17 Then the children of Israel journeyed and came to their cities on the third day. And Samuel says, "See? God took the initiative in this matter, by afflicting the nation of Israel with a famine because the house of Saul had put the Gibeonites to death. After that, God heeded the prayer of the land. And the Gibeonites said to him, "We will have no silver or gold from Saul or from his house, nor shall you kill any man in Israel for us." The higher the vote, the further up an answer is. Would it be a good alliance to have with these people from far away?". And it very seriously affected his judgment in this matter. Each generation had to live out its days as "hewers of wood and carriers of water". David did not come to this with any regal neutrality in the least. I know that is how I always read itas straight historyand I did not think about it very much. These cagey enemies of God's people were destined to be destroyed, so they devised a simple, but clever scheme to deceive Israel in the hope of saving their own necks. Report. It is his sin. The Gibeonites were a very shrewd bunch of people. the LORD answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Lets read about David avenging the Gibeonites in 2 Samuel 21:1-14: 1 Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year. And with what shall I make atonement, that you may bless the inheritance of the LORD?" Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David inquired of the LORD. And if He sinned, then He could not be our Savior. Deceit and delusion are powerful spiritual weapons of destruction but they pale in potency compared to the creative and edifying Word of God come alive by faith in believers' hearts! It seems that modern Westerners want their heroes flawed. Israel and Judah," who may have fretted at the inconvenience of having the Gibeonites among them. They do what their flesh tells them to dowhat Satan inspires them to want to doand they do it. The Bible tells us that after Saul's death God sent a famine into the land mainly to get the attention of Saul's successor, King David. We still need some more background. When He visits the iniquity upon successive generations, He is saying is that the results and curses that come automatically often go down a handful of generations. To re-establish peace between the two tribes, David fulfills the Gibeonites request to sacrifice two heirs of Israels throne, Sauls sons and grandsons. Joshua kept his word to the Gibeonites even when it was inconvenient. This has become known as the "eye for an eye principle." So he said, "Whatever you say, I will do for you." II Samuel 21:7 But 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. The cities of refuge were designed (among other things) to stop and prevent these feuds from happening. "We don't want any money, for sure not Saul's money. Some unfinished business here needs to be taken care of. WebA three years' famine in the days of David was attributed to God's anger at the unexpiated crime of Saul in slaying the Gibeonites. Joshua and that generation did not do their entire job, and so they were stuck. ", So David went out and said, "There are some things that have needed to be done. Just tell me and I will do it for you.. Even so, maybe there were even worse problems, perhaps, and David was blind to them for three years. Exodus 21:23-25 But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. In the economy of God's providence, however, such tiny events often matter much. Evidently, he thought that he could win back his kingdom if he zealously did God's will. Joshua 9:14 is the key to Israel's problem. If we would go back to Leviticus 26, we will see that David should have known that famine was no small thing in God's arsenal. Then they answered the king, "As for the man who consumed us and plotted against us, that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the territories of Israel, "let seven men of his descendants be delivered to us, and we will hang them before the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, whom the LORD chose." Although the people of Israel had sworn to spare them, Saul had sought to strike them down in his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah. WebTranslation Details for 2 Samuel 21:1 Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David enquired of the LORD. It said earlier that they wanted them to be hung before the Lord in Gibeah of Saul. Here are guidelines to help facilitate a meaningful learning experience for everyone. You are getting later and later in David's life here. So they thought, "Hmm. Jesus Christ should be everyone's ultimate hero. I think he was very low. The Gibeonites presented themselves to the invading Israelites, not as nearby neighbors, but as distant foreigners who lived in a far-off land. . Leviticus 26:18-20 And after all this, if you do not obey Me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. Then they were able to pick up the pieces of their lives and move forward by the strength that God gave them to overcome and to grow, and to put on the mindthe characterof Christ. Gibeon is only a few miles mostly north of Jerusalem. They got a couple of their men, maybe elders, and got them to appear like they came along distance. The Gibeonites take the young men and essentially lynch them, leaving the bodies of Sauls sons and grandsons to rot, exposed and humiliated in the presence of God at a local shrine. There are things like destruction for their sin, and the family takes that long to recover from that destruction. And the LORD answered, It is because of Saul and his bloodthirsty house, WebThe consequences of Israels covenant with the Gibeonites were not short-term. And they went to Joshua, to the camp at Gilgal, and said to him and to the men of Israel, "We have come from a far country; now therefore, make a covenant with us. He did not perform any miracle, or any other thing to show that He was happy with the way that things turned out. This famine has been going on for three years, year after year. How much food did Jesus produce? It must have been a satisfactory solution from Gods point of view, because he sent the rain on the land after the measures had been taken. Another thing that God said to do was not done. That would be a town in Benjamin just north of Jerusalem. WebKing Saul later broke the treaty that Joshua had signed and attacked the Gibeonites. But 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. To all appearances, it seems that they got away with it. He had a body of law that he could have referred back to and come up with a solution. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth.". He did not negotiate at all. If people grow up in a society and culture that does not have God at their beck and call, they do whatever they wantwhatever comes naturally. God was not in all his thoughts during this time. Evidently, that is what he did. At the request of the Gibeonites themselves, seven sons of Saul were executed ( II Sam. WebThe designation Nethinim is derived from the Hebrew verb natan ("to give over"), which can mean devoting someone to cultic service. Once again, God's anointed was compelled to humble himself and his nation before a delegation of these servile Gibeonites. . Perhaps those first two, Armoni, and Mephibosheth were old enough to have participated in the event. How many rebellions were there? All answers are REVIEWED and MODERATED. So you shall not pollute the land where you are [this is very important]; 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. For all his misguided efforts and pains, Saul reaped the fruits of his delusion. This is pretty clear. There are so many things I have got to do.". They didn't present themselves in a truthful light saying that they were neighbors who respected Israel's strength and godly advantage and were suing for peace. King David was probably huffing and puffing, "I can't lift this thing! The famine was a punishment for Sauls violation of the covenant, made with the Gibeonites back during the days of Joshua. So the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul; and the five sons of Michal [Merabsee margin of most Bibles] the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite; and he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the hill before the LORD. What I am trying to show you by going through these different places is that there is plenty of law that King David could have looked back on. Those who believe that they can outsmart, outflank or in any way outmaneuver our Enemy through cerebral strategies are doomed to the slavery and destruction heaped upon Saul and the Gibeonites. Berean Literal Bible Acts 13:21. It would take three or four generations for perversion to be kicked out of a society. The latter believed that Saul's desire was to destroy them utterly. Share Two years is a long time. They haven't been put in Kish's sepulcher yet. Now it came to pass, when Adonizedec king of If you read 2Samuel 21 carefully, it seems possible that Saul and his house may have been trying to get the Gibeonites territory. This poor man cried out, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. We have all followed in the same way of life as our first parents Adam and Eve. Web16 And it happened at the end of three days, after they had made a covenant with them, that they heard that they were their neighbors who dwelt near them. But, the others were Saul's grandsons. Throughout the centuries, the original Gibeonites continued to exist as a people, although King Saul schemed to destroy them. The Gibeonites, howev Much later, King Saul ignored this covenant of peace and killed some Gibeonites. Of course, a part of it is being able to look at ourselves and see how dirty, nasty, and rotten we are, and saying, "There is no way that anybody could live in this world without sin; even God's beloved Son.". Summary:2 Samuel Chapter 212 Samuel 21 Avenging the Gibeonites A. David avenges the Gibeonites. It is after Absalom's rebellion. As we get to about verse 32 in Hebrews 11, Paul says that he does not have time to get to all the other heroes of faith that the Bible gives us. What Saul did was commit another presumptuous sin. THE STORY OF JOSEPH - All it is, was, "We want blood, and anyone from the house of Saul will do.". The consequences are not the guilt. On the other hand, when people do well, like Abraham, and they live God's way of life, this allows God the leeway to show mercy unto thousands of generations of people. He attempted the genocide of Deuteronomy 21:22-23 If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God. Vote Up Time to retire!" THE BATTLES OF THE LORD We do know the Gibeonites were cutters of wood and drawers of water for the altar of God the tabernacle was at Gibeon. Then they answered the king, "As for the man who consumed us and plotted against us, that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the territories of Israel, "let seven men of his descendants be delivered to us, and we will hang them before the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, whom the LORD chose." WebThe Gibeonites Hang Saul's Descendants 21 While David was king, there were three years in a row when the nation of Israel could not grow enough food. Also, they were hanged on the hill before the Lord. Perhaps trickery will be better than war for us.". But, he did not. Perhaps if I go and kill all the Gibeonites like Joshua was supposed to do, maybe God will let me back into the chair.". He understood it. WebA famine lasting three years hit Israel during the earlier half of David 's reign at Jerusalem. How many died in bar-fights? It is not pretty when we allow the people of the land to dictate to us. There is demotion. We are talking about the possibility of only two of the seven even remotely having any guilt in this matter whatsoever. How many died in sicknesses? We are not finished with that yet, because, who were the Gibeonites? In other words, we want them to be just like us. Now if the LORD your God enlarges your territory, as He swore to your fathers, and gives you the land which He promised to give to your fathers, and if you keep all these commandments and do them, which I command you today, to love the LORD your God and to walk always in His ways, then you shall add three more cities for yourself besides these three, lest innocent blood be shed in the midst of your land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, and thus guilt of bloodshed be upon you. King Saul exhibited that hubris, that overweening pride in his own decisions and that unfounded confidence in his own good judgment that he brought certain and lasting disaster upon his own dynasty. God told Joshua to get rid of all these foreigners in the land. During Davids reign, the people of Gibeon demanded that all of Sauls children be put to death so as to atone for a severe famine. Gave 7 of Saul's sons to the Gibeonites. Can we assume that God was in any way propitiated at the conclusion of this story? It says a bit later that somebody told him what that woman was doing out there protecting the bodies of the slain men of Saul's house for the past six months and it was as though he said, "Oh really? They were going to come in there and just exterminate. Had him over to the palace a few times." They quailed at what they heard that Joshua and Israel had done at Jericho and Ai. He is able to judge justly. It causes a problem in the way that the next generation is formed. David asked. David represents usJoe Church Membertrue Christians in a time of spiritual famine, much like what Amos describes in Amos 8:11, with the famine of the word. 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