On the other hand, when people do well, like Abraham, and they live God's way of life, this allows God the leeway to show mercy unto thousands of generations of people. This is pretty clear. God is not bloodthirsty, but He had told them what to do. Perhaps those first two, Armoni, and Mephibosheth were old enough to have participated in the event. We don't hear much of the Gibeonites again until the reign of King Saul. God only let the rain cycle start again. They made their dust-covered clothes to look worn and ragged as if they had been on the road for many days, even months. . Evidently, he thought that he could win back his kingdom if he zealously did God's will. 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. ", "She's been doing that for six months? Share 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. Perhaps these last few verses suggest that, in burying the bones of Saul and Jonathan, David repented of his sins regarding this whole incident. But, very few people can relate to sinless perfection. If you read Psalm 51 it is very clear that he understood his own makeup. Fifty years ago was 1957. Throughout the centuries, the original Gibeonites continued to exist as a people, although King Saul schemed to destroy them. The Gibeonites, howev Is that what happened?" By this time, Moses had died and was buried. I do not know when God through Samuel stripped him of the kingdom. Certainly, after three years you would. They agree to the death of seven of Saul's descendants. 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. Who are the twenty four elders that John foresaw? Clarify You are getting later and later in David's life here. Without checking out their story; without surveying the geographical situation; most of all, without consulting the Lord and waiting for His guidance, Joshua went impulsively ahead and signed a binding, lasting agreement with the Gibeonites. It only says that God heeded the prayer of the land. And after that God heeded the prayer for the land. He gets kicked down the societal ladder for his sin, and it takes three or four generations for the family to recover. I dont think it was a matter of God allowing the Gibeonites to put to death Sauls sons. They were a group of Amorites. Gave 7 of Saul's sons to the Gibeonites. Notice verse 2 says that Saul tried to strike them down in his zeal (also means jealously or envy) for the people of Israel and Judah. 0 responses II Samuel 21:3-6 Therefore David said to the Gibeonites, "What shall I do for you? He made huge errors in judgment, both personally and in a larger sense. 21:2, NIV).2 Saul did this in his zeal for Israel and Judah. So for nationalistic reasons Saul was guilty of attempted genocide. He was far from God during this time. Why was Satan so effective in influencing the actions of Eve? II Samuel 21:8-9 So the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul; and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite; and he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the hill before the LORD. Their deceit, Israel's lack of vigilance and Saul's deep delusion caused God's people centuries of grief and embarrassment. He attempted the genocide of BATTLE AGAINST ENVY AND JEALOUSY This incident appears in time sequence toward the end of his life. I think he was very low. There is demotion. Up and down your family tree, sin does not go. Israel plagued by allowing the deception Also, they were hanged on the hill before the Lord. In verse 7 we see the only thing in the entire situation that was any good at all. 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. This is a bit unusual. A lot can happen in two years. With all the recent rebellions, he was probably worried that his alliances were going to fail, because he may have appeared to weaken. 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. The Gibeonites deceived Israel, but God's people had really deceived themselves. God did not perform a miracle to end this famine after these men were executed. It would have been the answer. It did not come the next week, or the next month, or the month after that, all through the summer and into the fall holy days. On the mammoth scene of world history this minor alliance would rank as a minute encounter. 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). It was as if David earlier said, "Let's just get this out of the way. But that conclusion is a bit too sanguine once you begin to look into that which is not said, or what is said elsewhere. Why did he not seem to notice the first year and say to himself, "Hmm. This poor man cried out, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. When He visits the iniquity upon successive generations, He is saying is that the results and curses that come automatically often go down a handful of generations. He then tells David that he can't marry Michal until he brings Saul 100 Philistine foreskins, thinking that David will definitely die in this attempt. 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." 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. These are the two hints. The Israelite version was a whole lot less absolute. During the time of the judges, the Israelites had repeatedly turned away, leaving them corrupt and faithless. In 2 Samuel 21:1-14, we see that Saul committed an awful crime, and this caused famine in Israel. There was a great deal of turmoil in Israel leading up to this time. It cut us off from God. A snare is a trap. And she did not allow the birds of the air to rest on them by day nor the beasts of the field by night. King David was probably huffing and puffing, "I can't lift this thing! persecuted and killed the Gibeonites men in a covenant relationship with Israel who served at the tabernacle. There was not a cloud in sight and you are the king. 5. 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. But so did David. He asked me, "How does this incident square with what God says in Ezekiel 18:19-20?". How many rebellions were there? "There was a famine in the days of King David for three years, year after year. David did all this, it seems, off the top of his head. It is not genetic. Had David been righteous and been crying out to God, God would have heard him. 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. Samuel turns away; Saul grabs at him and only catches his robe, and tears it. Deuteronomy 19:7-10 Therefore I command you, saying, 'You shall separate three cities for yourself.' We have all followed in the same way of life as our first parents Adam and Eve. However, if they did not participate, they are not going to be given a black mark by God for something that they did not do. 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. Saul had four sons. * Jonathanhe befriended David, died with Saul on Mount Gilboa * Abinadabdied with Saul on Mount Gilboa * Malchishuadied with Much later, King Saul ignored this covenant of peace and killed some Gibeonites. He did not do a thing that a king or judge should do. They have a discussion in the next few verses, and many Israelites want to go ahead and kill these Gibeonites for what they did. Jerusalem is almost directly west a few miles, but it is quite high from the Jordan to the Jerusalem. The Bible helps us in this way, because it is full of examples of flawed heroes of faith. There is nothing to give you any indication that God was involved in anything except the faminetrying to teach David a lesson. Before she married David, Abigail had been the wife of _____. It is after Absalom's rebellion. Also David seems to have only spared Mephibosheth only because he made an oath, and not for the fact that he was only five years old and did not participate in killing the Gibeonites? God has torn the kingdom from you. It does not matter. Christ says, Luke 21:34-35 "But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. WebSaul, Israel's first king thought he knew better than God. Their special, if dishonest, dealings with the leaders of Israel gained them a notoriety that most of the tribes and clans of the ancient Mid-East never attained. Why was David so loyal to Saul after everything Saul had done to him? The time had passed. 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). When were threatened by a Philistine attack, Saul he disobeyed Jehovah by offering a sacrifice instead of waiting for Samuel to do it. WebA three years' famine in the days of David was attributed to God's anger at the unexpiated crime of Saul in slaying the Gibeonites. Saul and the heir to the throne, his son, Jonathan, were killed in a battle with the Philistines, and by popular acclamation, David became the King of Israel. II Samuel 21:14 So they performed all that the king commanded. That is how we overcome the dearth of the truth and the dearth of righteousness in our day. 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? Whatever the case, it is very plain to me that he did not pay enough attention to this matter of the famine and drought, and the Gibeonites. . Seven of Sauls descendants were hanged as a result. And the king said, "I will give them." God did not necessarily overlook all their sins, but He certainly forgave them. The "Great Debate" between Nixon and Kennedy had not occurred yet. God spared them as a people, but His nation condemned them to endless servitude. 6. Yes, my lord, he answered. When did Saul kill these Gibeonites? It does not seem so. It is not the sin of Adam and Eve; it is their own sin. Asked August 31 2013 The consequences are not the guilt. WebThe Gibeonites Hang Saul's Descendants 21 While David was king, there were three years in a row when the nation of Israel could not grow enough food. And David sought the face of the Lord. Joshua realized he had been deceived, but he kept the letter of his covenant with the Gibeonites to let them live; however, he cursed and enslaved them as woodcutters and water-carriers. Saul later pursued the Gibeonites and sought to kill them off in his zeal for the children of Israel and Judah. Saul tried to get back his throne from God by doing what he thought was right, what he thought was zealous for God, by getting rid of the foreignersincluding the Gibeonitesthat were among them. WebKing Saul later broke the treaty that Joshua had signed and attacked the Gibeonites. Then they replied, It was Saul who planned to destroy us, to keep us from having any place at all in Israel. If we think that we have it all figured out, I am sorry, we do not. So, he kept his own covenant, but he did not go any further to figure out from God's law to know what should be done in this situation. Were they participants in killing the Gibeonites? It was common knowledge. Back in I Samuel 15, Saul was told by God through Samuel to go up against the Amalekites, and to destroy everything in sight, do not spare anything; exterminate them. We do not know how long before II Samuel 21 this incident happened. (Now the Gibeonites were not Israelites, but a remnant of the Amorites. King David came at it from a position of weakness, not of one who knew God's law and could answer these people from spiritual strength. He had a body of law that he could have referred back to and come up with a solution. So he said, "Whatever you say, I will do for you." You see, famine on the scale like thisthree yearsis a sign from God that things were not copacetic in the land. 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. However, the Gibeonites did. At most it was about ten miles awaynot very far at all. I do not know. They had advance warning. David asked. & "Take heed that you be not deceived." He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation" Psalm 24:4-5. Please ensure your answer MEETS all our guidelines. Jesus Christ should be everyone's ultimate hero. If the Gibeonites brought guile and deceit into the land; it was Saul who set the example for deep and devastating 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. 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. God punished the whole nation for breaking the covenant. The breach of contract was serious enough that God sent the famine in response. The Gibeonites actually lived only a few miles from Jericho, the Twelve Tribes' designated entry point to Palestine. Therefore, there was a different system of justice than what the Gentiles were used to. And they sent them to Joshua at Gilgal. 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. How much food did Jesus produce? Saul, after having disqualified himself from being king, sought to ingratiate himself with God by killing Canaanites, including an unrecorded massacre of Gibeonites. Because David had been good friends with Jonathan, he at first allowed all of Sauls family to continue to live peaceably in the land. Think about this for a moment. However, if he did not lie in wait, but God delivered him into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee.". lorraine goode. We have a very simple biblical principle here: God is just. There was justice that was going to take place. King Saul would conscript them into the army, and off they would go in a bloodthirsty rage against somebody else. They quailed at what they heard that Joshua and Israel had done at Jericho and Ai. One other thing: Samuel said that God is not going to go back on His word. They did not inquire. That is not what it says here. Most, if not all, of those responsible were dead. Does the devil have power to make us sick? King Saul later broke the treaty that Joshua had signed and attacked the Gibeonites. Later still, during the time of King David, a famine occurred in Israel. When David asked the Lord about the famine, God said, It is on account of Saul and his blood-stained house; it is because he put the Gibeonites to death (2 Samuel 21:1). The Gibeonites achieved their short term goal - survival; but they paid a terribly long term price for it - virtual slavery! DECEPTION AND COST Vote Up God sees behind the scenes. Jew or gentile? So they answered Joshua and said, "Because your servants were clearly told that the LORD your God commanded His servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you.". 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