The Vile Man's Trumpet Text: 2 Samuel 20:1-2
Introduction: The Lingering Rebellion
We find ourselves here at the tail end of Absalom's rebellion. The charismatic son is dead, caught by his hair in an oak tree, and David is making his way back to Jerusalem. One would think that after such a bloody and heartbreaking civil war, the nation would be exhausted with rebellion. One would think that the sight of their rightful king, chastened and grieving but restored by God, would bring a universal sigh of relief and a return to order. But sin is not so easily exhausted. Rebellion is a contagion, and the Absalomic fever had not entirely broken.
Just as the embers of one fire are dying down, another fire is being kindled. The conflict between the men of Israel and the men of Judah over who had the greater claim to David, which we saw at the end of the last chapter, was not just a petty squabble. It was a symptom of a deep-seated division, a tribal jealousy that had been festering for years. And whenever there is discontent, envy, and strife, you can be sure that a certain kind of man will see it as an opportunity. The devil always has his candidates ready for moments of turmoil.
This passage shows us the anatomy of opportunistic rebellion. It demonstrates how quickly the loyalty of the crowd can evaporate. It reveals the power of a single, well-timed, seditious slogan. And it reminds us that the war against God's anointed is a perpetual one. There is always a Sheba, a son of Belial, waiting in the wings with a trumpet in his hand, ready to rally the disaffected and declare independence from the Son of Jesse. This is not just ancient history; it is a recurring pattern in the life of the Church and in the life of every believer.
The Lord's anointed will always have his challengers. The kingdom of God will always have its rebels. And we must learn to recognize the sound of the vile man's trumpet, lest we find ourselves marching to its tune, away from our true king.
The Text
Now a vile fellow happened to be there whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite; and he blew the trumpet and said, "We have no portion in David, Nor do we have inheritance in the son of Jesse; Every man to his tents, O Israel!"
So all the men of Israel went up from following David and followed Sheba the son of Bichri; but the men of Judah clung to their king, from the Jordan even to Jerusalem.
(2 Samuel 20:1-2 LSB)
A Man of Belial (v. 1a)
The scene is set with the introduction of our antagonist:
"Now a vile fellow happened to be there whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite..." (2 Samuel 20:1a)
The description here is potent. The Hebrew calls him a "son of Belial." This is not a mere insult. Belial means "worthlessness," "without profit," or "wickedness." A son of Belial is a man defined by worthlessness. He is not just a sinner; he is a man whose character is fundamentally oriented toward destruction and chaos. He is anti-Christ in miniature. Paul uses this very name as a synonym for Satan: "What accord has Christ with Belial?" (2 Cor. 6:15). So when the Bible labels Sheba this way, it is giving us his spiritual diagnosis. He is a man who serves the interests of the kingdom of darkness.
Notice that he "happened to be there." The devil's agents are never far away. When God's people are quarreling, when there is division in the camp, a son of Belial will always materialize to exploit it. He is an opportunist of chaos. He thrives on strife. A united, joyful, and loyal people are poison to him. But a people bickering over their rights and privileges is a field ripe for his destructive harvest.
His tribal identity is also crucial. He is a Benjamite. This was the tribe of King Saul, the man David replaced. While many Benjamites were loyal to David, there was clearly a faction that never got over the fact that the crown had passed from their tribe to the tribe of Judah. Sheba represents this lingering, bitter resentment. He is the ghost of Saul's rebellion, still refusing to bow the knee to God's chosen king. This is a picture of all who cling to old, rejected loyalties when God has established a new order. It is the spirit of legalism, which cannot stand the reign of grace through the true David, Jesus Christ.
The Rebel's Creed (v. 1b)
Sheba then makes his move, using both an instrument and a slogan to incite rebellion.
"...and he blew the trumpet and said, 'We have no portion in David, Nor do we have inheritance in the son of Jesse; Every man to his tents, O Israel!'" (2 Samuel 20:1b)
The trumpet was a call to arms, a signal for gathering or for war. It was an instrument of authority. Sheba, a man of no account, usurps this authority. He appoints himself the leader of the opposition. This is the essence of rebellion: self-appointment in defiance of God's appointments.
His words are the very creed of apostasy. "We have no portion in David, nor do we have inheritance in the son of Jesse." This is a formal, covenantal rejection. The word "portion" speaks of a shared lot, a common identity. "Inheritance" speaks of a future, a stake in the kingdom. Sheba is declaring that the ten northern tribes have no connection to the Davidic covenant. He is attempting to nullify the promise God made to David in 2 Samuel 7. He is saying, "That king, that covenant, that promise, it's not for us. We are severing all ties."
Notice the dismissive language: "the son of Jesse." This was a common way to belittle David, to remind everyone of his humble origins as a shepherd boy from a non-royal family. It is an attempt to strip him of his divine anointing and reduce him to his mere human pedigree. It is the same spirit that says of Christ, "Is not this the carpenter's son?" (Matthew 13:55). The rebel always seeks to diminish the king.
And what is the result of this rejection? "Every man to his tents, O Israel!" This is a call for disintegration. It is a call to abandon the national, covenantal project and retreat into private, tribal, individualistic concerns. "Look after your own affairs. Forget the kingdom. Forget the common good." This is the logical end of all rebellion against God. When you reject the king, the center cannot hold. Society atomizes. Everyone does what is right in his own eyes. It is a return to the chaos of the book of Judges. Sheba's trumpet is not a call to an alternative kingdom, but to no kingdom at all. It is a call to anarchy.
A Nation Divided (v. 2)
The tragic effectiveness of Sheba's rebellion is seen immediately in the response of the people.
"So all the men of Israel went up from following David and followed Sheba the son of Bichri; but the men of Judah clung to their king, from the Jordan even to Jerusalem." (2 Samuel 20:2)
Just like that, the unity is shattered. "All the men of Israel," representing the ten northern tribes, abandon their king. How fickle is the human heart! Moments before, they were arguing that they had "ten parts" in the king, and Judah only one. Now, at the word of a worthless man, they declare they have no part in him at all. Their loyalty was rooted in pride and political calculation, not in covenant faithfulness. When their pride was wounded, their loyalty evaporated.
They "followed Sheba." They exchanged the Lord's anointed for a son of Belial. They traded the shepherd king who loved them for a worthless man who would lead them to ruin. This is always the deal the devil offers. He promises liberation from God's authority, but delivers only bondage to a far more cruel and worthless master. Every rejection of Christ is an embrace of Belial.
But thank God, the apostasy was not total. "But the men of Judah clung to their king." The word "clung" is a strong one. It implies a deep, loyal, and stubborn attachment. It is the word used for a man clinging to his wife (Genesis 2:24). Judah's loyalty was not based on political advantage, but on covenantal identity. David was one of them. He was their kinsman. Their loyalty was personal, tribal, and covenantal. They were bound to him.
This division prefigures the later, permanent split of the kingdom after the death of Solomon. The fault lines were already there. But more importantly, it shows us the great antithesis that runs through all of history. There are those who follow the worthless man, and there are those who cling to the King. There is no middle ground. You are either going up from following David, or you are clinging to him all the way to Jerusalem.
Clinging to the True David
This brief, ugly episode is a powerful picture of the spiritual warfare in which we are all engaged. The world is full of the sons of Sheba, blowing their trumpets and promising liberation if we will only cast off the yoke of Christ.
They cry, "We have no portion in the Son of Jesse! We will not have this man rule over us!" They tell us that faith is an outdated tribal loyalty, that the claims of Christ are an infringement on our personal autonomy. They call us to our "tents," to a life of privatized, self-interested concerns, free from the demands of the kingdom.
And tragically, many who once claimed to be part of Israel, the people of God, listen to that trumpet. Their loyalty, based on the benefits they thought they would receive, proves to be shallow. When the demands of discipleship become costly, when their pride is offended, or when a more attractive offer comes along, they go up from following David.
But the true Judah, the church of the living God, is called to be different. We are called to cling to our King. Our loyalty is not a matter of convenience; it is a matter of covenant. He is our kinsman-redeemer. He is bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. We are of the tribe of the Lion of Judah. Our identity is wrapped up in Him.
Therefore, when the trumpets of rebellion sound, and they are sounding constantly in our day, we must train our ears to recognize them for what they are: the call of Belial. It is the call to worthlessness, to disintegration, to anarchy. And we must refuse it. We must cling to our King, from the Jordan of our baptism to the New Jerusalem, His eternal city. Let the sons of Sheba go to their tents. We are going with the Son of David to His throne.