What I Noticed Today (2 Samuel 10-12)
2 Samuel 10
War erupts with the Ammonites
In verses 1-5, David continued a peaceful relationship with the Ammonites established by Saul (1 Samuel 11:1-11). The peace ended when the king died and was replaced by his son, Hanun.
- Hanun listened to his own advisors by rejecting and humiliating David’s emissaries.
In verses 6-14, Hanun realized his actions against David’s emissaries had started a war.
- Hanun hired 33,000 Syrian (Arameans) soldiers from Beth-rehob, Zobah, Maacah, and Tob to fight with them against the Israelites.
- David sent the army out under the command of Joab.
- Joab defeated both the Syrians and the Ammonites, but rather than pursuing them when they retreated; he let them go, preferring instead to return to Jerusalem.
In verses 15-19, the Syrians assembled additional forces from across the Euphrates River and came up against Israel a second time.
- David assembled the entire Israelite army and led the army with Joab defeating the Syrians.
- The Syrians made peace with the Israelites and became their subjects.
- After this, the Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites again.
2 Samuel 11
The story of Bathsheba and David begins in 2 Samuel 11.
In verses 1-12, rather than leading the army out to war, David elected to stay behind, while Joab went out to battle against the Ammonites.
- David saw Bathsheba bathing on her rooftop, inquired about her and learned that she was married to Uriah the Hittite, who is in David’s army.
- David had Bathsheba brought to him. He slept with her, and she became pregnant.
- To cover up his sin, David schemed to have Uriah brought back from the battle to “report” to him and sleep with his wife.
In verses 14-27, Uriah didn’t sleep with Bathsheba, so David hatched yet another plan to cover his sin.
- David had Joab place Uriah where the fiercest fighting was so that Uriah would be killed in battle.
- Bathsheba learned that her husband had been killed in battle, and she mourned for him.
- After her period of mourning, David sent for her and married her. She bore him a son, but the Lord considered what David had done as evil.
Note: David had taken Bathsheba to be his wife. He must have thought he had covered up his sin, but God knew what he had done.
2 Samuel 12
In verses 1-6, God sent Nathan the prophet to confront David by telling him the parable of the rich man taking the poor man’s sheep.
- David was enraged and said the rich man deserves to die. Because he showed no pity for the poor man, he must pay four times the price of the lamb.
In verses 7-15a, Nathan delivered a long and stinging rebuke to David from God.
- This included God’s judgment that his child would die.
- David would always have war.
- Evil would come out of his own house.
- His own wives would be taken away and given to someone else (fulfilled when we get to 2 Samuel 16:20).
- David repented of his sin, but the judgment of God against David and his family remained.
In verses 15b-23, Bathsheba’s child, through adultery by David, became ill.
- David pleaded with the Lord to heal the boy. He fasted for seven days before the boy died.
- When David heard that the child had died, he worshipped the Lord and ate.
In verses 24-25, David and Bathsheba had another child, Solomon, whose name was also Jedidiah, which means “beloved of the Lord.”
In verses 26-31, war with the Ammonites continued. Joab surrounded Rabbah, the Ammonite royal city.
- Joab sent word to David and told him to come and finish taking the city.
- David assembled troops and came to Rabbah.
- David conquered Rabbah and plundered the city.
- He put the people of Rabbah to work making tools for the Israelites.
- David and the army returned to Jerusalem.
Some thoughts for additional consideration:
- David placed himself in a position to be tempted by not going out with the army. From the comfort of his home, he became an adulterer, a liar, a schemer, and a murderer. The consequence of this sin may have been covered from man’s eyes, but it had not escaped God’s attention, and there was a price to pay for this sin. Based on Levitical law (Exodus 20:10), both David and Bathsheba should have been stoned.
- When we sin and fear being discovered, it is not usual to act like David; to lie, scheme, and to seek ways to cover up our sin. While we may be successful in covering our sin from man’s eyes, our sin is always present before God. We need to repent of our sin and realize that while God will forgive us, there are still consequences to our sin.
What did you notice in your study today? Feel free to visit the website and leave a question or a comment.
