If you would, please turn in your Bibles to 2 Samuel, chapter 2. And in just a moment, we'll read the entirety of chapter 2. So, we're going to start out with a little bit of history this morning. So, for those of you who love history, you're welcome. And for those of you who hate it, try to stay away. So the Battle of New Orleans. The Battle of New Orleans took place on January 8th in 1815 at the end of the War of 1812 between America and Great Britain. And this battle was part of a larger British campaign to retake several key regions in the southern continental US. And in this particular battle, the British had the advantage in numbers, in equipment, and even in training. The Americans were at a distinct disadvantage in this battle. And yet, the battle ended up being a resounding victory for the American army. They had around 70 casualties altogether, while the British suffered over 2,000, including the deaths of their top two leaders. It was a very lopsided battle and a major battle. So the Americans did fight well, but they were also aided by some tactical errors by the Brits. And the end of this battle, it was a huge major US win. But there was something interesting about this battle, the Battle of New Orleans. The Treaty of Ghent declaring peace had been signed 15 days before this battle took place in December of 1814. And because of the time that it took to cross the Atlantic back and forth from America to Europe, it took until February for the news of the treaty that had been signed to reach the U.S. and officially take effect. So, the war had already been won before the battle even began. And yet these troops had no idea, these generals had no idea, so they fought on. Now, as believers, as Christians, we are in a spiritual war while living in this life. Like the American troops, we're fighting when victory and peace have already actually been won. But unlike the American troops, we have already been told the outcome of the war that we are in. And it will be a while before the war ceases, but the victory has already been secured for us by Jesus Christ. And that has necessary implications for how we are to fight in our walks of faith. So because Christ has conquered, you must fight patiently and with hope. So with that, let's read 2 Samuel chapter two, the whole chapter. So after this, David inquired of the Lord, shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah? And the Lord said to him, go up. David said, To which shall I go up? And he said, To Hebron. So David went up there, and his two wives also, Ahanom of Jezreel, and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. And David brought up his men who were with him, every one with his household, and they lived in the towns of Hebron. And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. When they told David it was the men of Jebesh Gilead who buried Saul, David sent messengers to the men of Jebesh Gilead and said to them, May you be blessed by the Lord, because you showed this loyalty to Saul your Lord and buried him. Now may the Lord show steadfast love and faithfulness to you, and I will do good to you because you have done this thing. Now therefore, let your hands be strong and be valiant, for Saul your Lord is dead. And the house of Judah has anointed me king over them. But Abner, the son of Ner, commander of Saul's army, took Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahanaim. And he made him king over Gilead, and the Asherites, and Israel, and Ephraim, and Benjamin, and all Israel. Ishbosheth, Saul's son, was forty years old when he began to reign over Saul, and he reigned two years. But the house of Judah followed David. And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months. Abner the son of Ner and the servants of Ishbosheth the son of Saul went out for Mahanaim to Gibeon. And Joab the son of Zeruiah and the servants of David went out and met them at the pool of Gibeon. And they sat down the one on the one side of the pool and the other on the other side of the pool. And Abner said to Joab, let the young men arise and compete before us. And Joab said, let them arise. Then they arose and passed over by number, 12 for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, and 12 of the servants of David. And each caught his opponent by the head and thrust his sword in his opponent's side, so they fell down together. Therefore, that place was called Helkath Hazarim, which is at Gibeon. And the battle was very fierce that day. And Abner and the men of Israel were beaten before the servants of David. And the three sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Now Asahel was swift afoot as a wild gazelle. And Asahel pursued Abner. And as he went, he turned either to the right hand or to the left from following Abner. Then Abner looked behind him and said, is it you, Asahel? And he answered, it is I. Abner said to him, turn aside to your right hand or to your left and seize one of the young men and take his spoil. But Asahel would not turn aside from following him. And Abner said again to Asahel, turn aside from following me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How then could I lift up my face to your brother Joab? But he refused to turn aside. Therefore Abner struck him in the stomach with the butt of his spear, so that the spear came out at his back, and he fell there and died where he was. And all who came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died stood still. But Joab and Abishai pursued Abner. And as the sun was going down, they came to the hill of Ammah, which lies before Giah, on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon. And the people of Benjamin gathered themselves together behind Abner and became one group and took their stand on the top of a hill. Then Abner called to Joab, Shall the sword devour forever? Do you not know that the end will be bitter? How long will it be before you tell your people to turn from the pursuit of their brothers? And Joab said, As God lives, if you had not spoken, surely the men would not have given up the pursuit of their brothers until the morning. So Joab blew the trumpet, and all the men stopped and pursued Israel no more, nor did they fight anymore. And Abner and his men went all that night through the Ereba. They crossed the Jordan, and marching the whole morning they came to Mahanaim. 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. But the servants of David had struck down of Benjamin three hundred and sixty of Abner's men. 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." So we will look at two points. First point is two kings, looking at verses 1 through 11. Now in order to understand this passage, we need to remember the surrounding context of what is going on. So Israel and the Philistines have fought a massive battle in the Jezreel Valley in northern Israel. And the Philistines had absolutely crushed the Israelite army, forcing Saul and his men to retreat up to the Mount of Gilboa for a final stand. And there on the top of the mountain, Saul and his sons fell in battle. So Israel lost the battle and they lost a lot of territory as a result. But more importantly than that, that their king was dead. And this left a power vacuum in Israel, which was suddenly without a king and under the constant threat of the Philistine raiders. So really it was a very dark moment in Israel's history. So with Saul dead, the biggest roadblock for David to take the throne was removed. So maybe now that Saul is dead, it's time for David to ascend the throne and become king. But David's location, as we look at this chapter, was a problem. He could not rule Israel from the city of Ziklag. And he really couldn't stay there at all because the city had been burned and destroyed by the Amalekites' recent raid. So David knew that before he could do anything, he had to go up into Judah. But David, you see, didn't just run up. He didn't run in on his own and declare himself king. Instead, he sought the will of God on what he should do next and where he should go next. And so we see in David a real patience and humility in his decision making here. He had clearly learned to wait on the Lord and not to take matters into his own hands. And while the text doesn't tell us, we can only assume that David was overjoyed to be going back home to Judah. This time, this period of hiding under the Philistines protection was finally over and he could go back home. And God's choice of Hebron, this was a perfect choice for David to go and live in that city. Hebron was the largest and the most prosperous city in Judah and possibly in all of Israel at that time. Hebron was a Calebite city and it had ties to the patriarchs of Genesis, so there was a rich history with it as well. David's wives, Ahinoam and Abigail, were both from the smaller towns around Hebron. It was also a Levitical city for the priests, and it was a city of refuge. It wore many hats. And a city of refuge is a town that's set apart by God where a man who accidentally kills someone can go and flee to and live. So in the ancient world, the normal practice was that if someone was killed, a relative of that dead would become the avenger of blood. Now, the Avenger of Blood would go and track down and avenge the death of their relative by putting the murderer to death. That was a normal way to establish justice. But the cities of refuge allowed for those who had been involved in involuntary manslaughter, meaning an accident, these people could run there, get a trial, and if they're proven innocent, live in safety from the Avenger of Blood in that city. And it's interesting that David is sent to Hebron, a city of refuge. Many likely would have thought or accused David of having some kind of hand in Saul's death. But by going to a city of refuge, there appears to be a message involved that David had no part in Saul's death. But beyond that, Hebron was the perfect place for David to go and live in Judah. And it was there in Hebron that David was anointed king over all of Judah. And notice that he didn't march in and declare himself king. In verse 4, it makes it very clear that the men of Judah came to David and made this decision on their own. And did you notice how brief the description of this kingly ceremony was? There's no big coronation ceremony, there's not theatrical things, there's no debate. They took David, they anointed him king, and it was done. Judah knew what God had said about David, and that was that he was clearly the rightful king. So they said, yep, you're the guy. They crowned him. That was that. Moving on very quick. And we see that once David is crowned, he wasted no time getting down to business either. He immediately sends word to the men of Jebesh Gilead. Now, this city, the men of this city, they had shown great honor to Saul and his sons through their brave actions. You remember from last sermon, they retrieved the bodies of Saul and his sons from the Philistines and gave them an honorable burial. And this was not an easy task for them to accomplish. They had to cross the Jordan River in an age before bridges or powered boats. Then they had to go through enemy territory to a Philistine stronghold city in order to get these bodies. But they managed to get the bodies of Israel's fallen royal family and carry them all the way back under cover of night across the Jordan to their city. It really was quite a feat that the men of Jabesh pulled off and they all did it out of loyalty to Saul and to his household. If you remember way back in 1 Samuel, Saul had been the one who had once rescued this city from defeat and slavery at the hand of the Ammonites. Saul's first official battle as Israel's leader was to rescue Jabesh. And they clearly never forgot that mercy from Saul. And so we see in their character that they're clearly honorable and loyal men. And so we shouldn't find it very surprising then that David reaches out to them right away. David wanted to bless them for the honor shown to Saul and his sons, and he called for God's blessing on the men of Jebesh. They had shown loyalty, is what the ESV says, and in the Hebrew it's literally chesed. They had shown chesed to Saul. Now chesed can also be translated as covenant faithfulness or steadfast love. It's something that God shows to his people perfectly. And it's one of the highest virtues in the Old Testament. And that is a type of love that the men of Jebesh displayed for Saul and his line. So now David asked that Yahweh would show them chesed and reward them. And then David told them that he too would do good for the people of Jebesh to repay them for their deeds. So at this point, Many who had been servants of Saul would likely have feared David. Saul saw David as an enemy and in any normal worldly situation, anyone serving Saul would have been an automatic enemy to David. But that's not how things worked for a godly king among his brothers in the land of Israel. So not only was David not an enemy to the men of Jebesh, but he wanted to bless them and he wanted to be friends with them. David wanted to ally himself with Jebesh and assure them of his goodwill towards them. In his words to Jebesh, he was being wise and godly, and he affirmed that which was good in accordance with scripture. So he honored his brothers and he sought to make them allies through these peaceful means. Jebesh was a loyal and a godly town who had lost their king. So now was the time to follow David as their new king. But it turns out as we move on in the text, that David was not the only option in Israel, at least not for long. Abner, Saul's uncle, most trusted advisor, he took Saul's remaining son, Ish-bosheth, and made him king. At Mahanaim and Gilead, Ish-bosheth began to reign and he ruled for two years, according to the text. Now, there may have been some kind of progression to his reign and over what territories he controlled. He seems to have started with a very limited reach but ended up ruling over all of Israel except for Judah. On the other hand, it could be that he only claimed to rule over all these territories and that his actual control was very limited. And it's difficult to be certain about how much power Ishvosheth really had. Additionally, the duration of his reign, it doesn't match up with David's. You may have noticed that as we read through. Ishbosheth only reigned for two years, while David reigned for seven in Hebron. And there are a lot of theories about this disparity, but nearly all agree that his two years align with David's sixth and seventh years in Hebron, his final years there. So, then there's this gap. What happened for the five years between the Battle of Gilboa and Ishbosheth starting his reign? And there are two, well, there are a lot of answers, but there are two that I think are very likely. So, the first is that it took time for things to calm down after the Battle of Gilboa. Abner would have been the de facto leader and he was trying to stabilize Israel, trying to gather up strength in order to set up Ishbosheth as king. So after five years of regaining strength and rebuilding, Ishbosheth was able to be declared king. And that's a very possible option. The second option is that the two years only included the time when Ishbosheth was fully controlling all of northern Israel minus Judah. So, in that option, he's declared king right away at the Battle of Gilboa, but it took time to build up strength and to gather the other tribes under his rule. So then, once the kingdom is whole, the timer started. And so, both of those options are very possible, but really we don't know. I like the first one more, but again, it doesn't change the meaning of our text and it doesn't change our application any. So, pick whatever one of those two you like. So, the big picture. What does this section mean in the big picture overview of 1st and 2nd Samuel? Well, David, the rightful anointed king, has finally been made king over Judah. But if you remember, the promise of God was not merely to reign over Judah, but over all of Israel. So David knew this, but he remained patient, leaving his situation to the Lord. Meanwhile, Abner was loyal to Saul but also resisting God's anointed king from taking the throne over all Israel. Now we have to give Abner some credit here because he doesn't try to take the throne himself when he very well could have. But at the same time, he carried on the same opposition to David that Saul had. And in all this, we see a partial fulfillment of God's promises and David's confidence that God would bring about the rest of the fulfillment and that David would soon rule over all of Israel. So, that's the meaning in 1 and 2 Samuel. What is the meaning of this section for us today? So, we can look at the examples in this passage and we can mimic the good examples and we can guard against the bad. We need to be patient and wait on the Lord in our lives just as David did. We need to be loyal like the men of Jabesh and even to an extent like Abner. We need to affirm and encourage that which is worthy of praise, that which is good. And we need to make sure that we're not resisting the will of the Lord or grieving the spirit like Abner was. That is all true. But there's also a picture of the already not yet principle in this passage. David's kingdom was established, but it was not yet full. It was a real reign, and yet there was still opposition while David waited for the complete picture of his full reign. And this is very much where we see the church and the kingdom of God now. Christ's reign over his church has already started. His kingdom has come, we live as members in his kingdom, even while we're on this earth, we live as saints in the already of the kingdom of God. And yet we're not yet living in the completed kingdom. We still live in a fallen world surrounded by spiritual warfare. There's also a false king running around, roaming about, seeking the destruction of the church. Now, Satan has already been defeated and will soon be judged finally. But for now, he attacks the church. You and I live in the established kingdom of Jesus Christ, but we are not yet to the consummated kingdom. Therefore, there is still conflict with the kingdom of darkness, at least until Jesus returns and judges the world, because only then will there be perfect peace and his reign consummated fully in the new heavens and the new earth. And that is what we are looking forward to and waiting on When there will be no conflict, but for now there is And so we move on to point to two armies verse 12 and on So as we move on to verse 12 and following we see the expected outcomes of two rival Kings claiming control in Israel Abner leading ishposheth army made a move west across the Jordan toward the city of Gibeon and And what exactly his purpose was in going to Gideon, we're really not sure. But it was clearly a challenge to David and his kingdom. So some ideas, it's possible that taking Gibeon would allow Ish-Pesheth to block David from going north and align with any other Israelite tribes. There's also a major trade route that runs north to south through the center of Israel. And so through Gibeon, maybe they could conquer and control that trade route, maybe. But nonetheless, Joab, David's chief general and nephew, led the army of Judah out to counter Abner's move. And what is interesting is that neither David nor Ishbosheth are present for this battle, for this fight. They're never mentioned as being there. The main actors instead switch over to their two generals, Joab and Abner. And so they gathered on either side of this large pool at Gibeon, which was their water reservoir most likely, and they sat there squaring one another up, waiting to see what was going to happen. And so it's just kind of this silent gridlock. And in the end, it's Abner who breaks the silence and offers a suggestion. Something very unusual in Israel. He proposed representative combat to decide who would win the day. And so, 12 men from each side, as a symbol for the 12 tribes of Israel, they go out to fight. And this is very symbolic because whoever won this battle would supposedly control the 12 tribes of Israel and have the throne. But if you notice as we read through, this fight ended up deciding absolutely nothing. The 24 men who went out to fight, they all grabbed each other by the head with one hand and with their other hand they stabbed each other and they all fell down dead. And so the result is 24 men dead. It was a fruitless event that settled nothing and just left more dead. And so tragic was this fight that they renamed the whole area Health Calf, Hazareen, which means Field of Sword Edges or Field of Hostilities. And so with this first disastrous phase of the battle done, deciding nothing, they moved on to phase two. And phase two was an all-out war. Verse 17 tells us that the battle was very fierce. But unlike the representative combat, the results of this battle were very quickly decisive. Abner and his men, they were routed and they were forced to run for their lives. And so then we move into the third phase of the battle, which was Abner's retreat. And this is where we're introduced to yet another warrior named Asahel. He was the youngest of these three brothers, Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. He was already a renowned warrior and he was known most of all for his incredible speed The speedy Asahel pursued Abner as Abner fled, doggedly refusing to abandon this chase. And we see Abner twice warn Asahel to stop pursuing him. Abner was a dangerous warrior and he was far beyond Asahel's skill or experience. But it's clear also that we see Abner didn't want to kill Asahel here. He knew the problem that would be created by killing Asahel, Joab's brother. He knew it could ruin any potential chances of reconciliation with Joab later, should the kingdom somehow be reunited. But Asahel, intent on killing or capturing Abner probably for the fame, refused to stop this chase. So Asahel, he was a great warrior, but he was not prepared to take on the might of Abner, the man he was chasing. So, with one vicious backswing of Abner's spear and Asahel's forward momentum, he was killed instantly. Now, whether Abner meant to kill him or knock him down, we're not really sure, but the result is very clear. Asahel died right there and Abner kept fleeing. So, Joab and Abishai, Asahel's brothers, kept the pursuit going, no doubt intent on revenge for their brother. But as Joab and his men reached the hill of Amal, the fourth phase of this battle began. On the top of this hill, Abner and his men had regrouped, reorganized, and had now regained the tactical advantage, the high ground. So, Joab and Abishai, they may have had more men with them, they may have won the first part of the day, but fighting uphill was going to be costly, and it was going to be bloody. And so, in verse 26, Abner called to Joab, and the words in verse 26 are, shall the sword devour forever? Do you not know that the end will be bitter? How long will it be before you tell your people to turn from the pursuit of their brothers? Abner's request used two elements to convince Joab to call off this attack. First, any further fighting was going to be brutal and bloody. Joab likely would have taken the hill, but it would have cost a lot of lives. And if they didn't stop, things may have ended just like that initial battle of 24 men with everyone dying. And second, Abner's words were a reminder that this battle was not between Israel and another nation. This fight was between Israelite brothers. Abner, the Benjaminite, also remembered something from Israel's recent history. In Judges 21, a civil war had broken out between Benjamin and the rest of Israel, and it had led to the tribe of Benjamin being nearly completely wiped out. And after that battle, Israel had almost immediately regretted how far that battle went, and then had to go through very odd and extraordinary lengths to try to save that whole tribe from destruction. And so, I think Abner, he wasn't just worried about dying or losing that battle, he was also scared that the ferocity of this fight might spread and lead to the destruction of his tribe and kinsmen. So, whether Joab understood this historical reference or not, he agreed that continuing this battle was not worth it. But he did get one last dig in at Abner in their exchange. He said in verse 27, as God lives, if you had not spoken, surely the men would not have given up the pursuit of their brothers. Now, just so you know, this was not Joab saying, hey, great idea, Abner. This was him saying that Abner cried uncle first. Abner asked for the peace, not him. He wanted everybody to know that it was Abner who was asking for mercy, not Joab. But at the same time, I'm sure he saw the importance of preserving the lives of his brothers and the cost that this would inflict if he was to press on in the battle. And so with a temporary peace laid down, a truce, both sides retired from the battle. And we see with the quickness of Abner's retreat, he clearly didn't trust or believe that this peace was going to hold for long. They traveled through the night across the Jordan, which I would not want to afford the Jordan at night, and they went all the way back home. Joab and his men, they return across the field of battle. They count the losses and they bury the dead. And the results of this first battle between the servants of Ishbosheth and the servants of David was a resounding victory for David. So counting Asahel and the 12 men who died in the initial fight, Joab's army only lost 20 men. Meanwhile, Abner's army lost 360 men in that fight. So once Joab's crew had counted the losses, they too marched all the way back home that night to Hebron, which was not a short distance. And it appears that both Abner and Joab were wary of a surprise attack on the road from the other. With both armies back at their bases, this first battle between the servants of Saul and the servants of Ish-bosheth was over. So we're going to ask the same question we asked in the first point. How does this battle fit into the larger picture of the book of Samuel? Well, it's really very similar to what we said at the end of the first point. Really, this is just the next step in the process. In verses 1 through 11, we saw the establishment of two rival kingdoms making a conflict inevitable. And now we see the conflict, the war, break out officially, but with one clear victor. David has finally come to the throne and is reigning, though it is only over Judah. But as David remained patient, leaving everything to the Lord, we see a hint at what is to come through this battle. There may be an opposing king and an opposing army and kingdom, but that army will not win. And there are many more battles to come where there would be many more losses and many more difficulties. But in this battle we see clearly that David is Israel's rightful anointed king, not Ish-bosheth. David was on his way to the full throne, but it was going to take a lot and time to get there. And so the meaning for us is actually more similar than you might expect. We've already talked about this already and not yet principle in this passage. But if we're to understand the meaning of a text like this, we need to talk about it just a little bit more. And I think the meaning comes to us in two different ways. First of all, David is the king, the true king, who points to Jesus Christ and his kingdom. His reign and kingdom have already been established. The work of Christ at the cross was the complete conquest and victory over sin, death, Satan, and hell. He has already won the victory. Satan and the world have already been defeated, though they are allowed to fight on for a time. Jesus's reign is complete now, but it is not full yet in the sense that he is not judged Satan in the world. He is waiting to judge until he is brought in the fullness of his church. So, in that sense, Jesus's reign is still awaiting this final consummation. The kingdom is in a sense incomplete now while we're waiting on this day of the Lord and the glory of the new heavens and the new earth. And the work to bring it all about, though, has already been accomplished. His control and his sovereignty now are in no way limited. But in this grand plan of time and redemption, he has not yet finalized his kingdom. So in this way, David's partial reign at Hebron provides a good picture of the church age, where the promise has been partially fulfilled and the remaining portion of the promise is guaranteed, though not yet reality. So that's the first way we can apply meaning here. Second, as a result of what was just said about the kingdom of God and where we are at in that timeline, we are living in this already not yet church age, and we need to be aware of that. Christians are in a category that theologians refer to as the church militant. We are here, we are fighting in the battle which has already been won and declared as won. But looking around, that can be hard to understand and believe sometimes. Externally, we're opposed by the world and the culture and even our own hearts in some ways at every turn. Internally, we continually have to fight against the sin in us and turn from it. We are engaged in this spiritual battle all the time. And so this combination of internal and external threats makes it hard to accept sometimes that this victory has already been won. So how can that be? How can we learn to rest in Christ's victory even while we fight and sometimes maybe even feel defeated? The answer is the preaching of the gospel. You see, we don't need the gospel just once and then we're all set. God has set aside one day in seven to gather with your brothers and sisters and to hear the preached word of God. And he did that because we need constant, continual reminders of what Jesus has accomplished and what it means to rest in him rather than in our own efforts. But we also need to preach the gospel to one another throughout the week. A key focus throughout the New Testament is that believers are people who are defined by encouraging and praying for one another with the truth. It is your duty and privilege to remind each other of who you are, where you are in the plan of redemption, and to apply the truths of the gospel in love. And lastly, you must preach the gospel to yourself every single day and throughout each day. The universal truth promised in the scripture is that Jesus has already won the battle for you. And that means that your job is not to go out and fight it and win it on your own. Your job is to believe and rest in the fact that Christ has conquered for you already. And there's a result of that knowledge and that hope. We must wait patiently with hope for the fullness of the kingdom to arrive. Some days it's going to be hard to understand. Some days it is hard to understand and believe that this battle will end. But it will end one day, because Jesus has already conquered, and he's the one who says, behold, I am coming soon. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, we thank you that you have won the battle for us already, that there is nothing we can do to undo our salvation. There is nothing we can do to mess up your plans. Your plans are perfect and good and complete. And though we wait for the final consummation, we know that you have already done everything necessary to make our salvation and our glorification complete. And so, Lord, we thank you and we praise you for that. We pray that you would give us great strength as we go through the battles in our lives with sin in the world. That we would not rest in ourselves, that we would not resort to gimmicks or cleverness, but that we would rest in the truths of the gospel, that they are life-giving and everything we need. Lord, I pray that we would rest wholly in those giving you praise all along the way. Lord, be with us this morning. In Jesus' name, Amen.