2 Samuel 2:12

2 Samuel 2:12 says, And Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ishbosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.  Verse thirteen adds, And Joab the son of Zeruiah, and the servants of David, went out, and met together by the pool of Gibeon: and they sat down, the one on the one side of the pool, and the other on the other side of the pool.  Abner and the servants of Saul's son that he had anointed king and Joab and the servants of David ended up on different sides of a pool one morning.  Evidently, there was very little interaction between the two groups.  We may have two groups of people today who both claim to be God's people, but one may be basing this on man-made laws instead of God's laws.  Verse fourteen continues, And Abner said to Joab, Let the young men now arise, and play before us. And Joab said, Let them arise.  Abner, who had basically assumed authority of Israel even though he had ordained Saul's son Ishbosheth as king, proposed a contest between his men and Joab's or David’s men,and Joab agreed.  Though it says let them play, we will see that this was a deadly contest.  We need to be careful that we don't get into contests with the people of the world today just to prove who is better, and especially without first consulting God about the matter.  Verse fifteen states, Then there arose and went over by number twelve of Benjamin, which pertained to Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David.  Twelve men from each side went out to face each other.  Verse sixteen adds, And they caught every one his fellow by the head, and thrust his sword in his fellow’s side; so they fell down together: wherefore that place was called Helkathhazzurim, which is in Gibeon.  The twelve men from each side killed each other, so this was hardly playing or a game.  If we begin to play games with people of the world, it may become deadly,  particularly if we are just attempting to show off.  Verse seventeen continues, And there was a very sore battle that day; and Abner was beaten, and the men of Israel, before the servants of David. This resulted in a great battle, which Abner's forces lost.  Even though God was not consulted before the original contest and maybe not afterward, those who were serving His anointed king were victorious.  As Christians we may act without consulting God today, but we are still ultimately going to be the victors in the battle with those who are not.  Verse eighteen says, And there were three sons of Zeruiah there, Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel: and Asahel was as light of foot as a wild roe.  The three sons of Zeruiah, Joab, Abishai and Asahel were there, and Asahel was a fast runner.   Verse nineteen adds, And Asahel pursued after Abner; and in going he turned not to the right hand nor to the left from following Abner.  After being defeated, Abner had evidently fled, and Asahel chased him, not turning aside at all.  He was only focused on catching Abner without giving a lot of thought about what he would do if he caught him.  We can't get so focused on what we have decided to do that we forget to ask for God's guidance in the situation and also without knowing what we are going to do if we achieve our goal.  Verse twenty states, Then Abner looked behind him, and said, Art thou Asahel? And he answered, I am.  Abner saw Asahel pursuing him, and he had caught up enough for Abner to identify him and know who he was.  Verse twenty-one adds,  And Abner said to him, Turn thee aside to thy right hand or to thy left, and lay thee hold on one of the young men, and take thee his armour. But Asahel would not turn aside from following of him.  Abner asked Asahel to turn aside and take as a prisoner or kill one of his young troops and take his armor. Asahel was still determined to capture or kill Abner, and nothing less was going to satisfy him, even though he had placed himself in a dangerous situation.  We should never just doggedly follow our own plan without thinking about all the consequences.  Verse twenty-two continues, And Abner said again to Asahel, Turn thee aside from following me: wherefore should I smite thee to the ground? how then should I hold up my face to Joab thy brother?  Abner wasn't asking Asahel to turn aside because he was afraid of him, but because he was afraid of Joab if he did kill him.  Non Christians may not be afraid of us today, but they certainly should be afraid of our God Whom we represent.  That is not to compare Joab to God, but to say that he was a representative of God since he served David, who was anointed by God.  Verse twenty-three concludes, Howbeit he refused to turn aside: wherefore Abner with the hinder end of the spear smote him under the fifth rib, that the spear came out behind him; and he fell down there, and died in the same place: and it came to pass, that as many as came to the place where Asahel fell down and died stood still.  Abner killed Asahel, and everyone who passed the point where this happened would pause to note his death.  Abner had used a sneaky move we might say to kill Asahel, and all of his swiftness did Asahel no good.  The skills that we are most proud of may be of no use to us in the battle against evil in the world today, and our pride in them may lead us to do rash things.