• : 2 Samuel Chapters

2:1-4, 8-11, 5:1-10, 6, 7:1-17, 11, 12:1-24, & Psalm 51

Kingdom of Israel split into 2; David anointed king over Judah (South), Ishbosheth, Saul's son, king over Israel (North)

• David conquers Jerusalem
• David brings the Ark to Jerusalem
• God promises David an everlasting throne
• David commits adultery & murder
• After sinning, David
• repents
• greatly
• Discussion Questions
• IN ORTHODOX BIBLES, 1 & 2 SAMUEL = 1 & 2 KINGDOMS

***BRIEF REVIEW***

We left off with the death of Saul, who was the first king of Israel. Saul was chosen by God as king after the Israelites foolishly asked for a king, and we see that Saul is evil in many ways

One noteworthy evil of Saul is that he tried to kill David many times; eventually forcing David to flee. Now remember, David was a shepherd in his father’s field, and David was chosen by God to eventually replace the wicked Saul as king.

The prophet at the time of all these events was Samuel, who we discussed was the “first prophet”, and Samuel is the one who literally anointed Saul and David as kings, despite God choosing them both. We discussed this as a similarity to Moses ordinating Aaron as priest and designating Joshua as his successor despite, again, God choosing both men for their roles.

We ended 1 Samuel with Saul consulting a medium(!), in which God allowed Samuel to appear and pronounce the death of Saul and his sons.

• 2 Samuel 2:1-4, 8-11

In V.1, what is “it happened after this” referring to?

“This” is the death of Saul and his sons.

What did the men of Judah do to David?

They anointed David king over the house (tribe & land) of Judah. This is not the same anointing as Samuel did with oil; this is more like appointing him as king.

Who is Ishbosheth and what happened to him?

Ishbosheth is one of Saul’s remaining sons; he was appointed as king over all the tribes of Israel by Saul’s commander-in-chief, Abner.

So based on these verses we read, what’s the political situation in Israel after Saul’s death?

Israel is now split into 2 kingdoms, in accordance with Samuel’s prophecy against Saul in

1 Samuel 15:28

, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours

[David]

, who is better than you.” The Kingdom of Israel is ruled by Ishbosheth, and the Kingdom of Judah by David.

• 2 Samuel 5:1-10

What are verses 6-8 saying?

The Jebusites, a Canaanite tribe that was inhabiting Jerusalem, told David that he can’t conquer them; even the lame (disabled) and blind can fight him off. So David sort of mocks them too by saying “ whoever wants to conquer those ‘lame’ and ‘blind’ Jebusites needs to infiltrate the city by water shaft (not in orthodox)”.

What does David accomplish in this chapter?

David conquers Jerusalem, which was known as the fortress/stronghold of Zion, and defeats the Jebusites. He also unites the 2 Kingdoms.

David reigns for 40 years as king; 7 years and 6 months in Judah, and 33 years over both Judah and Israel, and in v.10 we read that the Lord was with him.

David began his reign as king at 30 years old; have we seen this age being significant so far?

• Yes, Joseph was 30 when set over Egypt (
• Gen 41:46
• ), the Levites began full service at 30 (

Num 4:3

), and we ought to know that Jesus Christ began His public ministry at “about thirty” (

• Luke 3:23

).

For this reason, the C.F. see 30 years of age as the age of maturity and readiness for public service for a man. With this in mind, a bishop in the A.C.O.E. must be at least 30 years old as recently outlined in the Holy Synod (the governing council of our bishops). Now obviously there can, and has been, exceptions, but that shouldn’t surprise us when we read about Samuel serving from when he was a small child.

• 2 Samuel 6

What is David doing in this chapter?

Now that David has unified the Kingdoms, defeated the Philistines (prev. chapter), and moved the capital to Jerusalem, where he reigns as king, he is bringing the Ark of the Covenant there too.

As the Ark of the Covenant moves towards Jerusalem, there is great celebration and music, and as it enters Jerusalem itself, David rejoices in dance in front of ALL of the Israelites.

• His wife, Michal (

Mee-hal

), who is Saul’s daughter, sees him dancing from her royal window, and despises him for it, because he danced in front of the common people. The Lord does not give her children because of her pride and arrogance.

Why does the Lord strike down Uzzah for trying to stabilize the Ark when he thought it would fall?

It might seem like Uzzah had good intentions; he was just trying to prevent a disaster, if we examine the Scripture properly, we see that this is not the case.

Firstly,

Uzzah is most likely a Kohathite, a clan of the Levites, based on him being allowed to move the Ark of the Covenant. In

Numbers 4:15

, we see that the Kohathites are those who move the Ark, but we also see that they are not allowed to touch it, or they will die.

Secondly,

the Ark was not meant to be carried on a cart; we read that it’s supposed to be carried on poles by the Levites (

• Exod. 25:12-14

), so David is to blame in this too.

Thirdly,

Uzzah’s “good intentions” don’t seem so pure once you stop to think about it. The Ark of the Covenant is the presence of God— Uzzah assumed his hand was a safer support than God’s own ordinance. The C.F. go on to teach us that this wasn’t Uzzah’s first time around the Ark, and so him thinking this way shows him growing too comfortable/familiar with it.

So to remind David, the priests, and the entirety of Israel that He is a consuming fire, God struck down the careless Uzzah in the midst of the great joy of the people of Israel.

David had great zeal, but he forgot to pair with the appropriate reverence and obedience in this moment. Considering nothing else, God is upholding his command that if you touch the Ark, you die, but He is also reminding Israel to fear Him!

There is a lot to be said here about the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Virgin Mary, but we will save that for when we reach the Gospel.

For now, let’s use this as our Scriptural reminder and wake-up call to have the appropriate reverence for God’s presence among us today, which is mainly seen in the Holy Spirit that dwells within us and His Holy Body and Blood (Eucharist)

It will help us avoid sin when we remember that God’s Spirit dwells within us, and that sinning saddens the Holy Spirit, and causes us to drive the Holy Spirit away from us when we continue in sin.

If we recall Uzzah becoming too comfortable with the Ark, it should help us to not be too comfortable with the Holy Eucharist and allow us to constantly have the due reverence for it, alongside other holy things in the Church.

If David danced before the Ark, isn’t that proof enough that dancing is ok?

Before anything, if we look at the Aramaic translation, it says David glorified/praised here, NOT danced, but some Church hymns say that he danced, so oral tradition may have a hand in this, so let’s say he did…

Well, yes, dancing is not a sin, and the Church has never taught that dancing is a sin. But when dancing is spoken out against by the Church, or if there are rules regarding it for clergy, it’s in a certain context.

Yes, priests are not to dance in 99.9% of cases, but it’s not because dancing is a sin, it’s because when a priest is being ordained, the bishop pronounces that in the ordination that he is “set apart”

ܡܸܬܦܪܸܫ

from this world unto the Holy ministry of Priesthood. Among other things, like their black cassocks and always-visible crosses, it is an indicator of what the Priesthood means and their dedication to Christ and His Church. So for example, if a priest dances at his daughter’s wedding for a minute of 2 with his wife, it’s not a sin, but they won’t do it because of the respect for their Holy rank.

Going down the rank of clergy, in the diocese of California, H.H. has instituted a rule that a deacon is not allowed to have “resh-khiga” at any time, although he is permitted to dance. This decision by H.H. is in line with the reasoning above; a deacon, who is also set apart for service, although not at a priest’s level, ought to reflect that in his actions and modesty. Just because he can’t dance at the front of the line, that doesn’t give him license to dance and make a fool of himself elsewhere in the line, but in moderation and in a proper manner, they may dance.

For lay people (non-ordained Church members), there are no such specific rules, but every single baptized Church member is also “set apart” from this world to the degree that they are the children of God. That means that you should NEVER reach a point where your dancing (or any behavior for that matter) does not reflect a Christian. Wild partying and dancing does not befit a Christian, and at the same time celebrating at a wedding or joyous event can be done properly. Christianity isn’t anti-fun! It’s anti-savagery! Christ Himself attended the wedding at Cana to celebrate the joy of the marriage union, but as an example for the clergy and all Christians, we see that He attended with decorum and humility, hence His first miracle there was only known by a few!

• 2 Samuel 7:1-17

Who is Nathan?

A prophet during David’s time.

What does God tell David through Nathan?

That God has not asked for a set building from the time of Exodus until now.

That He will raise up a seed after David dies to build Him a house.

• That He will be a Father to this seed of David

That His kingdom will be established forever.

Now we know that some of these promises are fulfilled in David’s son Solomon, who reigns after him, and build the Lord’s temple. However, (see question below)

How can David have an everlasting throne if his line of kings stopped thousands of years ago?

This is where we see that some of these prophecies are NOT about Solomon, but instead point to Christ. These are the prophecies, along with others, that taught the Jews that the Messiah must be of the seed of David, i.e. the ‘son of David’. This is why there are several instances in the Gospel where Christ is referred to as the “son of David”. David was the great king of Israel and highly esteemed by the Jews because of these prophecies, and also mainly because he was the great warrior-king that united the kingdoms and defeated their enemies.

• 2 Samuel 11

What grave sin does David commit in this chapter?

He sleeps with someone’s wife, named Bathsheba, then so that he can marry her, he has his military commander Joab send her husband, named Uriah the Hittite, into the front line of battle so that he dies.

How can David, a “man after the Lord’s own heart” (1 Sam 13:14) commit such evil?

Because David is human! This is the reality of mankind; we drop the ball and sin all the time, even the best of us. If Adam sinned in

• literal

paradise, this sin of David should not be a shock. It’s that simple.

This is why it’s so important to recognize Christ’s humanity. Christ took this fallen and miserable nature of ours and raised it up in His sinless life, blameless sacrifice of Himself for us, and Resurrection, allowing our race, our human nature, to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, which Christ performed on Ascension Day. That’s why no one has entered the Kingdom of Heaven yet, because Christ, who opened the door for us, will take us to the Kingdom of Heaven in His 2nd return, with a glorified body, similar to His resurrected body.

• 2 Samuel 12:1-24

What does Nathan do to David?

Gives him a parable in which the true meaning is about what David did to Uriah, and then delivers the proclamation of the Lord against David.

How does David react?

He admitted his sin and fasted day and night for 7 days, until the baby eventually died. We learn more about how he fasted in

• Psalm 51
• Psalm 51 (50 orthodox)

What do we learn about repentance from David?

It involves confession, fasting, beseeching God, turning away from your evil, turning towards doing good, and a broken spirit. Sometimes when we sin, we don’t feel as guilty as we should. It is then when we should even pray for God to help us repent! If we repented like David, we would be much more pleasing to God.

REST OF 2 SAMUEL

Consistent with Nathan’s prophecy about his own house rising up against him and the sword not departing from him, David’s house descends into chaos. To give one example, a half brother rapes his half-sister, then her brother kills him, and then that brother rebels against his father’s kingdom, and David’s kingdom faces wars and rebellions until Solomon takes over at the end of David’s life.

To end 2 Samuel, God is so displeased with Israel that he allows David to take a census of the people, which elsewhere in the Bible reveals that this allowed “Satan to incite David".

Why is the census so bad you may ask, when Numbers was titled as such because of a literal census? Because David was not commanded to take it; he took a census out of pride and displayed his reliance on numbers rather than God’s protection.

This results in a plague that kills 70,000 Israelites, God's wrath burning so much so that an “angel stretched out His hand over Jerusalem to destroy it, [but] the Lord relented from the destruction”.

This is what our sin does to us; it destroys us!

MATTHEW 26:41

Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST TO HIS DISCIPLES IN THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMAN

• This Week's Study

—Watch the YT short.