Power Struggles Series

Series: Israel’s 2nd King- David [#15]

POWER STRUGGLES

2 Samuel 2:12-13

Introduction:

Our title says a lot- Power struggles. It seems that in every area of life, there is a struggle for power happening. Just as we will see today, power struggles end up with everyone losing. As we studied last week, Saul’s son Ish-Bosheth became King of Israel minus the Tribe of Judah where David was the King for 7½ years.

2 Samuel 2:12-13

Power struggles happen when…

1. No one will budge.

Ish-Bosheth’s military leader Abner and David’s military leader Joab; and their men, met for peace talks. The place for this was at the pool of Gibeon, (which was a part of the Tribe of Benjamin). This was a location where there were more Saul supporters than David supporters. Instead of peace talks, Abner suggested that they pick 12 men each to fight each other. Every man stabbed their opponent and they all died. Next thing you know, there was an all-out war. David’s men won; but there was more bloodshed on the way.

Joab’s brother, (Asahel) and 1 of David’s nephews chased Abner. Abner was annoyed by this and he told Asahel to stop because he did not want to hurt him; but Asahel would not stop. This ended with Abner sticking his spear through Asahel and killing him. Joab and his brother Abishai promised revenged. In order for Israel to be united, there would have to be only 1 King. At this point, there was David who was chosen by God; and Ish-Bosheth who was chosen by man.

What should we do in these situations? Should we just give in or should we fight? The correct answer is different based on the situation. We should never fight just to fight; but we should never change our beliefs to avoid a fight. This situation is clear, they were going to fight regardless. They were looking for a fight and to make things worse, they included a lot of men who trusted their leaders. This is a real danger when there is a battle between 2 people, because everyone feels like they have to choose a side.

Power struggles happen when…

2. People change sides.

This civil war continued for a while. As it went on, David became stronger and Ish-Bosheth became weaker. In fact, Abner was really leading the people; and Ish-Bosheth was just a figure head. To make Abner’s point, he slept with Saul’s concubine Rizpah. When Ish-Bosheth questioned what he did, Abner got angry and switched over to David’s side. All David asked him to do was to return his wife Michal back to him; and he did.

This is what happens when people decide who is in charge instead of God. As soon as they get mad, they switch sides. People who are loyal to whoever makes them happy at the time will never be satisfied. This is why there are so many Churches. If I don’t like the Pastor or how the Church does things, I will just start my own Church. Then we wonder why the Church is so weak.

Conclusion:

As long as God is not the power source in your life, you will battle with people; and you will go from person to person. You must be loyal to God and His will if you want to be victorious.