2 Samuel: The Kingdom Of David

The Books that we know today as 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel were originally written as a single book (i.e. scroll). The section of "1 Samuel" records the lifetime of Samuel (see 1 Samuel: From Judges To Kings), while "2 Samuel" deals with the prevailing king that Samuel anointed, David, from the beginning of his reign to the time that he was elderly.

The last chapters of 1 Samuel and the first chapters of 2 Samuel flow together very smoothly because they were originally written as a single narrative - the same writer, at the same time.

"^31:8 And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen in mount Gilboa. ^31:9 And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to publish it in the house of their idols, and among the people. ^31:10 And they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth: and they fastened his body to the wall of Bethshan.

^31:11 And when the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead heard of that which the Philistines had done to Saul; ^31:12 All the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Bethshan, and came to Jabesh, and burnt them there. ^31:13 And they took their bones, and buried them under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days." (1 Samuel 31:8-13 KJV)

"^1:1 Now it came to pass after the death of Saul, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, and David had abode two days in Ziklag; ^1:2 It came even to pass on the third day, that, behold, a man came out of the camp from Saul with his clothes rent, and earth upon his head: and so it was, when he came to David, that he fell to the earth, and did obeisance.

^1:3 And David said unto him, From whence comest thou?

And he said unto him, Out of the camp of Israel am I escaped.

^1:4 And David said unto him, How went the matter? I pray thee, tell me.

And he answered, That the people are fled from the battle, and many of the people also are fallen and dead; and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also." (2 Samuel 1:1-4 KJV)

As documented in the Book of 2 Samuel, David was a fighter through his entire life. As a boy shepherd, he defended his flocks against predators, including bears and lions that were a threat to the life of David himself - experiences that he recalled when, still a youth, he faced the giant warrior Goliath ("^17:37 David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine" 1 Samuel 17:37 KJV). As a young man, David fought a civil war against Saul, while at the same time fighting against the enemies of Israel and Judah. When he became king, the wars against the nations around him intensified, until David made peace with them - by victory, not by a piece of paper. David then faced rebellions and coup attempts from those closest to him, including from within his own family. At the time and age when David had earned the right to be calling the shots, rather than firing them, he was nevertheless still leading his troops into battle. That ended when his warriors declared that David was far more valuable to them as a king, than as a battlefield general: "Then the men of David sware unto him, saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the light of Israel."

"^21:15 Moreover the Philistines had yet war again with Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines: and David waxed faint. ^21:16 And Ishbibenob, which was of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of brass in weight, he being girded with a new sword, thought to have slain David. ^21:17 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him, and smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David sware unto him, saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the light of Israel." (2 Samuel 21:15-17 KJV)

The Chapters Of The Book Of 2 Samuel

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This Day In History, January 25

41: The Roman Senate (see The Politics Of Rome) accepted Claudius (see Claudius) as the new Roman Emperor (see A History Of Jerusalem: Pompey And The Caesars; also Whatever Happened To Those Romans?).

1327: Edward III became king of England after a coup that removed his father Edward II from the throne.

1533: In defiance of the Pope's "authority" over English kings, England's King Henry VIII married Anne Boleyn, his second wife.

1554: When Queen Mary announced her intention to marry the Roman Catholic Philip II of Spain (during his lifetime Philip colonized what later became the southern U.S.A.; the Philippines are named after him), a rebellion was led by Thomas Wyatt (who was later hanged for treason).

1579: The Union of Utrecht (Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Gelderland, Friesland, Groningen and Overyssel) formed the Dutch Republic as an independent nation from Spain.

1755: Moscow University was founded.

1791: A Royal proclamation created Upper and Lower Canada. "Upper" and "Lower" Canada were terms based simply on the flow of the Great Lakes and the Saint Lawrence River toward the Atlantic Ocean; "Upper Canada" was present-day southern Ontario, "Lower Canada" was southern Quebec.

1802: Napoleon Bonaparte became President of the Italian (Cisalpine) Republic.

1831: In Poland, the Diet (the name for the legislative assembly in some countries) declared independence, thereby removing Tsar Nicholas from the throne.

1846: The Corn Laws were repealed by the British Parliament. They taxed imported grain (oats, wheat and barley; see also The Corn Field Lessons).

1858: German composer Felix Mendelssohn's famous "Wedding March" became a popular choice at weddings after it was played during the marriage ceremony of Queen Victoria's daughter to the crown prince of Prussia.

1878: A Russian boat became the first vessel to sink another with a torpedo after it sunk a Turkish steamer.

1904: A mine explosion in Pennsylvania entombed 200 coal miners.

1918: Russia declared a republic of Soviets (soviet means council in Russian). Hence the origin of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, an empire that lasted 70 years before collapsing due to bankruptcy.

1919: A year after the end of the First World War (listen to our Sermon The European World Wars), the League of Nations (the fore-runner of the United Nations) was founded in Geneva. The United States refused to become a member. The League of Nations was made defunct by the Second World War.

1947: Al Capone, the famous Chicago gangster, died of syphillis at age 48.

1949: The newly-created (modern-day) state of "Israel" (which is actually a restoration of the Kingdom of Judah; see Israel In History and Prophecy: Israel Of Judah; also Israel In History and Prophecy: The Return Of Judah, Israel In History and Prophecy: Judaism and Israel Never Knew Purim, Hanukkah Or Judaism) held its first general election. Number of seats by party: Labor 57, Center-Right 31, Religious 16.

1949: For her broadcast of Nazi propaganda to U.S. troops in Europe during the Second World War, "Axis Sally" (Mildred Gillars, born Mildred Sisk in Portland, Maine in 1900) was tried as a war criminal in the U.S. She was sentenced to a 10-30 year prison term. Upon her release in 1959, she entered a convent and became a teacher at Catholic schools in Ohio.

1950: During the hysteria of the McCarthy-era communist "witch hunts" in the U.S., Alger Hiss, a State Department official, was convicted of perjury for denying his membership in the communist party.

1959: Church of Rome Pope John XXIII proclaimed the coming Second Vatican Council.

1963: Wilson Kettle died in Canada at age 102. At the time of his death, the Newfoundland man had 582 living descendants - a real-life "Pa Kettle."

1971: A coup made Idi Amin became president of Uganda.

1971: Charles Manson and 3 women followers were found guilty of the murders of actress Sharon Tate (the pregnant wife of film-maker Roman Polanski) and 6 other people, including the Folger coffee company heiress Abigail Folger.

1981: During China's "Cultural Revolution," Jiang Quing (the widow of Chinese communist founder Moa Tse-tung) and other "Gang of Four" members were convicted of "counter-revolutionary" activities.

1990: Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan gave birth to a girl, the first-ever head of government to give birth while still in office. Bhutto was assassinated in 2007.

1996: Billy Bailey became the last person in the U.S. to be executed by hanging.