Sunday Sermonette: War About Nothing

In 2 Samuel 2 we have, for the first time, and very briefly, the division of the Israelites into two kingdoms, Judah and Israel proper or the northern kingdom. This has previously been referred to anachronistically. I ' m going to give you a spoiler and tell you that in the next chapter, Abner decides it wasn ' t a good idea after all, but we get no explanation as to why he did it in the first place. That he had an heir to Saul handy who he could install on the throne is a problem since we are later told in Chronicles that all of Saul ' s house died with him. The point here is not be be a nit picker but again, just a reminder that this is a compilation of stories, not the coherent work of a single author. The stories are mythical attempts to explain the present (in this case the 7th Century B.C.) in terms of an imaginary past. The gratuitous violence in this particular story seems to be presented as just that, and as I read it the writer is arguing for civil peace within Israel. At least that ' s the direction it goes in the next chapter.2 In the course of time, David inquired of theLord. “Shall I go up to one of the towns of Judah?” he asked.TheLord said, “Go up.”David asked, “Where shall I go?”“To Hebron,” theLord answered.2 So David went up there with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel.3 David also took the men who were with him, each with his family, and they settled in Hebron and its towns.4 The...
Source: Stayin' Alive - Category: American Health Source Type: blogs