Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Justice in Times of War | Historical Books | 2 Samuel 4

Episode Date: June 5, 2025

How did the Israelites think about war and crime? How does a good king respond to corruption? Do you judge with partiality? In today's episode, Patrick shares how 2 Samuel 4 reminds us of Jesus's perfect justice and mercy. If you're listening on Spotify, tell us about yourself and where you're listening from! Read the Bible with us in 2025! This year, we’re exploring the Historical Books—Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, and 1 & 2 Kings. Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: 2 Samuel 4

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Patrick Miller. There's a strange cost to spending an entire lifetime distant from the realities of war. I'm an American, and that means I've never seen a foreign military force attacking on my homeland soil. I've never seen a civil war. The worst thing I've heard about, though I've never really seen, are murders and violence from organized crime. I mean, I've never feared a civil war. I've never feared raiders coming to steal my food, to burn my home, to sexually assault my family. I've never feared criminals using violence to control me to take what's mine, to abuse those I love. So sometimes when I read the Old Testament, I can't help but read it with privileged eyes.

But none of the original readers of these texts read it the same way. For them, war was a near constant threat. Civil wars were commonplace. Criminals, marauding raiding, They were just part of your life. You hoped to never experience any of these things, but most people did at some point, many of them multiple times throughout their lifetime. So ordinary people knew firsthand how scary it was when there was political tumult. I mean, after Saul dies, the average Israelite knew to expect more violence and perhaps a civil war. And not only that, they also knew to expect that criminals would become powerful in the absence of leadership. This explains the opening of 2 Samuel 4.

When Ishposheth, son of Saul, heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he lost courage, and all Israel became alarmed. Now, if you don't remember, Abner was Saul's general, and he pledged loyalty to David after Saul died. Yesterday, we read the story of how David's general, Joab, murdered Abner. Now, this wasn't what David wanted, and later David would try to make it right, but just put yourself in the shoes of an ordinary person. The general of the largest military force in Israel has just been murdered by David's man. What does that say about David? What does that say about his leaders? What's that say about the future of the country? And then what will happen to all of those soldiers that Abner once oversaw? I mean, once they're cut loose from their general's command, what will they do? Who will they raid?

Who will they hurt? I mean, just read history. In the absence of governing authorities, organized crime often steps in to take advantage of the situation. And sometimes those are ex-military personnel. The average person knows that there's no one to hold criminals accountable when there is no governing power. And sometimes they know that those criminals have aspirations to become the de facto rulers wherever they're at. So the question after Saul dies is who will rule?

And what kind of king will David be if he becomes the king? The reason why everyone is alarmed in verse one is because it's not clear who will rule. Is it going to be one of Saul's men? is there going to be more civil war? And it's also not clear that if David takes the throne, will he be a just king or will he be just another gangster? 2 Samuel 4 was written to people who lived in that world, not my world. But that doesn't mean it wasn't written for me,

that there's nothing for me to learn. So let's dig in. The story introduces us to two criminal raiders who worked for some of Saul's sons. But now that Abner's dead, these raiders, they're worried that David might come after them because they're associated with Saul and his entourage. So as a result, they sneak into the house of Saul's eldest living son, Ishpesh. And here's what happens in verse six. They went into

the inner part of the house as if to get some wheat, and they stabbed him, that's Ishishisheth, in the stomach. Then Rakab and his brother Benah, these are the two raiders who used to work for Saul's family. They slipped away. Verse seven continues, they had gone into the house, while he was lying on the bed in his bedroom. So I mean, pause for a second. This guy is sleeping. They are clearly murdering him in cold blood. After they stabbed him and killed him, they cut off his head.

Taking it with him, they traveled by night by way of the Araba. They brought the head of Ishpesheth to David at Hebron and said to the king, Here is the head of Ishpisheth, son of Saul, your enemy, who tried to kill you. This day the Lord has avenged my lord, the king against Saul and his officer. spring. But these two men do. It's a totally criminal play. But they know that David's general has already murdered Saul's general Abner. And so they think that if they murder Saul's son in cold blood, well then David will consider a favor and he'll not only let them live, he might even give them positions in his military. In most countries, that's exactly what would have happened.

Because kings weren't just. They were power hungry. And anything that helped consolidate power was good for that king and something that king wanted to reward. So Rikab and B'nanah, they bank on David being a king like all the other kings, a king like the nations. In other words, him being exactly the kind of king that Israel once wanted, the kind of king that Saul himself was. Let's continue in verse 12. David answered Rikab and his brother Bina, the sons of Riemann, the Beirothite. As surely as the Lord lives, he has delivered me out of ever. trouble. When someone told me, quote, Saul is dead and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and put him to death in Zichlag. That was the reward I gave him for his news.

How much more when wicked men have killed an innocent man in his own house and on his own bed? Should I not now demand his blood from your hand and rid the earth of you? So David gave an order to his men and they killed them. They cut off their hands and their feet. and hung their bodies by the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ishposheth and buried it in Abner's tomb at Hebron. So David, he's not a gangster. He's not a criminal. He doesn't live without honor.

He doesn't value power in the consolidation of power above everything else. No, that's because he's not a king like the nations. David is a just king. He does what's right, and that means obeying God's law. murder broke one of the ten commandments and god's law said that the proper punishment was execution so david observes the law and does what is right on behalf of his own enemy's son ishpesheth he defends the rights of his enemy's children he defends the right of his enemy saul who's now dead but he defends the right of his enemy's children he's a good king he's a just king and yet we're all kind of appalled by what he does next

me, cuts off their hands and their feet and then hangs them in public. So, I mean, is this really a just king? What's the point? The point is to preserve justice. By hanging them dismembered in Hebron, David was sending a message to everyone. He's saying, I will not have such men walk or act in my country. The murder must stop. If you think that murdering Saul's descendants or associates will bring you wealth,

then look at these two men and think again, I will make it so that you can no longer walk here. I will carry out God's law to the full extent. David isn't just enacting justice. He's trying to preserve it. But there's one big problem with this whole story. David doesn't fully enact justice. He only rebukes Joab, his general, for doing the same thing to Abner.

He just tells Joab that he did something terrible and wrong, but he doesn't execute Joab. He doesn't carry out the law. Why? because he needs Joab. In fact, if he had done the right thing, if he had enacted the death penalty on Joab, then maybe Ishpasheth would still be alive because people would have realized,

yeah, you know what, killing the associates of Saul and his children, that doesn't work out so well for you. And in this way, we're both reminded that David is a good king. He does what's right to these two men, but he's also not a perfect king. David points us to the need for a king who defends the defenseless, even if he needs the person that he needs to defend them against.

He points to the need for a king who makes right what's been made wrong, for a king who protects God's people from destruction. But David is not that king, not perfectly in the end. No, the truth is that we need a truer and better David. We need Jesus. He is the one who will one day judge the living and the dead and give to each of us what we deserve. He will judge without self-interest,

without partiality. And this is fantastic news for all those who are hurt and oppressed and afraid. They are in need of justice and Jesus will bring justice. It should also preserve justice because it should compel us to hate the evil we see in our own life and to resist it in our own life lest we face his good justice, his good judgment. But you know Jesus did more than that. He doesn't just enact justice. He also shows mercy by paying. the just penalty for our sins on the cross. You see, he is both the just king and the justifier of sinners. So what does this story mean for you and me? It means that we should pray for God's justice where it doesn't already bloom. And yet we must pray with humility because we haven't received

the justice against us that our sin deserves. Indeed, we have to even learn to pray for God's kindness and mercy that it would even win over the hearts and heal the heart. of those who are evil, of those who are unjust, of those who are our own enemies. We should pray that even they would come and turn to the Lord, such that Jesus would pay the penalty for their sins and make them new.