“The Giv‘onim said to him, ‘Our dispute with Sha’ul can’t be resolved with silver or gold; and we don’t have the right to put anyone in Israel to death.’ He said, ‘So, what do you say that I should do for you?'”-2 Samuel 21:4
Yesterday, I went to great lengths to explain that although the Amorites resided in Israel, they were not Hebrew citizens.
They kept their uncircumcised gentile identities intact.
This explains their next statement to King David when they said…
“Our dispute with Sha’ul can’t be resolved with silver or gold;
and we don’t have the right to put anyone in Israel to death.”
This refers to the Torah law that upholds the rights of the blood avenger, also known as the go’el hadam in Hebrew.
Here’s the thing.
Saul and his sons led the attack.
But it was not upon fellow Hebrews.
If the slaughter had been perpetrated upon Israelites, the laws permitting blood revenge would kick in.
This would allow the affected family members to hunt down and take vengeance on the killers.
But since, as I explained yesterday, the Amorites were what we’d call “resident aliens” in our day…
They didn’t have access to “due process” to use a 10-cent legal term.
On top of that, it was the King’s family who had executed this slaughter.
This meant all possible doors allowing for even the slightest possibility of blood revenge were slammed shut.
So fast forward three to four decades later, Saul and his sons, the ones responsible for this horrific attack, are now dead.
Yet, the other younger members of Saul’s household who took part in this atrocity were still living.
But to be clear, most of Saul’s living descendants hadn’t yet been born or were young children when this massacre occurred.
In other words, these folks hadn’t directly participated in the slaughter, though they would’ve been viewed as guilty by association.
Mephibosheth (Jonathan’s son and Saul’s grandson) is a perfect example.
Alrighty, that’s enough detail for today.
To avoid overwhelm, we’re gonna examine this situation in bite-sized chunks.
We’ll continue tomorrow.
Let’s move on to the takeaway.
It centers on the phrase…
“We don’t have the right to put anyone in Israel to death.”
See, the Amorites were living in Israel…
But they chose NOT to pledge allegiance to the God of Israel.
To be fair, they respected Israel’s God and His People.
They had simply opted to stick with their own pagan gods.
Well, as unbelievers living in the land of Israel, that decision resulted in limitations.
We’ve just examined one of them.
They didn’t have access to the right that would’ve allowed them to take vengeance on those who had unfairly killed off their family members.
Come to think of it, if they had been fully grafted into the commonwealth of Israel, they wouldn’t have been targeted for attack in the first place.
Ya feel me here, man?
Contrast that with Rahab, the Canaanite prostitute, who made the life-changing decision to completely surrender her life to the God of Israel.
Not only was she grafted into the Hebrew nation with full legal rights.
But her name was immortalized by being one of the few women in Scripture listed in the Messiah’s genealogy.
See, here’s the thing.
And maybe this is the real lesson for today’s post.
When God ordered Israel to drive out the Canaanites from the Promised Land…
There was one caveat we shouldn’t overlook.
If a Canaanite decided to renounce his pagan gods and child-sacrificing heathen way of life…
And pledge allegiance to YEHOVAH ADONAI ELOHIM.
His sins were forgiven, and he became part of Israel with full citizenship rights.
And the same principle applies today.
When you were born again…
And grafted into the commonwealth of Israel…
You were given full legal protection by God’s Torah…
Not as some resident alien…
But as a legitimate son and daughter of the King of Kings Himself.
Ya feel me?
So, as I said yesterday.
Get hip to your new status.
See you next time.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“The commander went to Paul and asked,
‘Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?’
‘Yes, I am,’ he answered.
Then the commander said,
‘I had to pay a lot of money for my citizenship.
‘But I was born a citizen,’ Paul replied.
Those who were about to interrogate
him withdrew immediately.
The commander himself was alarmed
when he realized that he had put Paul,
a Roman citizen, in chains.“
-Acts 22:27-29
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