2 Samuel 21:1-14
Years ago, a small town had a well that supplied water to
everyone. Generations depended on it.
One day, a respected leader in the town secretly diverted
waste into the ground upstream from the well. At the time,
no one noticed. Life went on. The leader eventually died, and
the decision was buried with him.
Years later, something strange started happening.
The water began to dry up. Crops failed. People got sick. The
town council tried everything—digging new wells, rationing
water, importing supplies—but nothing worked.
Finally, an elderly man stood up in a town meeting and said,
“We’re treating the symptoms, but we’re ignoring the cause.
Something is wrong at the source.”
They investigated—and discovered the hidden contamination.
The damage had been done years earlier, but the
consequences had finally surfaced.
The town had a choice:
Ignore it and keep suffering…
Or face the truth, no matter how painful, and make it right.
Repairing the damage was costly. It meant tearing up
ground, cleaning what had been polluted, and making
restitution to those who had been harmed.
But once they did… slowly, the water returned. The land
healed. Life was restored.
Today we are going to study the first 14 verses of 2
Samuel 21.
I’m going to give you a short summary of chapter 20.
A man named Sheba from the tribe of Benjamin, Saul’s
tribe, rose up to try and overthrow David.
Many of Israel followed him while Judah remained faithful
to David.
Amasa gets killed by Joab.
A wise woman convinces the people of the city of Abel of
Beth-maacah to kill Sheba.
Joab returns as the commander of the army of Israel.
Today’s text is a difficult one. Not difficult to understand,
difficult to accept. Let’s pray and ask God to show us His
truth this morning.
2 Samuel 21:1-6
Verse 1 tells us there was famine in the land.
Famine was not something that Israel was unacquainted
with.
There was famine in the days of Abraham.
There was famine in the days of Joseph.
There was famine in the days of Ruth.
Why does God allow famine/trials among His
people?
Sometimes it’s a punishment for sin.
Sometimes it’s to test/strengthen our faith.
In this case the reason for the famine is a consequence of
sin.
How should we respond to famine/trials in our life?
Sometimes when we face difficult situations we run every
direction but God’s direction. We try to mask our pain
with alcohol or drugs when what we really need is peace
and comfort that only God can provide.
Prayer should be our first response, not our last
resort!
David’s response was prayer.
The Lord’s response is recorded immediately after the
Scripture tells us that David sought the face of the Lord.
“There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he
put the Gibeonites to death.”
Once David heard the Lord’s response he immediately
went to the Gibeonites and had a conversation with
them.
Before we get to the conversation, let’s talk about
Gibeon.
Gibeon is where Joab killed Amasa in the last chapter.
Who were the Gibeonites?
They were not people of Israel, they were a remnant of
the Amorites, survivors from the Canaanite people who
were displaced when God gave the promised land to
Israel.
They were also the people that Joshua made a covenant
with when he was taking Israel into the promised land.
They tricked him by coming into the land with worn out
sandals and torn up clothes saying they had come from a
far away land. In reality they lived a short distance away.
Joshua failed to seek the Lord in prayer about the matter.
Joshua 9:14-15
Covenant Broken
At any rate, Joshua made a covenant with them that he
would not kill them.
This covenant was not to be broken.
It was to be honored by all future generations of Israel.
But Saul ignored it and sought to kill them all.
Consequence
Isn’t it interesting that God waited all this time, even
after Saul’s death, to bring the consequences on Israel?
We must remember that God is just and He will always
uphold His promises.
Ezekiel 33:11 reminds us that God takes no pleasure in
the death of the wicked.
He wants all to turn from their sin and be saved.
But God will punish those who reject His free gift of
grace.
Unlike the way Saul broke the covenant, God has never
and will never break His covenant with us.
Conversation
David asked the Gibeonites what he could do for them.
Specifically, he asked how he could make atonement.
Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary defines
Atonement this way – “The act by which God restores a
relationship of harmony and unity between Himself and
human beings.”
David is asking the Gibeonites how he can restore their
relationship back to what it was before Saul wrecked it.
They tell him:
We don’t want money
We don’t want to kill anyone in Israel.
David presses them for what they really want.
They tell him they want to hang 7 of the sons of Saul, but
they don’t even speak his name. They call him the man
who consumed us and planned to destroy us.
David agrees to their request.
2 Samuel 21:7-9
Covenant Kept
Even though one covenant was broken, David isn’t willing
to break another one. He remembers the covenant he
made with Jonathan that he would take care of his family.
So he spared Mephibosheth and offered up the 2 sons of
Rizpah, one of which is also named Mephibosheth. It
makes you wonder if Jonathan named his son after this
relative.
Once again, we see the difference in the character of Saul
and David.
Saul had no problem breaking a covenant that was made
by his people.
David refused to break the covenant he made with
Jonathan.
I know it’s slightly different because Saul wasn’t the one
who made the covenant and David was the one who
made the covenant.
Saul definitely knew the covenant existed.
Saul didn’t even obey the direct orders from God.
David also gave 5 sons of Merab the daughter of Saul.
The Gibeonites hanged them on the mountain before the
Lord.
They hanged them in the first days of the harvest.
2 Samuel 21:10-14
Rizpah lost two sons that day.
I can’t begin to imagine the grief that she endured.
Not only did she lose her sons, but 5 of her other
relatives were killed that day.
Let’s let the gravity of this situation sink in a bit.
The Scripture doesn’t say if God agreed with the
consequence that the Gibeonites requested or not, but it
certainly is within the scope of the Old Testament.
Surely Saul killed more than 7 Gibeonites when he
consumed them and planned to destroy them.
They could have asked for all the remaining sons of Saul
to be killed.
Compassion
Rizpah’s response was to spread sackcloth for herself on
the rock. She remained there until the rainy season. This
was likely a span of 4 months.
She protected the bodies of her loved ones from birds
and predators who would be anxious to devour them.
She kept watch night and day.
What an incredible display of compassion and dedication.
When David heard what Rizpah had done he went and
collected the bones of Saul and Jonathan and the bones
of the 7 men who were recently hanged and took them to
the land of Benjamin and buried them in the tomb of
Kish.
What an honorable thing for David to do.
Especially in light of the way Saul had treated David,
trying to kill him with the spear twice and chasing him
with the goal of killing him. It really shows that David
truly is a man after God’s own heart.
Showing kindness to our enemies is not easy, but David
sets a great example of compassion and dignity here.
APPLICATION
God Wants His Children to:
Seek Him in Prayer
Keep our Word
Show Compassion