Conflicting Promises and a Unifying Savior

Throughout the Scriptures, covenants with God are made at pivotal moments for mankind. The Lord makes covenant with Noah to resolve the injustice of mankind without global annihilation. The Lord makes covenant with Abram to make his name great and to bless all the nations of the world through him. The Lord makes covenant with Israel at Sinai, establishing them as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation if they obey his voice and keep his commandments. The Lord makes covenant with David to make him a house that endures forever.

However, there are some covenants in scripture that are made between men. In Joshua chapter 9, the Gibeonites deceive Israel into making a covenant with them, and, in 1 Samuel chapter 18, Jonathan makes a covenant with David. These covenants are often considered to be separate from the former covenants with Noah, Abram, and Israel at Sinai because they were not initiated by God.

However, it appears to me that the biblical narrative does not treat them as separate, but as intimately connected. For while God did not initiate the covenant with the Gibeonites, he did make covenant with Israel, who swore to them by the Lord (Josh 9:19). And, while God did not initiate a covenant with Jonathan, he very clearly makes a covenant with David (2 Sam. 7).

How do these covenants between men interact with God’s covenants?

Let’s begin by examining the text of 1 Samuel, where Samuel warns the people about obeying God while following their king. In 12:14, Samuel warns them that if both [Israel] and the king who reigns over [them] will follow the Lord, it will be well, but if they do not, then the hand of the Lord will be against them and their king. We typically read this as a general warning to obey the Lord and a foreshadowing in the text of Saul’s failure and ultimate replacement as King over Israel.

However, it is easy to pass over what is meant by “the hand of the Lord being against them and their king.” Does this refer to difficulty in war? Does it refer to their king being killed? Undoubtedly these may be a part of what is meant here but turn your attention to 2 Samuel 21.

Towards the end of David’s reign as king, we read this description in 2 Sam. 21 that there was a famine for years in the land of Israel. When David inquired of God as to why, the Lord revealed that there was blood guilt on Saul and his house. In a real, tangible way, God was holding all of Israel accountable for the sins of their King. Years of famine persisted in the land because of this guilt that the house of Saul had accrued.

Where did this bloodguilt come from?

2 Sam. 21:2 tells us that the blood guilt that brought the hand of the Lord against Israel was incurred when Saul put Gibeonites to death in his early days as King over Israel. The Gibeonites had made a covenant of peace with Israel all the way back to the times of Joshua, and Saul had profaned the integrity of the Lord by ignoring these vows.

The problem that arises in the mind of the reader is that Saul is no longer King, but David is now King over Israel. God had promised to establish the house of David forever, and now David and all of Israel are suffering due to the bloodguilt of a long-dead king. What gives?

Well, the problem becomes even messier when David seeks atonement with the people of Gibeah. When asked what their price was to atone for the bloodguilt of Saul, they demand the heads of his descendants. The issue here is not that there are no descendants of Saul that can be offered for atonement, but in that David has made covenant with Jonathan!

How then could David honor this request and bring judgement on Israel for breaching his own covenant faithfulness?

Conflicting Promises and a Unifying Savior

The truth is that this problem runs much deeper for Israel than just the present moment. The Lord is revealing that he meant what he said in his warning given by Samuel. The lack of obedience in future kings can and will bring the hand of the Lord against the people. Israel’s kings now stand, for better or for worse, in the place of the people incurring bloodguilt or favor from the Lord by their actions.

Yet looking to the text, we receive some hints as to how this complex issue will be solved in the future. David hands over the seven remaining descendants of Saul, but spares Mephibosheth. Throughout the book of 2 Samuel, David continually honors Mephibosheth in memory of his covenant with Jonathan [see 2 Sam. 9 & 2 Sam. 19]. Here, David shows he will not honor one oath at the expense of another.

The complete (7 is often a number symbolizing completeness) remnant of Saul’s descendants were offered up and hanged (cursed) on a tree for the sins of their father in order to expiate the sins of the people, yet out of unearned grace Mephibosheth is spared because of David’s steadfast love and remembrance towards Jonathan.

As we stand thousands of years later in a similar predicament, we can look to this and be encouraged. As descendants of Adam we have incurred the bloodguilt of his rebellion against God, and the Lord’s hand will be against us so long as this bloodguilt remains unsettled. However, God will not satisfy one oath at the expense of another.

He vowed to Noah that judgement would not come over all the earth.

He vowed to Abram that through him the whole world would be blessed.

He vowed to David that his throne would be established forever & ever.

Jesus stands as the son of David and the son of Adam. He takes the bloodguilt of all mankind, hanged on a tree. He passed through the waters of judgement and makes us into a new creation. Through him the whole world is blessed. He made lasting atonement, once for all, and kept the law in perfect obedience. He reigns forever as son of David.

In their sinfulness and in their zeal, men made conflicting covenants. In his sovereignty and in his steadfast love, God provided a unifying savior.