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2 Samuel Chapter 21
David Avenges the Gibeonites
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2Samuel 21:1 Then there was
a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and
David enquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, It is for
Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites.
This according to some bible scholars
took place earlier in David's life. It shows that God required them
to keep vows, oaths and treaties they made whether or not they were
supposed to make them. There is no record in scripture though of
this event done by Saul. Perhaps it can be found in other Jewish
history records but it is not in the bible.
God originally told Moses not to make
covenants with any of the Canaanite tribes. The people that dwelt in
the land of Canaan were those that served other gods or idols. The
Amorites dwelt in the land of Canaan and were very wicked. They did
things like sacrifice innocent babies and children into the fiery
bellies of these idols. That is the reason God originally gave this
land to Abraham although Abraham himself didn't live to see it. God
didn't allow Israel to take their land until their iniquity was full
and there was no chance of them repenting.
- Genesis 15:13
And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be
a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them;
and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
14 And
also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and
afterward shall they come out with great substance.
15 And
thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a
good old age.
16 But
in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the
iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
God gave the Amorites for generations to
repent and change before allowing Israel to come in and wipe them
out. Their sin must have been so great that God didn't even want
them to make covenants with them. The Gibeonites were a tribe of the
Amorites. Joshua was tricked into making a covenant with them.
So even though God said to make no
covenants; if they did, God required them to honor the covenant. The
story of how the Gibeonites tricked Joshua into making a covenant is
in Joshua chapter 9.
- 2Samuel 21:2 And the
king called the Gibeonites, and said unto them; (now the
Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the
remnant of the Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn
unto them: and Saul sought to slay them in his zeal to the
children of Israel and Judah.)
- 3 Wherefore David
said unto the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? and wherewith
shall I make the atonement, that ye may bless the inheritance of
the LORD?
- 4 And the Gibeonites
said unto him, We will have no silver nor gold of Saul, nor of
his house; neither for us shalt thou kill any man in Israel. And
he said, What ye shall say, that will I do for you.
- 5 And they answered
the king, The man that consumed us, and that devised against us
that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the coasts
of Israel,
- 6 Let seven men of
his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the
LORD in Gibeah of Saul, whom the LORD did choose. And the king
said, I will give them.
- 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.
David honored his vow to Jonathan and
spared Mephibosheth but he gathered seven sons of the house of Saul
to avenge the Gibeonites.
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2Samuel 21:8 But the king
took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bare
unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Michal
the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel the son of
Barzillai the Meholathite:
Michal was said to have died childless
because she had no children by David. So some have said that this
should have been translated the other daughter of Saul, Merab and
that perhaps Michal brought up Merab's sons after she died. 1 Samuel
18 says the Merab was given to Adriel to marry not Michal.
- 2Samuel 21:9 And he
delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged
them in the hill before the LORD: and they fell all seven
together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the
first days, in the beginning of barley harvest.
- 10 And Rizpah the
daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the
rock, from the beginning of harvest until water dropped upon
them out of heaven, and suffered neither the birds of the air to
rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night.
It was a custom among many of the
heathen to keep the bodies of those hung up until the first rain
after a famine. Two of those who died was the sons of Rizpah. She
went to keep the birds from bothering the bodies. She must have been
hurting pretty bad.
- 2Samuel 21:11 And it
was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine
of Saul, had done.
- 12 And David went
and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son
from the men of Jabeshgilead, which had stolen them from the
street of Bethshan, where the Philistines had hanged them, when
the Philistines had slain Saul in Gilboa:
- 13 And he brought up
from thence the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son;
and they gathered the bones of them that were hanged.
- 14 And the bones of
Saul and Jonathan his son buried they in the country of Benjamin
in Zelah, in the sepulchre of Kish his father: and they
performed all that the king commanded. And after that God was
intreated for the land.
David who formerly wouldn't touch the
family of Saul previously, gathered all their bones and brought them
to the tribe of Benjamin in a sepulchre of Kish the father of Saul.
I have a feeling that David did not want to do this thing to the
sons and grandsons of Saul so he showed respect for their bodies
thinking he went far enough to avenge the Gibeonites. Sometimes I do
not understand all the things that happened in the days of the kings
but it does make me thankful for Jesus and the gospel of grace and
mercy. I guess we all should be careful about making promises and
covenants. Dad use to tell me to always say, "If the Lord wills, I
will do such and such."
We do see here that Saul had broken the
covenant with the Gibeonites and slew many of them. So his sons and
grandsons paid the price later for his actions. Unfortunately
children do suffer for the actions of their parents.
War with the Philistines.
David was getting older and did not
have the strength he once had.
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2Samuel 21:16 And
Ishbibenob, which was of the sons of the giant, the weight of
whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of brass in weight, he
being girded with a new sword, thought to have slain David.
The son of Goliah is what some believe
Ishbibenob was. Looks like he is ready to take vengenace for the
death of his father.
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2Samuel 21:17 But Abishai
the son of Zeruiah succoured him, and smote the Philistine, and
killed him. Then the men of David sware unto him, saying, Thou
shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the
light of Israel.
Abishai saved David and killed the
giant. David's men would not allow David to go out with them in
battle any longer.
- 2 Samuel 21:18 And it came
to pass after this, that there was again a battle with the
Philistines at Gob: then Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Saph,
which was of the sons of the giant.
- 19 And there was
again a battle in Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the
son of Jaareoregim, a Bethlehemite, slew the brother of Goliath
the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam.
- 20 And there was yet
a battle in Gath, where was a man of great stature, that had on
every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four and
twenty in number; and he also was born to the giant.
- 21 And when he
defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea the brother of David
slew him.
- 22 These four were
born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of David, and by
the hand of his servants.
Giants were not killed because of their size
but because of their evil ways. They used the strength and size to
bully and harm as we saw in the story of David and Goliath when
David was a young lad. This other giant was killed by David's
nephew. I'm thinking God must have helped all of them because the
giants were very strong and mighty and wanted to wipe out Israel. I
sometimes wonder if there were any good ones but apparently there
were not. DC
2 Samuel Chapter 22
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