PROCLAMATION
“Then the men of Judah came to Hebron, and there they
anointed David king over the tribe of Judah.”
2 Samuel 2:4 (NIV)
“Meanwhile, Abner son of Ner, the commander of Saul’s
army, had taken Ish-Bosheth son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim. He made him king over Gilead, Ashuri and
Jezreel, and also over Ephraim, Benjamin and all Israel.” 2 Samuel 2:8-9 (NIV)
EXPLANATION
After the death of King Saul and his sons Jonathan,
Abinadab, and Malki-Shua in the battle against the Philistines, (1 Samuel 31:1-6)
David was anointed king over Judah, the southern part of the kingdom. Saul’s remaining son, Ish-Bosheth, who was not
involved in the battle with the Philistines, was anointed king over the
northern part of the kingdom. Then began
the nation’s civil war between the northern kingdom and southern kingdom. David was eventually anointed king over all
of Israel (2 Samuel 5:3-5) but there was a cost to pay for this and lives would
be lost.
APPLICATION
Jesus, The Christ, said that a kingdom or a house divided
against itself cannot stand. (Matthew 12:35, Mark 3:24-25, and Luke 11:17) If the citizens of kingdoms, governments, or
families fall out with one another and disenfranchise one another, then a dissolution
of the whole must ensue. Minor
disagreements can be tolerated but major falling outs and in-fighting will lead
to a division which causes the unit to fracture and fail. After a civil war breaks out, one side wins
and unity is restored, or a permanent divorce occurs resulting in two independent
units, or the two sides destroy each other and they both lose. This happens with government, families, and
individuals when internal conflict cannot be resolved. There is an internal struggle within all
believers between the forces of good and the forces of evil, between The Holy
Spirit within us and our sinful human nature. (Romans 7:5-25 and 8:18-27) We
struggle daily involved in this internal civil war of sorts and only with the
help of The Lord God will we emerge victorious.
No comments:
Post a Comment