Sow-Reap - 2 Samuel 1-4

 2 Samuel 2:8-11 (ESV)

Ish-bosheth Made King of Israel

But Abner the son of Ner, commander of Saul's army, took Ish-bosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim, and he made him king over Gilead and the Ashurites and Jezreel and Ephraim and Benjamin and all Israel. Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years. But the house of Judah followed David. And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.

The story of Abner making Ish-bosheth king, is a strange event.   Saul and his son Jonathon have died in the battle.  In fact we are told by the writer that all of Israel has fled before the Philistines:

2 Samuel 1:4 (ESV)

And David said to him, “How did it go? Tell me.” And he answered, “The people fled from the battle, and also many of the people have fallen and are dead, and Saul and his son Jonathan are also dead.”

So, the story of Abner even being alive is strange.  Why did not Abner die in the fight like many of the others?  Abner was a high ranking official in Saul’s army.   

A second question to ask stems from what will further read about Abner after his attempt to anoint Ish-bosheth as king.  Note the below passage:

2 Samuel 3:6-11 (ESV)

While there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner was making himself strong in the house of Saul. Now Saul had a concubine whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. And Ish-bosheth said to Abner, “Why have you gone in to my father's concubine?” Then Abner was very angry over the words of Ish-bosheth and said, “Am I a dog's head of Judah? To this day I keep showing steadfast love to the house of Saul your father, to his brothers, and to his friends, and have not given you into the hand of David. And yet you charge me today with a fault concerning a woman. God do so to Abner and more also, if I do not accomplish for David what the LORD has sworn to him, to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan to Beersheba.” And Ish-bosheth could not answer Abner another word, because he feared him.

Here we read about Abner attempting to overthrow the very person he worked to be king.   Sleeping with a king’s concubine was a way of saying, “I am taking your kingdom.” Once Ish-bosheth discovers this and confronts Abner, Abner makes a sudden turn in his life decisions.   Now he is anxious to turn Ish-bothseths kingdom over to David.   

All these turns and twists show us the unstableness of Abner.   He will later come to David to deliver the kingdom to him.  But, in doing so, he will lose his life by one of David’s right hand men, who still seem him as a danger.   There are at least two takeaways from this passage. The takeaways actually oppose one another:

1. Rebelliousness to God’s plan will always cost you in the end.   Abner was disobedient to God’s plan and the decisions he made before he changed his mind about David and God’s plan would cost him his life.  

2. Obedience to God’s plan, even after disobedience, brings you blessing.  Yes, Abner lost his life by one of David’s right-hand men, but it did bring praise and admiration from David.   Note:

2 Samuel 3:33-34 (ESV)

And the king lamented for Abner, saying,

“Should Abner die as a fool dies?

Your hands were not bound;

your feet were not fettered;

as one falls before the wicked

you have fallen.”

And all the people wept again over him.

When we make foolish decisions we pay the consequences.  But, when we repent and get back on track, we can still see honor at the end of a life.