Introduction to the Book of Second Samuel

“The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my savior; you save me from violence. I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies." (2 Samuel 22:2b-4, ESV)

David

A Man After God's Own Heart

This book is primarily about David, who we last left saw in the previous book, giving gifts out from the spoils of a recent victory over the Amalekites, who had ransacked Ziklag during their absence. This book opens with David and his men in what remained of Ziklag.

Often touted as the “best” king of the people of Israel, there is one accolade that is a far greater honor. And that is David is the only person identified in the Bible as being “a man after God’s own heart” (see 1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22). There have been books written and much published on this subject, so this brief synopsis will not be able to encapsulate the whole meaning, but we do have to admit that David was unique. He was a musician, a warrior, a leader, but most of all he understood God, who He is, and that there was none like Him. Shortly after we are introduced to David, he is allowed to face a giant man that had been taunting the Israelites for several days (perhaps longer, see 1 Samuel 17:8-11). But listen to David’s response, “I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head.” (1 Samuel 17:45b-46a, ESV) We need to add ‘faith’ to the list of David’s accolades, as he represented God and knew that God would deliver Goliath into his hands, how did he know? He understood God. The ‘how’ is not as important as the fact that he did know God, and reading the Psalms that he wrote, we see that he truly did have an insight of the nature and character of God. That insight came through in nearly everything he did, his perspective has provided clarity regarding God to countless others through the years for those who have read his Psalms.

What does it mean to be go after God’s heart? It means that a person should make their relationship with God the highest priority in life. To do that requires knowledge of Him, making the reading and study of the Bible imperative, if we want to make God our priority we must first know what pleases Him. Then we must put what we learn into action and do those things that please Him.

No Whitewashing

When we read that David was a man after God’s own heart and then read how David sinned multiple times, we begin to wonder what is the heart of God, if He allows murder and many other sins, as David was guilty of much sin. But David was a man, he wrote, “there is none who does good” (Psalm 14:1b, ESV), all humans sin, no exceptions (the Septuagint adds, “not even one,” as noted by the apostle Paul, see Romans 3:10-12). David was, like all humans, a sinner, and he sinned in many horrific ways.

Instead of ignoring his sins and “white wash” the record of David’s life in the Bible, we are given the whole ‘picture’ and we see a great man who is also guilty of great sin! So how is that possible? Perhaps the greatest attribute of David was his heart-felt desire to seek forgiveness, his repentance was real (only God can know a person’s heart). A person can say or do anything, but if their heart discloses the wrong motivation, God would know.

This “present it as it is” style of the Bible makes it unique among the many false-religion writings as it is standard protocol to always make their founders, authors, prophets, teachers, scholars, and historians, to write only that which would be considered good and appropriate (click here to read more).

But with that said, there are two books that do not report several events, namely 1 & 2 Chronicles. These books parallel portions of 1 Samuel and much of 2 Samuel through to 2 Kings but primarily focuses on the line of David and when the kingdom splits it reports from the perspective of the southern kingdom of Judah. Plus, several events reported elsewhere are not mentioned. For example: David being made king of Judah, the reign of Saul’s son Ish-boseth, Joab killing Abner, David and Michal, David and Mephibosheth, David and Bathsheba, the misadventures of David’s sons, etc. See the Appendix for a side by side comparison of 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles.

Notable Actions of David

• Was chosen to be king by the tribe of Judah (see 2 Samuel 2:1–7) and then later by the rest of the tribes of Israel (see 2 Sam 5:1–5).
• Captured Jebus and made Jerusalem his capital (see 2 Samuel 5:6–16).
• Moved and installed the Ark of the Covenant in Jerusalem, signifying God’s kingship over the nation of Israel in its new capital (see 2 Samuel 6:1-23).
• Proceeded to defeat all of Israel’s surrounding enemies (see 2 Samuel 8:1–10:19).
• Wanted to build a temple for God but was refused, receiving instead the promise of an eternal dynasty of kings leading to the Messiah (see 2 Samuel 7:1-29).
• Sinned against God with Bathsheba and murdered her husband Uriah (see 2 Samuel 11:1-12:15).
• God punished David by taking the life of his new baby son by Bathsheba, gave him a new son by her named Solomon (see 2 Samuel 12:16-25), and further disciplined him through the sins, rebellions, and loss of several of his sons (see 2 Samuel 13:1–20:26)
• God punished David for undertaking a census of the people (see 2 Samuel 24:1-17)
• God forgave David and permitted him to purchase land on Mount Moriah for the construction by Solomon of the Temple (see 2 Samuel 24:18-25)

Status of the Tribes of Israel

After Moses died, Joshua led the Israelites into the Promised Land and per instructions of God, he organized a campaign to purge the inhabitants of the land. But after several years many foreign people remained in the land, and Joshua “was old and advanced in years” (Joshua 13:1a, ESV) So God had him begin to allocate the land to the various tribes, and it was up to the tribal leadership to continue the purging in their own territories.

The tribe of Judah, the recipient of the largest territory, joined forces with the tribe of Simeon to fight the Canaanites that were in their allocated territories (see Judges 1:1-21). They were able to clear out most of the inhabitants, but the other tribes had only mixed success, those that remained were either those that could not be removed, having some protection or stronghold, or the Israelites made them slaves.

Leaving any previous occupant was a violation of God’s command, as all people were to be removed or destroyed. Which in our ears may sound horrific, but God knew that their pagan ways and idol worship would eventually be embraced by the Israelites and cause them to turn away from God. We read in Judges 2:11-15, that is exactly what happened and the time of “The Judges” began.

God brought several foreign enemies against the Israelites, some to specific tribes, and others over a larger area. There were also times of ‘civil war’ with many battles between the various tribes.

Although, not at one specific point in time or event, we begin to see a contrast building between the people of Israel and the people (or men) of Judah. In the text we start reading things like, “the people of Israel and the men of Judah” (for example: Judges 20:19-20; 1 Samuel 11:8; 17:52; 18:16), a subtle separation of the two groups. Judah being not just the tribe of Judah, but also eventually the tribe of Benjamin (and most of Simeon whose territory was in the middle of Judah) in one group with all other tribes referred to as the “people of Israel,” long before the nation was officially divided by God (see 1 Kings 11:9-13). We will also see that many of the people’s loyalties will follow those ‘political’ lines. For the lack of a better term, these ‘allegiances’, continue through to a time when David was able to unify the nation (see 2 Samuel 5:1-5).

The two groups will later be split into two nations that will be known as Israel with several evil dynasties (also known as the northern kingdom) and Judah that had only one dynasty (the line of David) but will have several very bad kings (the southern kingdom). But both kingdoms disobeyed God and they were both disciplined and scattered. Much of the southern kingdom was restored after being held captive for seventy years by the Babylonians, but later was destroyed by the Romans. However, we read in the book of Ezekiel that God was going to reunite Judah and Israel in the future (see Ezekiel 37:15-28) and we see today that they are indeed back in the land promised to them. The myth of the “Ten Lost Tribes,” is just that, a myth!

Setting

The backdrop of this book is essentially the same as the previous book (1 Samuel). Since the two books were apparently written as one book, no real transition takes place, with the exception of David being made king. The book of 1 Samuel opened with a scene near the Tabernacle in Shiloh and this book ends with the purchase of land for the construction of the Temple on Mount Moriah.