The Book of 2 Samuel, Chapter by Chapter

We want to take you through the book of 2 Samuel chapter by chapter. If you have not read our study on 1 Samuel we suggest you start there. Because 2 Samuel picks up right where 1 Samuel leaves off. 1 Samuel ended with Saul and his sons dead on mount Gilboa. 2 Samuel starts with David hearing the news. We will tell you what each chapter is about and how it fits into the message of the book. And how it points us to the one God that is revealed in Jesus Christ.

2 Samuel is the story of King David. It covers about 40 years. David becomes king. He takes Jerusalem. He brings the ark home. And God makes a covenant with him that his throne will last forever. Then in chapter 11 David sins with Bathsheba. And the rest of the book shows us what that sin cost him. Murder in his own house. His son leads a rebellion. His kingdom almost falls apart. David was a man after God’s own heart. But he was still a man.

There are three things we want you to take away from this study. 2 Samuel is about God’s covenant with David. God promised David a son who would sit on his throne forever (7:16). 2 Samuel is about sin and its consequences. God forgave David. But the sword never left his house (12:10). And 2 Samuel points to Jesus Christ. The Son of David. The King whose kingdom has no end (Luke 1:33). We will explain these points as we go through the book. But we want you to keep them in mind as we begin.

We told you in our 1 Samuel study that 1 and 2 Samuel were one book in the Hebrew Bible.¹ The Greek Old Testament split it. So 2 Samuel is not a new book as much as the second half of the same story. Samuel died in 1 Samuel 25. The Jews believed Nathan and Gad finished the book. Both of them show up in 2 Samuel (7:2; 12:1; 24:11).

The book turns on chapter 11.² Before David’s sin everything goes up. He is made king. He takes Jerusalem. He wins every battle. After David’s sin everything comes apart. So we can break it up like this. David’s triumphs (1–10). David’s sin (11–12). David’s troubles (13–20). Then the book ends with four chapters that are not in time order. They are like an appendix that sums up David’s reign (21–24).

We will break it down a little further than that. David becomes king (1–5). The ark and the covenant (6–7). David’s kingdom established (8–10). David’s sin (11–12). Trouble in David’s house (13–14). Absalom’s rebellion (15–19). Sheba’s revolt (20). And the last words of David (21–24). We will follow this outline as we go through each chapter. Just like in our other studies we will be using the KJV for our scripture quotations. And we will let you know where you can find the work of the scholars we reference.

2 Samuel 1: How Are the Mighty Fallen

A young Amalekite came running to David at Ziklag with his clothes torn. He told David that Saul was dead. He said he found Saul leaning on his spear and Saul asked him to kill him. So he did (vv.9–10). He brought Saul’s crown and bracelet to David. But we know from 1 Samuel 31 that Saul fell on his own sword. The Amalekite was lying. He thought David would reward him.³ Instead David said “How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the LORD’s anointed?” (v.14). And he had him killed. “Thy blood be upon thy head” (v.16).

Then David wrote a song for Saul and Jonathan. “The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places: how are the mighty fallen!” (v.19). He did not celebrate. Saul tried to kill him for years. But David mourned him. “Tell it not in Gath” (v.20). He did not want the Philistines to rejoice. And he mourned Jonathan most of all. “I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan” (v.26). Jesus told us to “love your enemies” (Matthew 5:44). David did that long before Jesus said it.

2 Samuel 2: King Over Judah

The first thing David did was ask God. “Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?” (v.1). God said go to Hebron. And the men of Judah anointed David king over the house of Judah (v.4). This was his second anointing. Then he blessed the men of Jabeshgilead for burying Saul (v.5).

But Abner the captain of Saul’s army made Saul’s son Ishbosheth king over the rest of Israel (vv.8–9). Now there were two kings. David reigned in Hebron 7 years and 6 months (v.11). The two armies met at the pool of Gibeon. 12 men from each side fought and they all died together (vv.14–16). Then the battle broke out. Abner ran. Joab’s brother Asahel chased him and would not stop. Abner killed him with the back end of his spear (v.23). This started a blood feud between Joab and Abner.

2 Samuel 3: The Death of Abner

“Now there was long war between the house of Saul and the house of David: but David waxed stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker” (v.1). Ishbosheth accused Abner of taking Saul’s concubine. Abner got angry and went over to David. He promised to bring all Israel with him. David made him bring back Michal his wife first (vv.13–14).

When Joab heard about it he went after Abner. He took him aside in the gate like he wanted to talk. And he stabbed him “for the blood of Asahel his brother” (v.27). David did not order it. He cursed Joab’s house (v.29). He walked behind Abner’s coffin and wept. He would not eat until the sun went down. And all the people knew David had nothing to do with it (v.37). David said “these men the sons of Zeruiah be too hard for me” (v.39). Joab would be a problem for David the rest of his life.

2 Samuel 4: The Death of Ishbosheth

With Abner gone Ishbosheth was weak. Two of his captains, Rechab and Baanah, came into his house while he was taking a nap and killed him (vv.5–7). They brought his head to David thinking they would get a reward. Just like the Amalekite. And just like the Amalekite David had them killed (v.12). David would not take the kingdom by murder. He waited for God to give it to him. The chapter also tells us about Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth. When he was 5 years old his nurse dropped him while running and he became lame in both feet (v.4). We will see him again in chapter 9.

2 Samuel 5: King Over All Israel

All the tribes of Israel came to Hebron. “Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh” (v.1). They said the LORD told David “Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be a captain over Israel” (v.2). The king was a shepherd. And they anointed David king over all Israel (v.3). This was his third anointing. He was 30 years old. And he reigned 40 years (v.4).

The first thing David did as king over all Israel was take Jerusalem. The Jebusites lived there. Joshua could not take it (Joshua 15:63). Benjamin could not take it (Judges 1:21). The Jebusites said even the blind and the lame could keep David out (v.6). But David took the stronghold of Zion. “The same is the city of David” (v.7).⁴ Jerusalem was in the middle between Judah and the northern tribes. It did not belong to any tribe. It was the king’s city. “And David went on, and grew great, and the LORD God of hosts was with him” (v.10).

Notice what David understood. “David perceived that the LORD had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for his people Israel’s sake” (v.12). Not for David’s sake. For the people. Then the Philistines came against him twice. Both times David asked God. The first time God said go up and David won. He called the place Baalperazim. “The LORD hath broken forth upon mine enemies” (v.20). The second time God told him to wait. “When thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself: for then shall the LORD go out before thee” (v.24). David did not assume. He asked every time.

2 Samuel 6: The Ark Comes to Jerusalem

David wanted to bring the ark to Jerusalem. It had been at Kirjathjearim since 1 Samuel 7. He gathered 30,000 men. But they put the ark on a new cart (v.3). That is how the Philistines moved it in 1 Samuel 6. It was not how God said to move it. The Levites were supposed to carry it on their shoulders (Numbers 4:15; 7:9). When the oxen stumbled Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark. “And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God” (v.7).⁵ We saw this warning in our Numbers study. “They shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die” (Numbers 4:15).

David was angry and afraid. He left the ark at the house of Obededom for 3 months. “And the LORD blessed Obededom, and all his household” (v.11). The same ark that killed Uzzah blessed Obededom. The presence of God is a blessing when we treat it right. Then David brought it again. This time the Levites carried it (1 Chronicles 15:15). After they went 6 paces David sacrificed (v.13). “And David danced before the LORD with all his might” (v.14). He wore a linen ephod like a priest.

His wife Michal saw him dancing from a window “and she despised him in her heart” (v.16). She told him he made a fool of himself in front of the servants. David said “It was before the LORD, which chose me before thy father … therefore will I play before the LORD. And I will yet be more vile than thus” (vv.21–22). David did not care what people thought when he worshipped. And Michal had no children to the day of her death (v.23).

2 Samuel 7: The Covenant With David

David was living in a house of cedar. And the ark was in a tent. He wanted to build God a house. Nathan the prophet said go ahead. But that night God spoke to Nathan. David would not build God a house. God would build David a house.

This is one of the most important promises in the Bible.⁶ God promised David a son who would build a house for God’s name. That was Solomon first. He built the temple. But God also said this son’s throne would last “for ever.” Solomon died. His kingdom split. The line of kings ended in Babylon. So the promise had to point to someone greater. The angel told Mary about her son. “The Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end” (Luke 1:32–33).

Then God said “I will be his father, and he shall be my son” (v.14). Hebrews 1:5 quotes this verse about Jesus. Some will use this to say that the Son is an eternal person beside the Father. But notice what the verse says. “I will be.” “He shall be.” It is future. And the son is David’s seed. A descendant of David. Paul tells us Jesus was “made of the seed of David according to the flesh” (Romans 1:3). The Son of God is the one God come in the flesh as a son of David.⁷ Jesus asked the Pharisees how David could call his own son Lord (Matthew 22:42–45). The answer is that Jesus is both. He is David’s son by his flesh. And he is David’s Lord because he is God.

David went in and sat before the LORD. “Who am I, O Lord GOD? and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?” (v.18). Then he said this.

“Neither is there any God beside thee.” David knew what Moses taught. One God. And that one God made a covenant with David that would be fulfilled when God himself came as David’s son.

2 Samuel 8: Victory on Every Side

Chapter 8 is a summary of David’s wars. He beat the Philistines and Moab and Zobah and Syria and Edom. Twice we are told “the LORD preserved David whithersoever he went” (vv.6, 14). He took gold and silver and brass and dedicated it to the LORD (v.11). Later Solomon would use it to build the temple. “And David reigned over all Israel; and David executed judgment and justice unto all his people” (v.15). This is David at his best. The land God promised Abraham was finally under Israel’s control.

2 Samuel 9: Mephibosheth

“Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may shew him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” (v.1). David remembered his promise to Jonathan in 1 Samuel 20. He found a servant of Saul named Ziba. David asked again “Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may shew the kindness of God unto him?” (v.3). The kindness of God. Chesed. The word we saw all through Ruth.

Ziba told him about Mephibosheth. Jonathan’s son. Lame on his feet. Living in Lodebar. Lodebar means no pasture. A place of nothing. David sent for him. Mephibosheth fell on his face. He was afraid. In those days a new king killed the family of the old king. But David said “Fear not: for I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father’s sake” (v.7). He gave him all of Saul’s land. And he said Mephibosheth would eat at the king’s table continually. Mephibosheth said “What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am?” (v.8).

The chapter ends “So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem: for he did eat continually at the king’s table; and was lame on both his feet” (v.13). He was still lame. But he sat at the king’s table. This is a picture of what God does for us. We were enemies. Lame. Living in a place of nothing. And God brought us to his table. Not because of anything we did. For someone else’s sake. Paul says God forgave us “for Christ’s sake” (Ephesians 4:32).

2 Samuel 10: The Ammonites

The king of Ammon died. David sent men to comfort his son Hanun. But Hanun’s princes told him David was sending spies. So Hanun shaved off half their beards and cut their clothes off at the waist and sent them home (v.4). David told them “Tarry at Jericho until your beards be grown, and then return” (v.5). The Ammonites knew they were in trouble. They hired the Syrians to fight with them. Joab told his brother Abishai “Be of good courage, and let us play the men for our people, and for the cities of our God: and the LORD do that which seemeth him good” (v.12). Israel won. And the Syrians would not help Ammon anymore (v.19).

2 Samuel 11: David and Bathsheba

“And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab … But David tarried still at Jerusalem” (v.1). David should have been with his army. He was not. One evening he walked on his roof and saw a woman washing herself. He asked about her. She was Bathsheba the wife of Uriah the Hittite. David sent for her anyway. Then she sent word to David. “I am with child” (v.5).

David tried to cover it up. He called Uriah home from the battle and told him to go home to his wife. But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house. He said “The ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in tents; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open fields; shall I then go into mine house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife?” (v.11). A Hittite had more honor than the king of Israel. The next night David got him drunk. He still did not go home.

So David wrote a letter to Joab. He sent it by Uriah’s own hand. “Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die” (v.15). Joab did it. Uriah died. David married Bathsheba and she had a son. And the chapter ends with this. “But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD” (v.27). David thought no one knew. God knew.

2 Samuel 12: Thou Art the Man

God sent Nathan to David. Nathan told him a story. A rich man had many sheep. A poor man had one little ewe lamb. He raised it with his children. It ate from his plate and slept in his arms. A traveler came to the rich man. He did not want to use one of his own sheep. So he took the poor man’s lamb and served it (vv.1–4). David was furious. He said the man who did this should die. “And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man” (v.7).

Then Nathan told David what God said. “I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; And I gave thee thy master’s house … and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things” (vv.7–8). God had given David everything. And David took what was not his. “Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house” (v.10). What David did in secret would happen to him in front of all Israel (vv.11–12).

“And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die” (v.13). David did not make excuses like Saul did. He confessed. And God forgave him. Psalm 51 was written after this.⁸ “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness … Against thee, thee only, have I sinned” (Psalm 51:1, 4). But forgiveness did not take away the consequences. The child died (v.18). David fasted and prayed while the child was sick. When he died David got up and washed and worshipped. He said “I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me” (v.23).

Then Bathsheba had another son. Solomon. “And the LORD loved him” (v.24). God sent Nathan to name him Jedidiah. Which means beloved of the LORD (v.25). The son of David who would build the temple came from this marriage. And Matthew lists “her that had been the wife of Urias” in the family line of Jesus (Matthew 1:6). God’s grace is bigger than our sin.

2 Samuel 13: Amnon and Absalom

The sword came into David’s house fast. David’s son Amnon forced his half sister Tamar. We will not go into the details here. When David heard “he was very wroth” (v.21). But he did nothing. Tamar’s brother Absalom said nothing to Amnon. He waited 2 years. Then he invited all the king’s sons to a sheep shearing. He told his servants to kill Amnon when he was drunk (vv.28–29). Then Absalom ran to his grandfather the king of Geshur and stayed there 3 years (v.38). Notice how David’s sins showed up in his sons. Lust like David with Bathsheba. Murder like David with Uriah.

2 Samuel 14: The Banished Brought Home

Joab saw that David missed Absalom. So he sent a wise woman from Tekoah to David with a made up story. Like Nathan did. She said one of her sons killed the other. And now her family wanted to kill the one that was left. David promised to protect him. Then she turned it on David. Why would he not bring back his own banished son. Then she said this.

She was talking about Absalom. But she said more than she knew. We are all banished from God because of sin. And God has made a way to bring us back. “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself” (2 Corinthians 5:19). David brought Absalom home. But he would not see him for 2 years (v.28). Absalom set Joab’s field on fire to get his attention (v.30). Finally David let him in and kissed him (v.33). But Absalom was brought back without repenting. And David let him back without dealing with what he did. That was a mistake. The chapter also tells us how good looking Absalom was. And how heavy his hair was (vv.25–26). Remember that.

2 Samuel 15: David Flees Jerusalem

Absalom got chariots and horses and 50 men to run in front of him. He stood at the gate every morning. When people came to the king for judgment he told them their case was good but the king would not hear them. “Oh that I were made judge in the land” (v.4). When people bowed he took their hand and kissed them. “So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel” (v.6). Then he went to Hebron and had himself made king. And David’s counsellor Ahithophel went with him (v.12).

David left Jerusalem with his servants. Ittai the Gittite was a foreigner from Gath. David told him to go home. But Ittai said “As the LORD liveth, and as my lord the king liveth, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also will thy servant be” (v.21). That sounds like Ruth to Naomi. David crossed the brook Kidron (v.23). The priests brought the ark. But David sent it back. “If I shall find favour in the eyes of the LORD, he will bring me again” (v.25). He would not use the ark like a good luck charm.

“And David went up by the ascent of mount Olivet, and wept as he went up, and had his head covered, and he went barefoot” (v.30). Then he heard Ahithophel was with Absalom. He prayed “O LORD, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness” (v.31). Notice the picture. The king crosses the Kidron. He goes up the mount of Olives weeping. Betrayed by his close friend. John tells us Jesus “went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron” on the night he was betrayed (John 18:1). David wrote “mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me” (Psalm 41:9). Jesus quoted that verse about Judas (John 13:18). David sent his friend Hushai back to Jerusalem to pretend to serve Absalom and confuse Ahithophel’s counsel (v.34).

2 Samuel 16: Shimei Curses David

Ziba met David with food and told him Mephibosheth stayed behind hoping to get the kingdom back. David gave Ziba everything Mephibosheth had (v.4). We will find out in chapter 19 that Ziba was lying. Then a man of Saul’s family named Shimei came out cursing David and throwing stones. “Come out, come out, thou bloody man” (v.7). Abishai wanted to cut off his head. But David said “let him curse, because the LORD hath said unto him, Curse David” (v.10). David took it. He knew he deserved some of it.

In Jerusalem Ahithophel told Absalom to go in to his father’s concubines on the roof in the sight of all Israel (vv.21–22). On the same roof where David first saw Bathsheba. This is what Nathan said would happen. “He shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun” (12:11). “And the counsel of Ahithophel … was as if a man had enquired at the oracle of God” (v.23).

2 Samuel 17: Ahithophel’s Counsel Defeated

Ahithophel told Absalom to let him take 12,000 men and chase David that same night. Kill only the king while he was tired. It was a good plan. But Absalom asked Hushai too. Hushai told him to wait and gather all Israel and lead them himself. Absalom liked Hushai’s plan better. “For the LORD had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom” (v.14). God answered David’s prayer from 15:31. Hushai sent word to David and he crossed the Jordan. When Ahithophel saw his counsel was not followed he went home and hanged himself (v.23). Just like Judas did after he betrayed Jesus (Matthew 27:5).⁹ At Mahanaim friends brought David and his people beds and food (vv.27–29).

2 Samuel 18: O Absalom My Son

David divided his army in three. He told his captains “Deal gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom” (v.5). The battle was in the forest of Ephraim. 20,000 men died. “The wood devoured more people that day than the sword devoured” (v.8). Absalom rode under an oak and his head got caught in the branches. His mule kept going. And he was left hanging (v.9). The hair he was so proud of probably helped catch him. Joab took three darts and thrust them through his heart (v.14).

Two runners brought the news to David. He only cared about one thing. “Is the young man Absalom safe?” (v.29). When the second runner told him David went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!” (v.33). David wished he could die in his son’s place. He could not. But God did. “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

2 Samuel 19: The King Returns

David’s men came back from winning the battle like they had lost it. Because the king was mourning. Joab told David he was shaming the men who saved his life. “Thou lovest thine enemies, and hatest thy friends” (v.6). David got up and sat in the gate. Then David came back across the Jordan. Shimei came and begged forgiveness. David spared him (v.23). Mephibosheth came. He had not washed his feet or trimmed his beard or washed his clothes since David left (v.24). He told David Ziba lied. David split the land between them. Mephibosheth said “let him take all, forasmuch as my lord the king is come again in peace” (v.30). He did not care about the land. He cared about the king. Old Barzillai who fed David at Mahanaim was invited to live with David. But he was 80 and wanted to die at home (vv.34–37). Then Judah and Israel argued over who had more right to the king (vv.41–43). The kingdom was cracking.

2 Samuel 20: No Part in David

A man of Benjamin named Sheba blew a trumpet. “We have no part in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to his tents, O Israel” (v.1). The northern tribes followed him. David made Amasa captain instead of Joab. But Joab met Amasa on the road. He took him by the beard like he was going to kiss him. And he stabbed him (v.10). Just like Abner. Joab chased Sheba to the city of Abel. A wise woman called to Joab from the wall. She said they did not need to destroy a whole city for one man. The people of the city cut off Sheba’s head and threw it over the wall (v.22). The revolt was over. But the same words Sheba said would be said again when the kingdom split after Solomon (1 Kings 12:16).

2 Samuel 21: The Gibeonites and the Giants

The last four chapters are not in time order. They sum up David’s reign. There was a famine for 3 years. David asked the LORD why. “It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites” (v.1). Remember Joshua 9. Israel swore an oath to the Gibeonites in the name of the LORD. Saul broke it. Hundreds of years later God still held Israel to it. David gave 7 of Saul’s sons to the Gibeonites. Rizpah the mother of two of them stayed by their bodies day and night to keep the birds and animals away (v.10). When David heard he gathered the bones of Saul and Jonathan and buried them in the tomb of Kish (v.14). “And after that God was intreated for the land.”

Then the chapter tells us about battles with the giants of Gath. David got tired in battle and almost got killed. His men told him he could not go out to battle anymore “that thou quench not the light of Israel” (v.17). David’s men killed four sons of the giant (v.22). One of them was the brother of Goliath (v.19).¹⁰ David killed the first giant. His men killed the rest.

2 Samuel 22: David’s Song

David sang a song “in the day that the LORD had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul” (v.1). It is almost the same as Psalm 18. “The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer” (v.2). Notice how many times David says my. My rock. My fortress. My deliverer. My shield. My salvation. My refuge. My saviour (vv.2–3). This was not a God David only heard about. He knew him.

There is no God except the LORD. Just like Hannah sang “neither is there any rock like our God” (1 Samuel 2:2). The song ends “He is the tower of salvation for his king: and sheweth mercy to his anointed, unto David, and to his seed for evermore” (v.51). His anointed. His seed for evermore. The promise of chapter 7 again.

2 Samuel 23: The Last Words of David

David said the Spirit of the LORD spoke by him. Then he said the God of Israel said it. The Rock of Israel spoke it. The Spirit of the LORD is not someone other than the God of Israel. It is God himself speaking. Peter tells us “holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:21). David knew he did not always rule justly. But God “hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure” (v.5). His hope was not in himself. It was in God’s promise.

Then the chapter lists David’s mighty men. Once three of them broke through the Philistine army to get David water from the well of Bethlehem because he said he was thirsty. David would not drink it. He poured it out to the LORD. “Is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives?” (v.17). Then the list goes on. 37 names in all (v.39). And the very last name on the list is “Uriah the Hittite” (v.39). The writer did not let us forget.

2 Samuel 24: The Threshingfloor

“And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah” (v.1). Critics will say this contradicts 1 Chronicles 21:1. Which says “Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.” But notice the book of Job. Satan did the attacking. But God allowed it and used it.¹¹ Both are true. God was angry with Israel. He let Satan move David. And David chose to do it. Joab even told him not to (v.3). David counted the people anyway. Then “David’s heart smote him” (v.10). He knew he trusted in numbers instead of God.

God sent Gad the prophet with three choices. 7 years of famine. 3 months running from his enemies. Or 3 days of plague. David said “let us fall now into the hand of the LORD; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man” (v.14). 70,000 died (v.15). When the angel stretched out his hand over Jerusalem “the LORD repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand” (v.16). The angel stood by the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite.

Gad told David to build an altar there. Araunah offered to give it to him for free. But David said “neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing” (v.24). He bought it for 50 shekels of silver. He built an altar and offered. “So the LORD was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel” (v.25). That is how the book ends. A sacrifice that stopped the judgment.

And notice where this was. 2 Chronicles 3:1 tells us that Solomon built the temple “at Jerusalem in mount Moriah … in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.”¹² Mount Moriah. Where Abraham offered Isaac in Genesis 22. Where Abraham said “God will provide himself a lamb” (Genesis 22:8). The place where the plague stopped became the place of the temple. And near that same place God provided the Lamb. Jesus offered himself for us. And it cost him everything.

We have gone through 2 Samuel chapter by chapter. Here is what we can conclude. First 2 Samuel is about God’s covenant with David. God promised David a son whose throne would be established forever (7:16). Solomon was the first son. But Solomon’s kingdom did not last. The promise pointed to a greater Son of David. Jesus Christ. “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest … and of his kingdom there shall be no end” (Luke 1:32–33).

Second 2 Samuel is about sin and its consequences. David was the man after God’s own heart. He asked God before every battle. He danced before the ark. He showed kindness to Mephibosheth. But one evening on a roof he let his guard down. And it cost him a son and a daughter’s honor and almost his whole kingdom. God forgave him. “The LORD also hath put away thy sin” (12:13). But “the sword shall never depart from thine house” (12:10). Forgiveness is real. So are consequences.

Third 2 Samuel is monotheistic. David prayed “there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee” (7:22). He sang “who is God, save the LORD?” (22:32). And he said the Spirit of the LORD spoke by him and then said the God of Israel spoke it (23:2–3). The Son promised in chapter 7 would be David’s own seed. “I will be his father, and he shall be my son” (7:14). That Son is the one God manifest in the flesh. David’s son by birth. David’s Lord because he is God.

2 Samuel ends with an altar on a threshingfloor where the plague was stopped. That spot would become the temple. David is old. He wanted to build God a house. His son will do it. But first there will be a fight over who gets the throne. That is where 1 Kings begins.