2 Samuel 4:1–7

When Saul’s son heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he lost heart, and all Israel was troubled. Now Saul’s son had two men who were captains of troops. The name of one was Baanah and the name of the other Rechab, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, of the children of Benjamin. (For Beeroth also was part of Benjamin, because the Beerothites fled to Gittaim and have been sojourners there until this day.)

Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a son who was lame in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel; and his nurse took him up and fled. And it happened, as she made haste to flee, that he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.

Then the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, set out and came at about the heat of the day to the house of Ishbosheth, who was lying on his bed at noon. And they came there, all the way into the house, as though to get wheat, and they stabbed him in the stomach. Then Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped. For when they came into the house, he was lying on his bed in his bedroom; then they struck him and killed him, beheaded him and took his head, and were all night escaping through the plain.

The death of Abner is troubling to Ishbosheth and all of Israel, not just because of the death of their captain, but because his mission was to make peace with David, and he came home in a box. This shows another reason behind David’s great mourning for Abner—to salvage the peace.

But despite David’s well-timed mourning, that peace is now fragile, and palace intrigue will make it even more so. Ishbosheth is killed for no apparent reason, which sounds like a line-of-succession assassination.

Scripture doesn’t waste words. Here, we read, in detail, how Ishbosheth’s assassins are, technically, Benjamites. This is for good reason—to minimize tribal rivalries. Benjamites killed one of their own.

Meanwhile, Mephibosheth’s nurse realizes that he might be next. So she scurries him off to safety, though she manages to further injure him in the process.

Today’s reading sounds like a series of train wrecks, but it’s actually a beautiful part of God’s glorious plan. It sets up David showing grace towards Mephibosheth, which keeps a promise he made to Jonathan.

So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem, for he ate continually at the king’s table. — 2 Samuel 9:13a

The Old Testament shows the grand sweep of history in a way that displays the hand of providence. Sometimes it directly states how God implemented His will.

But, more often, we just witness the pieces slowly coming together. Only in retrospect does the grand design become visible.

This is a lesson in how to view current events. Don’t rush to judgement.

It takes time for the patterns to emerge.

These weekday DEEPs are written by Mike Slay. The Saturday ones are written by Matt Richardson. To subscribe click here:  https://www.ailbe.org/resources/community

The weekly study guides, which include questions for discussion or meditation, can be downloaded here: https://www.ailbe.org/resources/itemlist/category/91-deep-studies

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.