II Samuel Chapter 21
Please read: II Samuel 21 –
David was getting up in years and God still had things for David to do even though he was in his golden years. There was sin in Israel that had not been taken care of yet, and there were battles yet to be fought so that the kingdom given to David’s son, Solomon, would be a more peaceful kingdom. And most importantly David needed to continue being a spiritual and godly leader, a lamp for the people of Israel until his last breath. God’s purpose for our lives on this earth is never finished until we pass on to glory.
The first section of this chapter tells us that God had decided at this point in David’s life that he would seek retribution for the promise that Saul broke to the Gibeonites. This was a covenant promise that Joshua had made many years prior. The Gibeonites had asked for asylum and offered to be servants of Israel when the Israelites came in to possess the promised land. Joshua made a covenant with the people that they would be protected forever. The attack on the Gibeonites was not recorded but it was known by the people.
David probably prayed for rain, but his prayers went unanswered and after the third year David prayed in a much different way, knowing that the drought wasn’t just a natural phenomenon, but that God was trying to get their attention. God utilized David to make retribution for the covenant that Saul had broken with the Gibeonites.
Let's Reflect
1. In prayer David learned that there was blood guilt on Israel for the sins of Saul. David called the people of Gibeon to come and meet with him. David asked what he should do to set things right between the Gibeonites and Israel. According to verse 3, what did David say would be the ultimate result of his actions?
2. The Gibeonites did not ask for money, nor did they ask for a great slaughter of Israelites, but they did ask for the deaths of the descendants of the man, Saul, who did this to their people. How many men did they ask for of Saul’s descendants?
3. The most likely man to be included in this hanging was Saul’s grandson Mephibosheth. Why did David not include him in the men handed over to the Gibeonites?
4. There still was no rain falling on the land of Israel. David learned that the mother of two of the men who were hanged had not buried her sons. She sat in a field beside their bodies. Not burying their dead was against Levitical laws of God. David ordered the burial of the men who had been hanged as well as two other men. What two men did David have their remains dug up and reburied in the land of the tribe of Benjamin?
5. According to verse 14 what happened after that?
6. Verses 15-22 describe four different battles that Israel had to fight. Each of these battles had a unique adversary. Who were these four unique adversaries?
7. These adversaries were descendants of Gath and one of them had some known peculiarities about him. What was peculiar about the fourth adversary?
8. David who was getting up in years, grew faint in battle and his men decided that he would not fight any longer. They said that it was important that his life be preserved. Why?
“Let those who after long service find themselves waning in strength, be content to abide with the people of God, still shining for them as a lamp, and thus enabling them to carry on the same Divine enterprises. Such action in the last days of life is also great and high service.” [Morgan]
