Seven Men Of Saul’s Sons

Our text this evening is in 2 Samuel chapter 21. We'll be looking at the first 14 verses. Now here we see that David's troubles continue. His troubles continue, not as a chastening, however, but his troubles continue though. And this time it's a famine that's had in Israel and it's gotten severe enough that David has taken notice of it and gone to inquire of the Lord as to why this famine is continuing. And this time, it's not because of any sin in David, but the Lord is going to write an injustice that was done in the past, something that was done by what he calls the bloody house of Saul. He's going to write some injustice that was done by Saul, the previous king, before David.

And as we've been pleased to to do throughout these chapters here, we'll see a picture of the gospel. This is going to point us, direct our eyes to the Lord Jesus Christ who redeemed his people triumphantly, gloriously. So first we're told in verse one, then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year. And David inquired of the Lord, and the Lord answered, It is for Saul and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites."

Now, doesn't this seem somewhat strange at the timing of this, that this famine didn't occur during Saul's reign? The Lord didn't bring a famine at that time, nor did it come at the beginning of David's reign. This is much, much later in David's reign now. This is not, it seems to be a long time that has gone on between this.

Many years have passed, and long after David himself has suffered various afflictions, various chastenings, various trials for his own sins. And now this is coming to pass here. so that in the land here and for the people of Israel, under David's rule, they're going to suffer for Saul's sins against the Gibeonites. because he slew the Gibeonites.

Now, the Gibeonites, these were Amorites. And Amorites were a people of Canaan. They were the Canaanitish people in the land when God gave the land to Israel. And they had heard of the things that the Lord was doing for Israel. They heard of the triumphs that the Lord was giving to them in conquering the cities. And so these Gibeonites, They wanted peace. They didn't want to be destroyed.

And so they pretended that they were from a far, far, far away country. They got worn out shoes together and old raggy clothes. They put moldy bread in their bags and they traveled just a little bit, but it made it look like they had come a long way, so long that the bread had molded and their clothes wore out.

And Joshua and the elders, they bought it. They believed it. They believed it and they made a pact with them. They went into league with them, gave them an oath that they would not harm these Gibeonites at all, that they would protect them and no harm would come to them.

However, it wasn't long before their deceit word came back to Joshua that, hey, you know, those people that we just made a pact with, they're right over there. They live right over there, right over the mountain there, or wherever it was, you know, not too far away.

And the people of Israel were angry. They were angry about this, and they were especially angry with the elders of Israel, with the princes of Israel, they're called there. And I'm just going to read some verses from Joshua 9. This is Joshua 9, verse 19 and 20, and then verse 27. But all the princes said unto all the congregation, we have sworn unto them by the Lord God of Israel.

Now, therefore, we may not touch them. This we will do to them. We will even let them live, lest wrath be upon us because of the oath which we swear unto them. And then what Joshua did was, he made them hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of the Lord. even unto this day. So they were made servants. They served the needs of the people of Israel all the days of their life, but Israel wouldn't touch them or harm them or drive them out of the land there.

So what happened here, I guess Saul, what he was thinking is, well, I'm the first king, And so as the king, we didn't have a king before, but now that I'm the king, I'm going to royally decree it that that oath is null and void. I mean, the scripts don't say that. I imagine something like that had to happen, because it was in his zeal that he was like, you know what? I can do this. I'm king now. And therefore, as king, there's new rules, new laws, new sets here in the land. And so he went and he slew the Gibeonites. However, he was wrong. He was wrong. The Lord was angry with Saul and with Israel now for what Saul had done. And so what's so interesting about the famine for me is the timing of it. the timing of it, so, so long after Saul's reign, but even though the timing might seem strange to us.

Because when I read it, it just struck me. Why now? Why now? But even though it seems strange to us, the Holy Ghost hath recorded it here in the scriptures for our learning and for our instruction. It's for our good. And there is a purpose. I believe there is a purpose.

For one thing, can you imagine if the Lord was chastening Israel under the rule of Saul? would Saul have understood? If a famine started, Saul's heart was so hard, he was so indifferent to the things of God, especially toward the end there, probably when he slew the Gibeonites, he was so hard and so cold and in such darkness that the famine would have gone on and the whole nation would have perished before he ever figured anything out.

And he wouldn't have figured it out then still. He reminds me in that sense, he reminds me a lot of what we've just read on Sunday concerning Pharaoh, king of Egypt, whose heart was hard. He saw the first plague when Moses turned the water of the river into blood. And Pharaoh's, he just, his heart was hardened and he just turned and went into his house. angry and mad, and it did nothing for him. So Saul wouldn't probably have even been tender to this, or understood what the Lord was doing.

And then, when David was made king of Israel, well, the Lord spent many years growing David. and training David, and preparing David through various wars, and trials, and failures, afflictions, and chastenings. David was taught a lot by the Lord. The Lord invested greatly into David, poured him many good things into David, gave him his spirit, gave him understanding, taught him, taught him through various experiences and lessons. These Psalms weren't written by a man who had no experience. They were written by a man who was graciously led of the Lord, of the Spirit of the Lord, and walked by faith, walked through dark times, walked through troubled times himself.

And so David was being prepared to handle this matter wisely, to handle it wisely. And so as regards the timing of when this famine occurred, We see something in which the Lord prepares his people. There's an order to things. There's a manner in which the Lord deals with his people in such a manner so that we can bear it in the day that it's given.

He's the one who prepares us accordingly. Turn over to Galatians chapter 4. This is the passage I was thinking of when I was preparing my notes, Galatians chapter 4. I was only going to read verse 4 of that chapter, but this passage informs us of that point that's being made, of there being an order and a preparation for God's people. He prepares his people. that our Lord does in wisdom when he's going to accomplish something in his people.

So verse one there says, Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all, but is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. Even so, we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. We were mixed up in the form of religion. We were exposed to the elements, the rudimentary things of this world in religion, learning the most basic of things concerning God. But that wasn't salvation, but the Lord gave it to us.

But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And so when our Lord Jesus Christ, as an example here, when he came into this world, it was the perfect time. God had ordered and ordained everything up to that point, putting the people of Israel under tutors and governors by the law, by the prophets, by the things that were written and recorded for them to prepare them for the coming of the Lord, to bring them to that very day when the Lord Jesus Christ came at the perfect time to accomplish the redemption of his people. I mean, it's been said before just how it was during the time of the Romans, and the Romans were given a great ability to build things. They built roads that connected nations so that when the gospel went forth, they just traveled over those roads and went to country to country to country.

I mean, it all came at a perfect time, a perfect, everything that the Lord did, was just imperfect. Well, even so, we learn in our lives that some things just need to unfold a certain way. They just do. We can't necessarily explain it, but we know that things just happen and they fall out a certain way in a time that they happen, and it's all according to God's good purpose.

And we can rest in that. We can rest in that. And we can take comfort knowing that our God is sovereign and in control of all things. And we can hear that verse that says, and let the peace of God rule in your hearts. you can be at peace knowing that the Lord is in perfect, perfect control. And so he's bringing things to pass according to his eternal purpose.

And while we wait for some things to unfold, there's our heavenly father gives us tutors and governors for that time to prepare us. to prepare us for that day in which we're being prepared for. And so look at the next scripture there in Galatians 4, 6, And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore, thou art no more a servant, but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. And so we have the Spirit of God who lays these things to our hearts, who lays these trials to our hearts, who breaks down the hardness of the flesh and gives light where there's darkness, through His Spirit, illuminating His Word, revealing Christ to us. And so you can trust him. There's an order to everything in it.

And so now, David being more wise now, having gone through these things, through tutors and governors himself, through the various chastenings and trials that he's gone through, the Lord brings the famine now. Now it's time for this to be dealt with. And so David hearing this, he begins to seek for the atonement for the affliction. He begins to seek for the atonement for this affliction. So back in our text in verse two and three.

And the king called the Gibeonites and said unto them, and now here this passage tells us a little bit that the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites. And the children of Israel had sworn unto them And Saul sought to slay them in his zeal to the children of Israel and Judah. And again, probably thinking he had some royal license to do this.

Wherefore David said unto the Gibeonites, what shall I do for you? And wherewith shall I make the atonement that ye may bless the inheritance of the Lord? And so probably when he went to inquire of the Lord, and he asked, well, what do I do? The Lord must have said, go to the Gibeonites. I've put the answer. I've given them the answer. They'll tell you what to do. You go to them, and they'll tell you what to do, and you do it.

Now remember, this is all building towards a picture of what our Lord Jesus Christ did for his people in atoning for our sins and obtaining our redemption. This is all given to picture Christ. Even up to this point, everything I've said here, how our lives are ordered and ordained in such a manner to bring us to that point when the Lord Jesus Christ is wrought in our hearts by faith. The Lord does all this. And even now, even he continues to grow us and prepare us for use in his kingdom. We can trust him for that. And so we're going to look for Christ as we go here. So verse 4, And the Gibeonites said unto him, We will have no silver nor gold of salt, nor of his house. Neither for us shalt thou kill any man in Israel. And David said, What ye shall say, that will I do.

So just to break this down, just so that you understand what they're saying here. First of all, they're showing we're not going to be appeased by money. If someone slays your family and they're a billionaire, are you going to be satisfied with their millions and billions of dollars that they might give you?

No. No, that would be unjust. You don't want their filthy money. You don't want that. at all. And that's true. They don't want to be paid because Saul went and slew their family, even if they're taking it from Saul's estates and things like that. That's not going to do it.

And that's really a picture of the blessedness that we have of our God. Could you imagine if God could be bribed with money? what the wealthy wicked would do. Those that are wealthy, they would just live how they wanted to and then purchase their inheritance in heaven. That would be filthy. That would be filthy. But God is no respecter of persons, and he's not bribed by money. That's one thing they cannot do.

They may have a lot of influence in the world, but they don't have influence with God because of their power and influence and money and things like that. And this is true of the Lord. Peter tells us by the Spirit, for as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. All right, so that's the first thing.

They say we don't want any money or houses. We don't want nothing like that from Saul. And what they're saying there, the second thing, when they say, neither for us shalt thou kill any man in Israel, what they're saying is, we're not gonna ask you to put your hand to put them to death. We're not gonna ask you or anyone in Israel to slay the people we want slain. We're not gonna ask you to do it, we're gonna do it. We'll take care of it. So if there's any fault or any blame, we'll bear it, but we're gonna do it ourselves.

All right, that's what they're saying. David agrees with it so far. Verse five and six, and they answered the king, the man that consumed us and that devised against us that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the coasts of Israel. All right, so they're talking about Saul.

Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us and we will hang them up unto the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, whom the Lord did choose. And the king said, I will give them." And so David agreed to give seven men from the lineage of Saul, whether a son or grandsons. But he's going to give seven men for them to hang right there in Gibeah, where Saul's family lived, right in that area there.

Now, we know that this is not done according to the law. The law expressly says that this shouldn't be done. In Deuteronomy 24, 16, it says, the fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers. Every man shall be put to death for his own sin.

But one thing, just in looking at this, this is an extraordinary circumstance, obviously, but God is not subject to the laws which he gave to Moses. He's not bound by those, and everything that God does is just, right, and perfect. He's not bound by that law there.

He gave that law to preserve that nation, to preserve the seed that should come through that nation. That's why he gave that law. I mean, even our Lord said, when they asked him about divorce, and Moses said, we should give a bill of divorce. And our Lord said, well, from the beginning it was not so. Moses gave you that law because of the hardness of your hearts. So God's not bound by that law. There's sometimes a reason why the law is given for the preservation of that nation.

So that things just aren't being done in a wicked manner. But this is an extraordinary circumstance. And again, God's with it. He's in agreement here with what they're doing. Yeah, sorry about that. And then, yeah, so he's a party to what the Gibeonites, to their cause, right, to their cause. And no doubt, he's the one that put it on their heart to make this demand. And God did it. He's in control. He's sovereign and in control.

Reading verse 7, but the king spared Mephibosheth, which we would expect him to do, right, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the Lord's oath that was between them. between David and Jonathan, the son of Saul. So David's thinking, I'm not going to break my oath with Jonathan. I'm not going to compound this now and break another oath after Saul's already broken this oath with them. I'm going to spare Mephibosheth because he's Jonathan's son, Jonathan whom I love. And I'm sure he loved Mephibosheth, too. David himself loved him, too. But he chose out seven others descended from Saul. So look at verse 8.

But the king took the two sons of Rizpah, the daughter of Eah, whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni, and Mephibosheth, a different Mephibosheth. And Rizpah was the concubine of Saul. And he took the five sons of Michal, the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel, the son of Barzillai, the Meholathite. And so these five sons were the sons of Saul's eldest daughter, Merab. They're the sons of Merab, the oldest daughter of Saul, whom she bore to Adriel.

And I'll quote from 1 Samuel 18, 19, just so you know. But it came to pass at the time when Merab, Saul's daughter, should have been given to David. She was supposed to be given to David, this Merab. that she was given unto Adriel, the Maholothite, to wife. So Saul, he was trying to put a snare upon David to get him to go against the Philistines and hoping that the Philistines would slay David and put him to death. But the Lord protected him. And he did what Saul asked for and came back. And he should have given me Rab. to David, but instead he gave her to another man.

So those sons which she had. Now I don't know when Michal, I guess Mirab passed away or something, and Aunt Michal raised the boys, these sons, but I don't know when it happened. But it said that she was the one raising them, or bringing them up. So verse 9, And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the hill before the Lord. And they fell, all seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, in the beginning of barley harvest.

As I understand it, this would have been the beginning of the fourth year of the harvest. Now, three years. For three years, they've had problems. The rains would not come at the end of those three years. And so the harvest would fail, and they'd have famine. They wouldn't get enough food. for what they needed to feed the people with a good, healthy diet. And so the rain never came.

So this is right now, we're getting ready for the fourth time where this is going to happen. And now they slay these boys, or these men. Now, Rizpah does something that's very moving as a mother whose two sons have been taken from her and sacrificed. And so, because this is from Israel's perspective, this is a sacrifice to make an atonement for the sin that Saul had done. This is a sacrifice to make an atonement for his sin against the Gibeonites. Verse 10 says, In Rizpah the daughter of Ayah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock.

That is probably made something like a tent, something to camp out in there. 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.

And so what's being said here is that these men weren't taken down that same day that they were hung. They were left hanging in that tree overnight, into the next day, and for as many days as it took before that rain fell. And they were not taken down, which is also something contrary to what the law says.

The law says that from Deuteronomy 21, 22, and 23, if any man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night upon the tree. But thou shalt in any wise bury him that day. For he that is hanged is accursed of God. that thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

Now these men themselves, they didn't commit the sin that Saul did. They weren't put to death. They weren't hung as sinners. They had done no crime worthy of death to be hung as criminals on a tree. But they were hung there as a sacrifice. They were hung as a sacrifice to make an atonement for the sins committed by another. even for Saul.

And there they hung until the atonement was made, which was seen in the rain falling upon the fields for the grain to finish, to give them that last push toward what they needed for that good harvest, to get a good harvest and to feed the people, to have enough food to end that famine there. And then they would be taken down.

Now, the gospel truths that are communicated to us here, let's look at that here. What you see here, I hope, will reconcile whatever questionable circumstances you might feel we're meeting with here as you look at this passage. Whatever you think, I don't understand this. Well, let's see the gospel in this.

These men serve as a picture of a substitutionary sacrifice, to atone for the sins of another, to make restitution for a crime that they did not commit. to turn away God's wrath which was being poured out upon the people for those sins. And these men were giving their lives to put away that sin.

Their lives were given to turn away God's wrath from the people so that the people would instead be blessed. that they would receive times of refreshing, that they would no longer be famished with hunger, and that their hunger would be satisfied with good things. Good things, good things would follow. God would be inquired of again. He would hear their prayers and he would bless them and bless their land and give them food to satisfy their hunger and thirst.

And so keeping our eye upon Christ crucified now, The picture of these seven men, and we know seven is a number that represents perfect, perfection, completion. This perfect number of men here, as it were, are suspended from the tree between heaven and earth. They're hanging between heaven and earth there, and that's a very picture of Christ. who was crucified for us, who stood as a mediator between us and God, who hung between heaven and earth to bear away the wrath of God for his people, when he went to that cross willingly, not for any sins that he had committed, He's the holy, spotless, perfect Lamb of God. And yet he went and hung on the tree to atone for the sins of his people, to put away that sin forever, and to obtain the blessings of God for us. which we didn't earn or deserve here. And so it's these extraordinary circumstances here, detailed in this account, are foretelling of that atoning blood of our Lord, who would come and do this for us, even though he himself had not done the sin and had not done any crime at all, but he was made sin for his people. The spotless Lamb of God was made a curse for us in order to make an atonement for our sins, to satisfy our debt, to appease the wrath of God which was satisfied upon Him. And in Him, God's wrath is satisfied against us.

And he bore it. He bore it perfectly. The scriptures say, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on the tree. You know, that picture there, Saul didn't hang on the tree. Those men hung in his stead. And that's what Christ did. We didn't hang on that tree. We were crucified with him. in Christ, that was accomplished for us. We are delivered from that curse. He was made a curse for us, that we would not be made a curse before God, but be blessed of God, be blessed of Him and know Him.

Now, this mother Rizpah set herself up this little camp there at the place of their death to drive away the animals, drive away the beasts, to drive away the birds that would have come and landed upon their bodies until this atonement was complete. And it's really, it's a very moving picture. I mean, you can imagine. as a mother, and seeing your son, your child, hanging there, and they're not taking him down, day after day, and she's driving away these beasts and these animals, she's in her grief. Again, you can imagine just having to see that sight and how moved she was for them, and the compassion she felt in just doing it. It reminds me of what our Lord said about Mary when he said, she's done this, for my burial.

She hath done what she could." And that's what this mother did. She had done what she could. That's all she could do. There's nothing written about her getting in the way. There's nothing of her trying to stop it, trying to get them out of it. We don't read of that. She did what she could in driving away those beasts and birds from defiling their bodies. She did what she could to honor them.

And David was moved with compassion for it. It says there in verse 11, it was told David what Rizpah, the daughter of Ai, the concubine of Saul, had done. All right, he was moved by that. She showed great love and great compassion for her sons. And it's a reminder to us of the love of the father who spared not his son, but delivered him up for us all. It pleased the father to bruise his son. that we should be redeemed by him, purchased by him, that we would be delivered from death, which we rightly deserved, so that he bore it for us. And the Father was well pleased in that, to give us life and salvation, to give us an expected end in him, an inheritance with the saints in life.

And so David does one more extraordinary thing here in this by gathering together all the bones. He gathers them all together in one place, in one place there. So look again at verse 11, and then we'll finish this out. It was told David what Rizpah, the daughter of Eah, the concubine of Saul, had done. And David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan, his son, from the men of Jabesh-Gilead, which had stolen them from the street of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them, when the Philistines had slain Saul in Gilboa." Remember, they did a noble thing. because they were abusing and defiling those dead bodies of Saul and Jonathan.

They went in there and they got them. They took them out off the wall, out of the house of the wicked one, right? And that was a picture of what Christ does for us in delivering us from the strong man's house. He overpowered them and brought them out, as our Lord brings us out.

He gets their bones together. He brought up from thence the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son. And they gathered, verse 13, they gathered the bones of them that were hanged, these seven men. And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son buried they in the country of Benjamin in Zila in the sepulcher of Kish his father. And they performed all that the king commanded.

And after that, God was entreated for the land. And so it's a picture here of the compassion and the grace of God our Father who's provided for us the sacrifice, the atonement that we need to satisfy the debt of our sins and to gather us together with our brethren in one, in the Lord Jesus Christ, being gathered together in him, called of his grace, given his spirit, blessed of him to be with our Lord.

As it says over in Romans six, that if we be in the likeness, right there, verse four says, therefore we're buried with him by baptism into death. that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. And so that's what our Lord does. He sends forth this gospel, having accomplished our redemption, to gather together his people in one. who are planted together with him in the likeness of his death, that we should be partakers with him in the likeness of his resurrection.

And so that's the gospel picture there, brethren, in that passage. And for me, it reconciles it. The timing of it, the strangeness of it, but seeing that picture of Christ. and how it testifies in pictures of what our Lord would do for us. I think it's a beautiful picture of our redemption in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Our blessed Lord, we do thank you for your grace. We thank you for your provision, your full free provision of salvation for your people to deliver us from the wrath of God, which is coming upon the earth. Lord, we thank you for all that you have done from beginning to end for us and your darling son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, we thank you for this grace and pray that you would take this word.

Let us see our Savior. Let us see him, Lord. Not be caught up in the difficulties of the rudimentary things of religion. but let us be caught up and taken up with Christ and see him most gloriously, most preeminently to the glory, honor, and praise of your name. Lord, we need you to do that for us. It's in Christ's name we pray and give thanks. Amen.

Seven Men Of Saul’s Sons

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Seven Men Of Saul’s Sons

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