Abner Bible Study Teaching
Asahel and Abner in the Bible Concern
2 Samuel 1:19
The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places: how are the
mighty fallen!
2 Samuel 1:23
Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives ...
David had compassion on Saul and Jonathan and when he heard that the
men of Jabesh-gilead buried Saul, David sent a message commending
them for doing such an honorable thing and promising them that he
would repay them in kind. He also informed them that Judah had
anointed him their king.
Let's refresh our memories here for a moment. Who are these people
from Jabesh-gilead, and why would they be eager to recover Saul and
his son's bodies more so than the people of Gibeah, in the land of
Benjamin, where Saul was from? There are a few reasons actually.
Abner Bible Study Message
Asahel and Abner in the Bible Warning
All the way back during the days of the Judges, the men of Gibeah
(which is in the inheritance of the tribe of Benjamin) killed a
man's wife and her husband cut her into twelve pieces and sent one
to each tribe of Israel ... Remember that story? If you'd like to
review it, you'll find it in Judges, Chapter
19 through 21. To make a long story, less long ... 😬 ...
The men of Israel pretty much wiped out the tribe of Benjamin in
retaliation, excepting 600 men.
Afterward, they repented having destroyed practically an entire tribe
of Israel, so they made an oath that whoever didn't participate in
making peace offerings would be put to death. None from Jabesh-gilead
attended, so they were destroyed except for 400 chaste women whom
they gave to the Benjamites to marry.
The elders of Israel then agreed that since anyone who "gave" their
daughter to a Benjamite would be cursed, the remaining 200 Benjamites
were allowed to hide in the vineyards and sort of "steal" a maiden
from Shiloh (in the inheritance of the tribe of Ephraim) during a
certain yearly feast that was celebrated there. So, as you can see,
the Benjamites and the people of Jabesh-gilead are sort of
inter-related.
Abner Bible Study Explanation
Asahel and Abner in the Bible Danger
Another reason the people of Jabesh-gilead might have been moved to
recover the bodies of Saul and his sons, is because if you'll
recall, the very first victory that Saul had as king was against the
Ammonites, when Nahash, their king threatened to cut out all the
left eyes of the people of Jabesh-gilead. Saul was furious at the
notion and the Spirit of God assisted him in leading Israel to
rescue Jabesh-gilead with an amazing triumph.
Yet another reason the people of Jabesh-gilead found it proper to
reclaim the bodies of Saul and his sons, was their proximity to Mt.
Gilboa, where the king and his sons were slain, and Beth-shan, where
the Philistines hung their bodies. If you look at a map of Israel,
you'll find that Jabesh-gilead was only about 15 miles from
Beth-shan, whereas Gibeah was about 50 miles away, so the news of
their death was certain to reach Jabesh-gilead much sooner than
Gibeah would receive word.
But Abner, commander of Saul's army, took Ishbosheth, one of Saul's
surviving sons, and brought him to Mahanaim, on the east side of the
Jordan and declared him king over all of Israel excluding Judah.
Ishbosheth was 40 years old at the time, and reigned for 2 years. But
Judah followed David. David was king in Hebron, over Judah, for 7½
years.
Murder of Abner Bible Study
Asahel and Abner in the Bible Fear
Question: Do you think that after General Abner served under Saul for
forty years, he was willing to sit quietly and just accept the fact
that Judah had chosen David as their king? And what about Ishbosheth?
Do you think he was eager to surrender one twelfth of the kingdom
that his daddy ruled in hopes that his posterity would take the reign
when he died? Not hardly.
Shortly after Ishbosheth began to rule ... How do we know it was
shortly after? Because he only reigned for two years ... So, shortly
after Ishbosheth began to rule, Abner and the men of Ishbosheth left
Mahanaim and went back over to the west side of the Jordan to Gibeon,
which was just a few miles from Saul's hometown, so it stands to
reason, this was probably like home territory to Abner and Saul's
army, which was now Ishbosheth's army.
Okayyy, now it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that you
don't take an army, on foot, thirty-some odd miles, with armor and
artillery, across the Jordan River on a ... Field Trip!
They must have had motive! So Joab and David's men went and met Abner
and his men and they met each on an opposite side of the pool of
Gibeon. (Since you won't find any body of water of substantial size
on a map in the vicinity of Gibeon, it's probably safe to assume that
the "pool" of Gibeon was a spring or a brook.
Abner Bible Study Tale
Asahel and Abner in the Bible Death
You may have noticed that this was sort of standard battle strategy
back then, to line up your army opposing your enemy's army and
either taunt your enemy on to commence fighting, or wait for the
signal that your commander gave to attack.
At this particular confrontation, Abner challenged Joab to sort of a
contest, sending forward twelve men (probably his top guys). Joab
agreed, sending twelve of his men out (probably his top guys too).
Now, this wasn't your average spitting contest folks ... These guys
were wielding swords!
Grabbing each other by the hair, they each stabbed their opponents in
their sides with their swords. And ... They all died! This persuaded
the remainder of each army to engage in battle and by the end of the
day, Abner and the men of Israel were sorely defeated by David and
his men. (It kind of sounds like an old Western ... A barroom brawl,
if you will, where a couple of guys start fighting, and it sort of
triggers the rest of the people in the saloon to join in and soon
it's just a big frenzy of angry fighting men.)
Abner Bible Study on Revenge
Asahel and Abner in the Bible on Takeover
Now Joab had two brothers. Abishai (who we spoke of briefly in 1
Samuel), and Asahel. It's interesting to know that these three men
were David's nephews, the sons of his sister Zeruiah. Asahel, the
youngest of the three, was extremely fast ... Swift as a wild deer
they say.
And this little "contest" of Abner's down right teed him off, so
Asahel chased after Abner. He was determined to catch Abner and
wouldn't let himself get distracted by anything. Abner tried to
convince Asahel to give up the chase, but Asahel wouldn't be
persuaded, he had his mind set.
Abner persisted to try and convince Asahel to retreat, saying,
"What's going to happen if I kill you? How am I ever going to be able
to face your brother Joab?" But, Asahel wasn't moved by Abner's
concern and continued chasing him.
So Abner took his spear and thrust it into Asahel under his fifth
rib, so hard it went clean through him and he died. Those who were
behind, pursuing Abner, stopped when they came to the place where
Asahel lie dead.
Abner Bible Study Truth
Asahel and Abner in the Bible Trouble
Joab and Abishai continued to trail Abner. As the sun started to set,
the tribe of Benjamin gathered on top of a hill behind Abner.
Remember that Saul and Ishbosheth were from the tribe of Benjamin, so
it stands to reason that all the king's and the general's top men,
including security or body guards were from the tribe of Benjamin
also.
And Abner called out to Joab expressing that it wasn't right for them
to encourage men of the same nation to fight with one another. "How
long before you put a stop to this?" Abner added. (Remember, this all
started with a challenge initiated by Abner, and Joab agreeing to
each watch their dozen men fight one another). It ended up that Abner
lost 360 men and Joab lost 20, including his own brother.
So, when exactly did Abner have his change of heart about his initial
intent? Was it while he was being chased? (Reality has a way of
encouraging you to admit that you really didn't want things to go as
far as they went, especially when said reality is nipping at your
heels, huh?)
Was Abner just saying these pretty words to Joab because his men were
getting slaughtered and he feared it was going to get even worse? Was
Abner sincerely trying to put an end to the battle himself by
discouraging Asahel from chasing him? Who knows? Maybe we were wrong
in the first place about Abner's initial motive?
Abner Bible Study Conclusion
Asahel and Abner in the Bible Summary
You may be surprised at Joab's response, since Abner had just killed
his baby brother ... He blew a trumpet signaling for his army to
cease fighting and everyone stood still and stopped chasing the army
of Israel.
Remember when the tribe of Benjamin was almost wiped out back in the
days of the judges? Maybe this was a consideration Joab had when he
called for a cease to the fighting.
Abner and his men walked all night thirty-some odd miles, with armor
and artillery, across the river Jordan, back to Mahaniam.
The others took Asahel and buried him beside his father in
Bethlehem.Then they traveled all night and arrived in Hebron at dawn.
Jeepers ... What a story! What do you think will happen next? Did
Joab call off the battle because he has another plan? Make sure to
come back soon for another exciting slice of Daily Bread!
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