Today’s Scripture Reading (January
30, 2013): 2 Samuel 21
I have to
admit that, when I am tired, I am vulnerable to doing things that I would never
do if I was energized. That is actually the theory behind the idea of torture –
you physically test and try the person until he is exhausted and then the
person will do anything to make the ordeal end. But our reality is that most of
us do not need torture to get us to that point – the everyday circumstances of
life are often enough.
Sometimes I
think we read the Bible with the idea that everything that is mentioned within
its pages is somehow God ordained. But that is not the reality, and this story
is a case in point. The Gibeonites had come to David with a problem of justice.
During the day of Joshua, Joshua had promised that the people of Gibeon would
be spared by the armies of Israel – even thought Gideon was not of Israel. Now,
in that story we find out that that promise was not of God, but nevertheless,
the promise stood. But Saul had discarded the promise and had attacked Gibeon
and now the people of Gibeon had come to David to request of him a chance to
take revenge on Saul. But Saul was already long dead, so the revenge would have
to be on his house.
And David
seems to have committed the same error as Israel; he did not inquire of God
what was right. We can make that judgment on two grounds. First, there is no
mention of David asking God what to do in this situation and, second, the
action that David embarks on actually violates two laws given to Moses. The
intention of the Gibeonites is to kill the seven descendants of Saul (in this
case it would be his grandsons) and then hang their bodies from a tree –
exposed – until the autumn rains come. The effect would be a warning against
those who might come against them. But the Law of Moses clearly states that if
a man is guilty of a capital crime (note, the men being executed were not
guilty of the crime, but merely a descendant of the man who had committed the
crime) and his body is hung from a tree, the body should be taken down and
buried before sunset (Deuteronomy 21:22-23). And that brings us to the second
violation, only the man who committed the crime can be put to death – family
members are exempt.
But because
David forgot to ask (the truth is probably that he was tired and just wanted
all of this foolishness to end) and seven male descendants of Saul lost their
lives as a result. Jonathan’s son David was able to save, but the seven that
David allowed to be killed represented the whole generation of Saul. It was a
confirmation of the pagan principle that if you kill some of us, we will wipe
out a generation of you. But the question that reader is left with is – was
there not some other way of atoning for Saul’s sin. And the answer is that God
desired something different as well, but he was never consulted.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2
Samuel 22
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