However, that is not the case. And then King David inquired of the Lord. Sheba's rebellion is in the previous chapter, II Samuel 20. The rains did not come after the Days of Unleavened Bread when these seven men were executed. He just let them walk all over him. Why so? 3:6: "for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life"? At the time the Israelites under Joshua invaded the Promised Land of Canaan, most of the inhabitants rose up in arms against them. We still need some more background. And with what shall I make atonement, that you may bless the inheritance of the LORD? WebWhich city did Saul destroy when he found that its priests had given David's men provision? 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. Notice that I Kings begins not many chapters after this. The Israelites had promised not to What would be some verses from the Bible to save a marriage? This meant the latter harvest has passed, and maybe another month or so went by. Only after three days did they discover that their "far-distant" allies were really next-door neighbors! He had to sit there and judge people with all the little things they constantly brought up to him that seemed to need his decision on. David didnt get the throne until Saul and Jonathon were both dead. David was anointed king many years before he took the throne. He had Saul tryin Therefore, there was a different system of justice than what the Gentiles were used to. This is pretty clear. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, "You shall go out no more with us to battle, lest you quench the lamp of Israel.". There is another thing that needs to be thrown out there as a possible scenario, and this would have been the very worst and lowest that David could have sunk to. The breach of contract was serious enough that God sent the famine in response. 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. Asked August 31 2013 But, the big thing was that he did not consult God about what he should do about it. Therefore, they arrive in the camp of Israel, and say, "Where's your leader? God required atonement to be made. Therefore, the world is full of sintheir own sin. They knew! This shows that this portion of the story in II Samuel 21, hanging the bodies for six months or so, was an additional curse upon the land. Or as the Gibeonites said Saul consumed them and tried to destroy them a people Israel had entered into a covenant with 400 years earlier. It is in II Samuel 21. Saul was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for forty -two years over Israel. This was obviously later in his life and reign. 2. In fact, look down to verse 15, II Samuel 21:15-17 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. Gibeon was situated very close to Gibeah the home town of Sauls family. You are getting later and later in David's life here. Ezekiel 18:19-20 Yet you say, 'Why should the son not bear the guilt of the father?' What have you been thinking about?". 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. David then goes to Gibeonites and asked to make amends. I Samuel 14:52 Now there was fierce war with the Philistines all the days of Saul. II Samuel 21:8-9 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 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. WebThe Lord answered, Saul and his family of murderers are the reason for this shortage, because he killed the Gibeonites. 2 Samuel 21:1 American Standard Version (ASV) 1 And there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David sought the face of Jehovah. There is a great deal more than what meets the eye. It was as if David earlier said, "Let's just get this out of the way. Perhaps he thought, "Hmm. According to a May 2007 George Barna Poll, 63% of Americans, mostly professing Christians, believe that Jesus sinned during His physical life! He was endangering the whole army by being out there, an old man trying to fight like a young man. You had only black and white television if you had television. In Rizpahs case, her husband, King Saul, broke his promise that the Israelites would spare the Gibeonites in battle; he ordered the Israelites to annihilate them. One other thing: Samuel said that God is not going to go back on His word. That generation had begun to pass. Would it be a good alliance to have with these people from far away?". Based on this principle, I think we can be confident that justice was carried out in this very nasty incident, even though we are not told all the details of what happened. SERIES INTRODUCTION The rest of the Canaanites resented the defection of the Hivites which so greatly weakened the forces for defense, and, headed by Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem, they assembled to wreak vengeance on Gibeon. "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? David was annonted by Sammuel Apr 10, 1035. "We don't want any money, for sure not Saul's money. They wanted blood by putting to death seven male descendants to die for the crimes of that house against the Gibeonites. The Gibeonites left their mark on Israel's history in another wretched incident involving You might say a whole cycle of generations. 'Whoever kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the testimony of witnesses [another layer that comes in]; but one witness is not sufficient testimony against a person for the death penalty. It looks to me like he tried to work out a political solution rather than a righteous one. He was distracted by the cares of this world, by the pulls of this, that, and the other thing, and so he gives in and compromises with the people of the land. 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. Jesus Christ should be everyone's ultimate hero. Joshua kept his word to the Gibeonites even when it was inconvenient. The Gibeonites achieved their short term goal - survival; but they paid a terribly long term price for it - virtual slavery! 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. 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. For unknown reasons, Joshua and the elders of Israel quickly bit on this proposal. And the LORD answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites. 12 Saul said, Listen now, son of Ahitub.. Now, if we would go through II Samuel 24, that even though David made a huge mistake in chapter 21, he did it right in chapter 24. He was setting us an example of what we should be doing in a spiritual sense. Ezekiel 18:19-20 indicates that guilt for sin is not transferable, but the consequences can often touch several generations. This is interesting. And Samuel says, "See? Nevertheless, he names a few of them. This has become known as the "eye for an eye principle." Israel plagued by allowing the deception The children of Israel gathered and went across the Jordan River, and set up camp at Gilgal. The Jewish Encyclopedia asserts that one group of rabbis felt that Saul's punishment at God's hands is a sign of his weak moral character whose only virtue was being tall and handsome. 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. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. It is tainted.". Now the Gibeonites were not of the people of Israel but of the remnant of the Amorites. They buried the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son in the country of Benjamin in Zelah, in the tomb of Kish his father. However, we have a great deal of trouble identifying with or understanding pure, innocent and perfect Galahad. Why was David so loyal to Saul after everything Saul had done to him? He could have done several things differently, perhaps giving the Gibeonites their freedom as a way to repay them. He says that He visits the iniquity upon them. Numbers 35:34 "Therefore 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.'". Back in I Samuel 15, Saul was told by God through Samuel to go up against the Amalekites, and to destroy everything in sight, do not spare anything; exterminate them. The young lions lack and suffer hunger; but those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing. The consequences are not the guilt. However, if they did not participate, they are not going to be given a black mark by God for something that they did not do. If what happened against Gibeon occurred during Saul's reign, even if it was in the latter half, it would mean it was at least (if we are in the last decade of King David's reign) that the massacre of Gibeonites occurred 40 or 50 years earlier. There is a very important difference. Even so, maybe there were even worse problems, perhaps, and David was blind to them for three years. (4:10). They did not ask, "God, what should we do to these people, the Gibeonites? King David came at it from a position of weakness, not of one who knew God's law and could answer these people from spiritual strength. You can read about them for yourself in the Book of Joshua, chapters nine and ten. But talk about your flawed heroes! 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