First let's get something clear about erroneous notions of Paul and his founding a new religion, which he didn't. True, the halakhah of his Judaism switched from the Pharisaic oral law to the Ruach Hakodesh, but his religion was still one of the Judaisms of the time, not a new non-Judaism Gentile religion.

SHMUEL ALEF (II SAMUEL)

The first few chapters chronicle the power struggle between the

house of Saul and the house of Dovid, including the murder of

Abner, the commander of Saul's army, by Joab, Dovid's commander.

It's important to understand that both Abner and Absalom's acts

of sleeping with royal concubines were efforts to prove each had

acquired royal status (see II Sm. 3:7; 16:22). During this time,

Dovid has to consolidate the military behind his regime and

persuade Israel and those backing the dynasty of Saul to receive

him as their king. The restoration of Michal as his wife

reenforces Dovid's status as Saul's son-in-law and therefore the

legitimacy of his claim to Saul's throne. In the course of the

book, all of the potential claimants to the throne from the house

of Saul are eliminated, with the exception of Jonathan's lame son

Mephibosheth whom Dovid spares to sit at his table. Jerusalem is

taken from the Jebusites and established as the capital of the

united kingdom. But David reminds us of Moses. Just as Dovid

arrives at his zenith, having been anointed king of Judah and

then seven and a half years later having been anointed king of

all Israel (both times at Hebron), he sins. Calamity arises

against him out of (his) own household" (II Sm 12:11). Dovid's

sons struggle for his throne, Absalom eliminating the firstborn

heir and preeminent claimant Amnon and attempting to seize the

throne, then Shlomo purging the oldest surviving son Adonijah,

but this is part of the story of I Kings.

In chapter II Sm. 6 Dovid dances in a white linen kohen's garment

before the L-rd and bitter Michal the daughter of Saul is

destined to die childless as she hardens her heart against G-d

and His people. When Dovid brings the ark of G-d to Jerusalem

and purchases the property for the Beis Hamikdash's construction

(II Sm. 6:l5-16; 24:21-25), he is making it possible for the Son

of Dovid to build the House of G-d, an act that will become one

of the most important prophecies of Moshiach. Notice the Angel

of the L-rd, so important in relation to the promise of an heir

for Abraham (Gen. 18) and so decisive in the Exodus (Ex. 14:19),

is now in evidence once again at the site selection of the

Jerusalem Beis Hamikdash (II Sm. 21:16), pointing to Isaac's lamb

(Gen. 22:7-8) that will be provided, the Lamb of G-d, the

Moshiach.

See the Messianic title in II Sm. 6:21 Nagid Al-Yiroel "prince

over Israel." (Compare Moshiach Nagid Dan. 9:25.) Notice David

"distributed food among all the people" (II Sm. 6:19) as his

greater Son does in the miraculous feeding of the 3,000 and the

5,000 in the Brit Chadasha Scriptures.

Notice very carefully the prophecy that Moshiach would come from

Dovid in II Sm. 7. See the obvious Messianic interpretation

given to this prophesy as it is rendered in I Chr. 17:13. The

fulfillment of the all-important promise in II Sm. 7:16 ("your

house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne

will be established forever") necessitated the resurrection from

the dead of Dovid's "seed" (zera) King Moshiach Yehoshua which

was done to fulfill the Word of G-d (II Sm. 7:21). Notice in the

Bible "the servant of the Lord" is another appellation for Dovid

(II Sm. 3:18; 7:5,20,25-29) and "my servant Dovid" another

appellation for the Moshiach (Ezek. 34:23), making "the servant

of the Lord" a Messianic title Avdi Davod as it is in Isa. 52:13;

53:11.

II Sam. 11 shows that Dovid was safer when he was poor and

fighting giants than when he was rich away from G-d's Messianic

battlefield. Run from your Bathshebas and find divine safety

with your Goliaths?

Rav Sha'ul uses the metaphor of a battlefield and the command to

"endure hardship" like a good soldier when Shliach Sha'ul deals

with the subject of the ministry and of doing the work of a kiruv

outreach worker for Moshiach (II Timothy 4:5). Study Uriah in

chapter 11 and you will see an illustration Rav Sha'ul could have

used.

Note the cronyism between Joab and David and avoid it. G-d hates

overweening bureaucratic control and religious politicking in His

House. Here it leads to Uriah's murder, adultery, and the host

of evils described in the remainder of II Shmuel.

In chapter 12 a perfect crime is ruined by a prophet with a word

of knowledge.

Notice that the L-rd is not mocked. "With the crooked G-d shows

himself shrewd" (II Sm. 22:27). Whatsoever you sow even as a

believer, you may indeed reap even in this life. II Sm. 12:11-12

show all the reprisals that follow the Bathsheba sin (see

fulfilment 16:21-22). There is punishment even in this life for

sin.

II Sm. 12:20 indicates that, nevertheless, Dovid allowed no root

of bitterness to crop up between himself and the L-rd.

II Sm. 13:15 shows us the difference between real love and lust.

One reason we need to watch in prayer: to have divine wisdom

against the wicked counselors HaSatan will use to infiltrate our

ministry, but whose wisdom G-d can turn into foolishness as He

did with Bathsheba's grandfather Ahithophel (see II Sm. 15:31;

17:14,23; Rom. 1:22; I Cor. 1:20).

Dovid's anguished love for his rebellious son who usurped his

father's throne at Hebron, Absalom, (II Sm. 13:39; 18:33) is a

picture of "G-d so loved the world" (Yochanan 3:16) and also it

pictures the anguished love for apostate Israel felt by the heart

of G-d in verses like Luke 13:34 and Rom. 9:1-3. Ittai, the

faithful foreigner, a warrior among Dovid's mighty men, is a

picture of faithful Gentiles being grafted in while the

unfaithful natural branches are cut off (see II Sm. l5:21; 18:2).

Remember vain, ambitious Absalom's long hair and how it got him

caught in the end? Avoid carnal ambition in the ministry or,

like Absalom, you'll be caught and ensnared by your own vanity.

(See chapter 15:3-4 for the modus operandi of this expert Brit

Chadasha kehillah-splitter).

In chapter 15, Hushai, Dovid's adviser, hangs back to be his spy

in league with the descendents of Aaron, that is, Zadok and

Abiathar and their messenger sons.

II Sm. 17:23 shows Ahithophel as a type of Judas, the man who

thought he could outwit the Son of Dovid and ended up hanging

himself. This type of betrayal is referred to in places like

Psalm 41:9 and 55:12-14. Even Dovid's own son Absalom betrayed

him, and betrayal is part of the sufferings of Moshiach we must

all endure. Shliach Sha'ul says, "Demas in love with this

passing world has deserted me" (II Tim. 4:10). Family members

(Micah 7:6; Matt. 10:36) and ministry partners sometimes do this

to us, and we must not grow bitter when it happens.

In II Sm. 19:17 Joab is replaced by David as head of the army but

this changes in chapter 20. Along with Abonijah and Abiathar,

Joab will be purged by Shlomo in I Kings as a fulfillment of

Dovid's curse (II Sm. 3:26-29,39) upon him for his

insubordination.

II Sam. 22:31 ("the word of the L-rd is flawless") is an argument

for the inerrancy of the Bible.

Look at "Let your hand fall upon me and my family" in 24:17. Here

we have the vicarious suffering of the Davidic Moshiach, toward

which Ezekiel 4 is also pointing (as well as Zch. 13:7). The

Beis Hamikdash with its vicarious sacrifices by the kohanim (Lv.

10:17-18) are also in view in this II Sm. 24:17 context. Moshiach

Yehoshua is the new Beis Hamikdash and the sins of Israel fall on

David's family when they fall on Moshiach Yehoshua. II Shmuel

shows the fall of Dovid from his throne and his ascension to it

again after suffering. This foreshadows what will happen to the

Moshiach who has "nothing" (Dan. 9:26) and loses his throne when

He is "cut off" (Isa. 53:8,12b) but regains it when he is

resurrected from this death and ascends to the right hand of

supreme power (Psa. 110:1; Isa. 52:13-15; 53:12a). We assume

Moshiach Yehoshua deliberately chose the Mount of Olives for his

Gethsemane weeping because of II Sm. 15:30; at least the divine

choice was deliberate. Notice that Moshiach Yehoshua has Shliach

Kefa, Ya'akov and Yochanan just as Dovid has "the Three" (II Sm.

23:19). When Isaiah says that the Dovidic Moshiach will be"

oppressed and afflicted" but he will "not open his mouth" (Isa.

53:7), Isaiah may be thinking of II Sm. 16:9-13. Also in Isa.

42:l; 61:1 he may be thinking of II Sm. 23:2. Notice the

Messianic Dovidic covenant (Brit Olam) is "an everlasting

covenant" (II Sm. 23:5), language used of the Brit Chadasha (Jer.

31:31-34; 32:40; Ezek. 37:24-26). Gen. 19:10 is in view in

II Sm. 22:44-46.

It is important to correlate one's study of the Psalms with the

study of I-II Shmuel (see Psalms).

The area of Edom, which was spared during the conquest of the

land, was later conquered by Dovid (II Sm. 8:13-14) just as

Balaam prophesied (Num. 24:18). Dovid also defeated Moab (II Sm.

8:2,13-14) just as Balaam had prophesied (Num. 24:17). Dovid

eliminated the threat of the Philistines (II Sm. 5:17-25; 8:1)

and the Arameans (modern Syria)--see II Sm. 8:3-8; 10:6-19--as

well as the Ammonites (II Sm. 12:19-31) and Amalekites (I Sm.

30:11). Finishing the work of Joshua, Dovid extended Israel's

borders from Egypt to the Euphrates, fulfilling prophecy (Gen.

15:18; Josh. 1:4). It is therefore not surprising that Isaiah saw

Israel's ultimate deliverer as not only a new Joshua (Isa. 49:8)

but also a new Dovid, or a "Branch" (Tzemach) descended from

Dovid's line (Isa. 9:6-7; 4:2; 11:1-10; 53:2; 7:14).

The word for the "Besuras Hageulah" or "good news" is found in

II Sm. 18:27.

II SHMUEL 7:16

And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever

before thee: thy throne shell be enablished for ever.