A Time Line within a Time Line V
The Six Books of the Kings of
(I & II
Samuel; I & II Kings; I & II Chronicles)
July 31, 2022
Many of the
people in the timeline I am discussing and their
deeds were a
part of the reason that
Their world
came crashing down upon their heads. It
took
time but
known unto God has this been from the beginning!
Do you think
there is anyone in the world, or the
today whose
ambitions, life’s work, who also are bringing
their world
crashing down upon their heads?
In
Revelation 11:18 are the words “....them which destroy
the earth.” The question today is whether you are one
of
those?
Jesus said
in Luke 12:15
“Take heed and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not
in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.”
Jesus
is first warning about the danger of covetousness
(
to envy, be obsessed with or greedily desire that which does not belong
to
someone, or is not needed) Adonijah’s
problem, which started off
this
series on ambition, is much our problem.
I
have discovered in life that it is a characteristic of man to
want what
he can’t get and when he gets it only to find
that was not
what he wanted after all!
It would be very sad, as Jesus said, “to gain the whole world and
lose your own soul.”
ὑπαρχόντων
- things, belongings,
possessions.
What is your
life?
What it is
not! things, belongings, possessions.
“For what is your life?
It is evcn a vapor, that appeareth for a little time,
and then vanisheth
away.” James 4:14
Last week I
ended the lesson:
Those who
are familiar with the child Samuel and his residence
with Eli,
the High Priest, remember that long
before, God had
warned Eli that
this would happen (II Samuel 2:27-36
- (circa. 1165
B. C.) compare ibid. ch. 4:10-22 - around 24 years
later - )
The start of the fulfillment
369 years
would not come from the
Tabernacle in Shiloh or
through Christ Himself.
Read Jeremiah 7:12-16
“The gifts and callings of God are
without repentance.”
“Known unto God are all His works from
the beginning.”
“The Lord is longsuffering to usward,
not willing that any
should perish but that all should come
to repentance.”
Now
since we are using kings and priests as our examples,
it
is not so far-fetched as one might think, since the
Revelation of Jesus Christ says 1:4:
4 John to
the seven churches which are in
and peace, from him which is, and which
was, and which is to
come; and from the seven Spirits which are
before his throne;
5 And from
Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first
begotten of the dead, and the prince of the
kings of the earth. Unto
him that loved us, and washed us from our
sins in his own blood,
6And hath
made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to
him be glory and dominion for ever and
ever. Amen.
7 Behold,
he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and
they also which pierced him: and all
kindreds of the earth shall wail
because of him. Even so, Amen.
8 I am
Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the
Lord, which is, and
which was, and which is to come, the Almighty
1 Samuel
22:16-19 records an absolutely terrible incident where
Saul ordered
the deaths of many innocent people. It gives us a
shock to realize that Saul had become so
wicked.
However, it was
not the only time when Saul did such a thing.
II Samuel 21:1
records how he carried out a similar attack against
the inhabitants
of
The incident in
1 Samuel 22:7-23
was against the most important
priests in
incident. In
fact, nearly everyone who came from the family of
Eli died then.
Long before, God had warned Eli that this would
happen (ibid. 2:27-36 - compare ch.
4:10-22) The continuance
of the fulfillment.
The Ark of the Covenant was
one of the most instrumental symbols of faith and God’s presence. The
contents of which included the tables of the Mosaic law, a pot of manna, and
the rod of Aaron. The
(Taken from Christianity.com)
This is not the
first time that a High Priest’s sons had gotten
into
trouble. I recommend the account given
on Chabad.org.
Nadab and Abihu
offered “strange fire before the Lord “
(Leviticus 10:1-11)
Saul’s excuse for
this attack was that the priests were plotting
against him
(22:13). That was completely untrue. Even David
was not
plotting against Saul. Ahimelech had helped David;
but Ahimelech
did not know that Saul was angry with David.
The other
priests and their families did not even know what
Ahimelech had
done.
Probably even
Saul knew that his excuse was untrue. The reality
was that Saul
always tried to control people by fear. He wanted
people to be
afraid of him because then they would obey him.
Saul would make
people very afraid if he killed the chief priest.
That was what
Saul thought. By that action, Saul would show
everyone that
he was not even afraid of God. Then people
would not dare
to support David. They would have to do
whatever Saul
wanted them to do. However, even the death of
such an
important and holy man as the chief priest did not satisfy
Saul’s anger.
Really, of course, Saul wanted to kill David.
However, in the
meantime, he ordered the deaths of 85 priests
from
Ahimelech’s family. (Taken from: Useful
Bible Studies.
http://www.usefulbible.com/1samuel/saul-orders-death-of-chief-priest.htm
Doeg
the Edomite
Doeg the Edomite is first mentioned
in 1 Samuel 21:7 and
described as a servant of King Saul. Doeg is called
Saul’s chief shepherd, which probably means he was in charge of all the
servants tending Saul’s animals. Doeg was an Edomite, not a Hebrew.
Doeg was an evil man. Although he pretended
to serve
he served only himself. One day while David was running from
Saul, he stopped to seek
assistance at the tabernacle in Nob, and
it so happened that Doeg was
also at the tabernacle that day,
“detained before the Lord” (1 Samuel 21:7). It could be that
Doeg was at the tabernacle
because it was the sabbath day,
and he could travel no
farther without breaking the law; or it
could be that he was there to
offer a sacrifice to complete a vow
or to be ceremonially
cleansed. Regardless of why Doeg was there,
this was a fateful encounter
with David. (Got Questions.org.)
Abiathar was the son of
Ahimelech, who served as a priest at Nob
(1 Samuel 21:1; Mark 2:26) until he and the
other priests were
murdered by
King Saul (1 Samuel 21:1–19). Being the
only son
of Ahimelech
to escape the massacre at Nob, Abiathar fled to
David and
was promised protection by the future king
(1 Samuel 22:20–23).
Because
Abiathar served David and acted as priest for all of
David’s men in hiding, he was made high priest along
with
Zadok once David began his reign as king (1 Chronicles 15:11).
This was a
natural role for him to take on, as he had kept the
ephod and
administered the Urim and Thummin when David
sought
direction from the Lord (1 Samuel 23:6; 30:7).
When Absalom rebelled against
his father and attempted to usurp
the throne,
Abiathar remained loyal to David. Abiathar was
among those
who fled the capital city with David
(II Samuel 15:24). Zadok and the Levites carried the ark
of the
covenant, “and Abiathar offered sacrifices until all
the people
had finished leaving the city” (ibid.).
Although
David admired the loyalty and faithfulness of the
priests, he
ordered them to return to the city with the ark.
This proved
helpful because they were then able to send
word to
David about Absalom’s plans (II Samuel 15:27–29;
17:15–16).
David was restored to his throne and Abiathar to
his priestly
office.
Solomon
exiled Abithar to Anathoth - read I Kings 2:25-27
Absalom
Absalom,
(flourished circa. 1020 BC,
son
of David,
king of Israel and
to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty: from the sole of
his foot to the crown of his head there was no blemish in
him.”
(II Samuel 14:25)
The picture of Absalom that is presented in 2 Samuel 13–19
suggests that he
was the Alcibiades of the Old Testament, alike in his personal attractiveness,
his lawless insolence,
and his tragic fate. He
is first mentioned as murdering
his half brother Amnon, David’s eldest son, in revenge for
the rape of his full
sister Tamar. For this he was driven into banishment, but he was
eventually
restored to favor through the good offices of his cousin Joab. Later, when
some uncertainty seems to have arisen as to
the succession, Absalom
organized a revolt. For a
time he seemed completely successful; David,
with a few followers and his
personal guard, fled across the
leaving to Absalom Jerusalem and the
main portion of the kingdom.
The usurper pursued the
fugitives with his forces but was completely
defeated in “the
killed by Joab, who found
him caught by the hair in an oak tree.
To the affectionate,
chivalrous heart of David, the loss of his son,
worthless and treacherous as he was, brought grief that
more
than outweighed his own
safety and restoration.
Things changed as David’s son Solomon took
the throne.
Abiathar was not loyal to the
new king. Adonijah, another
one of David’s sons, put himself
forward as king with the help
of Joab (one of David’s nephews) and
Abiathar (1 Kings 1:5, 7).
Once the threat from Adonijah was
neutralized, King Solomon
dealt with the conspirators. One of
Solomon’s actions was to
remove Abiathar from the priestly
office. This fulfilled the
Lord’s word of judgment over Eli and his descendants,
which impacted Abiathar since he was related to Eli
(1 Samuel 3:12–14; In that day I will perform against Eli all
things
which I have spoken concerning his house:
when I begin, I will also make an
end. For I have told him that I will judge
his house for ever for the
iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons
made themselves vile,
and he restrained them not. And therefore I
have sworn unto the house of Eli,
that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not
be purged with sacrifice nor offering
for ever.
(The final installment)
Bathsheba - taken from Christianity.com
Bathsheba Was a Woman Who Suffered Greatly
Bathsheba suffered the loss of her
husband. When Bathsheba
found
herself pregnant, she sent word to the
king, likely in a panic. Not long
after this, her husband was reported dead.
It isn’t clear whether
Bathsheba knew that David killed her
husband or not. But whoever
killed him, her husband was dead, and she
was now a pregnant widow.
Grieving
the loss of her husband was likely augmented by the hormones
raging
from her pregnancy. (this I
don’t know much about - CY - 2022)
In her devastated state, King David took
her again, this time as his wife.
There’s no evidence she had a choice. Her
life as she knew it before
her ceremonial bath was gone forever. (That is why we should rejoice
everyday and give thanks to God daily in
appreciation.
Bathsheba’s parentage
A man named Ahitophel is also mentioned in
II Samuel 23:34,
and he is said to be the father of Eliam.
Since II Samuel 11:3
notes that Eliam is the father of
Bathsheba, some scholars
suggest that the Ahitophel of II Samuel 15 may in fact be
Bathsheba's grandfather.
HAGGITH - the following taken from
https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07106a.htm
Haggith was
one of David's wives (II Samuel 3:4). Whose daughter she was,
we are not
told. The Bible records only that she bore to him Adonijah, the
fourth of
his sons, in Hebron, before he was king over all Israel. That she
was an
uncommonly remarkable woman, seems to be suggested from the
custom of Biblical writers to speak usually of Adonijah as "the son of
Haggith".
Although harem intrigues have ever played a great part in the
East, nothing indicates, however, that
Haggith had anything to do either
with the attempt of her son to secure for himself the
crown of Israel
(1 Kings 1:5-53), or with his
fatal request, likely also prompted by
political motives, to obtain his father's
Sunamite concubine, Abisag,
from Solomon (1 Kings 2:13-25).
BENAIAH - the following taken
from GotQuestions.com
Several men in the Bible bear the
name Benaiah, but one stands out from
the rest. Benaiah, son of the chief
priest Jehoiada, was one of David’s
“mighty men”—his toughest
military troop. The Bible describes Benaiah
as a fearless warrior noted for his
heroic exploits. This Benaiah is the
brilliant fighter who famously “went
down into a pit on a snowy day
and killed a lion” (1 Chronicles 11:22).
Benaiah was from the southern Judean
city of
became king, Benaiah was making a
name for himself through numerous
daring military achievements: “He
struck down
warriors. He also went down into a
pit on a snowy day and killed a lion.
And he struck down a huge Egyptian.
Although the Egyptian had a
spear in his hand, Benaiah went
against him with a club. He snatched
the spear from the Egyptian’s hand
and killed him with his own spear.
Such were the exploits of Benaiah son
of Jehoiada; he too was as
famous as the three mighty warriors”
(2 Samuel 23:20–22).
When David fled from King Saul, he placed Benaiah in
command of
“the thirty” (1 Chronicles 27:6), a select group of warriors second
only to “the three” of highest rank
and bravery. Later, when Joab was
made commander-in-chief, Benaiah was
appointed to a high place in
David’s armed forces as commander of
the Cherethites and Pelethites,
an elite mercenary company in David’s
bodyguard from
Second Samuel 23:8–39 and 1 Chronicles 11:10–47 list a
group
of people known as mighty men of David or David’s mighty men.
They are also referred to as the “thirty chiefs” (1 Chronicles 11:15)
and simply “the Thirty” (1 Chronicles 12:4). These
mighty men
of David were a group of David’s toughest military warriors
who were credited with heroic feats, including
Josheb-basshebeth,
who killed 800 men in one battle with a spear (2 Samuel 23:8).
Additional notable actions listed include the
deeds of a man
named Eleazar, who stayed on the battlefield when other
warriors
fled and killed Philistines until his hand was stuck clenched
around his sword (2 Samuel 23:9–10); and the
exploits of
Abishai, the leader of the mighty men, who killed 300 men
with a spear (23:18).
Benaiah was known for going into a pit
on a snowy day and
killing a lion and for killing a powerful Egyptian man with
the man’s own spear (2 Samuel 23:20–21). He also
served
as leader of David’s bodyguards (23:23).
Within this list of mighty men are three men who
served
as a special elite group: Josheb-basshebeth, Eleazar, and
Shammah. Their exact roles are not made clear, but they
were certainly seen as stand-outs among David’s mighty men.
Although the mighty men are called “the Thirty,”
a total of 37
men are listed, meaning that not all of these men were on
the team the entire time. Some of them, like Uriah, were
killed in battle during David’s reign. Another explanation
may be that David’s elite group of mighty men numbered
approximately 30, a figure not meant to be exact.
Some of these mighty men of David had
considerable
military skill and the blessing of God. David’s mighty men
served an important role in protecting the king and fighting
for the freedom of their nation, the
The full list of the mighty men of David is
located in II Samuel 23
and includes the following names:
1. Josheb-basshebeth, a Tahchemonite
2. Eleazar, the son of Dodo
3. Shammah, the son of Agee the Hararite
4. Abishai
5. Benaiah
6. Asahel
7. Elhanan
8. Shammah of Harod
9. Elika of Harod
10. Helez the Paltite
11. Ira, the son of Ikkesh of Tekoa
12. Abiezer of Anthoth
13. Mebunnai the Hushathite
14. Zalmon the Ahohite
15. Maharai of Netophah
16. Heleb, the son of Baanah of Netophah
17. Ittai, the son of Ribai of Gibeah of the
people of Benjamin
18. Benaiah of Pirathon
19. Hiddai of the brooks of Gaash
20. Abi-albon the Arbathite
21. Azmaveth of Bahurim
22. Eliahba the Shaalbonite
23. The sons of Jashen
24. Jonathan
25. Shammah the Hararite
26. Ahiam, the son of Sharar the Hararite
27. Eliphelet, the son of Ahasbai of Maacha
28. Eliam, the son of Ahithophel of Gilo
29. Hezro of
30. Paarai the Arbite
31. Igal, the son of Nathan of Zobah
32. Bani the Gadite
33. Zelek the Ammonite
34. Naharai of Beeroth
35. Ira the Ithrite
36. Gareb the Ithrite
37. Uriah the Hittite
Benaiah’s loyalty to King David
earned him the rank of third army
commander, with 24,000 men in his
division. This troop served as
part of the army rotation system
established by King David
(1 Chronicles 27:1–6). Benaiah
remained devoted to David
during Absalom’s rebellion (2 Samuel 20:23; see also 15:18)
and also when Adonijah attempted to take
control of David’s
throne (1 Kings 1:8).
Benaiah was instrumental in
safeguarding the passing of the royal
succession to Solomon after David’s
death and thus gained the
honor of assisting in Solomon’s
coronation at Gihon
(1 Kings 1:32–40). As Solomon’s
supreme army commander
and chief bodyguard, Benaiah was responsible for
executing
those who opposed the new king, including Adonijah, Joab,
and Shimei (1 Kings 2:25, 34, 46).
II Samuel 23:13-17
The following I got from:
The Israelite army that David commanded
as king was attempting to
capture the city of
but which had been taken over and
surrounded by the Philistines.
David made a comment expressing the
wish that the soldiers who were
besieging
there (from which David himself
apparently used to drink).
(I personally don't think that this
was because of any special quality
of the water itself (such as its
taste), but because of its association
with David's personal memories of his
time growing up in
Also, in my opinion (and I think as
shown by David's action in later
pouring the water out), David was
speaking these words in a wistful
or rhetorical manner, rather than
intending them as a command, or as
indicating that he wanted to
literally drink water from the well. His
main desire was that all of
once again be under
However, David's three "mighty
men" (Joseb-basshebeth, Eleazar,
and Shammah) took the king's words as
an order, and, despite the
dangers involved, fought their way
through the Philistines, obtained
water from the well at
When David knew what they had done and
why they had done it,
he realized that, if he were to drink
the water, it would appear that
he placed greater value on it than on
the men who had risked their
lives to obtain it (even though they
had done so willingly).
He therefore refused to drink it, but
"poured
it out to the Lord".
(Whether he would have done this in a
formal sense (as in the Tabernacle),
or by simply emptying the container
of water on the ground and dedicating
it to God with his words, is not
clear from the Biblical account.) However,
it was appropriate that God be
involved in the process, since it would
have been through His protection
that the three men had been able
to get the water and bring it back.
DAVID’S MIGHTY MEN
We
are given a catalog of David’s mighty men in II Samuel 23:8-39
IN David’s muster-roll we find the names of many mighties,
and they are
honored by being found there. These men came to David when
his fortunes
were at the lowest ebb, and he himself was regarded as a
rebel and an
outlaw, and they remained faithful to him throughout their
lives. Happy are
they who can follow a good cause in its worst estate, for
theirs is true
glory. Weary of the evil government of Saul, they struck
out a path for
themselves, in which they could best serve their country
and their God, and
though this entailed great risks, they were amply rewarded
by the honors
which in due time they shared with their leader. When David
came to the
throne, how glad their hearts must have been; and when he
went on
conquering and to conquer, how they must have rejoiced,
each one of them
remembering with intense delight, the privations which they
had shared
with their captain. Brethren, we do not ourselves aspire to
be numbered
with the warlike, the roll of battle does not contain our
names, and we do
not wish that it should; but there is a roll which is now
being made up, a
roll of heroes who do and dare for Christ, who go without
the camp, and
take up His reproach, and with confidence in God contend
earnestly for the
faith once
delivered to the saints, and venture all for Jesus Christ; and there
will come a day when it
will be infinitely more honorable to find one’s
name in the lowest
place, in this list of Christ’s faithful disciples than to be
numbered with princes
and kings. Blessed is he who can this day cast in his
lot with the Son of
David, and share His reproach, for the day shall come
when the Master’s glory
shall be reflected upon all his followers.
Charles Spurgeon
The spiritual condition of these men is not stated, however
they too,
like you and me must stand before God someday and be judged
by
how we used our lives.
God
is Judge - with Him is no variableness,
neither shadow
of turning.
We know that of David it is said he “....served his own generation.”
(Acts 13:36)
ZADOK - taken
from GotQuestions.com.
Zadok son of
Ahitub was a Levite priest during the time of King David.
For a long
time, he was co-high priest with Abiathar. Zadok was a
descendant
of Aaron and a leader over his family of Levites
(1 Chronicles 27:17).
When Absalom conspired against
his father, David, David was forced
to flee from
and his
co-priest Abiathar and his son Jonathan accompanied David, with
Zadok
leading a procession of Levites who carried the ark of the covenant.
As the
people exited the city, Zadok’s Levites set down the ark, and
Abiathar
offered sacrifices (verse 24). Once the people had vacated
to return
with the ark to
to David
with any news of what was happening in the kingdom under
Absalom.
David had also sent his friend Hushai back to
Absalom’s
plans, and it was through him that Zadok and Abiathar heard
that Absalom
planned to seek out David and destroy him and the people
who were
with him. Hushai, Zadok, and Abiathar sent Ahimaaz and
Jonathan to
find David. After hiding in a well from Absalom’s men,
Amimaaz and
Jonathan were able to escape the city and bring the
message to
David: “Do not spend the night at the fords in the wilderness;
cross over
without fail, or the king and all the people with him will be
swallowed
up” (2 Samuel 17:16). David escaped,
and it wasn’t much
longer
before David’s commander, Joab, killed Absalom
(2 Samuel 18:1–15). Heartbroken
at the death of his son, David
returned to
When Adonijah set himself up as king, even
though David’s other
son Solomon was to take the throne at David’s death (1 Kings 1:5).
Adonijah had
some supporters, including Abiathar the priest, but Zadok,
Nathan the
prophet, and several other important men supported David’s
choice and
opposed Adonijah (verse 8). Nathan told David’s wife
Bathsheba what
Adonijah was planning and advised her to apprise
King David
of the situation. She did so, and David ordered that
Zadok and
Nathan immediately take Solomon to Gihon and anoint
him as king
(verses 32–34).
When Zadok the priest anointed Solomon’s head with oil at Gihon,
a trumpet was sounded, and all the people assembled
began to shout
and rejoice (1 Kings 1:39–40).
Even though
Abiathar had spurned King David’s wishes and
supported
Adonijah, Zadok stayed true to David and supported
Solomon.
Abiathar lost his priesthood as a result, but Zadok was
rewarded
with a position as one of Solomon’s chief officials
(1 Kings 4:4)
as well as being recognized as the sole high priest.
Politics - support - to what end?
Ø Shimei -
Ø David
Ø Solomon - all like you and me Players
in History
And then there
are mentioned:
Ø Nathan
Nathan was a prophet in the Bible who lived during the reign of King David
in
member of David’s royal court and one of his closest advisers. Nathan apparently
also knew Bathsheba well enough to speak to her about Adonijah’s attempt to usurp
David’s throne from her son, Solomon (1 Kings 1:11) and to enlist her help in
bringing the matter to the king. There are three or four stories in the Bible
featuring
Nathan that occurred during some of the darkest
and most emotional
times in David’s life.
The first mention of Nathan is when David planned to build God a house.establishes
his relationship with David as a trusted adviser. David decides to build God a house,
because the king is living in a beautiful cedar palace and thinks it wrong that the
Ark of the Covenant should be housed in a lowly tent (the tabernacle). David tells
Nathan about his plans to build a house for God, and Nathan says he should go
ahead and do it because the Lord is with him (II Samuel 7:2–3). Then God visits
Nathan in a vision and tells him to return to David and inform him that God doesn’t
need the king to build him a house; rather, God would establish David’s dynasty,
through his son, forever. His son Solomon would be the one to build God’s
house (ibid. vs. 4–17). Nathan relays this important message to the king,
and David utters a grateful and beautiful prayer to God for His grace
(ibid. vs, 18–29)
The next time Nathan is mentioned, it is after David had committed adultery with
Bathsheba and brought about her husband’s death to hide her pregnancy (II Samuel 12:1).
At that point, David had made Bathsheba his
wife and had seemingly gotten away
with his sin, but the Lord knew about it and told Nathan to rebuke David. Nathan went
to David and wisely told the king a fable about a rich man and a poor man: the rich
man was visited by a traveler, so he took the poor man’s only possession, a little
ewe lamb that he loved as a pet, to feed his guest—rather than taking a lamb from
his own extensive flocks. David was enraged at the story and declared that the
rich man had no pity and deserved to die. Nathan then points to David and says, “
You are the man!” (II Samuel 12:7). Nathan reveals that David’s sin was like
that of the rich man, because David took away Uriah’s wife. Nathan then
prophesis to
David, in God’s own words: “I anointed you king over
and I
delivered you out of the hand of Saul. And I gave you your master’s
house
and your master’s wives into your arms and gave you the house of
more.
Why have you despised the word of the LORD, to do what is evil in
His
sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have
taken
his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the
Ammonites.
Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house,
because
you have despised me and have taken the wife
of Uriah the Hittite
to be
your wife” (II Samuel
12:7–10). David confesses to Nathan that he has
sinned against
the Lord, and Nathan comforts him, saying that the Lord has
forgiven his sin and that David’s life will not be required of him. Nonetheless,
David’s child by Bathsheba was to die. David, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit,
pens Psalm 51 after this encounter with Nathan the prophet.
After the death of David’s child, his wife Bathsheba became pregnant again,
this time with a son whom they named Solomon. The Lord sent Nathan to
David again, this time to say that the Lord loved his son Solomon, and they
called Solomon “Jedidiah,” a name that means “beloved of the Lord”
(II Samuel
12:24–25). Solomon later built God’s house, the temple, and
became an
ancestor of the Lord Jesus Christ.
First Chronicles 3:5 reveals the fact that King David and Queen Bathsheba
named one of
their sons born to them in
child’s name is a reflection of the royal couple’s appreciation for the prophet
Nathan’s
faithfulness, friendship, and tough love through the years.
Ø Rei - was an officer loyal to David, and
then to Solomon,
during Adonijah’s attempt to secure the throne.
The
following is from J. Vernon McGee’s Walk Thru the Bible
II
Samuel 23:8-39 - Commentary:
But before I do this, this comes from
Spurgeon:
Back to McGee’s Walk Thru the Bible
II Samuel 23:8-39 - Commentary:
8 These be the names of
the mighty men whom David had:
The Tachmonite that sat in the seat, chief among the
captains;
the same was Adino the Eznite: he lift up his spear against
eight hundred, whom he slew at one time
These men, you will recall, came to David during the time
that he was in
exile. When David was being driven by Saul, he was an
outcast, hunted
like a partridge. He had to hide in the dens of the earth.
(Hebrews
11:38-40; Revelation 6:12-17)) It was during this time that those who were
in distress came to him. They were persecuted and oppressed
by Saul, and
they fled to David. Others
also came to him: those who had gotten into debt
and could not pay, those who were discontented, and those
who were bitter
of soul. In
this same way men come to Christ. They are in distress.
According to their letters, many young rebels were once in
distress.
They write to me and tell me about their experiences with
the Lord.
They came to Christ with debts of sin, and He cancelled
those debts.
Are you discontented with life? If you are living a
fulfilling life and
doing all right, I guess I don’t have any message for you
at all. But if you
are discontented
down deep in your soul, and you want to be saved and
have fellowship with
God, come to Christ. He will remove your guilt
and give you
satisfaction in your life. These men who came
to David were
outstanding men in many ways. They did many remarkable
things.
Let us look at a few of them.
In Rabbinical
Literature:
According to a Haggadah, Adino the Eznite - this
name is only a designation of
David to denote two of his principal virtues. On account of
his modesty he is called
'Adino ("pliant like a worm") because he bowed
down and crawled in the dust
before pious men and scholars. For his heroic deeds and his
strength in battle
he is called Ha-'Eẓni ("the man as strong as a
tree [
]"; M. Ḳ. 16b).
9 And
after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the
three mighty men with David, when they
defied the Philistines that
were there gathered together to battle, and
the men of
gone away:
10 He arose, and smote the Philistines
until his hand was weary,
and his hand clave unto the sword: and the
LORD wrought a great
victory that day; and the people returned
after him only to spoil.
The following came from website of Calvary
Chapel of Jonesboro, Arkansas
One of the problems that every one of us faces in life
is weariness. That universal
problem is worstened even more when we are facing
battles in life. This week
I want to encourage you with the actions of a guy with
an interesting name –
but an awesome example. He is an example of how
we all need to respond to a
battle that seems to be more than we can handle – and
yet it was meant to be a
situation where we watch God bring about a great
victory.
In 2 Samuel we read about a guy named Eleazar the son of Dodo. He was one
of
the three greatest of David’s mighty men – and a
wonderful example of how to face
a battle that brings you to a point of great
weariness. Let’s take a look at Eleazar and
see how he responded to weariness in the midst of
battle.
“ . . . and after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the three
mighty
men with David when they defied the Philistines who
were gathered there to battle
and the men of
hand was weary and clung to the sword, and the LORD
brought about a great victory
that day . . . ” 2 Samuel 23:9-10 (NASB)
The first thing we learn from Eleazar is that
everyone, even mighty men of God,
grow weary in battle. God did not rebuke him for
growing weary in battle.
That is normal – whether it is a physical battle or a
spiritual one. The real issue
is what we do when we face that weariness.
Eleazar was wielding a sword in the battle against the
Philistines that day. Swords are heavy –
and when you get weary – you just want to drop your
sword. Whether you completely drop
it to the ground – or just drop it and no longer use
it, as a weapon in the battle really doesn’t
matter. The worst thing you could do in the
midst of a battle is to drop your sword. Eleazar
didn’t drop his sword. In fact as he fought that
day he found that as the battle raged – he
clung to the sword that was in his hand. The
word clung means that he held tightly to it.
The imagery of that verse is that he held so tightly
to it that it would have been difficult to
know where hand ended and sword began. It was as
if he was fused with the sword he
drew and held that day. No matter how weary he
was – he clung to the sword and
continued to use it to decimate his enemies. The
result that day was a great victory –
one that was granted by Jehovah Himself!
Whether you realize it or not, you face a sword fight
every day. The way to victory
in your battles is in fighting with the Word of God,
which is referred to in Ephesians
6 as the “Sword
of the Spirit.” The lesson that we need to learn from Eleazar about
the use of swords in a time of weariness though, is
that we need to cling to our sword
until it fuses with us. Eleazar clung to his
sword in the battle with the Philistines –
and we need to cling to ours in our battles as well.
Our problem is that too often we either drop or lay
down our swords when we get weary.
Either of those two choices, dropping our sword or
laying it down, are horrible options
for us. It is in that moment of weariness that
the battle is won or lost. Consider Jesus,
who after 40 days of fasting experienced a weariness
that few if any of us will ever know.
Yet it was in that weary condition that the devil
himself came and tempted Jesus three times.
Even though weary, Jesus did NOT let go of the sword
of the Spirit. Three times He
unsheathed the sword of the Spirit. Three times
he answered the devil’s temptations and
lies with the Word of God. And just like Samuel
of old, when faced with the wicked,
worldly Agag, He hewed Satan to pieces with that
sword. Every temptation was defeated
and the evil one lay slain at His feet. Was that
because He was the Son of God . . . no.
Was that because Jesus had something we don’t have . .
. no. It was simply because Jesus
took the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, and
used it against the enemy. In His
weariness He didn’t drop that sword – He clung to it –
fused with it – and one could not
determine where His hand ended and the sword
began.
Oh to have such a strong grasp – to cling to the Word
of God. To do it even
more when we get weary. To cling to the mighty
Sword of God until we cannot see the
end of us and the beginning of Him in us. To
speak that Word with the same confidence
as our Lord – and to hew to pieces every temptation,
every lie, every deceitful desire that
seeks to lead us astray.
The victory in the day of Eleazar was not attributed
to him. You will note in the passage
in 2 Samuel that it says clearly that the LORD brought
about a great victory that day.
We will not be aware of how awesome we are in that
day. We will be glad that we held
fast to the Word of God. We will be glad that we
clung to the sword of the Spirit and
used it as God intended.
Some may say, “Well, that was another day – a much different time.” It
was a time in the past –
but when we see that Jesus used the perfect tense when
He quoted God’s Word – we will see
that the Word He used is just as strong today as it
was in the day He used it. The Greek,
when translated to show the perfect tense, would read
this way. Jesus said, “It stands
written, (having been written at a time in the past
with the reality that it is still written
now, and will be forever written and the same in the
future) man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth
of God!” Each time our Lord
quoted the Word of God He quoted it in this way.
He used the perfect tense. That tense
emphasizes that the Word God gave at whatever point it
was given was just as authoritative
in the time Jesus walked the earth – and it speaks
with the same authority and power in
every generation that will ever exist – and even will
have that authority for all eternity.
By the way – that means it has just as much power to
hew Satan and his temptations
to pieces today.
Are you weary? We all get weary in this life. Something you might
want to know as
well is that Satan seems to do his best (or more
accurately stated, worst) work when
we are weary. If you are weary – don’t let go of
the Word of God! Don’t lay
down your sword – no matter how tired and weary you
become. That Word is
your key to victory. Don’t drop your sword – draw
it! Be ready even in your
most weary moment. And when the evil one shows
up, as he will most likely
show up in those moments, take that sword and by
quoting, holding fast, believing,
and becoming fused with (or one with) the Word of God
. . . hew him to pieces to
the glory of God! May the Lord put that sword
firmly in your hands – may you
become more and more skillful in wielding it – and may
you enjoy times of
worshipping God joyfully for the great victory He
gives through it!
The above taken
from Calvary Chapel of
Back to McGee:
11 And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. And
the
Philistines were gathered
together into a troop, where was a piece of
ground full of lentiles: and
the people fled from the Philistines.
12 But he stood in the midst of the ground, and defended it,
and
slew the Philistines: and the
Lord wrought a great victory [
Defending a patch of lentils may not seem very important,
but
the food. It was the custom of the Philistines to wait
until an Israelite’s crop
was ready to harvest, then they would come ravaging,
plundering, and
robbing. This year, as usual, everyone ran when they
came—except one man,
Shammah. He stopped,
drew his sword, and defended it. One man against a
troop of Philistines! “And the Lord wrought a great
victory.”
The
following is from Wikipedia
Shammah is a name mentioned several times in the Hebrew Bible.
In the Book of Samuel, Shammah (שַׁמָּה) was the son of Agee,
a Hararite (2 Samuel 23:11) one of King David's three legendary "mighty men".
His greatest deed was the defeat of a troop of Philistines. After the Israelites fled
from the troop of Philistines, Shammah stood alone and defeated them himself.
He is credited with having single-handedly defeated these Philistine soldiers at
a lentil patch. It is also possible Shammah is mentioned in Judges as Shamgar,
who defeated 600 men of the Philistines with an ox goad. This may have been
the same battle of the lentil field mentioned in the Book of Samuel, though this
event was textually placed several generations before the version in Samuel.
(Wikipedia)
The following is from https://www.gotquestions.org/who-was-Shamgar.html
Shamgar was the third judge of
in
his period of leadership. Judges 3:31 says, “After Ehud came Shamgar son
of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad.
He too saved
· Shamgar’s leadership followed Ehud’s,
· he was the son of Anath,
· he killed 600 Philistines with an oxgoad, and
·
he saved
Because the name Anath referred to a Canaanite goddess, some have suggested
Shamgar was a son of a mixed Israelite-Canaanite marriage or had some other
connection with the Canaanites, though the text is unclear.
The Philistines were
a sea-faring people who lived in
the period of the Judges. Since the Philistines were known as warriors,
the fact that Shamgar killed 600 of them on his own was an amazing—
or even miraculous—accomplishment.
An ox goad is a wooden tool, approximately eight feet long, fitted with an iron spike
or point at one end, which was used to spur oxen as they pulled a plow or cart.
It often had an iron scraper at the non-pointed end to clear clods of earth from
the plowshare when it became weighed down.
Using this crude instrument, Shamgar destroyed the enemies of
Judges 3:31 does not specify whether his success came in one battle
or in a series of battles. of Shamgar.
Judges 5:6 also
mentions Shamgar and his times. Deborah and Barak’s
song records, “In
the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the
days of Jael,
the highways were abandoned; travelers took to winding paths.”
From these words, we discover that in Shamgar’s time people traveled
carefully and in much fear due to oppression by the Philistines and possibly
other enemies.
Shamgar’s use of an ox goad shows how low the men of
brought at that time by their oppressors. Later,
the extent that “not
a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand in
Ecclesiastes 12:11 refers to a goad, which is synonymous with an ox goad:
“The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are
the
collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd.” In this verse, a
comparison is made between the Word of God, its doctrines, and its effects
upon the heart of man and an ox goad that
pricks, drives, and directs sinners
like oxen. The Shepherd uses the Word to
prick our consciences, drive us
to repentance, and direct us to Christ for
salvation.
When an ox was poked with a goad, its
response was sometimes to kick out
at it in resistance. Naturally, kicking back
at the goad was futile, not to
mention painful. Jesus used this as an analogy when He confronted
Saul on
the Damascus Road (Acts 26:14). Jesus asked Saul why he was persecuting
Him
and reminded him that, just as an ox that kicks against the pricking of
the
goad can hurt itself, Saul’s continued
resistance to the gospel would only
result
in danger to himself. Saul wisely submitted to the goad
and yielded
himself to
Christ.
Note the condition of another Saul in I
Samuel 13:19-22:
19“Now
there was no smith found throughout all the
the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make
them swords or spears:
20 But
all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every
man his share, and his coulter, and his
axe, and his mattock.
21 Yet
they had a file for the mattocks, and for the coulters, and for
the forks, and for the axes, and to sharpen
the goads.
22 So it
came to pass in the day of battle, that there was neither sword
nor spear found in the hand of any of the
people that were with
Saul and Jonathan: but with Saul and with
Jonathan his son was
there found.”
I submit to you that the words of Solomon then ring true even now in
contemporary
shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and
there is nothing new under the
sun.”
Does this not sound familiar?
and there are enemies of Christians entering our borders illegally,
and living among us are misguided citizens who are attempting to
disarm us today and relegate us to servitude, if not to prison or
execution as during the Holocaust.
13 And three of the thirty
chief went down, and came to David in the harvest
time unto the
the
the Philistines was then in Beth–lehem. 15 And David longed, and
said,
Oh that one would give me drinkof the water of the well of
which is by the gate!
David was brought up in
from the well there. I know how David felt. I was raised in
a little town in
My dad built our house and dug our well. The water was
“gyp” water. A few years
ago I went back to that place. I could hardly wait to get a
drink of that water. I lay
down on the ground by the faucet by the well and lapped up
that water. My, it was
delicious! I was raised on it. It took me back to my
boyhood. Now David longed for
water from the well at
him water, but three of his mighty men broke through the
Philistine lines to get it for
him. That is the way they became mighty men.
I think of the command that the Lord Jesus gave in Matthew
28:19–20 to go into all
the world and preach the gospel. Then I think back in the
past to the men who broke
through the enemy lines and took the gospel to those who
needed to hear. Think
of the pioneer missionaries—I don’t like to mention just
one man, but think
of men like the apostle Paul or Martin Luther. A great company
of missionaries
followed after them, and they have been breaking through
the enemy lines ever
since and getting out the Word of God. These are mighty men
of David’s greater
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Here is another of David’s mighty men.
20 “And Benaiah the son
of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man, of Kabzeel,
who had done many acts, he slew two lionlike men of
also and slew a lion in the midst of a pit in time of
snow: 21
And he slew an
Egyptian, a goodly man: and the Egyptian had a spear in his
hand; but he
went down to him with a staff, and plucked the spear out of
the Egyptian’s
hand, and slew him with his own spear. These things did
Benaiah the son
of Jehoiada, and had the name among three mighty men.” This fellow
slew a lion. That is not an easy thing to do, and he did it
when there was
snow on the ground. I know a lot of people who won’t even
come to church
when there is a little rain on the sidewalk. May I say to
you, they could not
have much fellowship with a man like Benaiah. He was out
there when there
was snow on the ground. He was a tremendous man.
39 “Uriah the Hittite:
thirty and seven in all.” Uriah the
Hittite was one of David’s
mighty men. This is the man he sent to the front lines to
be killed. This is the blot
on the escutcheon of David.
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