Before we pick up where we left off yesterday concerning the 3-year famine, let’s take a pause.
Why?
Now is a good time to remind ourselves of some important points concerning Israel’s current situation before we continue.
There are 3 key points.
POINT 1: The remainder of 2nd Samuel, starting from chapter 21, is an appendix
The remaining chapters seem disjointed, as if the editors of this book couldn’t find an appropriate place to put them.
So they just grabbed bits and pieces of information from here and there and placed them at the end.
This means the events we read about after Sheva’s rebellion may have occurred before that.
In other words, they are NOT in chronological order.
Ya feel me?
Onward.
POINT 2: Knowledge of the Torah was on the decline big-time in Israel
The Priesthood was now an underfunded and broken institution.
However, nobody seemed to care.
Saul had killed off a good portion of the priesthood at Nob, and David now had 2 High Priests on staff to serve political interests.
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry over this situation.
It’s as absurd as it is tragic.
Anyway, keep in mind that when we examine how David dealt with the famine and the Gibeonites by executing 7 members of Saul’s household, his actions were determined by a crude mixture of Torah law, pagan customs, and the Middle Eastern superstitions of the day.
The bottom line is that it was the priesthood’s duty to teach Torah to the citizens of Israel.
But that just wasn’t happening.
POINT 3: The Priesthood was only a symbolic institution; it had no authority
The king was supposed to administer justice based on the Torah wisdom he got from the priests.
But things had turned the other way around.
The priests were taking their orders from the king.
So, to underscore the three points I just made, it’s good to bring up the story of Josiah, which took place about 3 centuries later.
Josiah became king when he was only eight years old, after his father, Amon, was assassinated.
What happened was, around the age of twenty-six, King Josiah began repairing the Temple in Jerusalem.
While the workers were busy cleaning and repairing, they tripped upon the Book of the Law, which had been lost for many years.
By that point, knowledge of the Torah practically ceased to exist in Israel.
When the words of the Law were opened up and read to him, Josiah was struck with deep grief and conviction, realizing how far his nation had drifted from the commandments of God.
Soon after, he decided to implement radical reforms that would restore God’s commandments to their proper place before severe judgment came.
I’m telling you this because even though it wasn’t that bad yet in David’s time, things were already heading in the wrong direction.
People had started replacing God’s clear commands with their own manmade rules.
And worse, they claimed those rules were “based on Scripture.”
That’s why we end up with this truly sickening story about the famine and the Gibeonites’ revenge.
We’ll get back to that famine story the next time we meet.
But for now, let’s end with the takeaway.
When I read about how David and his Kingdom had strayed from the Torah…
There’s only one thing that comes to mind.
We might as well be talking about our current day!
In fact, our modern era might be much worse.
We have a whole religion called Christianity whose fundamental doctrine is that the Messiah of Israel tossed the Torah into the trash can.
And yet, just like in David’s day, most people don’t even realize how far they’ve drifted from God’s Word.
They think their manmade easter bunny celebrations are what God wants, when in reality, they’re often the very things that push Him away.
The more I study Scripture, the more I see the same pattern repeating itself.
The priests back then were silent, and today’s pastors aren’t much different.
Both replaced God’s commandments with human ideas dressed up in religious language.
So here’s the hard truth:
The moment we stop measuring everything by God’s Word, we’re already on that same slippery slope Israel was on.
And unless we wake up and return to what’s written (not what’s taught)…
We’re gonna end up in the same mess they did.
Ya feel me?
Done
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Do not think that I have come
to abolish the Law or the Prophets;
I have not come to abolish them
but to fulfill them.”
-Matthew 5:17
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