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Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Monday, 18 August 2025:
2 Samuel 4:1 — When Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, heard that Abner had died at Hebron, his courage failed, and all Israel was dismayed.
When we partner with the ungodly, we set ourselves up for pain and destruction.
The death of Abner, the powerful general who had upheld Ish-bosheth’s claim to the throne, left Saul’s son terrified and vulnerable. Without Abner’s strength, Ish-bosheth realized that his reign had no firm foundation. His fear mirrors the reality that leadership built on human alliances rather than on the Lord is unstable and short-lived. Psalm 127:1 reminds us, “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” Ish-bosheth’s courage failed because his hope was not rooted in God’s promise, but in the arm of flesh. This stands in sharp contrast to David, who, even though he often struggled, had learned to strengthen himself in the Lord (1 Samuel 30:6).
2 Samuel 4:2-3 — Now Saul’s son had two men who were captains of raiding bands; the name of the one was Baanah, and the name of the other Rechab, sons of Rimmon a man of Benjamin from Beeroth (for Beeroth also is counted part of Benjamin; the Beerothites fled to Gittaim and have been sojourners there to this day).
The narrative introduces Baanah and Rechab, captains of bands under Ish-bosheth. Their background is detailed to show their outsider-like status even within their own tribe. They were Benjaminites, but their town had fled and was dwelling elsewhere. This detail underscores how fragile Ish-bosheth’s support system had become — he was surrounded by men who lacked rootedness and loyalty. Leadership in exile without firm identity often breeds instability, and these men would soon reveal opportunistic hearts rather than true allegiance.
2 Samuel 4:4 — Jonathan, the son of Saul, had a son who was crippled 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 as she fled in her haste, he fell and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth.
The narrator inserts this note about Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s son, as a foreshadowing. Though Ish-bosheth is the current rival to David, Jonathan’s line still continues through Mephibosheth, albeit in weakness. This picture of a crippled heir in hiding highlights both the fragility of Saul’s dynasty and the sovereign hand of God at work. God’s promises would not be carried forward through human strength or noble lineage but through His chosen king, David. Yet, in due time, David’s kindness to Mephibosheth (2 Samuel 9) would stand as a beautiful testimony of covenant faithfulness.
2 Samuel 4:5-7 — Now the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, set out, and about the heat of the day they came to the house of Ish-bosheth, as he was taking his noonday rest. And they came into the midst of the house as if to get wheat, and they stabbed him in the stomach. Then Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped. When they came into the house, as he lay on his bed in his bedroom, they struck him and put him to death and beheaded him. They took his head and went by the way of the Arabah all night.
Rechab and Baanah murdered Ish-bosheth in cold blood while he rested, pretending to come on ordinary business. Their deceitful treachery resembles the schemes of the wicked described in Psalm 36:3–4: “The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit; he has ceased to act wisely and do good. He plots trouble while on his bed; he sets himself in a way that is not good.” Their opportunism was born out of self-interest, not loyalty to David nor faith in God. They thought David would reward them, just as the Amalekite thought in 2 Samuel 1. But once again, David would show his refusal to advance his kingdom through bloodshed or assassination.
2 Samuel 4:8 — And they brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron. And they said to the king, “Here is the head of Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life. The Lord has avenged my lord the king this day on Saul and on his offspring.”
Rechab and Baanah cloak their wicked deed in religious language. They credit their treachery to the Lord, claiming that God has avenged David through their act. This is a gross misuse of God’s name to justify personal sin, much like people throughout history who have invoked divine authority to excuse their violence or ambition. Their false reasoning reveals that they neither understood David’s heart nor God’s ways. The Lord does avenge, but He does so in His time and through His chosen means, not through deception and murder. Romans 12:19 teaches us, “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God.” It is a great sin indeed to claim divine warrant for something God has not commissioned. May we never claim the Lord’s will for our actions except when it is clearly revealed in Scripture.
“Matthew Henry warns us about those who ‘under color of religion, murder princes, break solemn contracts, lay countries waste, hate their brethren, and cast them out.’ The murderers of Ish-bosheth used the pretense of service to the king to do great evil. Let us not use the pretense of service to Christ to justify acts of evil, thinking that good ends justify evil means.” (Ligonier Ministries)
This same blindness and distortion of invoking God’s name while standing under His wrath in prideful, presumptuous sin appears throughout Scripture. When Israel worshiped the golden calf in Exodus 32, they declared a feast “to the LORD” while bowing to an idol, imagining they were honoring God even as His anger burned against them. Saul, in 1 Samuel 15, claimed to have spared the best of Amalek’s flocks “to sacrifice to the LORD,” but Samuel rebuked him, declaring that obedience is better than sacrifice, and Saul’s kingdom was torn away. In Amos 5, God denounced Israel’s festivals, offerings, and songs, because though they celebrated in His name, they had forsaken justice and righteousness. These examples reveal the danger of celebrating God while actually defaming Him, mistaking fleeting gains and apparent successes for divine approval, when in reality they are building a house of cards destined to collapse under His judgment.
In contrast, what looks like failure in the eyes of the world is often the very soil where God plants eternal victory. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers and unjustly imprisoned in Egypt, yet through those apparent defeats, God was positioning him to save nations from famine and preserve the covenant line (Genesis 50:20). Job sat in ashes, stripped of wealth, children, and health, yet in his suffering he encountered God more deeply and was restored with greater blessing, his faith purified like gold (Job 42). The apostles, beaten, imprisoned, and despised, rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name of Christ (Acts 5:41), knowing that the trials of this world are producing “an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17). The cross stands as the ultimate paradox — what appeared as Christ’s shameful defeat was in truth His triumph over sin and death, vindicated by the resurrection.
The difference lies in whether a person lives for personal temporal reward or eternal glory of God. Paul warned that if Christ has not been raised, our faith is futile and we are of all people most to be pitied (1 Corinthians 15:19). Yet because Christ has been raised, those who live with eternity in view already taste victory in the present, even if their lives seem weak, foolish, or failing to the world. For those who boast of their success while their hearts are far from God, the end is destruction. But for those who share in the sufferings of Christ, even apparent loss is turned into eternal gain. To live now in the light of eternity is to walk in true victory, not deceived by temporary prosperity or discouraged by temporary affliction, but confident that resurrection life defines both the present and the future.
Today, many Christians live in comfortable sin, proclaiming their gratitude for God’s grace and blessings, failing to recognize all they are missing while they quench, grieve, and walk out of step with the Spirit, all the while defaming God’s holy Name. While it is always right to praise God and give Him thanks for His mercy and grace, don’t mistake His forgiveness and patience for His approval, and don’t assume what feels like success to you is His reward or what feels like failure to you is His disapproval. God is never ok with your sins, which only rob you of His best, and He doesn’t validate “good” things received the wrong way, so don’t put His name on it. Search your heart and life, repent for any sin which remains, and seek His heart and His will in your life wholeheartedly, regardless of the apparent outcomes. Keep an eternal perspective – If obedience leads you to the cross and your death (which it will), press into it with the joy of glorifying Him while you look forward to your eternal reward.
2 Samuel 4:9-11 — But David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, “As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life out of every adversity, when one told me, ‘Behold, Saul is dead,’ and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and killed him at Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news. How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house on his bed, shall I now require his blood at your hand and destroy you from the earth?”
David rejects their reasoning immediately and declares that his life has always been preserved by the Lord, not by the treachery of men. This is one of David’s clearest confessions of faith: “the Lord…has redeemed my life out of every adversity.” David reminds them of the Amalekite who thought he would be rewarded for Saul’s death, only to be executed. Now, Rechab and Baanah have done worse — they murdered a defenseless man in his sleep. David’s response shows his commitment to justice, his unwillingness to advance by underhanded means, and his reliance upon God’s timing. David’s example challenges us to trust God to fulfill His promises without resorting to sinful shortcuts.
- Ecclesiastes 1:8 — All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
- Ecclesiastes 7:29 — See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.
- Matthew 6:27 — And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?
- Luke 17:33 — Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.
- Ecclesiastes 12:12 — My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh. The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.
- Matthew 11:28-30 — Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
You do not have to scheme, fight, or toil wearily and anxiously to receive the fullness of God’s joy and blessings in life – to be safe, satisfied, and secure. In fact, it is our self-reliance which robs us of the abundance of a life in Christ God would have for us, the soul-rest, peace, and joy which comes from trusting in Him and walking with Him. To live our own life is the lose (at least experientially) the life we have in Him. Don’t try to take shortcuts from the path God has ordained for you in His perfect Providence.
2 Samuel 4:12 – And David commanded his young men, and they killed them and cut off their hands and feet and hanged them beside the pool at Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth and buried it in the tomb of Abner at Hebron.
David swiftly executed judgment upon Rechab and Baanah, not out of vengeance but out of justice, making clear to all Israel that such treachery had no place in his kingdom. Their hands and feet, the instruments of their crime, were cut off as a visible sign of their wickedness. Hanging their bodies publicly warned against future acts of opportunistic betrayal. At the same time, David showed respect for Ish-bosheth by giving him burial in Abner’s tomb, underscoring again that the rise of his kingship would not be established by cruelty but by God’s providence.
2 Samuel 4:10-12 — …when one told me, ‘Behold, Saul is dead,’ and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and killed him at Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news. How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house on his bed, shall I not now require his blood at your hand and destroy you from the earth?” And David commanded his young men, and they killed them and cut off their hands and feet and hanged them beside the pool at Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth and buried it in the tomb of Abner at Hebron.
“What kind of king should rule in Israel? That is one of the pressing questions in 1 and 2 Samuel, and the answer comes through the contrast between David and Saul. The true king of Israel will not take the law of God into his own hands and obey it only insofar as he sees fit. Instead, the true king of Israel will obey the Lord’s commandments, trusting in God for victory (1 Sam. 13:8–15; 15:1–30; 17:1–54). The true king of Israel will not seize the throne by taking advantage of his predecessor in moments of weakness, but he will wait for the Lord to deliver it into his hands (chs. 24; 26). The true king of Israel will not look to necromancers for guidance but will attend to the lawful means of discerning God’s will (chs. 28; 30). The true king of Israel will honor his promise not to harm those whom he has lawfully sworn to protect (2 Sam. 3:26–39).
Today’s passage shows that the true king of Israel will pursue justice for those are killed unlawfully. We read in 2 Samuel 4 about the end of Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul whom Abner had made king over the northern tribes of Israel (2:8–11). The first thing to notice is how weak Saul’s descendants were at this point. Ish-bosheth lost his courage when he heard about the death of Abner, who was apparently the true power behind the son of Saul (4:1). The text also mentions Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan and grandson of Saul. He was crippled in his feet (v. 4). Essentially, no one was left to challenge David for the throne of Israel. All potential rivals were effectively powerless.
This made what Baanah and Rechab did to Ish-bosheth all the more cold-blooded. Saul’s former captains entered the home of Ish-bosheth while he was resting and murdered him, bringing his head to David (vv. 2–3, 5–8). Clearly, they thought that they would get a reward from David for killing his enemy (v. 8). However, these foolish men did not understand that David did not see Saul’s house as his enemy. Moreover, Ish-bosheth had done nothing worthy of death. So David repaid their murder with capital punishment, which is the penalty required by the Mosaic law (vv. 9–12; Gen. 9:6; Num. 35:31).” (Ligonier Ministries)
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 18 August 2025: Trust God to accomplish His promises without resorting to manipulation, deceit, or shortcuts – relax in Christ. Today, resist the temptation to justify sin under the banner of “God’s will” or self-preservation. Instead, walk uprightly, remembering that “the Lord has redeemed [your] life out of every adversity.”
Pray: “Lord God, keep me from the spirit of Rechab and Baanah, who twisted Your name to justify their sin. Guard me from ever using deception or compromise to secure what I think I need. Help me to trust You fully, to wait on Your timing, and to act with integrity in every circumstance. Teach me to honor You in both the waiting and the receiving, and may my life point others to Your faithfulness. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 