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ABNER, A MESSENGER OF PEACE
WEDNESDAY, JULY 8
2 Samuel 3

Matthew 5:1-11

 

“Blessed are the peacemakers:
for they shall be called

the children of God.”

 

ABNER, A MESSENGER OF PEACE
 
Abner was a key person in uniting the kingdom under David. He disagreed with Ishbosheth over petty issues. He was offended and decided to give his support to David. He also could easily persuade the people to shift their support. He told them what he had done to the house of Saul. As the captain of the host, he had power to influence many people. He had protected Saul and had not delivered him to David during the struggle for the throne. It was at this point that he asserted that the Lord had sworn to David that he was going to be king. He told Ishbosheth that as much as the Lord had appointed David to be king of all Israel, he was now shifting his support to David. David would then be king of the nation from Dan to Beersheba. Abner was confident that he had the power to lead all tribes to support David as their king. This became a starting point that eventually united the whole nation under David.
 
Abner sent messengers to David to ask for a league and declared his allegiance to him. He was not a stranger to David as they were once servants of King Saul together. David was the chief captain and Abner was one of the officers. There was a positive response from David and he agreed to have a meeting on one condition.
 
David had been married to Michal the daughter of King Saul, but when their relationship broke, Saul gave her away to another person. David told Abner that he would not see his face without Michal. So, Abner went, took Michal and persuaded the elders of Israel to support David. He came with a delegation of twenty men with the message that all Israel was for David. David made a feast for the Abner’s delegation and they discussed the matter of the kingdom, reached an agreement and sealed their league. Since he had the power to rally the support needed to make David king, his presence represented the support of Israel.
 
THOUGHT: Peaceful approach in national issues has a heavenly seal.

PRAYER: Father, raise messengers of peace in times of conflict.

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