The Battle of Gibeon
As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.
Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.
2 Samuel 2:29 – 32
29 And Abner and his men went all that night through the Arabah. They crossed the Jordan, and marching the whole morning, they came to Mahanaim.
30 Joab returned from the pursuit of Abner. And when he had gathered all the people together, there were missing from David’s servants nineteen men besides Asahel.
31 But the servants of David had struck down of Benjamin 360 of Abner’s men.
32 And they took up Asahel and buried him in the tomb of his father, which was at Bethlehem. And Joab and his men marched all night, and the day broke upon them at Hebron.
Two generals having fought and come to a truce, trudge back to their respective bases. One of the generals, Abner, was “limping home” due to a massive relative loss of soldiers. Compared to Joab’s forces, the loss was an 18:1 casualty rate.
For every man Joab lost, Abner lost 18.
No wonder Abner took to flight. He couldn’t stay in the fight with this type of attrition, so off he retreats, only to be defeated by Joab’s brother Asahel. Yes I know, the defeat was not immediate, but the seeds had been sown for Abner’s death as he plunged the spear into Asahel. It was just a matter of time.
For Joab, his turning from the fight is somewhat difficult for me to understand, since he had such a dominant situation. I understand the motivation for David’s army was high, especially after the killing of Asahel, but his men had been in the fight too long. Pulling back would provide a chance for his army to recover. It would also provide an opportunity to mourn his brothers death, provide him a time of burial, and a time for him to plan out the revenge brewing in his heart. Abner had to die!
This battle spoke of the eventuality of the nation becoming the united kingdom under King David, of a time when all 12 tribes would experience a golden age of ascendency for this nation.
The unifying of the nation would take years, for Ish boseth (read Abner) would not give up without a fight. Eventually it came down to a power hungry general, wanting more than the king would allow before this conflict would be resolved.
But I am getting ahead of myself. Abner went back to Manahaim, with Joab returning to Hebron. Both kings would soon enough hear of the results of this battle!
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