2 Samuel chapter 21. We're going
to be in the first 14 verses, verses 1-14. Let me read this to you. Starting in verse 1 of 2 Samuel
21, Then there was a famine in the days of David three years. year after year. And David inquired,
or sought the face of the Lord at that time, and the Lord answered. And this is what he said, It
is for Saul and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibbonites. And the king called the Gibbonites,
David, and said unto them, Now 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 that they wouldn't
hurt them." This goes back to Joshua and Caleb when they were
going in and conquering the land. They made a pact with them. If
you'll serve us forever, our house has peace, you'll have
peace. But it says here, But Saul sought to slay them in his
zeal to the children of Israel and to Judah. He was showing
off, and so he kills a bunch of people. Wherefore, David said
unto the Gibbonites, what shall I do for you? And wherewith shall
I make the atonement that ye may bless the inheritance of
the Lord? And the Gibbonites said unto
him, We will have no silver or gold of Saul, nor of his house. Neither for us shalt thou kill
any man in Israel." And David said, What shall you say, and
that will I do for you? And they answered the king, The
man that consumed us, Saul, and that devised against us that
we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the coast of Israel."
He was just going to wipe them out. "'Let seven men of Saul's
sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them unto the Lord
in Gibeah of Saul, whom the Lord did choose.' And the king said,
I will give them." But the king spared Mephibosheth, 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.
But the king took the two sons of Rizpah, the daughter of Ai,
whom she bared unto Saul, Armani and Mephibosheth and the five
sons of Michael, the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up
for Adriel, the son of Barzillai and Mephothite. And he, David,
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. That would be April. April. And Rizpah, remember she
had two sons that were slain. The daughter of Ai took sackcloth
and spread it for her upon a rock. She made like a little tent of
some sort. From the beginning of harvest until water dropped
upon them out of heaven. That would be October. That would be October. Seven
months these men hung on a hill 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 it
was told David that Rizpah, the daughter of Ai, the concubine
of Saul, what she had done. And David went and took the bones
of Saul and the bones of Jonathan, his sons, from the men of Jerbas
Gilead, which had stolen them from the streets of Bethshan,
where the Philistines had hanged them, when the Philistines had
slain Saul in Gilboa. And he brought them up from the
bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan, his sons, and they
gathered the bones of them that were hanged." and the bones of
Saul, and Jonathan and his son, buried they in the country of
Benjamin, and Zillah, and the sepulcher of Kish, his father.
And they performed all that the king commanded. And after that,
God was entreated for the land." So then it started to rain once
more. So his anger was appeased, apparently
is what he's saying there. But I think we can by God's good
grace, we can surely see the Gospel of the Son of God laid
bare before us. We're going to look at that.
Let us note this wonder of wonders as it is seen in this Old Testament
story. Okay, so, but then we're going
to look at another lesson before us this morning. So the first
thing we see is this picture of the gospel, but we're going
to just go over this just to kind of how it's worded. We see
a famine in verse 1, we see a curse, and we see the verdict. So in
verse 1, There's no question. There's a famine in the land.
It's three years. David inquires of the Lord, and the Lord says
it's because of Saul. He broke that truce. So there's the famine. Then there's the curse, three
years. And upon proceeding with this chapter, we notice right
off that there's a famine. And there is a curse upon the
land and we're not left to our own understanding of why. As
it says in verse 1, it is for Saul and for his bloody house
because he slew the Gibeonites. They weren't Israelites. They
were not brethren, but they were friends of Israel, so to speak.
So this is why this is going on. And yet also in verse 1,
we know that God has caused or set up this famine because of
sin. because of sin. He set this up
because of what was going on. Now David, having good and proper
knowledge of the Lord and his dealings with sinners, with himself,
he sets forward to remedy it. And so he goes to the Gibeonites
as a wise king and he lets them decide. And the Gibeonites, they're
impressive as well. They didn't ask for money. They
didn't ask for restitution. They didn't ask for any of that.
They said, you take seven sons of Saul and give them to us. We're going to go up on a hill
and we're going to hang them. We're going to hang them. That's the remedy, and we're
gonna leave them there. But now this is where the story
gets a little bit strange, a little bit oddity in this truth, this
whole truth, this lesson set forth in this history lesson
of Israel. Turn with me to Deuteronomy chapter
21. Deuteronomy chapter 21. And verse 22 and 23, and if,
now these are just varying laws of the economy of the Israelites.
And the Lord states, if a man have committed a sin worthy of
death, he be put to death and thou hang him on a tree. That's
what you're supposed to do. So they did that. Here's where
the difference comes in. 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 the land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God
giveth thee for inheritance." They were supposed to be hung,
but then taken down. In our story, they're there from
the beginning of barley harvest, which we said was April, into
the rain, and that's October. They're hanging there for seven
months. So something's not jiving. And he says in Galatians, I believe
it's chapter 3, cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree. So there's
the curse. They're hanging on a tree. And
he says it, for he that is hanged is accursed of God. So to leave these bodies, these
seven souls, these seven sons of Saul, up until the rainy season
of that seven months is contrary to the law of God. And when these
bodies were taken down, once it started to rain, the bones
were buried, it's clearly said that God was entreated. That
word entreated is that He was interceded. Treated the penalty the curse
was over they were taken down. So basically what we have is
these six things These seven men did no crime They didn't
they didn't kill Saul did their daddy did okay other than their
association or relations the relation to Saul They did no
crime Saul was the murderer Okay? Their shame, secondly, was for
all to see. He that is hanged is accursed.
So they were pronounced accursed. They put it on a hill. It's for
all to see. Thirdly, these seven men were
indeed cursed. They were, as it were, hanging
between heaven and earth, were not buried, And so their shame
or their curse, as he says in Galatians, curses everyone that
hangs on a tree. And fourthly, this death was
a horrible way to die, to be hung. Fifthly, the rain was considered
an answer from the Lord. Once it rained, then it says
he was entreated. He was entreated. David buried
the bones of Saul, Jonathan, and these seven men. That's saying
that God was not angry, was not wrathful anymore is what that
says. Sixthly, David buries all the
men's bones as was the biblical warrant. He buries them properly. Now, let us behold our blessed
Lord's crucifixion. His crucifixion. Here's the gospel.
the Lord Jesus Christ, as it were, hanging on the cross between
heaven and earth, unwanted, cursed, yet He Himself did no sin, could
not sin, the Scripture says was holy, harmless, and undefiled. But because of His relation,
association with us, who were the real criminals, culprits. The true wretches were complete
sinners. Christ did no sin. There was
no sin found on Him, yet He was made sin, that we might be made
the righteousness of God in Him. And in Isaiah 53, God says, God
killed His own sons. The Lord put Him to grief for
us. The Lord bruised His own Son. And we go free. We go free never
to experience the wrath or anger of God that's really due you
and I. Brethren, can we not see the
Lamb of God become a curse for us? They found no fault in Him. He was gentle, loving, kind,
to those whom He created, to those whom He loved, and those
whom He loved, He bled and died. Now, this word cursed in Galatians
chapter 3, I think it's verse 13, the word cursed means execration
or means an angry denouncement. The word accursed in Deuteronomy
21 means vilification or condemned or to slander or to revile. Now these expanded definitions,
Jesus Christ underwent all for His people. He was cursed and
He was accursed. He underwent slander and reviling
as He hung on the cross. He was sped upon. He was whipped. He was martyred. They thrust
a crown of thorns upon His head. He saved others. He can't save
himself, mocking, this is all part of the curse, being accursed. And His Father forsook Him, punished
Him, and set His wrath fully upon Him. He said, My God, My
God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? Now, when I get into these type
of things and these type of questions and these thoughts, I cannot
accurately describe or bring us to understand what's going
on in the cross. I think that's one area that
we will spend eternity seeing and understanding more fully
what exactly happened when Christ was made a curse for us. The sons that were murdered or
were killed, they didn't do anything. They just had an association.
with their dad. Christ had no sin. We are the
guilty ones. Everyone in this room is guilty
of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. So I understand and I
ask that the Holy Spirit, only He can place these real, sincere,
heartbreaking truths in our core. The heart that He must produce
and make anew within us." Ezekiel 16. Ezekiel 36. A new heart I give you. You can't save yourself. You
can't undo the curse. This has been done in our text. This is done. This has really
happened. We're sitting in the garden. It really happened. All you have
to do is walk out that door. No, you don't have to walk out
that door. Like Tim said, this is a hospital. This place right
here, this church is a hospital for those who are sick. But you
walk out and people aren't sick. They're not that sinful. But
that's because they err and they compare themselves to other people.
They don't compare themselves to the Immaculate One, the Perfect
One. It doesn't matter what you think
about yourself. The Scripture says we're all
guilty and condemned. But Christ hung on that tree. He became a curse for us. The
only answer Godward in the charge of sin against us is a crucified
Christ. That's the only answer that we
can have is a crucified Christ. And that was done by God for
us And isn't it marvelous in our eyes? And I ask you this,
is it marvelous in your eyes? Every time we gather together,
every time this book is opened, it should be. Now the flesh,
the flesh is not like the flesh. It's like old Maurice
used to say, if you're tired and you can't sleep, open a Bible
and start to read it and you'll go to sleep. Why? Because our
nature, our nature is not It is not, well, it's just our nature. Now, I have one more point and I'm
glad nobody's, you're all sitting here listening, you're quiet.
This point, is one that I'm afraid my toes and your toes may perhaps
get stepped on, because it stepped on mine. Actually, this was the
main point, and I got to looking at it, and I thought, no, there's
Gospels in there. You've definitely got to preach the Gospel, because
that's how God saves, is by hearing the Gospel. It's not by reading
somebody's thoughts about the Bible, it's by hearing. Faith
comes by hearing, hearing the Word of God. But let us look
at this second point, and I'm going to read because this is
said so much better than I can. It's found in verse 10. It's
found in verse 10. Look at it with me. And Rizpah,
the mother of two of the seven sons, remember she had two sons,
and they got taken from her and hung on a tree. They got hanged.
And Rizpah, the daughter of Ai, took sackcloth, and spread it
for her upon the rock. She was going to stay there for
a while. So she's kind of making a little tent, as flimsy as it
could be. From the beginning of the harvest,
April, until water dropped upon them out of heaven, that's October. Now some writers say, oh, there's
no way this and that. I'm like, I'm just going to read
what the Scripture says. I'm not going to mess with it.
Because some writers whom I highly esteem, I think by messing with
it, they take the import of the text out. So whether she stayed
there and said, oh, well, it rained sometimes and this and
then she did this and did that, whether that's the case or not,
she goes to the place where her two sons are hanging, no life. lays a blanket, a sackcloth as
it were, so she can kind of get a little out of the weather and
she stays there for however long she stays there. And this is what she did. She
suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day,
nor the beasts of the field by night. I guess I can read this. I may
just break down, because this just smoked me. If the love of
a woman to her dead sons can make her prolong her mournful
vigil for so long a period, shall we weary of considering the sufferings
of our blessed Lord? She drove away the birds of prey
And shall not we chase from our meditations those worldly and
sinful thoughts which defile both our minds and the sacred
themes upon which we are occupied? Away ye birds of evil wing, leave
ye the sacrifice alone. She bore the heat of summer,
The night dues and the rains, unsheltered and alone, sleep
was chased from her weeping eyes. Her heart was too full to sleep. Behold how she loved her children.
Shall Respa thus endure and shall we start at the first little
inconvenience or trial? Oh, this church is not important.
I got other things to do. This woman stayed. We're more like the disciples.
Christ went and He says, watch with me one hour. And He came
back and they were sleeping. This woman stayed night and day. The birds and the beasts. There's
a lot to fear. There's a lot going on. But her
devotion to her dead sons, Shall we not show such devotion to
our living Lord? Are we such cowards that we cannot
bear to suffer a little with our Lord? She chased away even
the wild beasts, and will we not be ready to encounter every
foe for Jesus' sake? These, her children, were slain
by others' hands than hers, and yet she wept and watched. What
ought we to do who have by our sins crucified our Lord? Our obligations are boundless.
Our love should be fervent and our repentance thorough. To watch
with Jesus should be our business, to protect His honor our occupation,
to abide by His cross our solace. Those ghastly corpses might well
have affrighted Rispa, especially by night, but in our Lord, at
whose cross foot we are sitting, there is nothing revolting but
everything attractive. Never was living so beautiful,
so enchanting as a dying Savior. Jesus, we will watch with thee
yet a while, and do thou graciously unveil yourself to us, Then shall
we not sit beneath sackcloth, but in a royal pavilion." I cannot
say it any better or clearer than that. I ask the Lord, may
we be shown the Lord Jesus Christ in every text, whether it's this
little text right here in Samuel or other texts. But may we not
be content with only seeing Christ in the text, but may He cause
us to believe Christ, to trust Christ, and adore Christ in word
and deed." In word and deed. Again, I ask you, as the Lord
chewed me up and spit me out, will this woman do such things
for her dead sons? And can we not look and worship
and adore and tell sinners, our neighbors, our friends, our family,
can we not tell them about one who ever lives to make the intercession
for his people? Bruce, would you close us please?