1 & 2 Samuel

2 Samuel Chapter 5

David Anointed King of Israel

2Samuel 5:1 Then came all the tribes of Israel to David unto Hebron, and spake, saying, Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh.
2 Also in time past, when Saul was king over us, thou wast he that leddest out and broughtest in Israel: and the LORD said to thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be a captain over Israel.
3 So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and king David made a league with them in Hebron before the LORD: and they anointed David king over Israel.

So we see now a united Israel and the elders recognizing that God truly chose David to be king over all Israel. I'm assuming that they would have been unable to do this when Saul was still king and alive because they were not the military and could not have accomplished this on their own.

They remembered how David defended them and fought for them under the reign of Saul by defeating the Philistines which came against them in battle. Now they made a league with David and he was officially made king over all Israel, not just Judah. The nation is united but after the death of David's son Solomon who also was king over all Israel, the nation was divided again.

2 Samuel 5:4 David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
5 In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months: and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years over all Israel and Judah.

Just for comparison, David was at the same age as Jesus was at the start of His ministry. 30 years. Jesus died and rose again at the age of 33. David was in his late teens when he fought the giant Goliah, had to flee from Saul a few years later in his 20s, and now he is made king over all the nation at the age of 30. He reigned 40 years.

2Samuel 5:6 And the king and his men went to Jerusalem unto the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land: which spake unto David, saying, Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither: thinking, David cannot come in hither.
7 Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion: the same is the city of David.
8 And David said on that day, Whosoever getteth up to the gutter, and smiteth the Jebusites, and the lame and the blind, that are hated of David's soul, he shall be chief and captain. Wherefore they said, The blind and the lame shall not come into the house.
9 So David dwelt in the fort, and called it the city of David. And David built round about from Millo and inward.

The blind, lame and the Jebusites opposed David moving his captital to Jerusalem and forbid it thinking David could not take it but David was able to defeat them and this city became known as the city of David. David was not against all blind and lame people for he later took care of the last living son of Saul who was lame on his feet. Those who opposed David were confident that even the blind and the lame were able to defeat David and hinder him from taking this city as his capital headquarters.

2Samuel 5:10 And David went on, and grew great, and the LORD God of hosts was with him.
11 And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and carpenters, and masons: and they built David an house.
12 And David perceived that the LORD had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for his people Israel's sake.

The king of Tyre was a friend to David and later to Solomon. It may have been his son Abibalus who later helped Solomon but his name was changed to Hiram. Whoever it was though was a great help in the building of David's house as well as the temple in the days of Solomon. He might have been a believer in the true God.

At last David's reign as king over all Israel was secure and a done deal. It took a long time and lots of trouble and heartache along the way.

2 Samuel 5:13 And David took him more concubines and wives out of Jerusalem, after he was come from Hebron: and there were yet sons and daughters born to David.

Concubines were not full wives but sort of like second class wives. Just because kings and rich men did this does not mean God ordained it. It was against the law given by Moses warning kings not to multiply wives to themselves. It caused a weakness in David and also later caused Solomon to build houses for the worship of idols to please his wives that worshiped those idols. Solomon's downfall is what caused God to separate the kingdom of Israel into two nations agains after his death.

After the coming of Christ and the spread of the gospel, this practice ended among true believers and followers of Jesus Christ. There may have been some religions that called themselves followers of Jesus that had the practice of multiple wives but it was not common among true Holy Spirit filled believers. Most Christian churches forbid such practice. In the beginning God created one man and one woman to marry and start families.

2Samuel 5:14 And these be the names of those that were born unto him in Jerusalem; Shammua, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon,
15 Ibhar also, and Elishua, and Nepheg, and Japhia,
16 And Elishama, and Eliada, and Eliphalet.

David Anointed King of Israel

2Samuel 5:1 Then came all the tribes of Israel to David unto Hebron, and spake, saying, Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh.
2 Also in time past, when Saul was king over us, thou wast he that leddest out and broughtest in Israel: and the LORD said to thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be a captain over Israel.
3 So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and king David made a league with them in Hebron before the LORD: and they anointed David king over Israel.

So we see now a united Israel and the elders recognizing that God truly chose David to be king over all Israel. They made a league with David and he was officially made king over all Israel, not just Judah.

2Samuel 5:4 David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
5 In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months: and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years over all Israel and Judah.

Just for comparison, David was at the same age as Jesus was at the start of His ministry. 30 years. Jesus died and rose again at the age of 33. He was in his late teens when he fought the giant Goliah, had to flee from Saul a few years later in his 20s, and now he is made king over all the nation at the age of 30. He reigned 40 years.

2Samuel 5:6 And the king and his men went to Jerusalem unto the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land: which spake unto David, saying, Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither: thinking, David cannot come in hither.
7 Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion: the same is the city of David.
8 And David said on that day, Whosoever getteth up to the gutter, and smiteth the Jebusites, and the lame and the blind, that are hated of David's soul, he shall be chief and captain. Wherefore they said, The blind and the lame shall not come into the house.
9 So David dwelt in the fort, and called it the city of David. And David built round about from Millo and inward.

2Samuel 5:10 And David went on, and grew great, and the LORD God of hosts was with him.
11 And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and carpenters, and masons: and they built David an house.
12 And David perceived that the LORD had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for his people Israel's sake.

At last David's reign as king over all Israel was secure and a done deal. It took a long time and lots of trouble and heartache along the way.

2 Samuel 5:13 And David took him more concubines and wives out of Jerusalem, after he was come from Hebron: and there were yet sons and daughters born to David.

Concubines were not full wives but sort of like second class wives Just because kings and rich men did this does not mean God ordained it. It was against the law given by Moses the instructed kings not to multiply wives to themselves. It caused a weakness in David and also later caused Solomon to build houses for the worship of idols to please his wives that worshiped those idols. Solomon's downfall was what caused God to separate the nation of Israel after his death.

After the coming of Christ and the spread of the gospel, this practice ended among true believers and followers of Jesus Christ. There may have been some religions that called themselves followers of Jesus that kept the practice of multiple wives but it was not common among true Holy Spirit filled believers. Most Christian churches forbid such practice. In the beginning God created one man and one woman to marry and start families.

2Samuel 5:14 And these be the names of those that were born unto him in Jerusalem; Shammua, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon,
15 Ibhar also, and Elishua, and Nepheg, and Japhia,
16 And Elishama, and Eliada, and Eliphalet.

David Defeats the Philistines

2Samuel 5:17 But when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines came up to seek David; and David heard of it, and went down to the hold.
18 The Philistines also came and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim.

They didn't seem to care much when David only ruled over part of Israel, namely the tribe of Judah for seven and one half years, but when he became king of all Israel, it woke them up. Possibly fear came upon them that David might be a threat to their own kingdom. That old spirit of fear causes a lot of wars and bloodshed.

2 Samuel 19 And David enquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up to the Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into mine hand? And the LORD said unto David, Go up: for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into thine hand.
20 And David came to Baalperazim, and David smote them there, and said, The LORD hath broken forth upon mine enemies before me, as the breach of waters. Therefore he called the name of that place Baalperazim.

One good thing about David is that he sought the Lord before going into battle and endangering the lives of his men. Until he was confident that God was with him, he didn't go into battle. The Philistines started this battle though.

2 Samuel 5:21 And there they left their images, and David and his men burned them.

Apparently some nations carried their images with them to battle thinking they had a better chance of winning if their so called gods went with them. David and his men burned them. Serving false gods has been the cause of child sacrifices and torture toward those to whom they wanted to hurt or kill. We need to stay away from the using images in worship even if they supposedly represent Jesus. God forbids this in the ten commandments. There is evil spirits that are present in any worship involving idols. Jesus made the perfect way to worship and that is in spirit and in truth. We seek Him now by faith, not by using images.

2 Samuel 5:22 And the Philistines came up yet again, and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim.
23 And when David enquired of the LORD, he said, Thou shalt not go up; but fetch a compass behind them, and come upon them over against the mulberry trees.

Fetching a compass meant to go around them from the back. The mulberry trees grew in that valley of Rephaim. When they heard the sound of the rustling of the mulberry trees, they were to go up to battle. It was a sign that the Lord was going before them.

2 Samuel 5:24 And let it be, when thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself: for then shall the LORD go out before thee, to smite the host of the Philistines.
25 And David did so, as the LORD had commanded him; and smote the Philistines from Geba until thou come to Gazer.

The strong sound of the wind rustling though the mulberrty trees was loud enough to cause fear like the sound of a another army coming from behind thinking David's army was in the front. This caused fear and panic allowing them to be defeated. This battle was the Lord's. We can't fight against the power of God.

If we can just get to the place where God means everything to us and nothing distracts us from seeking His will for our lives. We see through the life of David where he does get distracted and when the Lord shows him where he fails, he repents and makes things right. We can get to the place in our walk with the Lord that we serve Him out of love instead of the fear of hell or judgment. True godly pure love is powerful and our motivations are good if we walk in love. Even the gifts given through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit are to work through us with this powerful godly love. God is faithful to those that believe in Him. -DC

2 Samuel Chapter 6