II Samuel

II Samuel is a continuation of I Samuel.  II Samuel starts off by telling the story of Ishbosheth who was the second king of Israel.  Ishbosheth ruled over the house of Israel for two years as the supporters of Saul set him up as heir to Saul's throne because he was Saul's son.  Even after the death of Saul, the struggle for leadership between David and the house of Saul continued.  Eventually David wins out as some of his supporters kill Ishbosheth.  David does not hold a grudge in this situation but rather puts to death the people that killed Saul and his son Ishbosheth.  In this book, David conquers Jebus and establishes the city of Jebus as Jerusalem (city of peace).  David thus brings the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem and sets it up there.  There one man dies for tocuhing the ark and many people are terrified of the ark because people have been killed through touching and through even staring upon it.  However, a man named Obed-Edom takes the ark into his house where he would thus keep it.  The ark represents the presence of God and people's fear of the ark represents the fear of standing before the presence of God as sinners.  Obed-Edom represents the Christian who does not have to be afraid of being in the presence of God because Christ has overtaken their lives and washed them in the blood so that when they stand in the presence of God Christ emanates forth through them and their iniquities are null and void.  In chapter seven, the Davidic covenant is established when David contemplates about whether or not to build a temple of which God may dwell in.  David decides to build the temple until Nathan comes into him and tells David that his seed will be the one to build the temple and that the descendant of his seed would rest upon the throne of Israel forever.  In giving this prophecy, Nathan is referring to Jesus who came to be the temple for God does not dwell in a house that is made by human hands.  In chapter 9, David asks if there is anyone from the house of Saul that he may show kindness to.  His agents tell him that there is one man named Mephibosheth who is cripple.  In this role, David serves as a type of Christ in that he allows one from the house of his enemy, a cripple Mephibosheth to dwell in his kingdom and partake at the dinner table much in the same way that Christ will allow us who are cripple and who have in us the seed of his enemy to partake at his dinner table when he comes in the Second Coming.  II Samuel also deals with a sin David committed as he murders Uriah the Hittie and has an affair with his wife Bathsheba.  Nathan confronts David of such matters and informs him that for such actions he will lose his son.  David does indeed lose hjis son.  He and Bathsheba end up getting married though and she gives birth to another son of his named Solomon.  Chapters 12-19 deal with David and a struggle with his son Absalom who is trying to overthrow him in his reign as king oer the land.  Often times, many of us in our lives try to overthrow Christ as king of our lives.  And in doing such we bring judgment upon ourselves in the same way Absalom did.  Yet, our father weeps for us and awaits our return to him with a sincere heart.  In chapter 20, there is a story of the murder of Amasa by Joab.  After being murdered, Amasa lies there on the road wallowing in his own blood and people just walk by and stare at him but do not offer to help.  Often times as Christians we walk by people who are wallowing around in the blood shed because of their sin pleading for our aid yet we just stare at them and do not help to bring them out from wallowing in that blood.  In the latter part of the book, David goes against the will of God by taking a census of Israel.  God gives David three options in this which are three years of famine, three months of military defeats, or three days of plague.  David pleas before God to fall into his hands because God shows mercy when he judges while man does not.  Thus, David chooses three days of plague which one God sees how David has humbled himself he only pours it on the land for one day.  In the last chapter of the book, David is told to make a sacrifice on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.  David makes a sacrifice there of which Araunah tells him he does not have to pay for.  David refuses however to make sacrifices to the Lord which costs him nothing.  As Christians, we need to be appreciative and to thank God for the opportunity to give back to him through the element of sacrifice because the element of sacrifice is very costly and its not at all something that you gain anything from.