THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

The Books Of Samuel: God's Shift Of Israel From Apostasy Under The Judges To David's Reign

II. 2 Samuel: The Reign Of David Over Israel

J. God's Constant Deliverance Of The Leaders He Supports

(2 Samuel 8:1-18)

Introduction: (To show the need . . .)

There is significant downside risk to leadership efforts in a lot of human institutions today:

(1) It exists at the international level: the Associated Press story, "U. S. Attacks Syria" (Republican-American, April 7, 2017, p. 1A) told how "(t)he United States blasted a Syrian air base," but that this "assault . . . risks plunging America into . . . Syria's conflict" and fueling discord with "Russia and Iran," allies of Syria's President Assad.

(2) Significant downside risk exists at the national level: Erica Werner's Associated Press story, "GOP revises Senate rules" (Ibid.) reported, "Democrats denounced the GOP's use of . . . the 'nuclear' option to put Gorsuch on the court, calling it an epic power grab that would further corrode politics in Congress, the courts and the nation. Many Republicans bemoaned reaching that point, too, but they blamed Democrats for pushing them to it."

This rule change poses great future risks for both major political parties, for "(t)he Senate change" will likely ensure "more ideological justices" will be "chosen with no need for consultation with the minority party." (Ibid.)

(3) Downside leadership risk affects teachers: the Republican-American ("Mixed Blessings," April 14, 2017, p. 6A) cited a ruling by Hartford Superior Court Judge Thomas Moukawsher as cited in The New York Times that the Bridgeport school superintendent said a "''functionally illiterate person could get a Bridgeport high school degree.''"

Such reports put more pressure on teachers, and many of them are buying lesson plans online from other successful teachers to meet "rising standards" they face to where some teachers are becoming millionaires selling their plans online! (Carolyn Thompson, "Teachers cash in, big time, by putting lessons up for sale," Ibid., p. 7A)

(4) Significant downside risk affects Christian husbands locally: over the Easter weekend, two men told me of two failed marriages involving Christian husbands, and one case involved a man who had once complained to me about another Christian couple he had admired because they had ended up getting a divorce!

Need: So, we ask, "How can a leader function effectively today amid so much downside risk to his efforts?!"

I. David's reign was humanly at significant risk, seen in the wars he faced on all sides, 2 Samuel 8:1-13:

A. He fought the Philistines to his west (2 Samuel 8:1b).

B. He fought the Moabites and Ammonites to his east (2 Samuel 8:2a, 12).

C. He fought the Arameans (KJV Syrians) up north (2 Sam. 8:3, 5; R. S. B., KJV, 1978, ftns to 2 Sam. 8:3; 8:5).

D. He fought the Amalekites and Edomites to his south (2 Sam. 8:12-13; Ibid., Ryrie, ftn. to 2 Sam. 8:13).

II. However, since David heeded God's will for his life, God saved him in all of his wars, 2 Samuel 8:1-13:

A. 2 Samuel 8 records God's work to start to fulfill His 2 Samuel 7 Covenant because David was functioning in God's will as Israel's king and he was obeying God in that role, Ibid., Ryrie, ftn. to 2 Samuel 8:1.

1. The events of 2 Samuel 8 occurred after God promised the 2 Samuel 7 Davidic Covenant blessings: the words "after this" in 2 Samuel 8:1a KJV translate the Hebrew expression 'ahare-ken, and it means "afterwards." (Kittel, Bib. Heb., p. 468; B. D. B., A Heb. and Eng. Lex. of the O. T., p. 29-30, 485-487.

2. Thus, as David met God's 2 Samuel 7 conditions for blessing, God helped him in all his 2 Samuel 8 wars:

a. 2 Samuel 8:15 KJV claims that David in his office administered "judgment and justice," mishpat vusedaqah in Hebrew, meaning "justice and righteousness," Ibid., Kittel, p. 468; Ibid., B. D. B., p. 842.

b. This was what Israel's kings were to do to enjoy God's blessing according to 2 Samuel 7:14-15 and Deut. 17:18-20, so God applied His promised Davidic Covenant and Deuteronomy 17:20b blessings seen in the repeat claims in 2 Samuel 8:6 and 14 KJV that "the Lord preserved David whithersoever he went."

c. [A better rendering of "preserved" here is "saved," the Hebrew verb being yasha' from which we get the noun yeshu'ah, "salvation" and also later "Jesus"! (Ibid., Kittel, p. 468, 469; Ibid., B. D. B., p. 446-447)]

B. The successes in David's career as king thus began to pile up as is reported in 2 Samuel 8:2-13 (as follows):

1. He captured the Philistines' "Metheg-ammah," lit. "the bridle of the mother " (Ibid., Ryrie, ftn. to 2 Sam. 8:1), a figurative reference to the dominant city Gath that controlled the towns around it (1 Chron. 18:1).

2. David executed two-thirds of the Moabite soldiers, and since he was ruling in "justice and righteousness," this was apparently a retributive action for some atrocity(s) against Israel by Moab. Yet, he left enough Moabites alive to serve tribute to Israel by taxation, helping to create rest for Israel, 2 Samuel 8:2.

3. When David trekked north to fight the Aramean king Hadadezer, he defeated him, capturing many chariots, horsemen and footmen, and he hamstrung their horses so they could not be used in war, but only for peaceful agricultural uses, adding to Israel's rest, 2 Samuel 8:3-4; Ibid., Ryrie, ftn. to 2 Sam. 8:4.

4. This conquest provoked Hadadezer's Aramean allies in Damascus to attack David from his rear, but God gave him the victory, 2 Sam. 8:5: David slew 22,000 Arameans, he left an occupational force in the area and the Arameans became David's servants, paying tribute to Israel to her benefit and rest, 2 Sam. 8:5-6.

5. David captured and returned home with shields of gold from Hadadezer's servants and much brass from cities in that Aramean king's realm, 2 Samuel 8:7-8.

6. This victory earned David so much respect from the Gentile king Toi of Hamath, another Aramean state 100 miles north of Damascus that had been in conflict against Hadadezer, that Toi sent his son Joram to greet David, and Joram gave David gold, silver and brass vessels, 2 Sam. 8:9-10; Ibid., ftn. to 2 Sam. 8:9.

7. All of this spoil together with additional spoil from his victories over Aramea, Moab, Ammon, Philistia and Amalek, David dedicated to the Lord in honor for his victories, 2 Samuel 8:11-12.

8. After fighting the Arameans, David defeated the Edomites (not Arameans ["Syrians" KJV]), killing 18,000 of them in the marshy plain south of the Dead Sea, 2 Sam. 8:13; B. K. C., O. T., p. 465. [The difference between the letter resh in "Aram" and the letter daleth in "Edom" is a tittle, a small appendage, and since six Hebrew manuscripts, the LXX and Syriac Peshitta read "Edom" in 2 Sam. 8:13 as does the 1 Chron. 18:12 account of the event, "Edom" is the better reading, A. R. Hurst, O. T. Trans. Prblms., 1960, p. 33]

9. David then put an occupational force in Edom, and the Edomites served him, 2 Samuel 8:14.

C. With the development of an empire for Israel, David needed to enlarge his government, so 2 Samuel 8:16-18 describes his various appointments: Joab was the military commander, Jehoshaphat the record keeper, Zadok and Ahimelech the chief priests, Seraiah the secretary, Benaiah, the leader of the elite Kerethite and Pelethite troops and David's sons were the advisers for his administration, Ibid., Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 465.

Lesson: In the 2 Samuel 7 Davidic Covenant, God had promised that David would rule, that his kingdom would be established forever and that God would bless him or his ruling heir after him if he heeded the Lord, so since all of these conditions were met in 2 Samuel 8, God saved David from failure as a king in every conflict he then faced.

Application: (1) May we obey the Lord by trusting in Jesus Christ as Savior for salvation, Acts 17:30; John 3:16. (2) May we then (a) FUNCTION in the ROLE GOD ASSIGNS us (b) and HEED SCRIPTURE IN it. (3) We will thus see God SAVE us from failure in every crisis and/or conflict we face in that divine assignment!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message . . . )

We apply this message to each of the issues of concern we mentioned in our sermon introduction (as follows):

(1) On the issues of concern re: international and national leadership downside risks, (a) we believers who are citizens at the grassroots level are not to be concerned, but heed Bible exposition: as we before learned, God reveals in Rev. 3:21 with Rev. 7:17 and Dan. 2:41-44 that between now and the rapture, we will live under divided strong-and-weak government forms where rulers in the government-economic-religious-complex will oppress, but that the social order will stay stable enough so we can fulfill God's personal assignments as we heed Bible exposition.

(b) For those of us who are concerned who are in government leadership roles, we must heed part "(2)" below.

(2) On the issue of the teachers' job crisis, or, by application, for those in any occupation, including leadership in government itself, James 4:13-17 directs that we follow the Lord's lead in the occupational assignment He gave us versus trying to form our own career path independent of His obvious guidance. As we then heed God's guidance, He makes us both will and perform His obvious will in life (Philippians 2:12-13), and we must rely on Him by faith to meet our income needs in the process (James 5:1-9 in the context). God wants us in the occupation He assigns us to work independently and industriously that we might protect our incomes and testimonies, 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12.

(3) On the issue of husbands succeeding in marriage, Proverbs 18:22 promises that when a man gets married, he obtains favor from the Lord. Thus blessed, Ephesians 5:25-33a then directs the husband to love his wife as he does his own body, nurturing and cherishing her, what every Christian married woman who has spoken to me about it claims will make her Ephesians 5:22-24, 33b duty to "submit" to her husband easy. The means to act this way comes by relying on the Holy Spirit, Galatians 5:16-23; Romans 8:3-4. Mutual fellowship between husbands and wives is essential for a good marriage, what occurs when both of them order their lives according to God's Word, 1 John 1:7.

May we trust in Christ for salvation. Then, may we stick to our God-assigned roles and heed God's Word in His spiritual power as we function IN those roles for GUARANTEED divine help and success there!