1 & 2 Samuel

2 Samuel Chapter 16

David and Ziba

• 2Samuel 16:1  And when David was a little past the top of the hill, behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple of asses saddled, and upon them two hundred loaves of bread, and an hundred bunches of raisins, and an hundred of summer fruits, and a bottle of wine. 
• 2  And the king said unto Ziba, What meanest thou by these? And Ziba said, The asses be for the king's household to ride on; and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat; and the wine, that such as be faint in the wilderness may drink.

His deception went so far as to pretend he cared about the well being of David and his men. Ziba knew that David went into the wilderness to escape the terror of Absalom's attempt to overthrow the his own father's kingdom. Ziba was smart enough to pretend to be on David's side because David was the one who granted a portion of continual substance to Mephibosheth and the only one who could transfer that to Ziba.

• 2 Samuel 16:3  And the king said, And where is thy master's son? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he abideth at Jerusalem: for he said, To day shall the house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my father. 
• 4  Then said the king to Ziba, Behold, thine are all that pertained unto Mephibosheth. And Ziba said, I humbly beseech thee that I may find grace in thy sight, my lord, O king. 

A sad story here. That Ziba would deceive King David in order to get the provisions David meant for Mephibosheth. All of these words of Ziba were lies. It is sad that greed and selfishness causes one to betray another. Mephibosheth was crippled and could not walk without help. He was a son of Jonathan, David's friend who was faithful to David even when his father King Saul tried to kill him. Thankfully David finds out about this deception later when his own kingdom is restored. 2 Samuel chapter 19 records this.

Ziba is trying to gain all the land granted to Mephibosheth for his own sons. He even lies about Mephibosheth and says that Mephibosheth was hoping the kingdom is restored to him being an heir to Saul.

What people then and now do not realize is that all lying deception, stealing, plotting, killing, planning and any kind of evil done to innocent people will profit nothing in light of eternity. We face eternity and will be judged for every sin we commit. The only way out would be to repent and put our faith in Jesus. We then turn to Christ and turn away from sin. We allow the Holy Spirit to change our lives. If possible we should make restitution to those we harmed.

We have rich people today especially among politicians that will do all they can to ruin the reputation of their opponents running for office. I dread presidential elections the most because of all the stuff that goes on. Millions of dollars paid for by tax paying citizens are wasted on investigations to ruin someone that is innocent.

Shimei Curses David

• 2Samuel 16:5  And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, thence came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera: he came forth, and cursed still as he came. 
• 6  And he cast stones at David, and at all the servants of king David: and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left. 
• 7  And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial: 
• 8  The LORD hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned; and the LORD hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son: and, behold, thou art taken in thy mischief, because thou art a bloody man. 

Here was a person from the house of Saul, from the tribe of Benjamin which Saul also was. He figured Absalom's rebellion was retribution for David's sins. He even gives the credit to God for this. Actually it is only partly true. Nathan the prophet did prophecy that evil would follow David;  even evil in his own family because of his sin with Bathsheba but the kingdom was not to be removed from David. In that Shimei was wrong. God is the one that removed Saul from being king replacing him with David. David's sin did not cause God to remove him from being king. His sin had consequences though but was forgiven as far as his eternal soul and anointing to be king. Also David had nothing to do with any deaths of anyone from the house of Saul. Quite the opposite was true.

• 2Samuel 16:9  Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah unto the king, Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? let me go over, I pray thee, and take off his head. 
• 10  And the king said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? so let him curse, because the LORD hath said unto him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Wherefore hast thou done so? 
• 11  And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, Behold, my son, which came forth of my bowels, seeketh my life: how much more now may this Benjamite do it? let him alone, and let him curse; for the LORD hath bidden him. 
• 12  It may be that the LORD will look on mine affliction, and that the LORD will requite me good for his cursing this day. 
• 13  And as David and his men went by the way, Shimei went along on the hill's side over against him, and cursed as he went, and threw stones at him, and cast dust. 
• 14  And the king, and all the people that were with him, came weary, and refreshed themselves there. 

Again and again we see David refusing to touch anyone from the house of Saul. He just allowed him to curse thinking maybe it was from the Lord. David could have had him killed but he did not. The death of Saul was caused by the Philistines in battle, not by David. He left the judgment of Shimei to the wisdom of his son Solomon when he became king. David recognized that his trust was in the Lord and right now at this low point in his life, he wanted to leave all these things in the hands of God even his own life.

Actually Shimei's cursing of David was against the law of Moses.

• Exodus 22:28  Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people.

So in this matter, David did not take vegence but left the vengence up to the Lord trusting in the mercy of the Lord.

Absalom Enters Jerusalem

• 2Samuel 16:15  And Absalom, and all the people the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with him. 

Ahithophel thought he was on the winning side and chose to follow Absalom. Hushai I believe; and this is my own speculation here, knew that David was the one God chose to be king so he was a follower of David. Sometimes we have to choose what is right and just not jump on the band wagon of what we think may win the battle.

• 2Samuel 16:16  And it came to pass, when Hushai the Archite, David's friend, was come unto Absalom, that Hushai said unto Absalom, God save the king, God save the king. 
• 17  And Absalom said to Hushai, Is this thy kindness to thy friend? why wentest thou not with thy friend? 
• 18  And Hushai said unto Absalom, Nay; but whom the LORD, and this people, and all the men of Israel, choose, his will I be, and with him will I abide. 

This part of Hushai's words are true. Who the Lord chooses, he will abide with and help. Absalom chose to believe him at this point in time. Absalom may have been so deceived that he thought he was the one God chose. Hushai only joined Absalom to turn the advice and cousel of Ahithophel into foolishness.

• 2Samuel 16:19  And again, whom should I serve? should I not serve in the presence of his son? as I have served in thy father's presence, so will I be in thy presence. 

This convinced Absalom that Hushai changed sides and departed from David. Absalom's own self conceit caused his him to believe Hushai.

• 2Samuel 16:20  Then said Absalom to Ahithophel, Give counsel among you what we shall do. 
• 21  And Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Go in unto thy father's concubines, which he hath left to keep the house; and all Israel shall hear that thou art abhorred of thy father: then shall the hands of all that are with thee be strong. 

This would cause divsion between father and son even further and Athithophel might have sought revenge for David defiling his granddaughter Bathsheba in the past.

• 2Samuel 11:3  And David sent and enquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? 

Eliam was the son of Ahithophel.

• 2Samuel 16:22  So they spread Absalom a tent upon the top of the house; and Absalom went in unto his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel. 

These were the concubines that David left behind to keep the house when he fled Jerusalem. This awful act Absalom did was said to take place it the exact same place where David first saw and lusted after Bathsheba. This act fulfilled the prophecy given by Nathan the prophet.

• 2Samuel 12:11  Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. 
• 12  For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.

The consequences of our sin may follow us even though we repent and get forgiven and reconciled to God. David did repent but the prophecy still came to pass.

• 2Samuel 12:13  And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. 

Thank God for His mercy that the soul of David was saved and God did not remove him as king. The difference between Saul and David was that David repented for real and Saul did not genuinely repent although I think he might have repented just before his death. My assumption here.

• 2Samuel 16:23  And the counsel of Ahithophel, which he counselled in those days, was as if a man had enquired at the oracle of God: so was all the counsel of Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom. 

Later on the counsel of Ahithophel is rejected about another matter which causes him to then commit suicide. I really can't understand why a priest or prophet of God would counsel someone to commit adultery before all Israel though. Even if it does fulfill prophecy still it shows not all who claim to represent God truly is what they claim to be. DC

2 Samuel Chapter 17