Kingly Correction

2 Samuel 4:1-12

When Ish-Bosheth son of Saul heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he lost courage, and all Israel became alarmed. Now Saul’s son had two men who were leaders of raiding bands. One was named Baanah and the other Recab; they were sons of Rimmon the Beerothite from the tribe of Benjamin—Beeroth is considered part of Benjamin, because the people of Beeroth fled to Gittaim and have lived there as aliens to this day. – 2 Samuel 4:1-3

Ishbosheth was king over the Northern tribes of Israel and the eastern ones across the Jordan. Abner was the commander of Ishbosheth’s military. When Abner died Baanah and Recab exerted a grab for power. They wanted to seize the opportunity while the timing was ripe. They were trying to solve a broken system by using a broken solution.

(Jonathan son of Saul had a son who was lame in both feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but as she hurried to leave, he fell and became crippled. His name was Mephibosheth.) Now Recab and Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, set out for the house of Ish-Bosheth, and they arrived there in the heat of the day while he was taking his noonday rest. They went into the inner part of the house as if to get some wheat, and they stabbed him in the stomach. Then Recab and his brother Baanah slipped away. – 2 Samuel 4:1-3

Here was their opportunity. They believed that they were solving a problem. There may be disagreement on why they were solving a problem. But the reality was that they saw something that they did not like, and they were acting to bring a change. Whether it was a personal reason, political reason, or something else probably is not the main point of what’s happening here. We make decisions every day to solve problems. If there is no food in the fridge then we act in order to solve the problem. If our kids aren’t doing well then, we act to solve that problem. If we’re not making enough money, then we act to solve the problem. There is always a deeper reason that drives us to do a certain action. Sometimes fear is that deeper reason. Sometimes insecurity is that deeper reason. Sometimes hate is that deeper reason. There could be a variety of reasons why we solve problems the way we do.

They had gone into the house while he was lying on the bed in his bedroom. After they stabbed and killed him, they cut off his head. Taking it with them, they traveled all night by way of the Arabah. They brought the head of Ish-Bosheth to David at Hebron and said to the king, “Here is the head of Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, your enemy, who tried to take your life. This day the LORD has avenged my lord the king against Saul and his offspring.” – 2 Samuel 4:7-8

Apparently, Baanah and Recab thought David would be relieved or happy that they had killed Ishbosheth. You see throughout the Bible and the history of the world that Kings (and other world leaders) feel threatened by other leaders. They’re afraid that the other king will kill them, kill their people and take over their country. From the world’s point-of-view it would make sense to kill the other king if the opportunity presented itself. But these two guys made a serious mistake. Their biggest mistake wasn’t misjudging David’s desires. Their biggest mistake was totally misjudging the sovereignty of God and misunderstanding what the real problem was.

David answered Recab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, “As surely as the LORD lives, who has delivered me out of all trouble, when a man told me, ‘Saul is dead,’ and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and put him to death in Ziklag. 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 feet and hung the bodies by the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-Bosheth and buried it in Abner’s tomb at Hebron. – 2 Samuel 4:9-12

To understand David’s response, we have to go back in time to David’s interaction with Saul. In 1 Samuel 24 David could have killed Saul but he did not. Matter of fact, he was so close to Saul in a cave that he was able to cut off a piece of Saul’s robe without him even knowing that he did it. In verse 4 David’s men said, “This is the day the LORD spoke of when he said to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.’” His own men were encouraging him to seize the opportunity because the timing was ripe. David ran into Saul a bit later. He showed Saul the piece of the robe that he had cut off, proving that he could have killed him in secrecy. David explained the “deeper reason” behind his action when he said to his men, “The LORD forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the LORD’s anointed, or lift my hand against him; for he is the anointed of the LORD.” (1 Samuel 24:6). He understood the sovereignty of God. Saul was king because God allowed him to be king. David wanted to be careful not to take action on something when God wanted to solve the problem himself. David knew that executing vengeance or a power grab showed he did not trust in God’s timing.

Later on, in 1 Samuel 26, the same type of thing happened again. David and his men snuck into Saul’s camp and had an opportunity to kill him. David’s men said to him, “God has given your enemy into your hand this day...But David said to Abishai, ‘Do not destroy him, for who can put out his hand against the LORD’s anointed and be guiltless?’” (1 Samuel 26:8) Once again, David trusted in God’s sovereignty, in God’s timing to accomplish His own will.

As we travel forward in time to our story today in 2 Samuel 4, we have a better understanding of why David executed judgment against Baanah and Recab. In verse 11 he said, “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!” He was trusting God’s sovereignty, in God’s timing to accomplish His own will.

Recab and Baanah were trying to fix a broken system by using a broken solution. They knew that there were people in their world that would take them out in a heartbeat. People that would kill them if they had the opportunity. What was their solution? Kill or be killed. God already had made His will clear on the issue in Deuteronomy 32:35 when He said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them.”

I think there were at least two problems with Baanah and Recab. First, they did not understand the sovereignty of God. Second, they were trying to fix a broken system by using a broken solution.

If they understood that God was sovereign, then they could have waited for God to execute justice in his own perfect timing. By stepping in to solve it themselves they short-circuited the process. Their misunderstanding of God led them to make a rash decision.

They also were using a broken solution. Mankind has been doing that since the beginning of time. When Adam and Eve sinned what was their solution? It was to hide. They hid from God. Then they blamed each other. They also blamed Satan. Their solution did not fix anything. It only complicated the problem. Baanah’s and Recab’s solution was to kill first.

How can someone break out of this cycle? How can someone escape from using broken solutions which get nowhere? To answer this question, I think you have to look at the story of God. When you read the whole Bible do you see a common theme that explains the problem and the solution?

The blaming and hiding that Adam and Eve did was not the cause of their problem. Those things were results of their problem. Their sinful heart was the problem (or the cause). Blaming and hiding were the symptoms. Jesus explained this in Matthew 15:19, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.” Explaining the problem of mankind is a theme that you find throughout the whole Bible. The solution to that problem is also a main theme of the Bible. Consider what is being said by God in Ezekiel 11:19, “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.” Another major theme in the Bible is God’s pursuit of people. God created man to be in a relationship with Him. People have gone astray from God, but He has continually sought after us. The only way for us to be in a right relationship with Him is to trust the pathway that He has provided, not trusting our own solution. Jesus shared this theme with the people of His day in Matthew 21 when He shared a story. He was showing that God the Father’s pursuit of people is a recurring theme of the Scriptures:

“Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit. “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said. “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.” – Matthew 21:33-39

The “tenants” were the people of Israel. The servants were the prophets who were speaking God’s word. Some of the people of Israel killed the prophets. Even though they were sinful God still pursued them in love. He sent his only son hoping that the people would listen to them. The landowner, who is God the Father, sent Jesus His son, but they would not listen to him either. They would end up killing him.

King Solomon talked about how people would use the wrong solution to their problems, “But I did find this: God created people to be virtuous, but they have each turned to follow their own downward path.” (Ecclesiastes 7:29) Rechab and Baanah came up with their own solution without regard to God’s sovereignty. Their solution was a “downward path” that would only lead to more and more bloodshed. God wanted to use someone that trusted Him. Someone who could put an end to this endless, violent cycle. It took someone who understood the big picture. This was David.

I am sure that you have neighbors and co-workers that are still trying to use a broken solution to fix a broken system. They probably do not realize that they get angry with their kids because they have a problem with sin that is in their heart. They probably do not realize that they struggle with fear about their health because they haven’t trusted God with the safety of their soul. They probably have not trusted God with supplying food for their body because they do not trust Him to supply food for their soul.

Maybe God wants to use you to be a light in the darkness just like he used David. If we do not step in and explain what the problem is then who will do it? David lived in the midst of a dark and violent time. This story today took place during a time that was chaotic. Some of what we have gone through the past couple of months has been a little chaotic. Will you pray everyday this week that God will use you to bring peace into the chaos? Will you pray that God will use you to help people be at peace with God by finding forgiveness for their sin through Christ?