COVENANTS KEPT & BROKEN - 2 SAMUEL 21

 

The Famine

21:1-2

Israel suffered under a famine for three years. Famines were usually associated with droughts (periods of no rain). 

This story may not be in chronological order. The time reference is vague: “in the time of David”. Given what David does here with regard to Mephibosheth, the events may have occurred shortly after the events of chapter 9. 

In the third year of the famine, David sought the Lord. He asked the cause of the famine. Drought and famine were some of the curses for disobedience. (Leviticus 26:19-20) 

The Lord answered him: there is bloodguilt on the house of Saul because he killed a number of Gibeonites. 

Gibeon was an area about six miles northwest of Jerusalem in the hill country. When the Israelites invaded Canaan under the leadership of Joshua, it was a Canaanite city. The Israelites had been instructed to defeat and destroy the cities of the Canaanites. They had already done that to Jericho and Ai. 

The people of Gibeon did not believe they could win a battle against Israel. So, they resorted to deceit. You can read about this in Joshua 9. They met the Israelis and convinced them they were people from a distant country. 

They convinced Israel to make a covenant with them to spare them. Israel’s swore by the Lord to let them live. Swearing by the Lord’s name invites him to impose consequences for breaching the covenant. 

That covenant did not expire with the passage of time. “…even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified.” (Galatians 3:15)

The area of Gibeon was allotted to the tribe of Benjamin. Saul was a member of that tribe. Despite the covenant, Saul attacked and killed many of the Gibeonites, wanting to purge them from the area. Since this killing was unjustified, due to the covenant, Saul and his family had “blood guilt”. 

David Seeks Atonement For Israel

21:3-9

David engaged the Gibeonites, asking what it would take to make this right, to relieve the blood guilt. They Gibeonites wanted seven sons of Saul to be given to them to be hanged at Saul’s home town, and capitol, of Gibeah. The number seven was probably a symbol for all of the tribe of Benjamin, or even Israel, as the perfect retribution for blood guilt. David agreed to do this.

David did spare Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s son, because of the oath he swore to Jonathan. Notice the contrast: Saul is the covenant breaker; David is the covenant keeper. 

David delivered seven other descendants’s of Saul to the Gibeonites, who hanged them. It is likely they hanged them as an act of symbolism, because a man who was hanged was cursed by God. These descendants bore the curse incurred by Saul. 

Deuteronomy 21:22-23 says:

“And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile your land the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance.”

This is similar to Paul’s reasoning for the crucifixion. In Galatians 3:13, he wrote:

“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us - for it is written, ‘cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree…”

David Buries The Dead

21:10-14

Rizpah, the mother of two of the hanged men, went to mourn at the tree. She also protected the bodies from carrion birds. The bodies of the hanged men had been left unburied, probably to show they were executed as an act of judgment. 

When David heard about this, he went and gathered the bodies of the hanged men, along with the remains of Saul and Jonathan, and had them buried in the tomb of Fish, Saul’s father. 

Once this was all accomplished, God relented from punishing Israel, ended the famine and brought rain. (14) 

David And The Philistines

21:15-17

David, now older, went out again to fight the Philistines. He was attacked by one of the giant men. David got tired as he fought, making him vulnerable to being killed. Fortunately, Abishai, who had always be loyal to and protective of David, came to his rescue and killed the Philistine. After this, David’s men did not want him to go into battle and risk being killed. 

More Battles With Philistine Giants

21:18-22

Israel continued to have battles with the Philistines. Several really large men fought Israel. Yet, the Israelites were able to overcome this and kill the giants. Even one of David’s nephews killed a giant. God continued to raise up men to protect his people and preserve the kingdom. 

Takeaways

So, we see that God continued to keep his covenant with Israel.

And that tells us God will keep his covenant with us, those who believe in his Son, giving us eternal life.

A REBELLION SUPPRESSED - 2 SAMUEL 20

 

Amasa Fails To Do His Duty

20:4-5

David saw Sheba and his followers as a threat to his reign. He wanted to suppress the rebellion immediately. He may have overestimated the strength of the rebels, be he took it seriously and acted decisively.

He told Amasa, commander of the army, to assemble the men of Judah and bring them to Jerusalem to begin an attack on Sheba. It is a stark contrast to his handling of Absalom. 

So Amasa left to do this, but did get it done on time. 

David Turns To Abishai

20:6-7

When Amasa did not return on time, David recruited Abishai to do the job. He had been David’s commander in exile. David was worried about Sheba getting away and starting another war. So Abishai took off in pursuit of Sheba. David wanted him caught before he could take refuge in a fortified city.

Abishai took David’s “servants” with him. These were the men who stayed around David all of the time. There were the Cherethites and Pelethites, David’s personal body guards. 

There were also the “mighty men”, the 30 great warriors. You can read about them in 1 Chronicles 11. Abishai was the chief (leader) of the mighty men as a great warrior. Finally, there were the men of Joab, those fighters who had stayed with him after Amasa was made the commander of the army. 

The End Of Amasa

20:8-13

Amasa finally appeared, meeting Abishai and David’s servants at Gibeon. He may have brought some men from Judah with him. Amasa met them at the great stone in Gibeon. 

Gibeon was about six miles north of Jerusalem. When the ark of the covenant was captured by the Philistines, the tabernacle was moved from Shiloh to Gibeon. The altar of the tabernacle at Gibeon was used for sacrificial worship (1 Chronicles 16:39; 21:29; 1 Kings 3:2–4), until Solomon brought the tabernacle and its furnishings furnishings to Jerusalem to furnish the Temple (1 Kings 8:4).

The great stone may be the stone Saul set up and made sacrifices on after the people sinned there. (1 Samuel 14:33) It seems to have remained a place of worship. David put Zadok there to offer sacrifices after bringing the ark to Jerusalem. (1 Chronicles 16:39) Solomon offered sacrifices there also. (1 Kings 3:4) 

Joab murdered Amasa after greeting him as a brother. He left his body in the road, lying in his blood. Joab then joined his brother Abishai in the pursuit of Sheba.  

Then one of Joab’s “young men” (part of the group that killed Absalom?) rallied the people to follow Joab, either because they favored Joab as commander or because they were loyal to David. (11) They did, after Amasa’s body was removed from the road. The men of Judah followed Joab to pursue Sheba. 

The End Of Sheba

20:14-22

Sheba headed north. His family joined him (the Bichrites). Evidently, the other Israelites declined to follow him. Having just lost a battle against David’s forces, they did not want another confrontation. Sheba and his family made it to the walled city of Abel of Beth-macaah in the far north of Israel.

Joab and his fighters followed and began a siege of the city. They built mounds, or ramps, of dirt and hauled up battering rams to attack the wall. It would only be a matter of time before they breached the wall and sacked the city.

However, a wise woman intervened on behalf of the city. (16) She asked to address Joab and he listened to her. She claimed that she and the others in the city were loyal to the king. She also claimed the city was known for its wisdom. She asked Joab why he would destroy such a city.

Joab denied his desire to destroy the city. He claimed only to want Sheba for opposing David. He offered to withdraw from the city if they delivered Sheba to him. The woman went beyond that. She convinced her people to kill Sheba, behead him, and throw his head to Joab. It worked. Joab withdrew the army.

David’s Administration

20:23-26

The author closes this chapter with a summary of David’s administration. 

Joab resumed his office of commander of the army. This had to be an uncomfortable situation, as Joab has now killed Abner, Absalom, and Amasa in contravention of David’s desires. 

Benaiah, not Joab, was in command of David’s personal guard, the Cherethites and Pelethites. Benaiah was also one of the 30 mighty men. (23:28) 

Adoram supervised the forced labor. These were likely captives kept as slaves. 

There was a recorder and a secretary. Zadok and Abiathar remained as priests, probably sharing the role of high priest. David also had a personal priest named Ira the Jairite. 

Takeaways

David is back to acting like a king. He suppressed rebellion. He established his administration and attempted to stabilize the country.

God has continued to keep his covenant with David, restoring him to the throne. Notice also the grace of God. He protected Israel from other countries while Israel was in turmoil internally. It would have been the perfect time for an enemy to attack Israel, but none did. 

DAVID'S JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM - 2 SAMUEL 19:16-20:3

David Spares Shimei

19:16-23

As David began the journey from Gilgal to Jerusalem, he had several personal encounters. The first is with the Benjamite man, Shimei. You might remember that Shimei confronted David as he ascended the Mount of Olives. He threw rocks and dirt and cursed David.

Now Shimei realizes that David, restored as king, might retaliate. So, he made a show of appearing with 1,000 men from Benjamin to help David and his entourage cross the Jordan. Shimei was from the tribe of Joseph. He made sure to tell David he was the first of the people from the northern kingdom to welcome him. He acknowledged that he acted wrongfully and begged David’s forgiveness.

Predictably, Abishai thought Shimei should be executed for cursing the LORD’s anointed. But, David spared his life, evidently because he did not want the day of his restoration to be one of bloodshed. 

But David did not actually forgive Shimei. He later instructed Solomon to “bring his gray head down with blood to Sheol”. (1 Kings 2:8-9)

David And Ziba

19:17-18

Ziba, who had provided for David as he left Jerusalem, also appeared with his sons and servants. The writer says they “rushed” to meet David. They sought to help David and his family cross the river and come back home. 

David And Mephibosheth

19:24-30

The next person to shown to appear was Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, for whom David had provided. He actually met David in Jerusalem. (25) This means this encounter happened later. He was unkempt, not having groomed himself since David left Jerusalem, presumably as a form of grieving. 

David asked Mephibosheth why he had not gone with David out of Jerusalem. Mephibosheth blamed it on Ziba, saying he did not help the crippled man onto a donkey and then slandered him to David. 

Mephibosheth further said David was like an angel of God for taking care of him, so he could do whatever seemed right to him. David did not declare for one man over the other, but divided their land between them. 

This seems to be a matter of pragmatism rather than justice. 

If David believed Mephibosheth, he should have restored all of his property. But, Ziba was a man of wealth and helpful to David, so David only restored half.

Mephibosheth even said Ziba could have it all, that he was just glad David was home.

David and Barzillai

19:31—40

Barzillai is the man who provided a great deal of food to sustain David and his people in exile. (17:27) He returned to escort David over the river. David invited him to come with him to Jerusalem so that David could provide for him there in gratitude for all he had done.

But Barzillai declined, citing his old age. He just wanted to go home and die there. As an alternative, Barzillai offered a man named Chimham who was also loyal to David. David agreed.

Then the whole group crossed the Jordan: David, his household, at least some of the army, Shimei and a thousand Benjamites, and the people of Judah.

David And The Men of Israel

19:41-43

All of Israel apparently wanted David to return to Jerusalem as king. However, David only invited Judah. Notice that the northern tribes are referred to collectively as Israel in contrast to the one tribe of Judah. This mirrors the future division of the kingdom under Rehoboam (son of Solomon). 

When men of Israel arrived, they complained to the tribe of Judah about being left out. A heated argument ensued. Judah said they did it because David was a close relative, but they did not receive anything from David. That did not pacify Israel. They felt that as a greater number of tribes, they had more claim to David. Plus, they were the first to speak of bringing David back. Nonetheless, Judah prevailed and the resentment remained in Israel.

Notice that David did not intervene. Either he was being passive, or he wanted the solid support of Judah and was willing to take his chances with the rest of Israel.

Israel Rebels

20:1-2

The resentment of Israel turned into a rebellion. Sheba, from the tribe of Benjamin, called for them to withdraw from the procession of David’s supporters to Jerusalem. So, Israel did so, following Sheba. 

Judah remained loyal to David and accompanied him to Jerusalem.

David And The Concubines

20:3

Finally, David made it back to his house. He had left 10 concubines there to take care of the house in his absence. Absalom then made a show of having sex with all of them. (16:22)

David gave them their own house. He provided for them. He posted a guard to protect them.  But, he did not resume sexual relations with them. 

It seems that David acted compassionately toward the concubines. But, the language saying they were “shut up until the day of their death, living as if in widowhood” makes it sound like they were prisoners. They were reminders of Nathan’s words to David, that his wives would be given to another. Likely, he did not want that reminder every day. 

Takeaways

The Lord restored David to the throne, continuing to work with and through David to accomplish his purposes.

Sin can have painful consequences. 

Consequences often are God’s way of working for our sanctification.