Lesson 243 - Senior
Memory Verse
"But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children" (Psalm 103:17).
Cross References
I The Three Years of Famine and the Reason
1. David inquires of the Lord concerning the famine [2SM:21:1]; [1KG:17:1];[1KG:18:17-18].
2. Saul had unjustly slain the Gibeonites, [2SM:21:1]
3. Israel is held to their covenant with Gibeon, [2SM:21:2]; [JOS:9:3-27].
II The Request of the Gibeonites to Be Avenged for the Wrong Done Them
1. David acknowledges the wrong, [2SM:21:3]; [PRO:14:34].
2. The request of the Gibeonites is granted, [2SM:21:4-9]
3. Rizpah mourns for her sons, [2SM:21:10-11]
4. David responds by respecting the house of Saul, [2SM:21:12-14]; [2SM:2:5, 6].
III The Final Victory over the Philistines
1. Goliath's brother, the giant Ishbi-benob, tries to kill David, [2SM:21:15-16].
2. Abishai rescues David, [2SM:21:17]; [1SM:26:8]; [2SM:16:9];[2SM:19:21];[2SM:23:18, 19].
3. The final victory is won over the giants of Gath, [2SM:21:18-22]; [1CH:20:4-8].
Notes
Famine
"There was a famine in the days of David ... and David inquired of the LORD" [2SM:21:1]). There have been many famines in history, but not very many Davids to ferret out the cause and produce a remedy. It is true that we have technicians who have analysed such problems as dust bowls, crop failure, and erosion; but they do not seem to see the hand of God in the catastrophe. Elisha told a woman of Shunem, "The LORD hath called for a famine" [2KG:8:1]). The world today needs men like Elisha and David who recognise the call of God in a famine. The Psalmist tells us: "He turneth rivers into a wilderness, and the watersprings into dry ground, a fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein" [PS:107:33-34]).
The Cause
War, famine, and disaster are common in our day, and there have been some calls for prayer, but very little turning from the wickedness and sin which is the prime cause of the trouble. Analysts criticize our foreign and economic policies, production and farm methods, and many other things; but few, if any, see the hand of God in our perplexing problems.
The world today resents any curbs upon liquor, vice, and sin. God told Israel through the Prophet Amos that He had sent famine, drought, pests, disease, war, and fire upon them, and "yet have ye not returned unto me" [AMO:4:11]). The world today is alarmed about her condition, but blind to the remedy. The world wants peace, but is deaf to the call of the Prince of Peace. The call of Prophets throughout the ages has been "Repent! Repent!" But Nigeria has not repented. "Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways, for why will ye die" [EZE:33:11]). Yet millions follow on in the ways of sin and death while destruction stalks our land.
Treaties
The answer God gave David as the reason for the famine was, "It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites" [2SM:21:1]). These Gibeonites were the ones who came to Joshua after the fall of Jericho and desired a league with Israel. They came with old clothes and moldy provisions, feigning that they were from a far-off country, and thereby tricked Joshua into a peace treaty. Although the commandment of the Lord forbade a treaty with the people of the land, and even though these Gibeonites used guile to obtain the treaty, still God required the Israelites to keep their word. It is easy for man today to find loopholes and excuses for breaking his word; but the man who will make Heaven his home is "he that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not" [PS:15:4]).
Four hundred years had elapsed since this covenant had been made between Israel and Gibeon, but God remembered it and required it of them. Treaties between nations today mean very little in the eyes of men. The world reeks with propaganda and lies. God requires his people to be honest. "That which is gone out of thy lips thou shalt keep and perform" [DEU:23:23]). Paul tells us of the promise that God made to Abraham which still stands, and says that the Law of Moses which came 430 years after that promise could not disannul the promise, to make it of none effect. God keeps His word and demands that His people keep theirs.
The Soul that Sinneth
The Lord placed the guilt for this famine upon Saul and his house. When the Gibeonites asked for seven sons of Saul to be hanged, they were delivered to them by David. This was not a case of the sons suffering for the sins of their father, but inasmuch the Lord placed the blame on the house of Saul it is evident that these sons were guilty of the same offence as their father was. The heathen custom of killing hostages was not permitted in Israel. The law provided: "The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither beau the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin" [DEU:24:16]). Also Ezekiel tells us: "The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him" [EZE:18:20]).
There are many who suffer death who are innocent of transgression of the laws of man. Sometimes we read of one who is punished for another's crime. But the Lord does not permit anyone to suffer death as an atonement for someone else who committed sin before him. The only case in all Scripture where the innocent died to atone for the guilty was when Jesus Christ suffered -- the just for the unjust. Jesus, the Innocent One, willingly went to the cross for the sins of the whole world. "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" [ROM:5:8]).
Some may contend that the Law states that the children shall suffer for the iniquity of their fathers, basing their contention on the passage of Scripture that reads: "I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me" [EXO:20:5]). There is only one way, which we may properly and Scripturally construe this verse, and that is that when the iniquity of the fathers is visited upon the children it is visited upon them because they have continued in the sins of their fathers.
This is like the case of the Amalekites. The punishment, which was decreed against this nation of the Amalekites, at the time they fought the Children of Israel, was not executed until 400 years afterward, so there must have been at least four generations in that time. The unbeliever might ask, "How are you going to reconcile that with the sin of their forefathers way back there 400 years before?" Simply upon this basis: They had continued the same sins; they had kept the same attitude: they had received and retained the same spirit toward the people of God as did their forefathers. (Read [LUK:11:48-51].)
A Mother's Love
Rizpah, the mother of two of the sons of Saul who were hanged, "took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water dropped upon them out of heaven, and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night" [2SM:21:10]). David, hearing of this touching devotion of a mother, ordered the remains buried and had the bones of Saul and Jonathan also buried in the family plot. "And after that God was intreated for the land" [2SM:21:14]). Thus with satisfactory amends made, God again poured out His blessings upon Israel.
Giants
Forty-five years after David slew Goliath, his brother Ishbi-benob with a new sword and a heavy spear, sought to kill David. Many years of fighting had taxed the strength of David, but Abishai, his nephew, who was one of David's mighty men, killed the giant and spared his king. In their turn, three other brothers of Goliath arose against the Israelites but met their match In the mighty fighters of Israel. But these men fought not alone, for God was with them. Their leader, the sweat Psalmist of Israel, was a man after God's own heart.
Questions
1. Why was there a famine in Israel?
2. Who were the Gibeonites?
3. Why was it wrong for Saul to slay the Gibeonites?
4. Of what similar transgression was Saul guilty?
5. How do we know Saul's sons were implicated in the slaying of the Gibeonites?
6. Name some of the other times of famine mentioned in the Bible.
7. Are children responsible for the sin of their parents?
8. Name one instance when the innocent suffered to atone for the sins of the guilty.
9. Who were the giants mentioned in this chapter?
10. About how old was David at this time?