.When Saul’s son Ishbosheth heard that Abner had been killed in Hebron, he was afraid, and all the people of Israel were alarmed.
It must have been similar for the disciples at the death of John the Baptist (Matthew 14:10-13) and and Jesus (Matthew 27:50-56). I likewise will die one day – may I be anxious for nothing, Father (Philippians 4:6-7).
Rechab and Baanah… presented the head to King David at Hebron and said to him, “Here is the head of Ishbosheth, the son of your enemy Saul, who tried to kill you. Today the Lord has allowed Your Majesty to take revenge on Saul and his descendants.”
How quick people are to proclaim what God is or isn’t doing! Here, these two are using religion as a cover for their crime and opportunism. Saul most certainly saw David as his enemy (1 Samuel 20:30-31) but it was not reciprical (1 Samuel 24:9-15).
David answered them, “…The messenger who came to me at Ziklag and told me of Saul’s death thought he was bringing good news. I seized him and had him put to death. That was the reward I gave him for his good news! How much worse it will be for evil men who murder an innocent man asleep in his own house! I will now take revenge on you for murdering him and will wipe you off the face of the earth!”
These two did not take into account that David operated on an entirely different value system. They only looked at life through the lense of personal interest. David? That life was an adventure to discover and know God in our every day circumstances (1 Samuel 17:45-51).
David gave the order, and his soldiers killed Rechab and Baanah and cut off their hands and feet, which they hung up near the pool in Hebron. They took Ishbosheth’s head and buried it in Abner’s tomb there at Hebron.
Why the detailed account regarding the distribution of body parts? Nailing them to a city wall (1 Samuel 31:8-10; 2 Kings 3:26-27) – nasty business. And why stick Ishbosheth’s head in Abner’s tomb?