Sermon for Sunday Evening, October 5th, 2025 at First Presbyterian Church at Unionville, NY (BPC)
Sermon Text:
[2 Samuel 4:1-12 ESV] 1 When Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, heard that Abner had died at Hebron, his courage failed, and all Israel was dismayed. 2 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; 3 the Beerothites fled to Gittaim and have been sojourners there to this day). 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. 5 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. 6 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. 7 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, 8 and 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.” 9 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, 10 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. 11 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?” 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.
Introduction
This is much like a previous episode. (or plural episodes) In fact David mentioned that previous episode in this text. OTHERS keep killing those they see as David’s enemies, but David is not in favor of bloodshed against anointed kings.
Again the house of David is getting more powerful, and the house of Saul, growing weaker. In fact, with Ishbosheth’s death the house of Saul is doing very poorly, and will soon lose the kingdom of Israel to David who will be anointed king of both Judah and Israel (united) in the next chapter.
Providence brings about the end of the Dynasty of Saul. Not David, but Providence, God’s will in history.
I. Ishbosheth dismayed (v. 1)
He’s growing weaker. And realizes that fact, which now causes him dismay.
His kingdom really rested on Abner. Now what is he going to do?
It was Abner who anointed him king, and with Abner trading sides and now even killed, Ishbosheth is on his own.
Very likely he is not entirely fit to be king. He was chosen not because of some physical attribute (like Tall Saul) nor of any intellectual ability or holiness. He was chosen because he is the remaining son of Saul, his brothers having been killed in battle.
This warns us of the error of Nepotism, people getting high positions in companies, governments, or churches because DAD was the old boss. There is the advantage of loyalty when you hire family, and if you train them from an early age it may go well. But if you get a person a position solely on those characteristics which they did not earn, then they may bring the ship down with them.
In the ministerial realm, I know a family now 6 or 7 generations deep of pastors. From great-great-great grand-dad to great-great-great grandson there has been a line of ministers, all successful as far as I can tell. But then I know of other famous ministers who sons became ministers, and let’s just say IT HASN”T GONE VERY WELL.
So we have weak leadership with Ishbosheth. So what that Abner died, can’t he find a replacement? Remember David is King over just Judah, Ishbosheth has all the other tribes as king of Israel. And he’s afraid of David?
II. Mephibosheth not able to be king. (v. 4)
The text tells us about another family member, another man in the house of Saul. Mephibosheth.
“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.”
So in that day when Jonathan and Abindab and Malchi-Shua, all them sons of Saul, died on Mount Gilboa, so also was Mephibosheth made lame in a fall as his nurse (or nanny) ran with him and fell.
Why this interlude about Mephibosheth. Is is just so we can be challenged to pronounce his name? Mephibosheth?
Well, this is first to tell us that there are other descendants of Saul. Even if Ishbosheth dies, we have the Mephiboseth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul.
But even more, because it tells us that Mephibosheth is crippled in his feet, the passage is telling us that there is NOT a suitable replacement for Ishbosheth. His death will end the reign of the house of Saul.
What are the meanings of these similar sounding names?
Ishbosheth – man of shame
Mephibosheth – from the mouth of shame.
The situation seems to be that they original had the names Ish-baal and Meri-baal, but changing their names to “bosheth” (shame) was to shame that former diety baal. One source says: “The use of this element (bosheth) was designated to obscure the name “Baal”—to cast shade on a name of pagan association.” That’s just a theory, as the Bible doesn’t specify.
This is a character who should be taken note of. He is blessed DESPITE his physical limitations. In fact, by the grace of God, Mephibosheth is spared death later in 2 Chronicles “because of the oath of the Lord that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.” Had Mephibosheth been fully-able he might have sought to be king, and therefore be at odds with David. But his physical limitation kept him humble. To some extant we all have physical limitations that should humble us; and the older we get the more we realize that!
III. Ishbosheth is killed (v. 2-3, 5-7)
Mephibosheth is off the hook, but Ishbosheth is in trouble.
But, notably it is not for anything he (the king) has done. Has Ishbosheth committed any crime? Does he deserve death? Absolutely not. And we’ll see that David recognizes this later.
So the murders, the guilty parties are two men:
Baanah and Rechab, the sons of Rimmon, a man of Benjamin from Beeroth.
They are captains of raiding bands. That does not exactly sound like they are peaceful people. I imagine them wearing Los Angeles Raiders. If you know anything that NFL team, you’ll know that the fans are notorious for being rough; biker types. The fans of the Los Angeles Raiders are those who would likely have been actual raiders in times past.
Here is where the bloodshed them comes in. They murder Ishbosheth. I’ve called this sermon “The Death of Ishbosheth.” And, if you remember, last time we had “The Death of Abner.” Shortly before that we had the death of Saul and Jonathan (and Abinadab and Machi-Shua). So much death. It was an unstable time in Israel. Lawless with anarchy.
The death of Ishboseth then uses four verbs, four action words:
They STABBED him in the stomach.
They STRUCK him and PUT him to death.
And BEHEADED him.
Then they escaped with the head of Ishbosheth to bring to David.
The commentator Jamieson notes: “Such bloody trophies of rebels and conspirators have always been acceptable to princes in the East, and the carriers have been liberally rewarded. Ish-bosheth being a usurper, the two assassins thought they were doing a meritorious service to David by removing the only existing obstacle to the union of the two kingdoms.”
Application: the sin of theologically justifying your sin.
These two men, who have just murdered a king, come to David with his head, and with a theological justification:
“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.”
They are acting as if murder is for the betterment of us all. Now, death is sometimes necessary, but it is properly done by the magistrate (capital punishment) or by the military fighting an enemy. Or in defense. But never by murder.
I often think a scene that greatly affected me. In Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment, with the murder of pawn broker. Why did he murder her? Oh, it was for the good of us all, he argued. She was a parasite on society. Yes, I needed money too. But it’s good that’s she’s gone.
Do you see that sin of theological justification? Yes, maybe I sinned, but it was for good! Hardly. In reality, you are adding sin to sin. And we are never to use evil means to achieve some ends. We cannot ever be sure that we’ll even achieve the ends in mind. The best approach ethically is to have moral means, and let the ends be up to the Lord. That is David’s approach. He’s not trying to kill Ishbosheth. He didn’t try to kill Saul, though he had the repeated opportunity.
IV. David Puts Baanah and Rechab to Death. (v. 8-12)
Here we find justice done upon the murderers of Ish-bosheth.
David will rule a Godly just kingdom.
Not a kingdom of murder and unbelief.
David did what was right and prescribed in the Law of Moses.
He’s not going his own way. He’s going the Lord’s way. Capital Punishment.
Conclusion:
I’ve noted before that David is not taking things into his own hands; but Providence is leading to him being king. But what I haven’t focused on, and what really needs to me mentioned is patience.
David is waiting on the Lord.
Here for 21 years since he was anointed as king, and all in the psalms, David is waiting on the Lord. Not sinning so as to “move ahead” things in life.
He doesn’t take that bait.
He’s not opportunistic when it comes to opportunities that are against the Lord.
We too should wait on the Lord.
All things work together for the good of those who believe in Jesus Christ.
Let us follow him, not our own ways.