“Avner said to Yo’av, ‘If it’s all right with you, let’s have the young men get up and fight it out between themselves, while we watch.’ Yo’av said, ‘Yes, let them.’ So they got up and paired off, twelve for Binyamin and Ish-Boshet the son of Sha’ul, and twelve of David’s servants. Each one grabbed his partner by the head and drove his sword into his side, so that they fell down together. For this reason that place was named Helkat-Hatzurim ; it is in Giv‘on.”-2 Samuel 2:14-16
When we last met, Avner and his men had bumped into David’s men from Judah (the south) at the Pool of Gibeon.
Avner suggested that each side pick 12 of their young men to fight between themselves.
So 12 lads representing Ish-Boshet, the son of Saul, and 12 men representing David squared off and attacked each other.
The result?
A gruesome stalemate.
Everyone was killed by thrusting their swords into each other.
Joab was there with his two brothers, Avishai and Asahel.
Avishai was the oldest, Joab was in the middle, and Asahel was the youngest.
They were David’s nephews, the sons of David’s sister Zeruiah.
Although I said it was a draw, David’s men apparently got the upper hand.
Realizing they were about to be defeated, Avner and his soldiers picked up and fled.
The three brothers chased after them, but Asahel, the youngest, was the fastest.
We’re told he was as swift as a gazelle.
Asahel set his sights on catching Avner, not realizing in the least what he was doing.
As we’ll see later on, he should have seriously considered why this battle-hardened veteran was still alive.
Avner was a cunning warrior who had survived many battles.
Let me close with this, which will also lead us to our takeaway.
The Pool of Gibeon, where all this action took place, has been found!
It was a man-made water storage tank carved out of rock.
It was about 40 feet wide and 80 feet deep.
It collected rainwater from the area around it.
There was even a staircase carved into its walls so that people could still get water even as the water level sunk.
So here’s the takeaway.
The Pool of Gibeon is one of many archaeological finds that demonstrate the Bible is NOT mythology.
Stories that take place around pools also appear in the New Testament.
At the Pool of Bethesda, Yeshua healed a crippled man who had been disabled for 38 years.
After healing him, Yeshua tells the man to “take up your mat and walk.”
At the Pool of Siloam, Yeshua also healed a man who had been blind since birth.
Interestingly, in those days, a pool of water was believed to have healing powers when its waters were stirred.
Anyway, my point is an abundance of archeological finds has proven time and time again that the stories in Scripture are credible.
So we can trust our Bibles!
Ya feel me?
Leave a Reply