READ IT! - Introduction to 2nd Samuel 21-24

Readings for this week

Monday: 2nd Samuel 21
Tuesday: 2nd Samuel 22
Wednesday: 2nd Samuel 23
Thursday: 2nd Samuel 24
Friday: Matthew 1
Saturday: Matthew 2
Sunday: Matthew 3

Introduction to 2nd Samuel 21-24

Chapter 21 

Later we hear more about David’s wars and how the Gibeonites were avenged. There was a bad famine in the land. David asked God why, and God told him it was a result of Saul’s murder of the Gibeonites. David went to the Gibeonites and asked them what he should do. They asked for David to hand over seven of Saul’s descendants so they could kill them and David did. David spared Mephibosheth son of Jonathan because of his covenant of peace with Jonathan.

Later, David fought against Ishbi-Benob who had sworn to kill him. David grew tired in battle, and Abishai came to David’s rescue and killed the Philistine. David’s men swore that they would never let David go out into battle again. 

In another battle with the Philistines, Sibbekai the Hushathite killed Saph. 

The text also says, “In another battle…Elhanan son of Jair the Bethlehemite killed Goliath the Gittite, who had a spear with a shaft like a weaver’s rod.” …which is different than the previous account of Goliath’s death. 

The text also says, “In still another battle, which took place at Gath, there was a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all…When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of Shimeah, David’s brother, killed him.” 

Chapters 22-23 

Chapter 22 contains a psalm of David which is also found in the Book of Psalms as Psalm 18. 

Excerpts:

“The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation.
He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior—
from violent people you save me.”

“I pursued my enemies and crushed them;
I did not turn back till they were destroyed.
I crushed them completely, and they could not rise;
they fell beneath my feet.”

“He gives his king great victories;
he shows unfailing kindness to his anointed,
to David and his descendants forever.”

We can see a lot of symbolism and imagery at use in the psalms. For example, this psalm describes God by using concrete images and terms rather than by strictly abstract concepts. God is described as "rock," "fortress," "shield," and "horn" instead of saying "omnipresent" or "omniscient" or some other difficult-to-picture idea.

This psalm also connects God's covenant with David and his descendants with the promise that God made to Eve and her descendants by using similar word-pictures, particularly the words "crush" and "beneath my feet," which are reminiscent of the promise that states the descendant of eve will crush the head of the serpent. In other words, the coming messiah will be a descendant of David.

We also learn that David's last words were: "My house is secure with God." 

Chapter 24 

The end of the book tells about David’s Census. David enrolls the fighting men of Israel to see how many fighting men there are in the land. Joab questions this action. 

Here there are differences between the account of this event in 2nd Samuel and the account in 1st Chronicles: mainly, was it God or was it Satan who incited David to do this? Samuel says God was angry with Israel, and Chronicles says Satan rose up against Israel... so which one is right? 

Well, this is just one of many examples where the different Bible writers had different perspectives on the same event. This difference happens to be a theological difference. The book of Job can actually be helpful in shedding some light on this topic. In Job, we see several different theological perspectives on the nature of God and humans and why bad things happen to people. One of the earlier perspectives represented in that book is that bad things happen to people with whom God is angry. This also seems to be the perspective of Samuel. However, the frame-story of Job, which was written later shows how Satan can also cause bad things to happen to people. This perspective appears to be what we see in Chronicles, which was written well after Samuel. So which perspective is correct? 

David realizes that he has done something foolish and he repents. The prophet Gad shows up with a message from God, saying that David must now choose between three punishments… 

Three years of famine 

Three months of fleeing from enemies 

Three days of plague

David chooses the plague, saying that he would rather be judged by God than by men. The “angel of death” went through the entire land of Israel and killed 70,000 people. When the angel came to Jerusalem, God wanted to put a stop to it. The prophet Gad tells David to build an altar on the threshold of Araunah the Jebusite. The plague stops. The threshing floor of Araunah is where Solomon would later build the Temple. 

So why was there a plague in the first place? 

The answer to this question can be found in the Covenant Code from the book of Exodus, where God says to Moses, "When you take a census of the Israelites to count them, each one must pay the Lord a ransom for his life at the time he is counted. Then no plague will come on them when you number them."

David had ignored the covenant made with God, and the people did not present offerings of atonement when they participated in the census. This meant that everyone's life was forfeit and that they were refusing atonement and that the punishment for sin would fall upon all the people instead of upon the sacrifice.

But God puts a stop to the carnage at "the time of completion" (the number seven in the 70,000), and says, "No more death. Atonement must be made for my people." And of course, that atonement is made on the future sight of the Jerusalem Temple.