Specificity

2 Samuel 2:12-32

¹²Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.

¹³ 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.

¹⁴ And Abner said to Joab, “Let the young men arise and compete before us.” And Joab said, “Let them arise.”

¹⁵ Then they arose and passed over by number, twelve for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David.

¹⁶ 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-hazzurim, which is at Gibeon.

¹⁷ And the battle was very fierce that day. And Abner and the men of Israel were beaten before the servants of David.

¹⁸ And the three sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Now Asahel was as swift of foot as a wild gazelle.

¹⁹ And Asahel pursued Abner, and as he went, he turned neither to the right hand nor to the left from following Abner.

²⁰ Then Abner looked behind him and said, “Is it you, Asahel?” And he answered, “It is I.”

²¹ 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.

²² 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?”

²³ 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.

²⁴ 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.

²⁵ And the people of Benjamin gathered themselves together behind Abner and became one group and took their stand on the top of a hill.

²⁶ 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?”

²⁷ 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.”

²⁸ So Joab blew the trumpet, and all the men stopped and pursued Israel no more, nor did they fight anymore.

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.

One of the riches of my heritage lie in the stories of past generations and how they carved their lives out of the wilderness that is north western South Dakota. If you’ve ever been there you know what it’s like; desolate is the best word to describe it.  The farms are far and few between. The roads are largely dirt or gravel (although during my last trip back in April I noticed a lot more pavement), and the people are a kind of rugged that we don’t see in the industrialized east. As your drive through the flat, barren landscape, you rarely come across trees and grazing land is the norm. To me, it is the most beautiful place in the world. Why is something so desolate so beautiful to me? I think it is because I know the stories of the people who lived there. I know those folks by name and by legend even though I’ve never met most of them. I’ve seen their homes, many of which are now falling down or just marked by a few pieces of rusted out machinery. But their stories; those live on in my memory, shared with me by my Dad who knows well how to tell a great story. And I don’t think he embellished those tales. I think he just reported the facts with great detail and specificity. I believe every one of those stories is true because every time he tells those stories the details and the names are the same. (And we still laugh just as hard every time! Occasionally, I even get to hear a new story and they are just added to the pile of treasure.) Those are a true history of farm life in that part of the country. In those details the people live for me just as if they were alive still today.

Throughout the rest of the book of 2 Samuel, we will see that same sort of specificity. The author gives us great detail about the lives of the people and about the kingdom of Israel as she was led by her greatest hero, David. As we read chapter 2, we are met with details; name, places, and actions – all of which into the making of God’s people. Here we find specificity that point once again to the veracity of the Scriptures. Our Bible is filled with true stories of God’s people and when we read those stories, those characters live once again in our minds and in our hearts. They were real people dealing with real struggles and joy, sharing their existence with one another and with God.

With the stories in chapter 2 we see the beginnings of David carving out his position as God’s anointed king. It will take a few years and a few battles, but the outcome is certain, for God has ordained that David will rule. In today’s reading, we see the generals try and come to a conclusion to the conflict by sending only 24 men into battle. Remarkably, all 24 die. So the question is not settled. A battle ensues and men are killed. Ultimately, David’s side loses far fewer men and he wins this skirmish. But it will be a few years before all of the dust settles and he is anointed king over all of the land. As in any war, good men die and unnecessary loses are stacked on top of one another. But the specifics of the battles are important. They put God’s people in a time and in a place. They bring veracity to the story and put provable details on the table for all to see. This particular book of the Bible is filled with just such details. This is a history book. The stories are true and the people were real. God’s Word reports even the difficult stuff for us to ponder and learn from because those lives were important and worth knowing about. As you read through the rest of 2 Samuel, you will find detail and reality because that’s the stuff of live and God is all about being involved in our lives.

God is involved in the details of your life too. The people you meet, the jobs you hold, the children you raise, the friends you embrace; all of it is important to God and He wants to be involved in the specifics. And sharing those stories is vital if you share them with God in the center, for that is where He resides. Our heritage in Him is rich and the stories need to be shared for it is in the sharing that we all grow.