Wednesday, December 8, 2004 Nativity Fast
The Venerable Patapios of Thebes
Kellia: 2 Samuel 5:1-5 Epistle: 2 Timothy 4:9-22 Gospel: St. Luke 20:1-8
2 Samuel 5:1-5 RSV (2 Kings 5:1-5 LXX), especially vs. 3: "So all the
elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron; and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and
they anointed David king over Israel." Following the murder of Ishbosheth, the son of King Saul and the ruler of the tribes
north of Judah (2 Sam. 4:4-8), the people of all the tribes of Israel recognized that David of Judah was God's evident
choice to rule as king over them. How widely it was known among the people that David, while still a boy, had been
anointed years earlier by the Prophet Samuel (1 Sam. 16:1-13), is not stated explicitly in Scripture. It does appear that there
was a widespread awareness of David's special favor in God's eyes, for the people said to him: "the Lord said to you,
'You shall be shepherd of My People Israel, and you shall be prince over Israel'" (vs. 2).
The present short passage sets out, in a compact form, the solemn, royal covenant between David and the twelve tribes of
Israel. In the action recorded here, David's rule which had been limited to the tribal area of Judah was now extended over
the entire country, "from Dan to Beersheba," as the Hebrew idiom puts it (2 Sam. 3:10). The expression refers to the
settlement of the tribe of Dan in the far northeast corner of Palestine, in the city they named Dan (formerly called Laish)
and to Beersheba, a city at the far southern extremity of Judah's tribal area on the edge of the Negeb desert, close to the
stream called "the river of Egypt." Hence, "from Dan to Beersheba" is simply a way of referring to the whole country,
from north to south.
Three elements common to the covenants of the People of God should be noted in the coronation of David as king of Israel.
Covenants, in the Biblical sense, differ from the more common contracts or agreements that people make routinely for
business and social purposes. Covenants express a deeper, more intimate relationship between the parties. Covenants
explicitly involve the action of God as the sanctioning party in a relationship, and they express the action of God the Holy
Spirit in sealing the union of the partners.
The people came to David at Hebron and declared to him, "we are your bone and flesh" (2 Sam. 5:1). This metaphor was
first used in mankind's history by Adam when he beheld for the first time the woman taken from his side (Gen. 2:23). The
words express a union of essential being between two parties to a covenant, man and woman in marriage, a sovereign and
people in a nation, and God and His People in the Old and in the New Covenants. Hence, the Lord Jesus says to us His
people, "This is My Body which is broken for you" (1 Cor. 11:24) and "This cup is the New Covenant in My Blood" (1
Cor. 11:25), expressing His profound union with us.
In the declaration of the people at Hebron, they acknowledged to David that it was the Lord Who had said to him, "You
shall be shepherd of My People Israel" (2 Sam. 5:2). Thereby, they included the Lord as the active and sanctioning party to
the bond being established. Many of the same prayers which are used in the Orthodox Betrothal service could apply
equally and would be appropriate in the Coronation of a monarch: that God will send down upon them (ruler and people)
"perfect and peaceful love...oneness of mind...steadfastness of faith...a blameless life." Blessed is the nation that lives in
such a covenant and relationship with its national leader.
Ceremonially, all the elders of Israel "anointed David king over Israel" (vs. 3). As with Orthodox Christians today,
anointing with oil was used to express the action of God the Holy Spirit - as the One forming the covenant. Hence in
Chrismation, He Himself is the gift received.
O God and King of all, the Superior of every sovereign, enable all the rulers and peoples of this world to shelter the
humble and meek and live according to Thy holy Commandments.
