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. Perhaps trickery will be better than war for us.". In verse 7 we see the only thing in the entire situation that was any good at all. How much food did Jesus produce? And that is why God heeded the prayer of the land. 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. So David asked the Lord for help, and the Lord answered, Saul and his family are guilty of murder, because he had the Gibeonites killed. Back to the Gibeonitesmost people probably did not remember it. Joshua did try to make lemonade out of his lemons. Certainly, after three years you would. That would be such a carnal thing to dojust let the Gibeonites kill seven of Saul's kids who could claim the Israelite throne and get them out of the way. Instead, the Gibeonites demanded the execution of seven of Saul's sons. They are going to cause problems. I know that is how I always read itas straight historyand I did not think about it very much. Seven of Sauls descendants were hanged as a result. The rest of the Canaanites resented the defection of the Hivites which so greatly weakened the forces for defense, and, headed by Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem, they assembled to wreak vengeance on Gibeon. WebThe designation Nethinim is derived from the Hebrew verb natan ("to give over"), which can mean devoting someone to cultic service. 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. Even their empty wine skins were completely dried up and cracked. If you look at a map in the back of your Bible which has something to do with the conquest of Israel, you will see that Gilgal is right over the Jordan River, just on the eastern side of the land. II Samuel 21:1-14 Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David inquired of the L ORD. but Saul had sought to kill them in his zeal for the children of Israel and Judah. He did this "in his zeal for. Gave 7 of Saul's sons to the Gibeonites. And she did not allow the birds of the air to rest on them by day nor the beasts of the field by night. God revealed that this calamity happened because of "Saul and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites ." When the Gibeonites heard that the other nations were going to attack them, they sent a message to Joshua and the people, Help! Spiritual virtues and qualities are largely unseen yet are more real and potent in lasting effects than the most formidable nuclear pile. Vote Up King David was compelled to hand over his own people to the power of Israel's ongoing enemies. How many died in sicknesses? Summary:2 Samuel Chapter 212 Samuel 21 Avenging the Gibeonites A. David avenges the Gibeonites. We are getting toward the end of King David's life. But it does not say so here in so many words. He came at this as though he were guilty with Saul; that all Israelites were guilty with Saul and his house. 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." He just weakly said, "Oh okay, whatever you want. 1 Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David enquired of the LORD. So Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them to let them live; and the rulers of the congregation swore to them. I do not know when God through Samuel stripped him of the kingdom. He does not live long past the end of II Samuel. It was not just Saul, but other members of his family. And Samuel says, "See? If, in the event the Israelis ever came their way, they would be servants to the people of Israel. That is the background on the Gibeonites, and their relationship with Israel. Had David been righteous and been crying out to God, God would have heard him. In fact, look down to verse 15, II Samuel 21:15-17 When the Philistines were at war again with Israel, David and his servants with him went down and fought against the Philistines; and David grew faint. (Mark 6:20). Deuteronomy 19:7-10 Therefore I command you, saying, 'You shall separate three cities for yourself.' WebThe consequences of Israels covenant with the Gibeonites were not short-term. Davids choice of victims reflects at least the covenant between him and Jonathan, if not also the one between him "Now therefore, you are cursed, and none of you shall be freed from being slaveswoodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God." God said explicitly to destroy everything! And David sought the face of the Lord. How do other hominoids (e.g homo erectus, homo neanderthalensis, etc.) Hebrews 11 exhibits a whole chapter of men and women just like us who, despite their humanity and frequent foibles, fought the good fight of faith and were victorious in the end through the grace of God. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, "You shall go out no more with us to battle, lest you quench the lamp of Israel.". 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. They got a couple of their men, maybe elders, and got them to appear like they came along distance. King Saul exhibited that hubris, that overweening pride in his own decisions and that unfounded confidence in his own good judgment that he brought certain and lasting disaster upon his own dynasty. 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. Only in one sense, there was a fall of man, but certainly not in the traditional sense. With a careful reading and a bit of thought, you will begin to raise some questions. Web2 Samuel 21:2 indicates that King Saul pursued the Gibeonites and sought to kill them off "in his zeal for the children of Israel and Judah" (2 Samuel 21:5). * 1 Samuel 18:12 KJV And Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, and was departed from Saul. * 1 Samuel 18:15 KJV Wherefore when S This was history now. They have a discussion in the next few verses, and many Israelites want to go ahead and kill these Gibeonites for what they did. The "Great Debate" between Nixon and Kennedy had not occurred yet. We have examples of where that has happened, but he did not do that this time. And David sought the face of the Lord. The Gibeonites achieved their short term goal - survival; but they paid a terribly long term price for it - virtual slavery! Some interesting similarities to New Testament times occur to me: The fact that David made a covenant with Jonathan regarding Jonathans house (1 Sam 20:14-16), would take precedence over all other reasons not to give up Mephibosheth, I would suppose. There is no indication in II Samuel 21 that David got advice from any of his ministers about how to deal with this situation. WebTheir apostasy began with the Hivites from Gibeon, and in time, the leaven slowly spread. Just tell me and I will do it for you.. The world's arsenal is growing daily in material strength and sophisticated intimidation. 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. 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. Berean Literal Bible Acts 13:21. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them. So the famine continued for another half a year. or who shall stand in his holy place? What is the meaning of the parable of the rich man and his manager? Asked August 31 2013 This has become known as the "eye for an eye principle." Throughout the centuries, the original Gibeonites continued to exist as a people, although King Saul schemed to destroy them. The Gibeonites, howev What might he have done? By this time, Moses had died and was buried. The breach of contract was serious enough that God sent the famine in response. The higher the vote, the further up an answer is. And the Gibeonites said to him, "We will have no silver or gold from Saul or from his house, nor shall you kill any man in Israel for us." "No, we don't do things like that in Israel. A brief, but important, reference to the Gibeonites can also be found in 2 Samuel 21:1-14. David represents usJoe Church Membertrue Christians in a time of spiritual famine, much like what Amos describes in Amos 8:11, with the famine of the word. But, very few people can relate to sinless perfection. The Gibeonites presented themselves to the invading Israelites, not as nearby neighbors, but as distant foreigners who lived in a far-off land. But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid, and struck the Philistine and killed him. Why does the Bible say David spared Mephibosheth then offered him to the Gibeonites to be killed? During the time of the judges, the Israelites had repeatedly turned away, leaving them corrupt and faithless. Let me ask God about this. Was John the Baptist conceived via an immaculate conception? Think of it as if it were today. You had to go up quite a bit. The Gibeonites left their mark on Israel's history in another wretched incident involving Here we find the Gibeonites demand, and King David counter demandsNOT. Why is it just now that you are waking up to this? This indicates that God was not pleased, whatsoever, with how this situation was resolved by David. God did not necessarily overlook all their sins, but He certainly forgave them. I do not know if that was the case, but he had just gone through Absalom's rebellion, and Sheba's rebellion, and maybe he allowed that to cross his mind too. Jerusalem is almost directly west a few miles, but it is quite high from the Jordan to the Jerusalem. The cities of refuge were designed (among other things) to stop and prevent these feuds from happening. There is another thing that needs to be thrown out there as a possible scenario, and this would have been the very worst and lowest that David could have sunk to. Joshua 9:14 is the key to Israel's problem. One other thing: Samuel said that God is not going to go back on His word. It would be the equivalent of an event somewhere between the Korean War and the Vietnam War. And the LORD answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites. Therefore, there was a different system of justice than what the Gentiles were used to. How does this all connect with Ezekiel chapter 18? 21:1-11 ). However, there was a difference between Israel's version and the Gentiles' principle of vengeance or retribution. They handed their enemies hard, stale, moldy bread and told them it had been freshly baked when they left home. It only says that God heeded the prayer of the land. As mentioned earlier, there was the rebellion of Absalom. They had a more bloody and violent systemwhich often led to blood feuds that may not ever end until a whole family or generation was gone. Spiritual Strongholds (Part Two): Faithful Trust. In 1 Samuel 10, Saul first tries to kill David by straight up pinning him to the wall with his spear, but David dodges twice. This traditional doctrine, as heard in a Catholic or Protestant church, would say that this sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden rests upon us still. September 01 2013 God took the initiative in this matter, by afflicting the nation of Israel with a famine because the house of Saul had put the Gibeonites to death. The Israelite version was a whole lot less absolute. They did not ask, "God, what should we do to these people, the Gibeonites? You didn't do it. He needed God to forgive him. Share Report God says very clearly that Israel was to conquer them, destroy them, and make no covenant with them. Other Translations for 2 Samuel 21:1 Discussion for 2 Samuel 21 View All I Samuel 14:47-48 So Saul established his sovereignty over Israel, and fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, against the people of Ammon, against Edom, against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines. But certainly, David was. The Gibeonites joined in the fight against the Philistines B. Gibeon was situated very close to Gibeah the home town of Sauls family. That is how we overcome the dearth of the truth and the dearth of righteousness in our day. In addition, his own soldiers had to tell him, "David, you just don't have it anymore. II Samuel 21:7 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. They knew! And the LORD answered, It is because of Saul and his bloodthirsty house, They are two separate things. All they wanted, they said, was a peace treaty with Israel; then they would return to their distant home. he put the Gibeonites to death. With all the recent rebellions, he was probably worried that his alliances were going to fail, because he may have appeared to weaken. This is pretty clear. A snare is a trap. Ezekiel 18 makes it clear that God punishes people for their own iniquity. And those two are questionable. WebThese lists are not concerned with the Gibeonites at Gibeon, but with the Benjaminite group which came to settle at Gibeon in the course of time. What we do inherit of their sin is consequences. II Samuel 21:3-6 Therefore David said to the Gibeonites, "What shall I do for you? He apparently killed Ezekiel 18:19-20 Yet you say, 'Why should the son not bear the guilt of the father?' Another group, however, argues that as God's anointed king, By this time, having fought all his life since he was a teenagerup against Goliath when he was eighteen or soand here he was approaching 70 years old, and he was tired. However, this chapter drops a few hints about it. It certainly happened because it says there in verses 1 and 2 that Saul killed a lot of Gibeonites at some point in his reign. WebKing Saul later broke the treaty that Joshua had signed and attacked the Gibeonites. The world's arsenal is growing daily in material strength and sophisticated intimidation. 21:2, NIV).2 Saul did this in his zeal for Israel and Judah. So for nationalistic reasons Saul was guilty of attempted genocide. Saul killed a lot of people. But, you would think that after two years you would get the idea that this was not breaking. Why didnt Abraham bargain with God when it came to Isaac being offered as a burnt offering like he did when it came to Sodom and Gomorrah? So, others besides Saul were guilty. WebWhich city did Saul destroy when he found that its priests had given David's men provision? It seems as though he was spiritually sleepwalking through this whole thing. If we would go back to Leviticus 26, we will see that David should have known that famine was no small thing in God's arsenal. These are the two hints. The Israelites had promised not to They did what is recalled in verses 3 through 6 above. There was no negotiation; there was no calling them on anything. About two years ago, Barry Watson, our lone member in Namibia, wrote me an email message in which this incident was at the heart of it. Does the Bible encourage the practice of Lent? 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