These are some assorted thoughts from reading the chapter:
When news reached Ishbosheth that Abner had been killed, Ishbosheth’s heart failed him.
This was because what he had been relying on as his source of strength was now gone.
This gives us a very good reminder – if what we rely on is not God, but something in this life, and we are rely on it to do something against the will of God, then our courage too will fail us, once what we rely on is taken away from us.
Now we see that Ishbosheth perhaps did not really fear God.
If Ishbosheth had feared God like his brother Jonathan had, then it would have been a simple matter to cede the throne to David. But why didn’t he?
It seems like the land of Israel is full of opportunists!
Previously we saw Abner acting extremely opportunistically, and in this chapter, we have another 2 chaps, Rechab and Baanah.
They were also extremely unwise.
In the previous chapter, we see that all the people and all Israel understood from David’s mourning over Abner that David had not intended to put Abner to death. They should have known that David did intend evil to befall anyone of Saul’s men or Saul’s household, yet somehow they will saw fit to kill Ishbosheth and present the head of Ishbosheth to David as a tribute.
Are we “opportunists” like these men?
Rechab and Baanah said to David: “The Lord has avenged my lord the king this day on Saul and on his offspring.”.
They used the name of the Lord to dress up the evil deed they had done as something which God endorsed.
Do we ever use the name of the Lord to accomplish our ulterior motives?
