Settling a debt
2 Samuel 21 • Sermon • Submitted
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Intro: Today we’re continuing through the book of 2nd Samuel, and today we’re in one of the more difficult passage in all the bible, the kind of difficult passage that the commentaries just jump over
Now it’s been said by some commentators that these last 4 chapters are not so much chronological as they are a collection of final things that the author of this book wanted us to know about David
But lets get straight into this passage...
1 Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year. And David sought the face of the Lord. And the Lord said, “There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.”
2 So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not of the people of Israel but of the remnant of the Amorites. 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.
2 sam
1 Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year. And David sought the face of the Lord. And the Lord said, “There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.”
When you read the word “Famine” you can just call it a drought, remember, this was a farming culture who were desperately dependent upon rain to produce crops and though it wasn’t unheard of for God’s people to have a poor harvest…3 poor harvest in a row…led David to believe that God was trying to get their attention...
When you read the word “Famine” you can just call it a drought, remember, this was a farming culture who were desperately dependent upon rain to produce crops and though it wasn’t unheard of for God’s people to have a poor harvest…3 poor harvest in a row…led David to believe that God was trying to get their attention...
When you read the word “Famine” you can just call it a drought, remember, this was a farming culture who were desperately dependent upon rain to produce crops and though it wasn’t unheard of for God’s people to have a poor harvest…3 poor harvest in a row…led David to believe that God was trying to get their attention...
So why was God trying to get their attention? Because there was a debt that needed to be settled in amoungst the people in regards to a promise that they made to a people called the Gibeonites that Saul had broken
Here’s the short version:
The book of Joshua records the God’s people entering into the land he promised to the forefather Abram…but this was already occupied by wicked people…which is why God told his people to wipe them out and make no treaties with anyone of the tribes you come across
One of those those groups of people were called the Gibeonites, now they knew that they would stand a chance against Israel so they came up with a plan to make themselves look like poor foreigners…in the hopes of fooling Joshua into making a covenant with them essentally protecting them which Joshua does...
God reveals that it was the wrong decision and they would be made Israel’s servants but the oath must be kept, and they must be preserved…(Josh 9)
Evidently Saul didn’t keep it…and Now God is Judging his people for the sins of Saul…and telling them it must be made right.
This highlights several important principles
God expects us to keep our promises
We live in a day and age where people think nothing of breaking a promise…but just because people like that don’t ever think God thinks like that
Feelings don’t dilute a promise
Time doesn’t expire a promise
where would we be without God keeping his promise to us?
Sometimes pain is God’s way of getting your attention
Remember this came up after 3 years of famine
Not everything is testing trial…
C.S lewis says this...
Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” ... Pain is unmasked, unmistakable and every man knows that something is wrong when he is being hurt.”
Now, not every pain is from God…some are from you…but how can you know the difference?..
It’s important to seek God’s face
Do what David..Seek God’s face...
Notice, this issue wasn’t given clarity because David, called together his elders, or because the Gibeonites were causing an issue…this was a God given
App: There are the issues of man…and then are they issues of God…those are the most important, those are only found by seeking his face
Sometimes God’s Judgement…is not Immediate…but it will always be fitting
When Saul first did this act, perhaps he thought he was gonna get away with it because there were no immediate consequences…not judgement would come later
And his house would bear the consequences of his sin
App: I think this should be a warning for any of us who are in sin today and perhaps not feeling the consequences of it at this moment…perhaps you won’t…but your kids might in the future
Some body always pays a price for our sin even if we don’t
In this we see that God’s heart has always been for the outsider
Though their methods were wrong, their hearts were right
There will always be a place in God’s house for the earnest outsider
So David seeks God’s face, God reveals the issue…and now David goes to the Gibeonites to settle the debt...
3 And David said to the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? And how shall I make atonement, that you may bless the heritage of the Lord?”
4 The Gibeonites said to him, “It is not a matter of silver or gold between us and Saul or his house; neither is it for us to put any man to death in Israel.” And he said, “What do you say that I shall do for you?”
4 The Gibeonites said to him, “It is not a matter of silver or gold between us and Saul or his house; neither is it for us to put any man to death in Israel.” And he said, “What do you say that I shall do for you?”
5 They said to the king, “The man who consumed us and planned to destroy us, so that we should have no place in all the territory of Israel,
2 sam 21:
4 The Gibeonites said to him, “It is not a matter of silver or gold between us and Saul or his house; neither is it for us to put any man to death in Israel.” And he said, “What do you say that I shall do for you?”
3 And David said to the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? And how shall I make atonement, that you may bless the heritage of the Lord?”
2 So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not of the people of Israel but of the remnant of the Amorites. 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.
3 And David said to the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? And how shall I make atonement, that you may bless the heritage of the Lord?”
2 sam
This is kind of an awkward situation…because it doesn’t seem they were asking for it…but I like the humility of King David…realizing that he himself could not just set the terms of payment himself…but look what happens they say...”We don’t want your money, and we’re not looking for a war” so the king asks again…what do you want?
This is kind of an awkward situation…because it doesn’t seem they were asking for it…but I like the humility of King David…realizing that he himself could not just set the terms of payment himself…but look what happens they say...”We don’t want your money, and we’re not looking for a war” so the king asks again…what do you want?
They say “we don’t want money”
They say “
This is kind of an awkward situation…because it doesn’t seem they were asking for it…but I like the humility of King David…realizing that he himself could not just set the terms of payment himself…but look what happens they say...”We don’t want your money, and we’re not looking for a war” so the king asks again…what do you want?
look at what they say...
5 They said to the king, “The man who consumed us and planned to destroy us, so that we should have no place in all the territory of Israel,
6 let seven of his sons be given to us, so that we may hang them before the Lord at Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the Lord.” And the king said, “I will give them.”
6 let seven of his sons be given to us, so that we may hang them before the Lord at Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the Lord.” And the king said, “I will give them.”
7 But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Saul’s son Jonathan, because of the oath of the Lord that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.
6 let seven of his sons be given to us, so that we may hang them before the Lord at Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the Lord.” And the king said, “I will give them.”
2 sam 21:
So this seems quite brutal, and this is a stumbling block for those who read sometimes, because it just seemed like David okayed the death of 7 innocent men simply because they related to Saul…why 7? because it’s a number that was symbolic of completion
2 sam 21:
Now this is a difficult passage
We don’t know for sure that they were innocent - There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house v.1 - Perhaps in some way this they were accomplices or benefactors from Saul’s actions
4 The Gibeonites said to him, “It is not a matter of silver or gold between us and Saul or his house; neither is it for us to put any man to death in Israel.” And he said, “What do you say that I shall do for you?”
4 The Gibeonites said to him, “It is not a matter of silver or gold between us and Saul or his house; neither is it for us to put any man to death in Israel.” And he said, “What do you say that I shall do for you?”
5 They said to the king, “The man who consumed us and planned to destroy us, so that we should have no place in all the territory of Israel,
4 The Gibeonites said to him, “It is not a matter of silver or gold between us and Saul or his house; neither is it for us to put any man to death in Israel.” And he said, “What do you say that I shall do for you?”
5 They said to the king, “The man who consumed us and planned to destroy us, so that we should have no place in all the territory of Israel,
6 let seven of his sons be given to us, so that we may hang them before the Lord at Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the Lord.” And the king said, “I will give them.”
2 sam21: 6-7
Perhaps this was God’s way of doing to Saul what David couldn’t do - Remember that David wouldn't wipe out the house of Saul, But a lot of the people who have caused David trouble were from the house of Saul…Sheba, Shamai, so perhaps this is God doing for David, what David couldn’t do for himself
2 sam
2 sam 21:
It was the costume of the the day…that the judgement of a man actions would be fall upon house hold
Here’s another question: why did they ask for seven? Well in Hebrew culture, seven was the number of completion, so it’s not that Saul only killed seven people, but that Gibeonites were willing to only take seven lives as a symbol of complete retribution
App: So this is a hard to understand situation…and it’s obvious that we don’t have enough information in this situation to fully understand whats going on here...
But when you’re face with something you don’t understand about God, it’s best to lean on things that scripture has clearly said about God... we must trust the principle stated by Abraham: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? ()
25 Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?”
5 He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.
Gen 18
we must trust the principle stated by Abraham: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? ()
And here’s how it happens v.7
So David agrees to the terms and now’s he’s faced with the gut wrenching task of having to chose who dies...
7 But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Saul’s son Jonathan, because of the oath of the Lord that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.
8 The king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Merab the daughter of Saul, whom she bore to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite;
9 and he gave them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the mountain before the Lord, and the seven of them perished together. They were put to death in the first days of harvest, at the beginning of barley harvest.
2 sam 21:7-
Sp
7 But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Saul’s son Jonathan, because of the oath of the Lord that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.
8 The king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Merab the daughter of Saul, whom she bore to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite;
Now this must have been gut wrenching…David choses 2 sons of Rizpah who was a concubine of Saul’s…and then he choses 5 sons of Merab who was married to Adriel, who was the son of Barzillai who if it’s the same guy, was a beloved friend of David…these were his grandsons…this leads me to believe that these 7 represented the last of Saul’s house
Insight: So if this is the case, this would have been no easy thing....this would have been traumatic and gut wrenching…but here’s sometimes there is no clean and easy way to deal with sin.
There will be collateral Damage
It will be messy
It will hurt like you never thought it would
But when the other option is worse…you have to make the choice
Look at this gut wrenching scene...
9 and he gave them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the mountain before the Lord, and the seven of them perished together. They were put to death in the first days of harvest, at the beginning of barley harvest.
2 sam 21:9
This was no clean matter…notice they were hung on the mountain before the Lord…they did this to fulfill a promise connected with Duet 21:23 “He who is hanged is accursed of God” they deliberately killed these men in this way so that symbolically that curse that was upon the all the people would be upon them…and blessing would once again come upon Israel.
Now look at this...
10 Then Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until rain fell upon them from the heavens. And she did not allow the birds of the air to come upon them by day, or the beasts of the field by night.
11 When David was told what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done,
12 David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the public square of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them, on the day the Philistines killed Saul on Gilboa.
13 And he brought up from there the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan; and they gathered the bones of those who were hanged.
14 And they buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the land of Benjamin in Zela, in the tomb of Kish his father. And they did all that the king commanded. And after that God responded to the plea for the land.
Now there was a fate worse then death, that was the desecration of body even by the animals…do you remember when Goliath said to David “I’ll feed your body to the birds of the air…and then David said “I’ll feed your whole nation to the birds” this was a pretty strong insult.
But notice Rizpah
Her 2 sons have been killed…and she refuses to leave them to be ravaged by the birds
She wouldn’t let these Bodies be Die in degrace
He would leave until the rains came - as if she was saying…I will not let their deaths be for nothing…I wanna know God’s wrath had been absorbed...
David hears of her loving display…and honors her and these men by bring all of there remains including Saul and Jonathan back home and buried them there together...
So this is a painful passage…but what are the big take aways for us today?
Murder is a great offense to the Lord
Murder is a great offense to the Lord
There’s an interesting principle at work here…it’s found in Number 35:33
33 You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it.
The Idea here is that unpunished murders defile the land that God will stand by forever and allow life to be taken without bringing judging...
App: God values life
And you might say, “well i’ve never murdered anybody, I’ve never had an abortion....i’m good”…but then think What Jesus said
But then Jesus came and gives an even greater requirement...
It saddens me greatly that there are many young evangelicals that have become pro choice…because I don’t see how the bible gives you room for that
21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’
22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.
As christians we believe in God’s word, and his word says
Matt 5:21
Here’s the point: Jesus likens a hatful heart toward someone as murder…
13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
Illastration: So have you ever hated anyone on the freeway?
Here’s the point: you can not honor the bible without recognizing that God’s word values the Life of the unborn, even before it is completely formed and to take that life.
5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
What this should tell us is that all of us are guilty of breaking God’s All
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romens 3:23
So here’s the big thought…according to God’s standard we are all guilty
Here’s the point: you can not honor the bible without recognizing that God’s word values the Life of the unborn, even before it is completely formed and to take that life.
“Humanity has no hope to save itself, and we can’t do anything about it. There’s no ray of light, no silver lining, and no exceptions. You are guilty. I am guilty. The Pope is guilty, Billy Graham is guilty, Mother Teresa is guilty. Your grandparents are guilty. That brand new infant just born into your home is guilty. No one can stand on their own merits before God. His wrath is righteous and just.”
App: you are in debt
“Humanity has no hope to save itself, and we can’t do anything about it. There’s no ray of light, no silver lining, and no exceptions. You are guilty. I am guilty. The Pope is guilty, Billy Graham is guilty, Mother Teresa is guilty. Your grandparents are guilty. That brand new infant just born into your home is guilty. No one can stand on their own merits before God. His wrath is righteous and just.”
So According to Jesus we were in debt…and just like in this story debts must be paid for…but here’s the hope of the christian faith...
Jesus settled our Debt
Jesus settled our Debt
39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,
John 5
Our God is a covenantal God
In this story we have a people, heading for the ultimate divine Judgment, but salvation came through 7 seemingly innocent men (remember 7 symbolized completeness or perfection) being hung accursed upon a tree as an atonement for people
John 5:
Our God is a covenantal God who can be trusted
Our God is a covenantal God who can be trusted
Our God is a covenantal God
Our God is a covenantal God
In that same way we who were facing the wrath of God’s were saved by Jesus the perfect man, who hang on a tree accursed so the we could be in right standing before God.
App: Jesus is the only one who can settle the debt
10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
God takes his covenants seriously
God takes his covenants seriously
In this passage we God take very seriously a covenant that was made by his people…how seriously do you think he takes the covenant that He himself makes to us?
In the book of Revelation (chapter 4) we see the throne of God, and around his throne we see a rainbow…a sign of his covenant it testifies of his faithfulness
Our God is a covenantal God who can be trusted
App: Here’s the point: People will fail, You will fail…Jesus will never fail...
You can trust him…
First I like the humility of King David…realizing that he himself could not just set the terms of payment he had to make atonement
