God's Atonement
Notes
Transcript
INTRODUCTION: Welcome/Prayer
Turn to 2 Samuel 21:1-14
We’re entering into the final section of 2 Samuel… which consists of chapters 21-24
This last section has two things worth discussing before we dive into pur passage today.
First matter of discussion is one of chronology.
When did the events listed in these chapter occur? Before the events of chapters 11-20 or after?
Most commentators view this final section as a collection of various events that occurred throughout the reign of David and not sometime after the events of Absalom and Sheba’s rebellion.
However, traditionally the view has been that these events did occur after the events of chapters 11-20 and there is a resurgence of late of modern scholarship coming alongside that view in agreement.
At the very least one of them, the one which we are looking at today, and most likely the rest of them occured after chapter 9. Since the ramifications of David’s kindness with Mephibosheth is seen in our passage.
However, regardless of when one understands the timing of these last four chapters, the meaning and purpose of them remains unchanged.
Essentially, these final chapters display for us a summary of how David reigned righteously and justly as one in right relationship with Yahweh.
In doing so, these final chapters form a classic example of a chiastic structure, with three pairs. Which brings us to the second matter of discussion.
Chiastic structure is a literary device that uses a series of ideas, words, or phrases, that is then repeated in reverse order. This is a common literary device in Scripture.
For example...
The pattern seen here in chapters 21-24, is A B C C’ B’ A’
Breaking down like this
A (21:1-14) and A’ (24:1-25) focusing on David as a royal priest and judge
B (21:15-22) and B’ (23:8-39) focusing on David as leader and the men he led
C (22:1-51) and C’ (23:1-7) both poems reflecting David’s faith in Yahweh
This chiastic pattern is rather obvious once you are aware of it, other chiastic patterns in Scripture are not so obvious as this one.
Now, with these two matters briefly discussed, let us turn our attention to our main passage verses 1-14 of chapter 21 of 2 Samuel
In these 14 verses we will witness God’s justice and God’s mercy, of which both lead us to God’s atonement.
We’ll spend a good portion of our time discussing the justice of God, followed by a brief discussion on how God’s justice actually highlights His mercy, and then we’ll conclude with our own experience of God’s justice and mercy.
In this event we see how David, as king of God’s people acts as judge and priest, essentially as David acts as a mediator between God and man.
We come to this portion, as we ought to come to all passages of the Old Testament, as those looking at it through the work of Christ and through the illumination of the New Testament.
So as we look back through the lens of the New Testament, and through the work of Christ. The light of the Gospel as it shines upon the cross casts a shadow into history’s past of which we are able to see here in 2 Samuel 21:1-14.
Let us read the passage now… 2 Samuel 21:1-14
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. 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?” 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.” 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. 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.
God’s Justice
God’s Justice
A famine - 3 years (1)
David inquires (1)
Blood guilt remain’s on Saul with what he did to the Gibeonites
We have no Scripture reference to this account
Gibeon is near Gibeah (Saul’s hometown)
And the Gibeonites were originally meant to be killed...
Yet, they tricked Israel in Josh 9
Apparently, Saul cared not for this covenant, a covenant made in the name of Yahweh
Whether he was more concerned about nationalism than he was for covenantal faithfulness…
Or if it was some personal vendetta rooted in anti-Gibeonite ethnic hatred.
Either way he broke and transgressed a very serious oath
As such God disciplined Israel for this offense… to call their attention to it so that justice could be dealt.
God could not allow an action that violated a covenant that was made in His name go unpunished…
Yahweh is a God of justice - Ps 89:14
14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.
And He is a God who does not show partiality Deut 10:17
17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe.
If God does not show partiality to His anointed, what makes you think He will show partiality to you? Even to those whom He has saved? Justice must be dealt with.
So, for the sake of His justice, God has King David, act as a judge and mediator for matters of divine justice between God and man...
Remember, the role of king replaced the role of the judge.
Samuel, who was Israel’s last judge acted as a mediator and judge for God. Then Israel requested a king in place of the judges and thus they got Saul, then David.
David meets with the Gibeonites and the Gibeonites are very respectful
Recognizing that they can’t demand any thing of the king, of whom they are sworn servants
David insists and they tell him to give them 7 of Saul’s sons so that they be hung before Yahweh...
Specifically meaning that they are to be executed in some fashion and left exposed, that is unburied, before God.
The hanging is a reference to the corpse not necessarily the mode of execution.
7 is an interesting number and there is no specific reason mention here for 7
The Torah, the Law, requires blood for blood when life is taken in a way not sanctioned by the Torah
Yet, for all the deaths Saul had caused the Gibeonites, the Gibeonites only ask for 7… so 7 is perhaps symbolic, 7 is often used in Scripture to be representative of completion, or all of something…
Even still, 7 is a decent size number and would deal quite a bit of damage to the house of Saul..
Upon hearing this request David goes about the delicate task of selecting the 7 sons to be executed.
Two sons of Rizpah (concubine) - Armoni & Mephibosheth
Five sons of Merab (Michal), daughter of Saul - unnamed
Some manuscripts have Merab as Michal. But some object to this because of 2 Samuel 6:23
23 And Michal the daughter of Saul had no child to the day of her death.
Yet, these sons are to a woman who conceived them with a man named Adriel, which was Michal’s first husband.
Michal was married to Adriel back in 1 Samuel 18, before David even married her the first time.
With that info, the statement in 2 Samuel 6:23 probably refers to her having no more children from that day on.
After the sons are selected they are executed and left out exposed, and remain unburied… until the rain fell.
And this is in interesting thing… for the Torah prohibits corpses to remain unburied after sundown… De 21:23
23 his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile your land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance.
Yet, these 7 sons did remain unburied… and apparently was approved of by God by His acceptance of their deaths.
Their continual exposure highlighted the divine displeasure the sin of Saul had caused. As evidenced by the famine.
In the midst of this, Rizpah, one of Saul’s concubines, had two sons who were executed...
She remained by the bodies preventing animals and whatnot from picking at their bodies...
Her devotion caught David’s eye and when the rains came David had the bodies buried along with Saul and his other sons.
The devotion of Rizpah highlights the kind of death these boys suffered.
They were not rebels, nor were they obstinate sons who disrespected their elders… if they were Rizpah more than likely would not have stayed next to the bodies...
Smelling the stench of death and witnessing them decay...
But these boys were loved, cherished…
Now, we don’t know how others viewed them… but the point is they weren’t criminals.
Yet they died as criminals for the suffered the judgment reserved for another.
And as the book of Samuel has shown us a few times already the consequences of our sins often goes beyond ourselves… and sometimes even to our children...
Yes, God is merciful, but He is just… and justice will not be ignored by Him… consider Exodus 34:6-7
6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”
Then consider the sin of Achan… of Joshua 7
Who died along with Achan because he kept some of the silver from Ai?
Josh 7:24-25
24 And Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver and the cloak and the bar of gold, and his sons and daughters and his oxen and donkeys and sheep and his tent and all that he had. And they brought them up to the Valley of Achor. 25 And Joshua said, “Why did you bring trouble on us? The Lord brings trouble on you today.” And all Israel stoned him with stones. They burned them with fire and stoned them with stones.
This event here in Joshua along with the event here in 2 Samuel highlights for us the significance of sin as well as the holiness of God.
It is not to be trifled with… and He must be feared.
I get that it is uncomfortable… unnerving… it ought to be.
We must shed this idea and false teaching that our God is some warm and fuzzy spiritual being who drinks pumpkin spice lattes and cares not for how you live as long as you “love” people.
And if you think the God of the Old Testament is different than the God of the New Testament… Or
You think with the death and resurrection of Christ, God’s attitude or posture towards us has changed consider these words from Hebrews 12:18-29
18 For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest 19 and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. 20 For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” 21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. 25 See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our God is a consuming fire.
Therefore, sin against a holy God must be atoned for… As one commentator put it.
“Atonement is never nice, but always gruesome.”
Now, let’s look at God’s mercy in all of this… remember the doctrine of simplicity… When God acts justly, He is also acting in accordance to all of His over attributes as well… so we will look now to see how this act of Justice shows us God’s mercy
God’s Mercy
God’s Mercy
The first thing we see that is merciful of God is the same thing we initially saw with His justice… the famine
It was an act of mercy to bring to bear the unresolved sin...
It was an act of discipline… and discipline is a form of judgment for the sake of justice… but it is often a merciful form of judgment...
An act to help form proper and right behavior hopefully averting greater consequences.
So, God in His mercy and in His love disciplined Israel…
And I say love as well... for divine discipline is done out of love… Prov 3:12
12 for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.
Even today, God disciplines us… that passage in Hebrews 12 followed a passage about how God disciplines… especially so the saints, the body of Christ… for our good, for our holiness.
And that discipline can take on many forms… perhaps a spiritual famine, a lack of joy in your walk b/c you serve the flesh rather than God...
Prayers not being answered because you’re not imitating Christ in your relationships with others...
It could even be a physical discipline… a robbing or a destroying of a precious idol in your life.
Painful, yes, but it is for our good, and it is done in mercy, for our God is a consuming fire, He desires that we be not consumed like the sons of Aaron who offered up strange fire in Leviticus 10.
Most significantly though we see the mercy in the final judgment itself...
Certainly the mercy of God existed leading up to the final judgment in regard to God’s patience and discipline with Israel...
But it is in the final judgment that we see mercy highlighted the most significantly… and we see it in two ways...
The first is also the most explicit in the sparing of Jonathan’s son, Mephibosheth, not to be confused with Rizpah’s son of the same name.
Mephibosheth was spared not because of anything that he did, but simply for the sake of Jonathan out of covenantal faithfulness was he spared… we spoke about this at length when we covered chapter 9.
Secondly, while it was the whole nation that was being disciplined… it wasn’t the whole nation that paid the price, paid the dept…
It was 7 sons...
Then following them paying the price God allowed His mercy and grace to fall upon the land in its fullness with the rain.
If we want to experience the fullness of God’s mercy and grace, we must first deal with our sin.
While we do experience God’s mercy as we live and breath whether in sin or not… we only experience it in part until we crucify our sin… until we atone for them… as Israel did to receive the fullness of God’s blessing.
Having seen how God’s justice and mercy are intertwined in our passage… and seeing how they have brought about atonement for the sin of Saul… let us consider God’s atonement more closely
God’s Atonement
God’s Atonement
In our passage, King David, has been acting as God’s divinely appointed judge… ruling and executing judgment in accordance to God’s Law.
More explicitly, David is acting as a mediator…
Israel is suffering under the hand of God for a reason and King David intercedes on Israel’s behalf...
And in doing so, God works through David to bring about or to mediate a resolution.
In this case, the matter deals with Saul’s sin when he was king… so the mediator, King David, in accordance to God’s holy justice and perfect mercy, finds a resolution. It wasn’t nice, but it was necessary.
As effective of a mediator that David was for Israel, he’s not the mediator they truly needed… nor do the actions of David help us at all today with our sin...
Yet, what the actions of David do help us with is realizing that our God is a just God… and yet a merciful God…
Therefore, we who have sinned, we can expect judgment… but we can also expect that God will make a way for His mercy to shine upon us… but who will mediate for us?
A priest? A prophet? The pope? The president? Nye…
1 Tim 2:5-6
5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.
David’s Son… Jesus Christ mediates between God and all people…
And why? B/c God is merciful and gracious… and at the same time perfectly just.
His justice needed satisfaction while still remaining perfectly merciful and gracious.
Therefore, God needed a mediator in order to redeem His people whom He created bearing His own image...
No one born of man could do it. Yet, a man was needed to do it.
If humanity was to be redeemed for its offenses for all of eternity it would take an offering of humanity, an offering that carried the worth and value of the Image of God to do so.
Animal sacrifice could not cover sin for but a moment. Hence the need to do it over and over and over again.
Yet, mankind having fallen into sin was perpetually enslaved and corrupted by sin and needed someone that was not born of Adam, yet was man to deliver them.
Thus, the Son of God, took on flesh by being born of woman, not man, being conceived by the Spirit...
As such was able to live as man and be tempted as man, yet remained without sin so that He may offer Himself as the perfect spotless lamb of Passover which was needed to atone for the sin of mankind.
Jesus was able to do this, in a similar manner the 7 sons in our text were able to to do it for Israel… by becoming a curse for us… Gal 3:13
13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—
And just as when all that was needed to be done with the 7 sons was accomplished and David had their bodies buried in a tomb, likewise it was for Jesus… Acts 13:29
29 And when they had carried out all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb.
When the wrath of God was poured out on Jesus and was fully satisfied, Jesus exclaimed “It is finished” and He died. It was then that they took Him and buried Him in a tomb.
Unlike the 7 sons though… Jesus who had no guilt of sin in Him, yet suffered the wrath of God for those of us who do… Jesus did not remain in the tomb. Acts 13:30-41
30 But God raised him from the dead, 31 and for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people. 32 And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, 33 this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, “ ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you.’ 34 And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way, “ ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’ 35 Therefore he says also in another psalm, “ ‘You will not let your Holy One see corruption.’ 36 For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, 37 but he whom God raised up did not see corruption. 38 Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. 40 Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about: 41 “ ‘Look, you scoffers, be astounded and perish; for I am doing a work in your days, a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you.’ ”
Are you listening? Are you paying attention? Have you put down your pride and considered the reality of things?
God, our Creator, is a holy and perfectly just God. He shows favor to no one. And no thing in all of creation in all of time happens outside of His knowledge.
Yet, our Creator, is a good Creator… He is a merciful and gracious God who does not look the other way in regard to His justice, rather He makes a way for the unjust to be justified. For the unrighteous to be righteous. For the sinner to be a saint. For the hated to be loved. For the damned to be saved, and the lost to be found.
So look to the cross and see the Son of Man, the Son of David, Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God, bleeding for your sin, and suffering the wrath of God, so that you may enjoy everlasting fellowship with Him and His Father and His Holy Spirit. And when you look… believe His Word… and repent, turn away from your lifestyle of vanity and futility and embrace the everlasting life of righteousness promised to those who believe in the Lamb of God who was slain for the sin of the world.
For those of you do believe in the one mediator, the one man, the Son of God, Jesus Christ… Be encouraged this morning… be reminded of the holiness of our God and the joy we have in Christ because of the work of Christ. Rejoice in the goodness of God for what He has done. Rejoice that the veil has been torn and access into the holies of holies has been granted by all who accept Christ as the Lord and Savior, allowing us to enter into the presence of the Holy One, the one clothed in inapproachable light. Rejoice in this!
Rejoice, that one man would give His life and suffer the wrath of God, so that many would enjoy everlasting life and the blessing of what it is to be a son and daughter of God. And rest in this… rest in the truth that it is finished. No guilt, no shame remains upon us. We are freed by His blood, by His work, let us live therefore accordingly.