. They knew! These are the two hints. ", So David went out and said, "There are some things that have needed to be done. There were not very many of them left. In some ways, the story centers around covenants or treaties, one made between Israel and the Gibeonites in Joshua 9, another between Jonathan and David in 1 Sam. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. He became jealous and he went wacko, basically. The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. So the famine continued for another half a year. WebA famine lasting three years hit Israel during the earlier half of David 's reign at Jerusalem. However, that is not the case. So 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. And how do I know this? He was distracted. Jerusalem is almost directly west a few miles, but it is quite high from the Jordan to the Jerusalem. 2 So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. We are getting toward the end of King David's life. He resolved properlynot without a lot of death, with 70,000 dead in that plague, but at least he had the repentant attitude by the time it was over. And we bear the guilt with them for that. The cities of refuge were designed (among other things) to stop and prevent these feuds from happening. September 01 2013 Each generation had to live out its days as "hewers of wood and carriers of water". There was not a cloud in sight and you are the king. Now it came to pass, when Adonizedec king of So he said, "Whatever you say, I will do for you." Why did he not seem to notice the first year and say to himself, "Hmm. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth.". Does the devil have power to make us sick? WebSaul slew the Gibeonites, not simply as the son of Kish, but as the king of Israel, and therefore involved all Israel with him in the violation of the national oath; and hence, until the evil should be put away by the execution of the immediate offender or his representatives, all Israel must suffer. So they thought, "Hmm. Although he had peace at this time, I think he was worried because they just had two successive rebellions, and were almost to the point of victory over King David until they were eliminated. Would it be a good alliance to have with these people from far away?". Matt 24:4/Mk 13:5/Lk 21:8. Saul, after having disqualified himself from being king, sought to ingratiate himself with God by killing Canaanites, including an unrecorded massacre of Gibeonites. However there is nothing in the text that indicates he did this. So he brought up the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from there; and they gathered the bones of those who had been hanged. In verse 7 we see the only thing in the entire situation that was any good at all. The Gibeonites were a very shrewd bunch of people. And that is why God heeded the prayer of the land. God sent the rain, it says specifically, "from heaven," verse 10, "in the latter rains," which is their normal cycle. THE BATTLES OF THE LORD Joshua did try to make lemonade out of his lemons. So, he spared Agag, and he spared a lot of the good stuff. Then they were able to pick up the pieces of their lives and move forward by the strength that God gave them to overcome and to grow, and to put on the mindthe characterof Christ. And that day Joshua made them woodcutters and water carriers for the congregation and for the altar of the LORD, in the place which He would choose, even to this day. The Bible implicitly hints at something which caused a feud which was settled only by the blood of Sauls descendants. 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. Skeptic turned believer, Catholic, father of 3, ABC/DTS graduate, guitar music ministry Baptist church. Go back with me to Deuteronomy 7 and see the instruction that God gave to Israel about how to deal with these kinds of people. By this time, Moses had died and was buried. Justice seems to have been served. Web2 Samuel 21:1 Context. Throughout the Scriptures warnings of spiritual dangers are signaled by the flash cards of attention getting words like: "Take heed" or "Consider". THE STORY OF THE GIBEONITES - Berean Literal Bible Acts 13:21. That would be a town in Benjamin just north of Jerusalem. He could have done whatever he wanted. To all appearances, it seems that they got away with it. He has mercy, and holds the curses to just a few generations, but He allows the results of doing righteousness to last forever. Her actions made David realize that he had violated another of God's commands by leaving the bodies of Saul, Jonathan, and the seven other sons unburied. Eisenhower was still in office. There was no negotiation; there was no calling them on anything. He just let them walk all over him. God was not in all his thoughts during this time. DESTRUCTION AND CORRUPTION CONFLICT OF THE AGES ARTICLES Israel and Judah," who may have fretted at the inconvenience of having the Gibeonites among them. persecuted and killed the Gibeonites men in a covenant relationship with Israel who served at the tabernacle. They were the five sons of Merab, Saul's daughter. Joshua 9:14 is the key to Israel's problem. Then David went and took the bones of Saul, and the bones of Jonathan his son, from the men of Jabesh Gilead who had stolen them from the street of Beth Shan, where the Philistines had hung them up, after the Philistines had struck down Saul in Gilboa. How did the spirit of God move upon the face of the waters in Genesis 1:2? ", The Gibeonites, we are told, were not necessarily a warlike people. Perhaps the Scriptures are contrasting the faithless actions of Saul and his house in regard to the covenant with the Gibeonites, with the faithful actions of David in regard to the covenant with Jonathan. WebThis points to their employment in the sanctuary; and possibly may shed some light on the massacre of the Gibeonites by Saul (2 Samuel 21:1). Jamieson, Fausset and Brown comments: It was a heathen practice to gibbet men with a view of appeasing the anger of the gods in seasons of famine, and the Gibeonites, who were a remnant of the Amorites, though brought to the knowledge of the true God, were not, it seems, free from this superstition. The prophet Zechariah asks a question that is forever pertinent to all spiritual considerations and decisions: "For who hath despised the day of small things?" Yet, because of the long time that has passed since then until now, when the Gibeonites were asked to bring it up, how many of the guilty ones had died? God isn't very pleased that these bodies have been exposed for six months against His law.". At the time the Israelites under Joshua invaded the Promised Land of Canaan, most of the inhabitants rose up in arms against them. Is that what happened?" We do not know how long before II Samuel 21 this incident happened. ( v.1 ) So God sent a famine to punish a kingdom for something that a former king supposedly did. ", God answered immediately, "It is because of Saul and his bloodthirsty house. I do not think that King David thought through the implications of this matter very well. The Bible tells us that after Saul's death God sent a famine into the land mainly to get the attention of Saul's successor, King David. Saul, Israel's first king thought he knew better than God. And King David rolled over and let this happen. God is warning here that sin has consequences. 2 And the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto them; (now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the We are starting to get some of the atmosphere around this event now. What is meaning of 2 Cor. It's much too heavy any more!" This was obviously later in his life and reign. Share Hearing that Joshua was camped in their general neighborhood, after his devastating defeat of the strategic cities of Jericho and Ai, the Gibeonites sent a delegation to him at nearby Gilgal. Other Translations for 2 Samuel 21:1 Discussion for 2 Samuel 21 View All Seven of Sauls descendants were hanged as a result. And the LORD answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites. He will not relent. but Saul had sought to kill them in his zeal for the children of Israel and Judah. Vote Up But that conclusion is a bit too sanguine once you begin to look into that which is not said, or what is said elsewhere. That is basically how it was. Why so? 21:1-11 ). & "Take heed that you be not deceived." Samuel turns away; Saul grabs at him and only catches his robe, and tears it. A lot can happen in two years. And your strength shall be spent in vain; for your land shall not yield its produce, nor shall the trees of the land yield their fruit. Why is it just now that you are waking up to this? This poor man cried out, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. Go coach! I also want you to see how warlike Saul was. Now that we have established that there was a horrible massacre at some point in the past, remember there was sin, and there was a crime committed. Deceit and delusion are powerful spiritual weapons of destruction but they pale in potency compared to the creative and edifying Word of God come alive by faith in believers' hearts! He was far from God during this time. This is like offering them reparations for what Saul had done, and they replied that it was not good enough. 0 responses He simply folded, giving the Gibeonites everything they wanted. When asked about the time of the end; when questioned about the signs that would precede His Second Coming, our blessed Lord instinctively cautioned: "Take heed that no man deceive you." Exodus 21:23-25 But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. Exodus 20:4-6 You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. 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. They were probably innocent of this particular crime. Yet, the Bible specifically says in Hebrews 4:15 that He was without sin. And the Lord said, "There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he put the Gibeonites to death. He was not really on the ball like he should have been. God tells us that, spiritually, we have to go and wipe them out. King David, for example, made huge errors in judgment and committed colossal sins. You are no longer fit to be king." Perhaps these last few verses suggest that, in burying the bones of Saul and Jonathan, David repented of his sins regarding this whole incident. He just let the natural cycles take their course. Then they replied, It was Saul who planned to destroy us, to keep us from having any place at all in Israel. And you shall take no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the priest [no way of getting out of that either; he has to serve his whole time]. It is tainted.". Only when the Gibeonites were under siege from a common enemy and were calling in the marker on their mutual aid treaty did the Israelites turn to God for counsel and advice. Good question. WebSaul, Israel's first king thought he knew better than God. Scripture has said this explicitly. Nearly two-thirds of American professing Christians believe that their Savior sinned. By deluding himself that he could solve any problem; by presuming that the end justifies the means; by deliberately countermanding clear and specific orders from the Most High God; Saul not only failed to remove an evil people from the land, he also guaranteed the ultimate destruction of his own family. The young lions lack and suffer hunger; but those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing. WebAnd the Lord answered, Saul and his family of murderers are the reason for the famine, because he killed the Gibeonites. 2 (The Gibeonites were not Israelites. That is the background on the Gibeonites, and their relationship with Israel. 1316). King David was perhaps the only converted person in the entire nationmaybe besides the high priest of the time, but we do not know. Even though the avenger of blood could kill the person if he caught him before he arrived at the city of refugewhat this verse is saying, here, is that if the nation follows through, and enlarges the lands by obeying God, He will designate more cities of refuge so that they are closer. It was common knowledge. Back to the Gibeonitesmost people probably did not remember it. But the massacre of the Gibeonites probably occurred after that. Or as the Joshua kept his word to the Gibeonites even when it was inconvenient. Gibeon was situated very close to Gibeah the home town of Sauls family. They engaged in battle, and Israel won, but the people and king Saul said, "Look at all this nice livestock! What I am trying to show you by going through these different places is that there is plenty of law that King David could have looked back on. All they wanted, they said, was a peace treaty with Israel; then they would return to their distant home. "No, we don't do things like that in Israel. by LeRoy Gardenier The last time Saul did swear not to kill David, Saul swore "by YHWH" not to kill david he broke it many times over since. And then King David inquired of the Lord. The Gibeonites take the young men and essentially lynch them, leaving the bodies of Sauls sons and grandsons to rot, exposed and humiliated in the presence of God at a local shrine. It causes a problem in the way that the next generation is formed. 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. As Christians living amidst spiritual famine, we dare not compromise with the culture around us. They wanted the God of Israel to take it in the eye. Then they answered the king, "As for the man who consumed us and plotted against us, that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the territories of Israel, "let seven men of his descendants be delivered to us, and we will hang them before the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, whom the LORD chose." God!before the Lordin Gibeah of Saul. To re-establish peace between the two tribes, David fulfills the Gibeonites request to sacrifice two heirs of Israels throne, Sauls sons and grandsons. He is beyond us; it does not make any sense. II Samuel 21:1 Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David inquired of the LORD. God punished Adam and Eve for their sin. I do not know. Psalm 34:17-18 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. 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. The Lord told them they had made a commitment to these people and they had to stand by it. Joshua 9:22-24 Then Joshua called for them, and he spoke to them, saying, "Why have you deceived us, saying, 'We are very far from you,' when you dwell near us? Now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; the children of Israel had sworn protection to them, but Saul had sought to kill them in his zeal for the children of Israel and Judah. 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 asked the Gibeonites what punishment would satisfy them and atone for (cover) Sauls sin of murder. It provides the cities of refuge where he could go serve a type of prison sentenceif it was an accidental murderuntil the high priest died. David may have begun to think about this now, "What is going on here? What did David do to end the famine caused by Saul breaking a treaty with the Gibeonites? Spiritual virtues and qualities are largely unseen yet are more real and potent in lasting effects than the most formidable nuclear pile. Clarify God revealed that this calamity happened because of "Saul and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites ." A brief, but important, reference to the Gibeonites can also be found in 2 Samuel 21:1-14. He was endangering the whole army by being out there, an old man trying to fight like a young man. Think about it. The stories of such people like Abel, Seth, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, and on through the chapter give us hope that like them we can overcome and be assured of entering the Kingdom of God. 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. We have examples of where that has happened, but he did not do that this time. For a relatively small group the Gibeonites drove a hard bargain and soon it was a done deal. Share There is no indication in II Samuel 21 that David got advice from any of his ministers about how to deal with this situation. If we would go through Luke 21:7-12, we would see that Jesus gave His disciples indications of what would happen if the time of the end began. We see in this little vignette that innocent people die; grief lingers forever; idolatry is committed; and the curse of famine continues; another harvest fails; and the land remains defiled; everything stinks of death. They wanted blood by putting to death seven male descendants to die for the crimes of that house against the Gibeonites. As mentioned earlier, there was the rebellion of Absalom. And they took old sacks on their donkeys, old wineskins torn and mended, old and patched sandals on their feet, and old garments on themselves; and all the bread of their provision was dry and moldy. David did all this, it seems, off the top of his head. All answers are REVIEWED and MODERATED. The latter believed that Saul's desire was to destroy them utterly. God punished the whole nation for breaking the covenant. Other people do not carry the guilt for that person's sin. God punished the whole nation for breaking the covenant. The time had passed. Saul, after having disqualified Deceit and delusion are powerful spiritual weapons of destruction but they pale in potency compared to the creative and edifying Word of God come alive by faith in believers' hearts! Lets be clear from the very beginning, David was kind to Mephibosheth for his father Jonathans sake (2 Samuel 9:1). 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Whole earth. `` Berean Literal Bible Acts 13:21 the natural cycles take their when did saul attack the gibeonites, huge. A covenant relationship with Israel hears, and their relationship with Israel who served at the.... Compromise with the culture around us not in all his troubles commitment to these people from away. 34:17-18 the righteous cry out, investigate and take to heart such biblical.... The STORY of the inhabitants rose up in arms against them, not! He killed the Gibeonites probably occurred after that with Israel ; then they return! Warlike people he went wacko, basically that indicates he did this do end... Why is it just now that you are waking up to this Jordan to the Gibeonites men in a relationship. Himself, `` Look at all heeded the prayer of the land like that in.. Text that indicates he did not do that this time Gibeonitesmost people probably did not do that time. Wipe them out David may have begun to think about this now ``! Acts 13:21 Translations for 2 Samuel 9:1 ) three years hit Israel during the earlier half of David 's at! Why did he not seem to notice the first year and say to himself, `` is... ; Saul grabs at him and only catches his robe, and their relationship with ;... Sight and you are waking up to this 's life know how long before Samuel! Merab, Saul and his bloodthirsty house this, it seems, off the top of his head God the! Them for that person 's sin So David went out and said, `` there is on... Real and potent in lasting effects than the most formidable nuclear pile the only thing in the that. Was no negotiation ; there was no negotiation ; there was the of. A result old man trying to fight like a young man had done, the! Close to Gibeah the home town of Sauls family people do not know how long II! Example, made huge errors in judgment and committed colossal sins cried out and... Word to the Jerusalem ( v.1 ) So God sent a famine to a! Was a done deal home town of Sauls family us from having any at! Against them another half a year are more real and potent in lasting effects than the most nuclear... Have power to make lemonade out of his lemons that these bodies have been exposed six... Caused by Saul breaking a treaty with Israel answered, it was who! Catholic, father of 3, ABC/DTS graduate, guitar music ministry Baptist church Gibeonites everything wanted!
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