Burning Bush Blogs
Equipping Men with Biblical Knowledge and Leadership Skills
Category: Personal Study
Thread: Game of Thrones
Post Topic: Battle for Jerusalem
Post in Thread: #13
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Scripture: 2 Samuel 5:6-10; I Chronicles 11:4-9
Key Verses:
2 Samuel 5:6-7
6 The king and his men marched to Jerusalem to attack the Jebusites, who lived there. The Jebusites said to David, “You will not get in here; even the blind and the lame can ward you off.” They thought, “David cannot get in here.” 7 Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion—which is the City of David.
Observations
Context
- Saul is dead, the civil war is over, Saul’s son Ish-Bosheth has been killed, and David anointed king over a united kingdom.
- The fortress of Jebus (which would become Jerusalem) was inhabited by the Jebusites. It sat in the territory of the tribe Benjamin, which had previously been under the house of Saul.
- Now that the tribes were united under his jurisdiction, David could march on Jerusalem, a strategic city near the border of Judah and Israel.
- Going back to the time of Joshua and the judges, the Israelites had never been able to wrestle control of the city away from the Jebusites.
The Invasion
- When the Jebusites saw David’s forces aligned against them, they hurled down insults from their walls.
- “We could post our lame and our blind on these walls, and they would repel you,” they taunted David.
- David’s plan – access the city via the water shafts that supplied the city from the Gihon spring.
- He offered to make the man who achieved this feat the commander of his forces.
- Naturally, the ever-bold and ambitious Joab took on the challenge, and successfully breached the city.
- David moved his capital and his home from Hebron to Jerusalem.
- It became known as the city of David.
This map of the tribes demonstrates how Jerusalem bordered Israel and Judah.
- Saul’s capital city of a united kingdom had been in Gibeah, just north of Jerusalem, in the territory of his home tribe of Benjamin.
- After Saul’s death, his son Ish-Bosheth ruled the 10 northern tribes of Israel from Mahanaim.
- David ruled Judah from Hebron. Jerusalem was situated on the border of Israel and Judah.
Interpretation
Setting
Jebus/Jerusalem was of such strategic importance because it was the highest and safest point around. With its natural springs, a protracted siege would be difficult. There were many natural tunnels and caves. A 45-foot shaft was discovered in the 1800s that might have been scaled by Joab, but most scholars believe it would have been too difficult. Joab likely found a way into the passageways the Jebusites used to access water from the cisterns.
Genre
Narrative description.
Author
The author is unknown, but they had access to the records of the kings and possessed a thorough knowledge of the life and times of Samuel and the events surrounding the first kings of Israel.
Takeaways
- King David chose wisely moving the capital to Jerusalem. Because he captured it from the Jebusites, it had not belonged to either the north or the south during the civil war. Making this neutral site his new home must have had a uniting effect.
- Also uniting – the Jebusites had never been defeated. Now the tribes had done it together.
- Joab was not about to let someone else claim his position as commander. How he breached the city, we don’t know. He might have snuck in at night and opened the gates, or he might have led a team through the passageways and surprised the enemies from within the walls.
- The haughty Jebusites were caught with their pants down, so to speak.
Imagine
Silence enveloped the tent. Joab couldn’t believe what he’d just heard from the king. “Wait, what did you say?”
“I want this city to fall,” David said. “Whatever it takes. Whoever it takes.”
Joab’s eyes narrowed. Did David want Beneniah to take over? “But I’m the commander in chief! I’ve remained loyal to you through everything. You can’t just offer that position to everyone!”
Beneniah grunted. “You call what you did to Abner loyal? You killed him in cold blood, after David struck a deal with him. You could have destroyed the entire peace agreement.”
“Abner killed my brother. I couldn’t let that stand. Besides, how do you know he wasn’t lying? Buying time to rebuild his army?”
Beneniah bristled. “One thing Abner was not, unlike you, was a liar!”
“Enough!” David stepped between them. “I said what I said. I’m the king. I offer what I want. Joab, you want to keep the job, then you find a way in.”
Joab had seen David like this before. When he arched his back with resolve, he was not a man to be trifled with. Many a Philistine had learned this the hard way, and a band of loyal warriors had formed around that fiery leader.
“And just how are we supposed to do that?” Abishai said. “The Jebusites are right. Even the blind and lame could fend us off from that fortress.”
Joab put a hand of restraint on his brother’s shoulder. “Relax, Abishai. David wouldn’t send us on a suicide mission.” Abishai gave Joab a surprised look. Joab calmed him with a hard stare. Now is not the time, my brother.
Joab turned back to David. “You have a plan, don’t you, my king?”
David’s eyes sparkled. “You forget, in my youth, I herded sheep nearby. We’d often trade with the Jebusites. I’ve been all over that city. Let me tell you about the water shaft.”
This was the dangerous warrior that Joab remembered. He’d been right to back down. Beneniah might be the mightiest warrior of them all, but Joab was craftier. He’d find that shaft first.
Correlation
- I Kings 2:5-6 – Before he dies, David instructs his son Solomon not to trust Joab, the commander of his forces. In fact, he tells Solomon to have Joab killed for his repeated treachery. This is carried out by Joab’s replacement, Beneniah, later in the chapter.
- Joab may have been heroic on this night in the water shaft, but it didn’t erase his past actions.
- Psalm 115:2-8 – The psalmist mocks other nations’ carved idols as having feet, but unable to walk, having eyes, but unable to see, and so forth.
- The author of this Psalm might not have been David, but surely he quoted it.
- The Jebusites’ taunts from the walls might have been a reference to this. The taunts were certainly slander toward the one true God.
- Matthew 21:14-15 – Jesus heals the blind and the lame inside the temple courts in Jerusalem.
- After David’s victory, tradition held that he was opposed to the lame and blind ever entering the temple grounds.
- The chief priests and officials became indignant at the ruckus of Jesus’ healing in the temple courts.
- To ponder: Were they mad because of this tradition?
Application
Generic Applications
- This is one small story, but it plays an important role in God’s massive plan for humanity through the holy city of Jerusalem.
- Melchizedek served as king and priest during the time of Abraham (prior to the Jebusites) in what would become Jerusalem. Biblical scholars refer to Melchizedek as an illustration of Christ’s role as priest and king.
- Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son Isaac on Mt. Moriah, one of the two high places of Jerusalem today.
- David liberated Jerusalem and declared it the city of David.
- Solomon built the first temple in Jerusalem. It was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, and later rebuilt on the same location.
- Jesus predicted the ultimate destruction of the temple before he died. His prophecy came true in 70AD.
- Jesus died just outside the city walls.
- He will return and rule from here one day.
- God carries out his plan over time in a way that we can’t always appreciate when we’re in the middle of it.
Personalize it
- The fortress of the Jebusites seemed impervious to attack. Centuries had passed without the Israelites mounting a serious threat. They would have scoffed at the idea of this location playing such an important role in the history of humanity. They scoffed at David when his army approached.
- But God had a plan, and was patient and faithful to execute that plan.
- Am I able to remain patient while waiting for God’s plan to unfold in my life? In my country? In our world? Even when others are scoffing?
- Identify an area or areas of life where our preferred timing and God’s timing seem to be out of sync. Take a few minutes to reflect on the reality that God sees the beginning to the end of time. Talk to him about issue(s) where his intervention is sought. Remember God is at work in ways that we see and notice and ways that we don’t. (Note – this suggestion was copied from: Accounseling.org post on wise council )
Bible study methodology adapted from Searching the Scriptures with permission from Tyndale House:
Swindoll, Charles, Searching the Scriptures. Tyndale House Publishers, 2016.
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