2 Samuel 21-24: 2 Samuel 21-24

From: Meditations on 2 Samuel By: Henri L. Rossier

2 Samuel 21‑24 • 7 min. read • grade level: 10

2 Sam. 21:1-14¹Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David inquired of the Lord. And the Lord answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites. ²And the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto them; (now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn unto them: and Saul sought to slay them in his zeal to the children of Israel and Judah.) ³Wherefore David said unto the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? and wherewith shall I make the atonement, that ye may bless the inheritance of the Lord? ⁴And the Gibeonites said unto him, We will have no silver nor gold of Saul, nor of his house; neither for us shalt thou kill any man in Israel. And he said, What ye shall say, that will I do for you. ⁵And they answered the king, The man that consumed us, and that devised against us that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the coasts of Israel, ⁶Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, whom the Lord did choose. And the king said, I will give them. ⁷But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the Lord's oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul. ⁸But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite: ⁹And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the hill before the Lord: and they fell all seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, in the beginning of barley harvest. ¹⁰And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water dropped upon them out of heaven, and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night. ¹¹And it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done. ¹²And David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh-gilead, which had stolen them from the street of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them, when the Philistines had slain Saul in Gilboa: ¹³And he brought up from thence the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son; and they gathered the bones of them that were hanged. ¹⁴And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son buried they in the country of Benjamin in Zelah, in the sepulchre of Kish his father: and they performed all that the king commanded. And after that God was entreated for the land. (2 Samuel 21:1‑14)

Now that the kingdom of Israel was again restored after terrible and well-merited trials had assailed it, we might think that a period of peaceful prosperity would begin; but instead, Israel is visited by a new plague. I do not doubt that this famine may have taken place at some other time during his reign, for it says: "There was a famine in the days of David" (2 Sam. 21:1¹Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David inquired of the Lord. And the Lord answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites. (2 Samuel 21:1)), but whenever the Spirit of God inverts the order of an account He has a specific purpose for this, as we see at the end of Judges and in hundreds of incidents in the Gospels.

God's government cannot ignore evil, whatever it may be, and it judges it all the more severely when the congregation is in a relatively good condition. Many years had passed since Saul's bloody deed; this king's history does not mention it; the people had perhaps forgotten it, perhaps it was also unknown to David, but God had not forgotten it and this deed still remained before His eyes. The congregation of Israel had not been implicated in the crime; Saul who had committed it had died long ago; why then call it to mind again? Here it is a matter of a very important principle in God's ways, whether toward His ancient people or toward the Church. The people are jointly liable for Saul's act, for it took place on the territory of the congregation of Israel. The violation of pledges and of an oath made in the name of the Lord (Josh. 9:18¹⁸And the children of Israel smote them not, because the princes of the congregation had sworn unto them by the Lord God of Israel. And all the congregation murmured against the princes. (Joshua 9:18)) rendered the people guilty of the sin which their leader had committed. Generation had followed generation since the time of that act; the people might appeal to their ignorance in the matter—but the crime remained, and God in His time calls it to remembrance.

Do not similar events take place in our days and do they not speak to the consciences of saints? Little does it matter how much time has elapsed: the Assembly is jointly liable for the iniquity which it has let be committed, and it remains defiled by an act against which it has not protested.

The reader knows the history of the Gibeonites. We can read it in Joshua 9. The Amorites had used trickery in order to be received by the congregation of Israel and thus escape the judgment of their people. God considered that which the congregation had bound as bound; they could not revoke their oath. No doubt by placing the Gibeonites in a relationship of slavery to the people God's grace had freed Israel from the consequences of a false step taken lightly and in ignorance, but the consequences of a decision made according to the flesh remained permanently. Saul judged otherwise, for a man in the flesh always does exactly the opposite of what the Spirit would instruct one to do. And still Saul was full of "zeal for the children of Israel and Judah" (2 Sam. 21:2²And the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto them; (now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn unto them: and Saul sought to slay them in his zeal to the children of Israel and Judah.) (2 Samuel 21:2)), but it was a zeal that, alas, was only too closely allied to hatred against the Lord's anointed. Saul of Tarsus too was full of a zeal which made him the persecutor of Christ in His Assembly. In our days we also may be zealous for our own nation or for our church without God having any part in the matter.

Once Saul would have sacrificed his own son, Israel's deliverer, for sake of the rash oath which he had made (1 Sam. 14:24,44²⁴And the men of Israel were distressed that day: for Saul had adjured the people, saying, Cursed be the man that eateth any food until evening, that I may be avenged on mine enemies. So none of the people tasted any food. (1 Samuel 14:24)
⁴⁴And Saul answered, God do so and more also: for thou shalt surely die, Jonathan. (1 Samuel 14:44)). Now this same Saul despised the oath by which Joshua and the princes of Israel had bound themselves in the name of the Lord with regard to the Gibeonites.

The famine rages for three consecutive years: blow upon blow falls upon the congregation of God. By this trial David's conscience is brought to seek out the cause: "David inquired of Jehovah" (2 Sam. 21:1¹Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David inquired of the Lord. And the Lord answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites. (2 Samuel 21:1)). This was his only resource and God answered him immediately: "It is for Saul, and for his house of blood, because he slew the Gibeonites" (2 Sam. 21:1¹Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David inquired of the Lord. And the Lord answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites. (2 Samuel 21:1)). "His house of blood!" When the son of Gera, pursuing a humbled David, had cried out after him: "Away, away, thou man of blood and man of Belial! Jehovah has returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul... for thou art a man of blood," God had recorded these insults of this man of the house of Saul; but now the time had come for Him to express His thought about this outrage: God characterizes Saul's house as "bloody" and justifies the house of David.

After having inquired of the Lord to learn the reason for this chastisement, David should no doubt have continued to inquire of Him regarding the manner of rendering justice to the Gibeonites. Instead of this he consults the Gibeonites, who demand seven men from Saul's family "and we will hang them up to Jehovah in Gibeah" (2 Sam. 21:6⁶Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, whom the Lord did choose. And the king said, I will give them. (2 Samuel 21:6)). David consents to this for, whatever his weakness might be, judgment was necessary. Mephibosheth is spared. David who had treated him earlier with apparent severity here shows that he always bore him on his heart. David was not a man to forget his oaths. Had he not sworn to Jonathan: "Jehovah be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed forever" (1 Sam. 20:42⁴²And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord, saying, The Lord be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever. And he arose and departed: and Jonathan went into the city. (1 Samuel 20:42))?

Rizpah's two sons and the five sons of Michal (or Merab) the daughter of Saul (cf. 1 Sam. 18:19¹⁹But it came to pass at the time when Merab Saul's daughter should have been given to David, that she was given unto Adriel the Meholathite to wife. (1 Samuel 18:19)) are delivered up to the Gibeonites. Their procedure—one can hardly be surprised at their indifference to the prescriptions of the law—is not in accord with the ordinance given in Deuteronomy: "And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be put to death, and thou have hanged him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day (for he that is hanged is a curse of God); and thou shalt not defile thy land, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee for an inheritance" (Deut. 21:22-23²²And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: ²³His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance. (Deuteronomy 21:22‑23)).

The "barley harvest" might be an excuse for thus disobeying the injunctions of Scripture, but excuses do not justify disobedience. It is likely however, according to the account, that they were removed from the gallows and left exposed on the rock instead of receiving burial.

Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the mother of two of these, (already mentioned earlier in the matter of the quarrel between Abner and Ishbosheth (2 Sam. 3:7⁷And Saul had a concubine, whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah: and Ish-bosheth said to Abner, Wherefore hast thou gone in unto my father's concubine? (2 Samuel 3:7)), performs an act of piety that makes her name deserve to live on in the memory of believers. She makes herself guardian of the seven corpses. The motive for her devotedness is not that her two sons are among the condemned, for she watches over the five others as well as over the corpses of her own sons. She is concerned about the posterity of the one who had been "the chosen of Jehovah" (2 Sam. 21:6⁶Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, whom the Lord did choose. And the king said, I will give them. (2 Samuel 21:6)). She shows her piety toward her husband and master's house. Moreover Rizpah is a woman of faith. She guards their bodies from all profanation and watches over them, the sackcloth of mourning she spreads for herself being her only means of carrying out this painful task. Thus she combines her mourning with her watchful piety toward the dead. At least their burial must be honorable. She does not want to leave them as food for the birds of the heavens by day or for the beasts of the field by night as though they were criminals and reprobates. So it is that the nations will act toward God's people (Psa. 79:2²The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth. (Psalm 79:2)), but this is not how the Lord had commanded nor how one should act in Israel!

Rizpah's faith is rewarded: "It was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done" (2 Sam. 21:11¹¹And it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done. (2 Samuel 21:11)). This woman's deed is worthy of being registered in the king's heart. In the midst of her mourning, what joy! She has found a heart that understands her and that delights to reward her—grace answering to her desires. Saul's descendants' bones are united with those of their fathers in the sepulcher of Kish. This woman was on God's path and obtained the answer her faith craved.

Henceforth the Lord can be favorable to the land, for judgment has been executed, but grace also has run its course; for in His ways God never stops at judgment, but rather judgment prepares the way for the triumph of grace.

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