Making right a broken vow.
Question of the day:
We are getting close to the end of this study. I am so thankful for what we have learned about the heart of God. What a blessing it has been for me personally.
In my study bible it states that the next four chapters of 2 Samuel are an appendix and not necessarily in chronological order. It is important to note so we don't try to fit it all in and make the chronological order part of the lessons learned.
This story today is somewhat disturbing. Actually it is hard to handle in many ways. Hard to understand God, hard to accept, however hopefully we come away better understanding His heart and His heart is VERY GOOD!
Today we will just be reading the first part of 2 Samuel chapter 21.
READ: 2 Samuel 21:1-14
The Gibeonites Avenged
21 During the reign of David, there was a famine for three successive years; so David sought the face of the Lord. The Lord said, “It is on account of Saul and his blood-stained house; it is because he put the Gibeonites to death.”
2 The king summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them. (Now the Gibeonites were not a part of Israel but were survivors of the Amorites; the Israelites had sworn to spare them, but Saul in his zeal for Israel and Judah had tried to annihilate them.) 3 David asked the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? How shall I make atonement so that you will bless the Lord’s inheritance?”
4 The Gibeonites answered him, “We have no right to demand silver or gold from Saul or his family, nor do we have the right to put anyone in Israel to death.”
“What do you want me to do for you?” David asked.
5 They answered the king, “As for the man who destroyed us and plotted against us so that we have been decimated and have no place anywhere in Israel, 6 let seven of his male descendants be given to us to be killed and their bodies exposed before the Lord at Gibeah of Saul—the Lord’s chosen one.”
So the king said, “I will give them to you.”
7 The king spared Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the oath before the Lord between David and Jonathan son of Saul. 8 But the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons of Aiah’s daughter Rizpah, whom she had borne to Saul, together with the five sons of Saul’s daughter Merab,[a] whom she had borne to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite. 9 He handed them over to the Gibeonites, who killed them and exposed their bodies on a hill before the Lord. All seven of them fell together; they were put to death during the first days of the harvest, just as the barley harvest was beginning.
10 Rizpah daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on a rock. From the beginning of the harvest till the rain poured down from the heavens on the bodies, she did not let the birds touch them by day or the wild animals by night. 11 When David was told what Aiah’s daughter Rizpah, Saul’s concubine, had done, 12 he went and took the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from the citizens of Jabesh Gilead.(They had stolen their bodies from the public square at Beth Shan,where the Philistines had hung them after they struck Saul down on Gilboa.) 13 David brought the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from there, and the bones of those who had been killed and exposed were gathered up.
14 They buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish, at Zela in Benjamin, and did everything the king commanded. After that, God answered prayer in behalf of the land.
It is important to understand more about what is happening here so we are going to take a look at Joshua chapter 9. We won't read the entire chapter out loud in class but I will include it here for you to look at more closely later.
Joshua 9New International Version (NIV)
The Gibeonite Deception
9 Now when all the kings west of the Jordan heard about these things—the kings in the hill country, in the western foothills, and along the entire coast of the Mediterranean Sea as far as Lebanon (the kings of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites)— 2 they came together to wage war against Joshua and Israel.
3 However, when the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, 4 they resorted to a ruse: They went as a delegation whose donkeys were loaded[a] with worn-out sacks and old wineskins, cracked and mended. 5 They put worn and patched sandals on their feet and wore old clothes. All the bread of their food supply was dry and moldy. 6 Then they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the Israelites, “We have come from a distant country; make a treaty with us.”
7 The Israelites said to the Hivites, “But perhaps you live near us, so how can we make a treaty with you?”
8 “We are your servants,” they said to Joshua.
But Joshua asked, “Who are you and where do you come from?”
9 They answered: “Your servants have come from a very distant countrybecause of the fame of the Lord your God. For we have heard reports of him: all that he did in Egypt, 10 and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan—Sihon king of Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth. 11 And our elders and all those living in our country said to us, ‘Take provisions for your journey; go and meet them and say to them, “We are your servants; make a treaty with us.”’12 This bread of ours was warm when we packed it at home on the day we left to come to you. But now see how dry and moldy it is. 13 And these wineskins that we filled were new, but see how cracked they are. And our clothes and sandals are worn out by the very long journey.”
14 The Israelites sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord.15 Then Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live, and the leaders of the assembly ratified it by oath.
16 Three days after they made the treaty with the Gibeonites, the Israelites heard that they were neighbors, living near them. 17 So the Israelites set out and on the third day came to their cities: Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth and Kiriath Jearim. 18 But the Israelites did not attack them, because the leaders of the assembly had sworn an oath to them by the Lord, the God of Israel.
The whole assembly grumbled against the leaders, 19 but all the leaders answered, “We have given them our oath by the Lord, the God of Israel, and we cannot touch them now. 20 This is what we will do to them: We will let them live, so that God’s wrath will not fall on us for breaking the oath we swore to them.” 21 They continued, “Let them live, but let them be woodcutters and water carriers in the service of the whole assembly.” So the leaders’ promise to them was kept.
22 Then Joshua summoned the Gibeonites and said, “Why did you deceive us by saying, ‘We live a long way from you,’ while actually you live near us? 23 You are now under a curse: You will never be released from service as woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.”
24 They answered Joshua, “Your servants were clearly told how the Lord your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you the whole land and to wipe out all its inhabitants from before you. So we feared for our lives because of you, and that is why we did this. 25 We are now in your hands. Do to us whatever seems good and right to you.”
26 So Joshua saved them from the Israelites, and they did not kill them.27 That day he made the Gibeonites woodcutters and water carriers for the assembly, to provide for the needs of the altar of the Lord at the place the Lord would choose. And that is what they are to this day.
There are some important things to note here.
1.Joshua looked at the evidence but didn't inquire of God.
2. Made an oath
3. Knew that they must keep the oath.
Fast forward to King Saul, (three hundred or so years) he decides to ignore the oath and tries to kill the Gibeonites. This story is unrecorded, but in this passage we know it happened. Here is a quote from Ellen White.
"The story itself may be told in few sentences. For some reason unrecorded—perhaps in the excess of his carnal zeal, but certainly without sufficient grounds—Saul had made havoc among the Gibeonites, in direct contravention of those solemn engagements into which Israel had entered, and which up to that time had been scrupulously observed. When, afterwards, a famine desolated the land for three years, and David sought the face of Jehovah, he was informed that it was due to the blood-guilt which still rested on the house of Saul." EGW
Fast forward now to King David and God is letting him know that they are reaping the consequences of King Saul's decision.
Interesting points.
1. Originally God wanted the Gibeonites killed. They were in the group that he was asking to be gotten rid of. The reason for the oath was faulty. They shouldn't have made that oath. It was the wrong decision.
2. Because an oath was made it must be honored.
3. When the oath is broken, even several hundred years later it displeases God.
4. God wants them to make it right.
5. Oaths are that important to God. Really?
Putting these five points together, in someways I struggle with it. My human way of thinking is perhaps that, Saul was just trying to right the wrong that was done by Joshua. He was carrying out what God had originally wanted. But instead of it pleasing God, it was something that needed to be made right.
So what do we learn about God from this?
Who is He?
Why are oaths made before God this important?
I realize this is a lesson that may be difficult for us to swallow. It isn't easy to think that if we make a vow before God made with faulty information, or if we made it because of trickery, that God would hold us to it. Or if we don't honor our vow, for years and years those around us will suffer. How is this a good thing?
I found it interesting in studying and working on this lesson that when you try to do research about vows, everyone starts dissecting all the different types of vows and how important each type is and why we should or should not make vows and what type of vows etc. I found myself going round and round and frankly getting quite frustrated.
No matter how you slice it, no matter how many different types of vows, promises, etc. the fact remains that keeping vows, being a people of our word is extremely important to our God.
I do think that vows made before God are especially important to Him. However not lying is one of the ten so just being truthful is extremely important to Him.
Why?
Here is the most comforting part of this passage for me. I believe it is extremely important because, HE ALWAYS KEEPS HIS VOW TO US!
If we are to reflect who He is. If the Israelites "Gods chosen" people didn't keep their vows before their God, then it misrepresents God.
God is a God of his word and he wants us to be the same. He has even commanded us to be people who keep our word.
Interesting EGW quote.
"Hence the Gibeonites were strictly within the letter of the law in demanding retaliation on the house of Saul, in accordance with the universally acknowledged Old Testament principle of the solidarity of a family; and David had no alternative but to concede their claim. This is one aspect of the question. The other must be even more reverently approached. We can only point out how they who lived in those times (especially such as the Gibeonites) would feel that they might cry to God for vengeance, and expect it from the Just and True One; and how the sternest lessons concerning public breach of faith and public crimes would be of the deepest national importance after such a reign as that of Saul." EGW
What are some vows that God has made with us?
For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee.- Isaiah 54:10
The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.- Exodus 14:14
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.- John 14:27
The next section of this lesson is about a mother's grief, love and devotion. Rizpah, I can't begin to imagine what she went through. First the life of a concubine, then the disgrace of having your sons taken and killed in this way. To pay for their fathers sins. Then no proper burial, just left out to be picked apart by animals.
Reading this I wondered would I do what she did or would I have just hid in my home. Instead she day in a day out sat with the decomposing bodies of her sons and did her best to keep them from being eaten. What selfless devotion.
When David heard what was his reaction?
Why?
I see this lesson being all about making things right. Righting wrongs.
1. Righting the wrong of a broken vow.
2. Righting the wrong of an improper burial or the lack of burial.
I am sure that in the process of making a wrong right, and then David hearing about this mother it reminded him of Saul and Jonathan and he knew he had to make that right too.
There are a few obvious takeaways for us in this passage.
1. Do I keep my word? To others? To myself?
I will admit at times keeping my word to myself is the hardest one. I tell myself I am going to start exercising, and then.... well you know the answer! Or I make commitments to spend time with God and then.... To be a woman of integrity I have to start by being honest with myself! It is better to not make the commitment than to make it and not keep it! Am I an honorable person, am I honoring God if I only keep my word to others?
2. Are there things I need to make right?
What do I need to do to make it right? It may be difficult but this is an important process. Remember David asked God. Don't forget to walk with God through the process of discovering if there are things you need to make right. Am I willing to dig up bones so they can be properly buried?
3. I serve a God of His word!
There are so many promises about what He is doing and will do for us. We can take great comfort in them and know that He is a God of His word and in this difficult process He will be right there with us!
Go and LOVE well!!!!!
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