God reveals the problem: Saul had tried to exterminate the Gibeonites.

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Sylvia Ferguson
5 years ago
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1 Introduction Some parts of the Bible were not written in chronological order. When we read the Bible we sometimes lose our sense of time. The last four chapters are set between the uprising of Sheba and Adonijah s attempt to wrest power for the throne of David (see 1 Kings 1 and Chafin p.375). So why include this story about the Gibeonites? There is a famine in the land. When people read the Bible they struggle with the idea of a supernatural God visiting natural consequences for specific sins. Even the idea of blood-guilt seems strange and anachronistic. David asks God why Israel is being punished by a famine; the Lord tells him because Saul tried to wipe out the Gibeonites. The chapter outlines a problem (vv.1-2); a plan (vv.3-9) and includes a protective mother (vv.10-14). Sometimes our past catches up with us. God is just and the justifier of the righteous. David is now at the end of his life (and ministry). But there is unfinished business. God allows a famine in the land to awaken David and the people about past injustices; the failure to keep promises and God honoring obligations. Unfinished Business In The Land 2 Samuel 21:1 (NKJV) Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David inquired of the Lord. And the Lord answered, It is because of Saul and his bloodthirsty house, because he killed the Gibeonites. Famines were common in the Middle East. The Bible speaks of famines during the time of Abraham and Jacob. It was a famine that drove the children of Israel into Egypt in the first place. Pagan societies did not take famines for granted. They always saw it as a divine form of judgment, or at least discipline. Even Ahab knew the famine in his time was a judgment by God--a God he neither served nor desired to obey. David is both king and shepherd of Israel. He had a spiritual obligation to discover what was wrong in his kingdom. David makes inquiry of the Lord; quite possibly through Abiathar and Zadok the priests. David does not blame the phenomena on global warning or El nino or La nina; but rather he goes to the source El Senior the Lord. David does not seek scientists or soothsayers; unlike the pagan princes. David seeks the Lord. Why seek sorry substitutes when you have the true and living God in your life? David does something we would all do well to remember--the sender of trouble can also be the remover of trouble. God is our source. God reveals the problem: Saul had tried to exterminate the Gibeonites. We are not told in the Bible when Saul did this; or why Saul did this this act. We do know that a treaty existed between the people of God and the Gibeonites because of the deal Joshua made in Joshua chapter 9. Even though the Gibeonites had tricked Joshua into making the treaty; God 1

2 expected Israel to honor her treaties and her obligations. When the Lord revealed the problem; it was discovered that neither Israel as a whole or David were to blame for the matter. It may be that Israel was aware or benefited by Saul s acts; we are not told. The point being made is that promises made; treaties made; obligations made are to be honored. Do you think God expects you to keep your promises; covenants, obligations? The answer is yes. If God is this concerned about us keeping our promises; does it stand to reason that God will also keep His promises, covenants and obligations? Someone has pointed out there is an emerald rainbow around the throne of God to that proclaims God s commitment to remember His promise! God doesn t need to tie a spectacular rainbow around His finger to remember His promise! What if the promise I made is not in writing? Jesus told the people in the New Testament let your yes be yes and your no, no. We are to be judged in full measure by the verbal commitments we make to one another (Philip Keller p. 174). How sad that Christians are often the most guilty of not keeping their obligations either to their family or business or church or nation. I suspect almost every treaty we ever made with the native American population was broken. We as a nation do not have a perfect record; we as a nation have done more to advance goodness in the world; I believe more than any other nation. But we still have a record of broken promises. In the OT keeping your promise was a highly honored, deeply felt, keenly honored obligation. Even in the Old American West; when a cowboy is heard saying; I gave my word -- it meant something. How do you see keeping your word? A.W. Pink: Troubles do not come haphazard. The poor worldling may talk of his bad luck and ill fortune. But the believer ought to employ more God honoring language. He should know that it is his Father who orders all his circumstances and regulates every detail of his life. Therefore when famine comes upon him--be it spiritual or a financial one--it is both a privilege and duty to seek the Lord and ask, Show me wherefore Thou contendest with me (Job 10:2). When the smile of God is withdrawn from us, we should at once suspect something is wrong. True--his favor is not to be measured by His material benefits; and true also His withholding of them does not always indicate His displeasure. No, He may be testing faith, developing patience, or preparing us for an enlarged trust. Does God punish people for the sins of past generations? Does God curse a family, a generation, a people, a country or a civilization? In one sense the answer is yes! Some scholars who doubt the inspiration of the Scripture or the motives of David, or even the character of God have suggested the whole story was made up so David could take vengeance on his enemies. The text seems rather clear; the famine existed in part to awaken the country and David to some unfinished business. 2

3 A famine meant no rain. No rain no crop. No crop no food. Was the famine due to some transgression, some sin on the part of the people? The people assumed there was a direct link between God and the weather! Are all weather phenomena associated with the judgment of God? Probably not. It is correct to associate sin with punishment. There is a direct connection between sin and punishment--a concept many modern people have forgotten (see Chafin p. 377). Some people suggest every illness, every tragedy is somehow associated to a specific sin. Jesus taught that was untrue. See John 9. Warren Wiersbe calls this chapter The Blind Man Calls Their Bluff. Jesus performs miracles for a number of reasons. He genuinely cares about the people--we call that compassion. Jesus performs miracles to prove His identity as Messiah. He performs miracles to convey a spiritual message. There are many possible reasons why hardship, difficulty, set back takes place. The disciples were sure that the man had been born blind because of some specific sin; either his parents or his own. Jesus disagreed with them. Jesus declared it all happened so that the glory of God might be revealed. Clearly the presence of sin, the presence of pain, the presence of suffering can be traced back to rebellion in the heart of Satan--and then rebellion in the hearts of Adam and Eve. But to blame a specific disability on a sin committed by specific persons is beyond any man s ability or authority (Wiersbe Vol. 1; p. 324). Wiersbe adds; Only God knows why babies are born with handicaps, and only God can turn those handicaps into something that will bring good to the people and glory to his name. The bottom line Jesus does not attribute the man s blindness either to the man or to his parents; but that God allowed this person to be blind to prove a point--and perform a miracle. Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work (John 9:3-4). The people turned to David for answers. And David turned to God. It would appear that David inquired of the Lord whether through prayer; or sacrifice or counsel or the Urim or Thumim; we are not told. I would guess that David employed all those methods to listen to what the Lord had to say. But note--the famine went on for three years. Why did it take David so long to inquire? I am going to suggest that David was concerned after the first year; but he doesn t automatically assume the cause is spiritual! David did not necessarily see a spiritual cause in every single problem; but after three years he does try to know the heart of God on the matter. The first and second year he might look upon it as a punishment laid upon them for the common sins of the land: but when he saw it continuing a third year also, he thought there was something in it more than ordinary, and therefore, although he well knew the natural cause to be drought, yet he inquired after the supernatural, as wise men should do (Trapp). Saul s crime consisted in breaking ancient oaths and killing the Gibeonites. Guzik notes these important principles: God expects us to keep our promises God expects nations to keep their promises Time does not diminish our obligation to promises 3

4 God s correction may come a long time after the offense (vv.2-6) 2 Samuel 21:2 (NKJV) So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; the children of Israel had sworn protection to them, but Saul had sought to kill them in his zeal for the children of Israel and Judah. The Gibeonites were a remnant of the Amorites. David takes the first step about reconciliation. Clearly Saul had a zeal but it wasn t according to knowledge. Saul may have thought that the agreement was way past the statute of limitations; or that he was doing Israel a favor. But this is misguided zeal; and good intentions is never an excuse for bad behavior. Because of what Saul did to them, David allowed them to define the terms of what constitutes a just and fair settlement. The Gibeonites were to decide the nature of the retribution. They refused money. They wanted the lives of Saul s sons. David refused to hand over Mephibosheth because of an earlier promise or vow; oath and obligation. (vv.3-6) that you may bless the inheritance of the Lord David believed that if the Gibeonites could bless Israel; then the reconciliation would be complete and God s discipline of Israel would end! What are we to make of all this? This purely pagan race of Canaan asked the solution be made accordance with Numbers 35:29-34; Numbers 35:29-34 (NKJV) And these things shall be a statute of judgment to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings.30whoever kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the testimony of witnesses; but one witness is not sufficient testimony against a person for the death penalty.31moreover you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death.32and you shall take no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the priest. 33So you shall not pollute the land where you are; for blood defiles the land, and no atonement can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it. 34Therefore do not defile the land which you inhabit, in the midst of which I dwell; for I the Lord dwell among the children of Israel. The Gibeonites did not ask for liberation of their slavery. David understood the validity of their claim. The sons were probably ritually executed and their bodies were exposed and unburied. We do not know every detail of this incident. Remember Abraham s words; Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? (Genesis 18:25) 4

5 (vv.7-9) They hanged them on the hill before the Lord The method of death was important; Deuteronomy 21:23; he who is hanged is accursed of God. These descendants of Saul bore the curse Saul deserved and so delivered Israel from the guilt of their sin against the Gibeonites (Guzik). The promise from Deuteronomy 21:23 explains why Jesus died the way He did; Galatians 3:13 explains Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree ). (vv.10-14a) The mother of Saul s sons (two of the seven)--rizpah holds a vigil. The coming of the rain means the famine was over; justice was satisfied and Israel was delivered. She watches the bodies until it began to rain. Her faithfulness moves David to take the bodies and give them a decent burial. David did not destroy the family to exact a retribution. In obedience to the Lord--by the instruction of the Lord--it was to save the people from famine. (v.10) In a vigil of love Rizpah kept the vultures and scavengers from feeding on the dead and decomposing bodies of her loved ones. She spread a blanket near the place where her sons were hanged on the tree (probably not by the neck--probably some ancient form of crucifixionaccording to Keller). The vigil of love so impresses David that he orders the bones of Saul, Jonathan and the rest of the bodies to be kept in the family mauseloum of Kish--the father of Saul. It was a royal burial. The Lord made it clear what we are to do if we want to enjoy the physical, moral and spiritual blessings of God. We must obey Him. Unfinished Fighting In The Land (vv.15-22) The passage speaks of three battles fought against the family of Goliath--and the Philistines. 2 Samuel 21:15 (NKJV) When the Philistines were at war again with Israel, David and his servants with him went down and fought against the Philistines; and David grew faint. David grows weary in the fight. The NIV translates this exhausted. No wonder--david s age is starting to catch up with him. But we cannot give up the fight against our flesh. If this 5

6 passage teaches us anything, it is the battle belongs to the Lord but we must all fight over and over again in the battle against our flesh Even when we conquer a major sin (Goliath) he seems to have brothers or sons--ready to try and put us away. We can never retire from the fight of faith. We must fight the good fight. We must persevere to the end. The flesh will continue to wage war against the spirit right up until the end of our lives. When the seven sons of Saul are put to death, there will be other foes (lusts) that will seek to prevail against us, and they too must be resisted, and (by grace) overcome (Pink p.534). David old and even a little weak--but he continues to fight. One of the interesting applications of this passage is this--big giants still come toward the end of David s life. It is not simply youthful lusts we must be concerned about it is the giants we face in our twilight years! Sometimes our greatest enemies are kept for last. Yet we will be more than conquerors through David s Son--the Lord Jesus Christ. Another application--those who began the fight and continued the fight have earned the right to be remembered. Families, communities, nations, churches need to remember the people who have made their existence possible. (v.17) you quench the lamp of Israel. David is the lamp of Israel--in the sense that David s lamp lights the way. Christians are not to quench the Holy Spirit. The lamp that burned in the Temple burned day and night. The lamp was a symbol of God s presence with the people. The men felt David symbolized their contact with God; and without David they would be leaderless, in the darkness without light. We as a culture long for leaders. We are always asking the question; Where are the leaders? We as a culture look for leaders in the popular culture, in the popular media, in the sport s establishment. Tiger Woods, Al Gore, Ted Haggard--when you become a popular figure--the expectations run high. Even when a leader has been proven effective; we don t always seek to shield them from the sons of giants. We look for reasons to tear leaders down instead of build leaders up. How are we to take the very real flaws, the very real sins and deal with them? We sometimes look for any blemish, any flaw any imperfection to disregard or dismiss or destroy them. Conclusion Guzik: Sibbechai...Elhanan...Jonathan... 6

7 These men accomplished heroic deeds when David was finished fighting giants. God will continue to raise up leaders when the leaders of the previous generation pass from the scene. David s legacy lay not only in what he accomplished, but in what he left behind--a people prepared for victory. David s triumphs were meaningful not only for himself but for others who learned victory through his teaching and example. Fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants The defeat of these four giants is rightly credited to the hand of David and the hand of his servants. David had a role in this through example, guidance and influence. G. Campbell Morgan: Let those who after long service find themselves waning in strength, be content to abide with the people of God, still shining for them as a lamp, and thus enabling them to carry on the same Divine enterprises. Such action in the last days of life is also great and high service. (see Guzik, David. Study Guide for 2 Samuel 21. Enduring Word. Blue LetterBible. 7 July Jul

1/10/09. 2Sam :1-14 The Gibeonites avenged by David.

1/10/09. 2Sam :1-14 The Gibeonites avenged by David. 1 2 1/10/09 2Sam. 21-22 When we started our study of Second Samuel, we laid out a simple outline that is presented by many commentators. I. The triumph s of David. 2Sam. 1-10 II. The troubles of David.