Theological Commentary: Click Here
2 Samuel 21
is a harsh chapter. It’s hard to read
this chapter and not feel some inner angst.
After all, isn’t God a God of grace and mercy? How can that same God find the revenge murder
of seven people pleasing? For the
record, God clearly does find it pleasing because the famine is lifted and God
answers the prayer of the Hebrew people after the seven people of Saul’s family
are slain. Like it or not, one of the
points of this chapter is that God does accept the death of Saul’s family as
atonement.
Let’s make some
sense of this. First of all, wee need to
be careful that we understand that God is upset at the way that the Gibeonites
were treated. Saul was king of the land
when it happened, but it was an act of war.
No doubt Saul and his family were participating in the military
excursion. Therefore, this may not be as
clear cut of a case where innocent people are held accountable for the sins of
someone else. This could be punishment
doled out to people who were originally involved.
Second, there
is a really cool learning to make sure we understand in this chapter. These
Gibeonites are the descendants of the Amorites.
The Amorites were part of the original inhabitants of the land. This shows us that God is not the God of a “people”
as much as God is the God of “righteousness.”
God wants injustice atoned for, even if it means His own people have to
pay a price. This is neat because it
shows us where God’s priorities lie. God
is on the side of righteousness and justice.
When we place ourselves on the side that opposes righteousness or
justice, we should expect to find ourselves in conflict with God.
God cannot
be bought or appeased or coerced into supporting us over righteousness. We may be His children, but He will punish us
and bring us into judgment when we do things to deserve it.
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