In this episode of Add Bible, journey with Alan J. Huth as we delve into 2 Samuel Chapter 4, exploring the somber story of Ish-bosheth’s assassination. Experience David’s integrity as he responds with a godly perspective, choosing to trust in divine timing rather than human intervention to establish his kingdom. Alongside these biblical insights, Alan reflects on his personal journal entries over the decades, offering listeners a glimpse into the broader spiritual journey and transformation that the Word provides.
00:00:09 Introduction to Add Bible and Ezra Project
Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. We join Allen J. Huth as he shares Bible passages and comments from over 30 years of his personal Bible reading journals.
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Today we are in 2 Samuel chapter 4. We will listen in to Faith Comes By Hearing’s reading of all 12 verses of chapter 4. 2 Samuel 4
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When Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, heard that Abner had died at Hebron, his courage failed, and all Israel was dismayed. Now Saul’s son had two men who were captains of raiding bands. The name of the one was Baana, and the name of the other, Rechab, sons of Rimen, a man of Benjamin from Beoroth, for Beoroth also is counted part of Benjamin. The Beorathites fled to Getaim and have been sojourners there to this day. Jonathan, the son of Saul, had a son who was crippled in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel, and his nurse took him up and fled. And as she fled in her haste, he fell and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth. Now the sons of Rimen the Beorathite, Rechab and Baanah, set out, and about the heat of the day they came to the house of Ish-bosheth, as he was taking his noonday rest. And they came into the midst of the house as if to get wheat, and they stabbed him in the stomach. Then Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped. When they came into the house, as he lay on his bed in his bedroom, they struck him and put him to death and beheaded him. They took his head and went by the way of the Arabah all night, and brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron.
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And they said to the king, Here is the head of Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life. The Lord has avenged my lord the king this day on Saul and on his offspring.
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But David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimen the Beorothite,
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As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life out of every adversity? When one told me, behold, Saul is dead, and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and killed him at Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news. How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house on his bed, shall I not now require his blood at your hand and destroy you from the earth?
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And David commanded his young men, and they killed them, and cut off their hands and feet, and hanged them beside the pool at Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth and buried it in the tomb of Abner at Hebron.
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I summarized this very short chapter back in 1983 in my journal when I wrote, Ish-bosheth, son of Saul, murdered, leading way for David to become king over all of Israel. And in 1997, many, many years later, when I read this chapter, I wrote David made king over all Israel. He didn’t want help from men to establish his kingdom. He was content to wait on the Lord. He didn’t need anyone to kill Abner or Saul’s sons. In God’s timing, he would become king. Ten years later, 2007, I wrote, Saul’s son, Isposheth, is murdered. David treats the news like he did about Saul. He kills the messengers. Though God may be working in both situations, he doesn’t gloat or appear to receive the news from men. He keeps a spiritual, godly perspective as events occur to give him the kingdom. Since both the chapter and my comments from the journals are fairly short, let me give a different perspective about AdBible and the Ezra Project. What you’re listening to is AdBible, audio daily devotions, brought to you by the Ezra Project. After connecting God’s people to God’s Word through the Ezra Project for some 14 years, primarily through speaking in churches and men’s retreats, and challenging people to become daily Bible readers, in that 14th year, the Lord led us to rethink our ministry. The question on our minds was, how could we have greater impact? We spent days, we spent months in prayer seeking the Lord for a new direction. God answered that prayer on exactly the 14th anniversary of the Ezra Project. I was in my normal daily quiet time that morning reading Jeremiah chapter 1 when the Lord spoke to my heart. In that chapter, God calls Jeremiah to become a prophet, and he also says that he watches over his word to perform it. He asked Jeremiah twice, Jeremiah, what do you see? After I finished reading the chapter, I was ready to get on with my day when the Lord asked me to read that chapter again out loud. So I did. And rather than putting Jeremiah’s name in there, God asked me to put my name in there. Alan, what do you see? Alan, what do you see? That day, I saw people with earbuds and wires hanging around their necks. And that’s when the Lord said, that’s what I want you to do. I want you to put the Word of God in people’s ears. We had a board meeting that day, and I took that new vision to the board, and they were all very excited about this potential new direction. So, because of God’s vision for this ministry, that day was the beginning of AddBible. Our prayer is that AdBible answers the three main reasons why people don’t spend time in God’s Word. One, people are busy. You are probably very busy. And so this allows you to multitask, listen to the Word of God while you may have to be doing other things. Secondly, people say they don’t read God’s Word because they don’t understand it. And thirdly, it’s because it doesn’t apply to their lives. And so we tried to tackle all three issues in these podcasts. I hope by your listening and sharing with your friends and your family that this has been a blessing to you and it’s an answer to that prayer given to the Ezra Project years ago. So I thought I’d take advantage of this short chapter today and the short comments to give you an update about how AdBible even began and how we think it’s of the Lord and we hope that you are being blessed because we obeyed what we heard from the Lord and now you are obeying by listening to these podcasts. Father, we thank you that you have given the Ezra Project a mission, a vision to connect God’s people to God’s Word. And just like David, we didn’t want to hear from the voices of men. We wanted to hear your voice. And we believe we have. And we thank you for guiding our steps to produce AdBible. We pray it’s a blessing to every listener and that listeners will share so others can listen in as well and be blessed by spending time in your word. We give you praise and we give you thanks. In Jesus’ name, amen. Thank you for listening to AdBible. Though the Bible can be read at the speed I’m speaking in about 78 hours, surveys show we don’t read it. How many of you have ever read the Bible cover to cover? How many have tried and failed? I want to encourage you to try it again. I want to share with you what I call the Triple I Doctrine and some powerful reasons to stay in your Bible daily. I begin with a verse from 2 Peter 1.21. But holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. That’s how we got the Bible. The Holy Spirit moved holy men of God to write it, all of it. Because He did, we can now look at the Triple I Doctrine, the inspired, infallible, inerrant Word of God. What do these terms mean? Inspired means God-breathed. 2 Timothy 3.16 says, All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. What does infallible mean? It means no potential or ability to err. Totally reliable. It cannot contradict itself. And Hebrews 6.18 says, It is impossible for God to lie. And the last one is inerrant. What does that mean? It means it’s technically correct. It’s free from falsehood and deceit. Wholly true. It’s doctrine. It’s history. It’s science. It’s geography. And Matthew 5.18 says, For assuredly I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. And Revelation 22, 18 and 19 say, For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book, if anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book. And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the book of life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. So the Triple I Doctrine is reason enough to be in God’s Word each day. But in case you need more encouragement, here are three more thoughts. First, improve your spiritual maturity. According to Barna Research, of the seven dimensions in which Americans were asked to rate their faith maturity, Bible knowledge ranked dead last. So if you want to improve your spiritual maturity, stay in God’s Word daily. Number two is develop a dynamic relationship with God. Dr. Woodrow Kroll, former president of Back to the Bible, wrote a book called Taking Back the Good Book. He said, When people tire of reading the Bible, it’s because they read it for the wrong reasons or in the wrong way. They read the Bible to gain knowledge, store facts, or pick up a few principles to live by. When you see the Bible as a means to a dynamic relationship with God, you can’t get enough of it because you can’t get enough of Him. And the third thought is to be transformed. Don’t read the Bible to be informed. Read it to be transformed. And I’m going to share a fun little story with you about being transformed by the Word of God. It’s about an old man who lived on a farm in the mountains of Kentucky with his young grandson. Each morning, Grandpa was up early, sitting at the kitchen table reading from his old, worn-out Bible. His grandson, who wanted to be just like him, tried to imitate him in any way he could. One day the grandson asked, Papa, I try to read the Bible, just like you, but I don’t understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Bible do? The grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and said, Take this coal basket down to the river and bring back a basket of water. The boy did as he was told, even though all the water leaked out before he got back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, You’ll have to move a little faster next time and send him back to the river with the basket to try again. This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was impossible to carry water in a basket, and he went to get a bucket instead. The old man said, I don’t want a bucket of water. I want a basket of water. You can do this. You’re just not trying hard enough. And he went out the door to watch the boy try again. At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out before he got far at all. The boy scooped the water and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather, the basket was again empty. Out of breath, he said, See, Papa, it’s useless. So you think it’s useless, the old man said. Look at the basket. The boy looked at the basket, and for the first time, he realized that the basket looked different. Instead of a dirty old coal basket, it was clean. Son, that’s what happens when you read the Bible. You might not understand or remember everything, But when you read it, it will change you from the inside out. So read the Bible so you can improve your spiritual maturity, develop a dynamic relationship with God, and be transformed, not informed. The Bible came to us from the Holy Spirit, directed by holy men of God. The triple I doctrine reminds us it’s inspired, God-breathed, infallible, without error, and inerrant, technically correct, and wholly true. Read it to grow spiritually, develop a dynamic relationship with God, and be transformed. I know you’re going to like it and want to share it with others.
