Failure to be Humble
In 2
Samuel 2 we discover the true assumption of David as king. But even here David is not without
challenge. The road is not easy for
David. Saul’s general does not desire
David as a king so he anoints another king.
Rivalries begin.
I’m going
to make a statement here, but before I do I am going to confess that this
statement is an obvious over-simplification.
Here’s the statement: This whole chapter is the result of people
desiring their own will rather than humbling to seek out the will of God. Had the Hebrew people sought out the will of
God, this rivalry and the war among the Hebrew people would not have taken
place.
I can make
this over-simplification because in its most basic sense it is true. In spite of modern contemporary opinion,
there actually is often a correct answer: there is God’s answer.
Yes, in
some situations we have liberty and should approach those with grace. As an example, think of wine vs. grape juice
for communion. I don’t think God
genuinely cares what people use for Communion.
But in
other circumstances there is a right and a wrong. When it comes to the Lord’s Anointed who will
be king over His people, there is actually a correct answer. There is the one God has chosen. In this case, there is a right answer and his
name is David, not Ishbosheth.
Abner, and
especially the tribe of Benjamin, do not humble themselves to God’s will. They do not stop to inquire from God about
the direction that they want to go. They
do not think about anything other than their desire to have a king from their
own tribe on the throne. Their pride
leads them right past God’s will and into the rejection of God’s will. Their refusal to humble themselves and
genuinely seek out God’s will causes them to completely miss the boat about
what God desires.
This is so
true in our Christian lives today. How
often do churches get embroiled in debates among their members and nobody stops
to inquire about the will of the Lord?
How often do we get into arguments at congregational meetings with
people asserting their will in conflict with others and nobody pauses to check
out the will of the Lord? How many times
does this happen between believers of different congregations? A member of one congregation rashly calls
down judgment on the practices of another congregation without pausing to
reflect if God’s will might actually be in the other congregation’s
practice? Our sinful human instinct of
asserting ourselves without pausing to ascertain God’s will gets us into an
almost immeasurable amount of trouble.
Ishbosheth as a Case Study
In an
attempt to continue to make this point, let’s turn to look at Abner’s choice in
Ishbosheth. The name Ishbosheth
literally means “man of shame.” This seriously
brings up the question of what parent names their child something like
this? Keep in mind that Ishbosheth was
Saul’s son! However, when we look at
this name more deeply we find that Ishbosheth was actually also known by
another name: Eshbaal (or sometimes translated Ishbaal). You can see 1 Chronicles 8:33 as evidence of
this. The name Eshbaal would mean “Ba’al
exists” while the name Ishbaal would mean “man of Ba’al.” Keep in mind that Ba’al was one of the
leading Canaanite gods.
This
brings a bit of perspective back into the life of Saul and his choice of Abner
as general. What godly king over God’s
people would readily name their son “Ba’al exists” or even worse “man of
Ba’al?” For that matter, what godly
general would desire to anoint someone named “Ba’al exists” or “man of Ba’al”
as king over the people of God? This
more than anything else proves to me just how uninterested Abner and the
Benjaminites were in following God’s ways.
They assert themselves over God’s will.
Consequences
What is
the result of Abner’s refusal to humble himself to God’s will? Conflict and sorrow abound. That should really make sense. Sinful behavior doesn’t often end in peace. Sinful behavior leads to problems and
conflict with those who readily choose God’s ways. This conflict can also be internal – hence
our need for the word “conviction” in the English language. When we are behaving sinfully we are
internally at conflict with the Holy Spirit.
If we are in conflict with the Holy Spirit, we need the conviction of
the Holy Spirit to bring us back to God.
This
chapter should be a warning to all who desire to seek their own will without
pausing to check what God’s will really and truly happens to be.
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