“They answered the king, ‘The man who ruined us, who schemed against us so that we would cease to exist anywhere in Israel’s territory — have seven of his male descendants handed over to us, and we will put them to death by hanging before Adonai in Giv‘ah of Sha’ul, whom Adonai chose.’ The king said, ‘I will hand them over.'”-2 Samuel 21:6
Alrighty, let’s get our bearings here.
So the Amorites or Gibeonites (choose the term you like, because either way, they’re referring to the same people in this context) have asked David to turn over two members of the tribe of Benjamin.
These would be descendants of Saul.
Why did they want them turned over?
So they could execute them at a worship site dedicated to the God of Israel in Gibeon.
The idea was that after the execution, the corpses would be presented to Saul’s god in this holy place as evidence that atonement had been made for the curse of blood guilt now hanging over the land.
Alrighty, so I get that this situation is packed to the hilt with pagan superstitions steeped in unscriptural traditions that are as unkosher as a dead pig being fried in oyster sauce.
I also understand that many folks, who possess about as much understanding of Torah as the cockroach I killed in my kitchen the other day, will read this and think there are some valid God patterns or principles being put into practice here.
They are about as wrong as me asserting that one plus one equals eleven.
Yet, that’s exactly the trap many pastors, preachers, and teachers fall into when they try to understand Scripture without Torah.
They literally can’t tell the difference between right and wrong and paganism versus proper Biblical teaching.
Anyway, I’ve already ranted about this ad infinitum ad nauseam.
So I ain’t gonna do that here.
Let’s move on.
So what was the Gibeonites’ goal?
Simple.
Just as Saul’s household sought to exterminate them to the point of extinction, the Gibeonites intended to retaliate in equal measure.
However, David wasn’t about to let all of Saul’s living relatives be killed.
One of the people whom he refused to turn over was Mephiboshesh.
Why?
Because of an oath he made to Mephiboshesh’s father, Jonathan.
David’s oath to Jonathan was a solemn promise of steadfast love and protection for Jonathan and his descendants.
Here’s the Scripture reference:
“And you shall not only show me
the lovingkindness of the
LORD, while I still live,
that I may not die;
But you shall not cut off your kindness
from my house forever…”
— 1 Samuel 20:14–15
Jonathan, knowing that David would one day become king, asked him to show kindness (CHESED in Hebrew) not only to him but also to his family, even after Jonathan’s death.
So David swore this oath to Jonathan before the LORD.
Did David remember his promise?
You’re darn right he did, homies!
Years later, in 2 Samuel 9, after Saul and Jonathan had died, David sought out any surviving descendants of Saul “for Jonathan’s sake.”
We’re told David found Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s crippled son.
He then restored to him all the land that had belonged to Saul…
And let Mephibosheth eat at his own royal table “like one of the king’s sons.”
I dunno if you realized it.
But we’ve just arrived at a picture of salvation!
And we’ve also got our takeaway for today.
Here’s the lesson:
If you belong to the Lord and are under his protection, the shed blood of His Son has sealed…
Then even if everyone around you is marked for destruction by the enemy…
You will be saved and protected…
As was the case for Mephiboshesh.
Ya feel me?
Done.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“What do you think?
If a man owns a hundred sheep,
and one of them wanders away,
will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills
and go to look for the one that wandered off?
And if he finds it, truly I tell you,
he is happier about that one sheep
than about the ninety-nine that
did not wander off.”
-Matthew 18:11-13
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