AP

2 Samuel 21:16-17 And Ishbi-Benob, one of the descendants of Rapha, whose bronze spearhead weighed three hundred shekels and who was armed with a new sword, said he would kill David.  But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to David’s rescue; he struck the Philistine down and killed him.  Then David’s men swore to him, saying, “Never again will you go out with us to battle, so that the lamp of Israel will not be extinguished.

This little episode during one of the many minor, and not so minor, battles Israel had with the Philistines during the reign of David shows just how important a figurehead the King was in the social structure of nations in those days.  Many soldiers on both sides were annihilated in the course of these ancient wars and the conflict struggled on; but as soon as a King was killed the full-time whistle was blown and the other side was delared victorious

 So it was always a ‘Catch 22’ for Israel.  David, the ‘lamp of Israel’, was such an esteemed, recognised and capable military leader that his valued ‘presence’ among the troops was ever a ‘game-changer’ in the battle, but his death would mean disaster, and this would make him the key target in the enemy’s eyes.

This significant culture has interesting ramifications for our Gospel story.  For us, David’s singular promised descendant, the Lord Jesus Christ, becomes forever the central figure to whom every aspect of David’s life points, and through whom the King’s life must be interpreted for a proper understanding.  The life of God’s One and Only Son was precious in every way, in every detail, and yet in love for a world at enmity with him the Creator was willing to give him up by shedding his precious blood on a cruel cross as the only acceptable sacrifice for our sins!  He went into the battle and died for us out of love.

“There is a green hill far away, outside a city wall, where the dear Lord was crucified, who died to save us all. … … There was no other good enough to pay the price of sin; he only could unlock the gate of heav’n, and let us in”  (Cecil Frances Alexander).

The substitutionary death of David’s promised Greater Son, our King, was not only a game-changer for Israel, but also a game-changer for every child of Adam!  Either he has already changed our ‘game’ by becoming our Saviour through our repentance-and-faith, or otherwise he will change our ‘game’ when we are called to stand before him as our Judge and try to explain why we have rejected him when our earthly pilgrimage inevitably draws to its close.

– Bruce Christian