Map David 2 Sam.jpg
Israel had now lost both its king and its military leaders. The Elders came as a deputation to David.
Read 2 Samuel 5:1-4
1 All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, ‘We are your own flesh and blood. 2 In the past, while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel on their military campaigns. And the Lord said to you, “You shall shepherd my people Israel, and you shall become their ruler.”’
3 When all the elders of Israel had come to King David at Hebron, the king made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel.
4 David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned for forty years. 5 In Hebron he reigned over Judah for seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah for thirty-three years.
(Show on map)
David now needs to pull his two kingdoms together as one. Where should he establish his Capital? Jerusalem was not only a fortified city near the northern end of Judah and thus near enough to Israel, but it was an impregnable fortress, still undefeated.
So read 2 Samuel 5:6-10, and 12 (we are omitting verse 11 - we will look at it in our next study.)
6 The king and his men marched to Jerusalem to attack the Jebusites, who lived there. The Jebusites said to David, ‘You will not get in here; even the blind and the lame can ward you off.’ They thought, ‘David cannot get in here.’ 7 Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion – which is the City of David.
8 On that day David had said, ‘Anyone who conquers the Jebusites will have to use the water shaft to reach those “lame and blind” who are David’s enemies.’ That is why they say, ‘The “blind and lame” will not enter the palace.’
(in 1867 Charles Warren discovered a 52-foot vertical shaft connecting Jerusalem to the Gihon spring)
9 David then took up residence in the fortress and called it the City of David. He built up the area around it, from the terraces inwards. 10 And he became more and more powerful, because the Lord God Almighty was with him.
12 Then David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.
How did David feel? On top! Full of himself. Unbeatable. Etc.
2 Samuel 5:13-16
13 After he left Hebron, David took more concubines and wives in Jerusalem, and more sons and daughters were born to him. 14 These are the names of the children born to him there: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, 15 Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, 16 Elishama, Eliada and Eliphelet.
Before we continue it would be well to look at instructions for Kings given by God through Moses, prior to the Israelites entry into Canaan:
Deuteronomy 17:14-20
14 When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,” 15 be sure to appoint over you the king the Lord your God chooses. He must be from among your own brothers. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not a brother Israelite. 16 The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.”17 He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.
18 When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites. 19 It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees 20 and not consider himself better than his brothers and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.
Do we believe some laws don’t really apply to us?
Wait for answers!
The first King of Israel – Saul, had been selective.
The Second King – David, would have said that he had ‘a personal relationship with God’, but he was still disobedient. Then, when his son Solomon copied his father, the results were disastrous as we will see later.
Now David had built up the trust of the Philistines by apparently protecting their southern borders. They had even been happy for him to have been made a puppet-king in Hebron. They were happy that (in their eyes) he was bringing the whole of Israel under their control.
But it seemed that something had been going on behind their backs; David had now obviously decided that he no longer needed Philistine protection, he could be King in his own right. He had effectively stolen Israel from the Philistines and had now become a major threat. Not surprisingly, the Philistines were furious with David, and came on the attack.
Wisely, David realised that it was him personally that the Philistines were after so first he took his army to an unpopulated area where previously he had successfully escaped from Saul. (Probably the Stronghold at Masada, just south of En-Gedi, see map)
2 Samuel 5:17-19
17 When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, they went up in full force to search for him, but David heard about it and went down to the stronghold. 18 Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim; 19 so David enquired of the Lord, “Shall I go and attack the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?”
The Lord answered him, “Go, for I will surely hand the Philistines over to you.”
David drove them off, but they returned and attacked again. This time the Lord gave David specific military instructions and we read in v25
25 So David did as the LORD commanded him, and he struck down the Philistines all the way from Gibeon to Gezer.
They were beaten, but they were not defeated and would wait for an opportunity to get back what they considered theirs.
David’s thoughts now turn to the Ark of the Covenant which had been in Kiriath Jearim for the last 20 years (1 Samuel 7:2) (Show on map).
Here the Chronicler recognises the significance of this, and so we’ll follow the narrative there:
Read 1 Chronicles 13:1-6
1 David conferred with each of his officers, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. 2 He then said to the whole assembly of Israel, ‘If it seems good to you and if it is the will of the Lord our God, let us send word far and wide to the rest of our people throughout the territories of Israel, and also to the priests and Levites who are with them in their towns and pasture-lands, to come and join us. 3 Let us bring the ark of our God back to us, for we did not enquire of it during the reign of Saul.’ 4 The whole assembly agreed to do this, because it seemed right to all the people.
5 So David assembled all Israel, from the River Shihor in Egypt to Lebo Hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kiriath Jearim. 6 David and all Israel went to Baalah of Judah (Kiriath Jearim) to bring up from there the ark of God the Lord, who is enthroned between the cherubim – the ark that is called by the Name.
(The parallel passage in 2 Samuel 6:1 states that there were 30,000 men)
Read 1 Chronicles 13:7-8
7 They moved the ark of God from Abinadab’s house on a new cart, with Uzzah and Ahio guiding it. 8 David and all the Israelites were celebrating with all their might before God, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, cymbals and trumpets.
Jolly good we might say. A triumphant entry into David’s new city!
But just who is being glorified here? Is it the God who has anointed David as king? Or is it a triumphant warrior bringing home his spoils?
Who were the singers and musicians chosen to lead? (verse 8)
I’m also a bit uneasy with verse 2: ‘if it seems good to you’ and verse 4: it seemed right to all the people.
True 1 Chronicles 13:2 also has: ‘and if it is the will of the Lord our God’ - but I don’t see any mention of God being asked! (David had been quick to ask the Lord when he was in trouble - 2 Samuel 5:19)
Read 1 Chronicles 13:9-11
9 When they came to the threshing-floor of Kidon, Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the ark, because the oxen stumbled. 10 The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah, and he struck him down because he had put his hand on the ark. So he died there before God.
11 Then David was angry because the Lord’s wrath had broken out against Uzzah, and to this day that place is called Perez Uzzah.
I wonder who David was angry with, God or himself?
I also wonder if he had paid attention when reading the book of Numbers?
Perhaps we could read some verses: Numbers 4:1-6, 15
1 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: 2 ‘Take a census of the Kohathite branch of the Levites by their clans and families. 3 Count all the men from thirty to fifty years of age who come to serve in the work at the tent of meeting.
4 ‘This is the work of the Kohathites at the tent of meeting: the care of the most holy things. 5 When the camp is to move, Aaron and his sons are to go in and take down the shielding curtain and put it over the ark of the covenant law. 6 Then they are to cover the curtain with durable leather, spread a cloth of solid blue over that and put the poles in place.
15 ‘After Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy furnishings and all the holy articles, and when the camp is ready to move, only then are the Kohathites to come and do the carrying. But they must not touch the holy things or they will die. The Kohathites are to carry those things that are in the tent of meeting.
And then read: Numbers 4:17-20
17 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 18 ‘See that the Kohathite tribal clans are not destroyed from among the Levites. 19 So that they may live and not die when they come near the most holy things, do this for them: Aaron and his sons are to go into the sanctuary and assign to each man his work and what he is to carry. 20 But the Kohathites must not go in to look at the holy things, even for a moment, or they will die.’
Of all the holy things in the Tabernacle, the Ark was the most holy. Only Aaron the priest, or his sons, were permitted to even look at it, and even they were not allowed to touch it. If ever it was to be moved it was to be covered, and then only lifted using long poles. Much of the heavy parts of the tabernacle could be moved using ox-carts, but the most holy things had to be carried.
Read Numbers 7:6-9
6 So Moses took the carts and oxen and gave them to the Levites. 7 He gave two carts and four oxen to the Gershonites, as their work required, 8 and he gave four carts and eight oxen to the Merarites, as their work required. They were all under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron, the priest. 9 But Moses did not give any to the Kohathites, because they were to carry on their shoulders the holy things, for which they were responsible.
Before we took our diversion we read that David was angry. His planned triumphal entry had been spoilt. The ‘songs . . harps, lyres, tambourines, cymbals and trumpets' were silent. People were in shock. Uzzah was dead.
Now read 1 Chronicles 13:12-14
12 David was afraid of God that day and asked, ‘How can I ever bring the ark of God to me?’ 13 He did not take the ark to be with him in the City of David. Instead, he took it to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. 14 The ark of God remained with the family of Obed-Edom in his house for three months, and the Lord blessed his household and everything he had.
Why was the Ark to be treated with such care?
What made it so Holy?
It was a symbol of God’s presence and power.
On top of the Ark was the ‘Mercy Seat’ or the ‘Atonement cover’. The chosen priest was the only person who could approach the Ark, and then only once a year, on the day of atonement, carrying the blood of a sacrificial bull. This was sprinkled on the mercy seat for the atonement for the sins of the people of Israel. It was above there that God appeared as a cloud in his glory and spoke with Moses.
‘Be holy because I am holy’ is a direct command from God in both the Old and New Testaments. Therefore holiness is a theme that we must always be aware of. It seems to me that triumphally bringing the Ark to David’s new royal city was more about the glory of David, rather than the glory of God.
Perhaps we all need to look at our own times of celebration to ensure that God’s glory is always central . . .
David had been stopped in his tracks – and he now had time to consider his motives. And perhaps do some homework.
