< 2 Samuel 5 >

Ish-botheth’s position as ruler of the eleven tribes became much weaker after the death of Abner, and he was eventually murdered by two of his own captains. 2 Samuel 4:1-2,7Waiting for response for 2 Samuel 4:1-2,7 These men made the mistake of misjudging David’s character. They too thought that David would rejoice at the death of Israel’s king and brought the king’s head to David. They hoped to be greatly rewarded, but they suffered the same fate as the Amalekite who claimed to have killed Saul. With the death of Ish- bosheth, the eleven tribes sought David to be their king and all the twelve tribes appealed to him, citing the promise God had made.

And so the word of the LORD was fulfilled, with David reigning over all Israel. His total reign as king lasted forty years: seven and a half years over Judah alone and thirty three years over all twelve tribes.v.4Waiting for response for 2 Samuel 5:4 It was when he first reigned over all Israel that he took the city of Jerusalem from the Jebusites and made it the capital of his kingdom. This city had long been chosen by the LORD as the place where he would put his name and to which all Israel would come and worship him, but for four hundred years after Israel entered the land it remained in the hands of these Gentiles. When Jesus returns to reign over all Israel he will make Jerusalem his capital where he will sit on the throne of the LORD as David did, and all nations will go there to worship God. Zechariah 14:16Waiting for response for Zechariah 14:16 The main fortress of the city was on the hill called Zion,v.7Waiting for response for 2 Samuel 5:7 and Jerusalem is often referred to by this name. This citadel was so strong that it had been unconquered by Israel until David’s day and the Jebusites were over-confident that it could not be taken - even “the lame and blind” could defend it successfully.v.6Waiting for response for 2 Samuel 5:6 Taken by David, this city became known as “the city of David”, not to be confused with the other “city of David”, Bethlehem - one of these being where the Messiah was born and the other where he will reign.

David, at this time, received help from another ruler: Hiram king of Tyre. Tyre was a small island off the coast and a great commercial and maritime centre for the whole of the region, with ships coming from all the ports of the Mediterranean with goods for distribution. This king used his wealth and power to help David build his palace and, later, the temple of the LORD. This relationship is particularly interesting because it prefigures the help that King Jesus will receive from another island power. It is not an accident that Britain was the country with drove the Turks out of Palestine in 1917 and declared the Jews could have a national home in the land, that she had the League of Nations mandate for Palestine between the two world wars, that she drew up the conditions for the State of Israel which the United Nations adopted in 1947, and that she will be the principal protester when Russia invades Israel before God intervenes to save his people by the hand of Jesus. Just as Tyre had a role to play in the purpose of God in the days of David, so Britain has a principal role to play in these last days.