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2nd
Samuel 19:24-43 “And
Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king, and had neither
dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes, from the day
the king departed until the day he came again in peace. 25
And it came to pass, when he was come to
Jerusalem, that the king said unto him, Wherefore wentest not thou with me,
Mephibosheth? 26 And
he answered, My lord, O king, my servant deceived me: for thy servant said, I will saddle me an
ass, that I may ride thereon, and go to the king; because thy servant is lame. 27
And he hath slandered thy servant unto
my lord the king; but my lord the king is as an angel of God: do therefore what is good in thine
eyes. 28 For
all of my father’s house were but dead men before my lord the king: yet didst thou set thy servant among them
that did eat at thine own table. What
right therefore have I yet to cry any more unto the king? 29
And the king said unto him, Why speakest
thou any more of thy matters? I have
said, Thou and Ziba divide the land. 30
And Mephibosheth said unto the king,
Yea, let him take all, forasmuch as my lord the king is come again in peace
unto his own house. 31 And
Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim, and went over Jordan with the
king, to conduct him over Jordan. 32
Now Barzillai was a very aged man, even
fourscore years old: and he had provided
the king sustenance while he lay at Mahanaim; for he was a very great
man. 33 And
the king said unto Barzillai, Come thou over with me, and I will feed thee with
me in Jerusalem. 34 And
Barzillai said unto the king, How long have I to live, that I should go up with
the king to Jerusalem? 35 I
am this day fourscore years old: and
can I discern between good and evil? can thy servant taste what I eat or what I
drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women?
wherefore then should thy servant be yet a burden unto my lord the king? 36
Thy servant will go a little way over
Jordan with the king: and why should the
king recompense it me with such a reward? 37
Let thy servant, I pray thee, turn back
again, that I may die in mine own city, and be buried by the grave of my
father and of my mother. But behold thy
servant Chimham; let him go over with my lord the king; and do to him what
shall seem good unto thee. 38 And
the king answered, Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do to him that
which shall seem good unto thee: and whatsoever thou shalt require of me, that
will I do for thee. 39 And
all the people went over Jordan. And
when the king was come over, the king kissed Barzillai, and blessed him; and he
returned unto his own place. 40 Then
the king went on to Gilgal, and Chimham went on with him: and all he people of Judah conducted the
king, and half the people of Israel. 41
And, behold, all the men of Israel came
to the king, and said unto the king, Why have our brethren the men of Judah
stolen thee away, and have brought the king, and his household, and all David’s
men with him, over Jordan? 42 And
all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, Because the king is
near of kin to us: wherefore then be ye
angry for this matter? have we eaten at all of the king’s cost? or hath
he given us any gift? 43 And
the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, and said, We have ten parts in the
king, and we have also more right in David than ye: why then did ye despise us, that our advice
should not be first had in bringing back our king? And the words of the men of Judah were
fiercer than the words of the men of Israel.” Introduction [Audio
version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED677] “Chapter
19 of 2nd Samuel, hopefully if you’ve been following along, if
you’re just getting here tonight for the first time, you’re jumping in, in kind
of a strange place with us here. David
had made his mistakes in his kingdom, we have more print on David than anyone
else in Scripture but Jesus himself. And
God tells us the ups, the downs, the humanness, the failings, the victories, he
hides nothing of David. And in all of
those places and in all of those things God is stooping down to this man that
he loves, even in the greatest of difficulties.
And he has been, he’s failed, he’s been involved in murder and adultery,
and his kingdom has suffered, his household has suffered, and he had put
himself in the hands of the Living God, his son Absalom ultimately rebelling,
he’s driven out of his own home, out of Jerusalem in the rebellion, and now all
of that has been put at bay. He is returning,
Shimei, a man who had cursed at him, threw stones at him when he left, was the
first one to meet him and said ‘Hey, don’t lay it to heart, don’t take it
serious, I curse and throw stones all the time when I’m in a bad mood, don’t
take it personal.’ And Abishai said ‘Let
me kill this person,’ and David said, ‘No, enough, I’m coming back,’ he
swears to Shimei ‘You’re not going to be put to death today, it’s not going
to happen today.’ And as he comes
back into the kingdom, we find here that Mephibosheth comes and meets him. Chapter 9, we met Mephibosheth, he was the
son of Jonathan, evidently he had an uncle, one of Saul’s sons named
Mephibosheth, so Jonathan didn’t invent the name, he named him after one of his
uncles, and he was Jonathan’s son. David
had made a covenant with Jonathan in regards to his lineage, ah, he had taken
Mephibosheth who was crippled in both of his feet to his table, and
Mephibosheth loved David. And when the
rebellion started Mephibosheth went to leave, he sent Ziba to get a burrow for
him because he was crippled, and Ziba just left and told David Mephibosheth
didn’t come because he had joined the rebellion against him. David then, responding to that said to Ziba ‘I’m
going to give all of Saul’s property, all of his holdings to you,’ which is
exactly what Ziba wanted, he was lying, he was slandering Mephibosheth. And now as David is coming back into
Jerusalem, Mephibosheth comes out to meet him, that kind of picks us up where
we are, verse 24. Mephibosheth
Comes To Meet David In Jerusalem It
says, “And Mephibosheth the son of Saul [actually, grandson, Jonathan’s
son] came down to meet the king, and had neither dressed his feet, nor
trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until
the day he came again in peace.” (verse 24) “had neither dressed his feet” he was
crippled, hadn’t washed his feet, that could be a problem in those days, let
alone weeks. So he’s Mephibo-mess at
this point in time. You know, this has
all of the signs of mourning, that could have been costly in Jerusalem, because
Absalom had taken the throne, and Mephibosheth couldn’t do much else, he was
crippled, but by his appearance, he let everyone know, he was mourning for
David, he was not approving of the rebellion that Absalom had set in
place. The way we live, the Bible says
that ‘you and I are living Epistles, known and read of all men,’
people are going to read you that are never going to read a Bible, and the way
we live should be relative to the King that we’re longing for, that is coming
back again. And that should show up in
our lives in one way or another, there should be a difference between us, we
shouldn’t be approving of the current trends of morality, we should be looking
for the Greater King that’s coming. Here
Mephibosheth demonstrates that in his behavior.
I think David as he comes recognizes that, he looks at what a mess he is
in appearance, David sees he’s been mourning.
“And it came to pass, when he was come to Jerusalem, that the king
said unto him, Wherefore wentest not thou with me, Mephibosheth? And he answered, My lord, O king, my servant”
speaking of Ziba “deceived me:
for thy servant said, I will saddle me an ass, that I may ride thereon,
and go to the king; because thy servant is lame.” and funky at this point, “And
he hath slandered thy servant unto my lord the king; but my lord the king is
as an angel of God: do therefore what
is good in thine eyes.” (verses 25-27) he says ‘David, I’m not going to defend
myself, this is what happened, Ziba deceived me, deceived you, he slandered me,
God speaks, you’re like an angel of the LORD,
you know my heart.’ I
think David can smell his sincerity at this point in time, and he says ‘I’m
not going to defend myself.’ “For
all of my father’s house were but dead men before my lord the king: yet didst thou set thy servant among them
that did eat at thine own table. What
right therefore have I yet to cry any more unto the king?” (verse 28) ‘You’ve taken me, you’ve given me a
new lease on life, you let me eat at your own table, I don’t have any right to
gripe or complain about anything.’ “And
the king said unto him, Why speakest thou any more of thy matters? I have said, Thou and Ziba divide the land.”
(verse 29) So he says ‘Look, this
is what I’m going to do, I’m just going to, I’ll divide the land. I had given it all to Ziba, and listening to
you,’ now I don’t know, is David, is this a test, is David thinking to
himself ‘I don’t really know whose telling the truth here.’ Sad thing, when you’re in ministry,
sometimes you get people sitting in front of you, they both tell different
sides of a story, sometimes neither one of them wants to give way, to give in,
wants to give an inch, you listen to it.
Sometimes you just have to step back from that and leave it to the Lord,
and sometimes people get angry when you do that. Because they want you to vindicate one or the
other, join their posse, they want you to hate the other person as much as they
hate them, and sometimes you just step back and say ‘I’m not going to do
that.’ And David here, it’s
interesting, David has a young boy with him named Solomon, who is about ten to
twelve years old. And David looks at
Mephibosheth and says ‘This is what I’m going to do, I’ll divide the
land, I’m going to cut the baby in half,’ and Mephibosheth is going to
say ‘Land, smand, I could care less, as long as you’re back, David,’ what
he’s going to say is ‘Let Ziba have the whole thing, I could care less,
as long as you’re back on the throne.’ I
think it’s just what David wanted to hear.
And Solomon will do the same thing with two mothers, claiming to be the
mother of the same baby. Solomon will
say ‘Cut that baby in half,’ and the real mom said ‘No, let
her have it, don’t kill it,’ and Solomon knows [who the real mother
is], and I think he learns it right here.
David says ‘I don’t want to hear any more about this,
Mephibosheth, I’ll tell Ziba we’re just going to split the land with you, we’re
just going to divide the land.’ “And Mephibosheth said unto the king, Yea,
let him take all, forasmuch as my lord the king is come again in peace unto his
own house.” (verse 30) Mephibosheth
says ‘I care more about your glory than my rights. I care more about you being on the throne
than I do my personal gain.’ What
a lesson, how many Christians, as they start to become successful, start to
attain, and get drawn further and further into that, and further and further
away from fellowship, not attending church anymore, and then their kids don’t
see them. Mephibosheth says here ‘Let
him have it all, I could care less. Give
him the Ponderosa, I don’t care, for my lord the king is back on the throne,
that’s more important to me,’ to see Jesus on the Throne is more important
than my own personal gain and to be demanding my own rights. I think it’s just what David wanted to hear, Mephibosheth
says ‘Let him have it all, I could care less, my lord the king is come
again in peace to his own house.’
Barzillai,
What A Character Next
character, Barzillai. “And Barzillai
the Gileadite came down from Rogelim, and went over Jordan with the king, to
conduct him over Jordan.” (verse 31) “Rogelim,”
it’s where the first Rogaine factory was and everybody got their hair restored,
I can’t help it, my mind goes there.
Now, Barzillai, when the Holy Ghost says this, you pay attention, “Now
Barzillai was a very aged man, even fourscore years old: and he had provided the king sustenance while
he lay at Mahanaim; for he was a very great man.” (verse 32) 80 years old. Now 80 years back then was not like 80 years
now. Nobody got nipped or tucked or took
vitamins or bought juicers on TV or went to the gym. You might look great when you die now, when
you were 80 then, the years were not kind, the Holy Ghost said ‘This was an
old guy, Barzillai.’ But you
remember, he had come to David, and he had brought to him all of those
supplies, he had brought all of that food.
And look, he did that because it was right, David was going to try to
pay him, he said ‘I don’t want anything.’
If he’s 80 years old, he probably saw Samuel, he probably saw
Saul and his failures, saw Samuel, heard of David and Goliath, probably loved
David from the time he was young, because this is a highland chieftain from
over in the area of Gilead, over in the area where Elijah is going to come
from. You just got to like Elijah,
Elijah is just kind of a Carlton Heston, John Wayne, and this is one of those
guys [I think more like Jack Palance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGxL5AFzzMY],
I like these guys. And he no doubt heard
about David’s life if he had never met him before, heard about fighting the
giant, heard about him defeating the Philistines, just heard about David, he
knew David was God’s man, and when David was driven out he came and he met him
and gave all of his men supplies, he had taken care of them. And now as David comes, Barzillai the
Gileadite, he comes down from those highlands, and he goes toward the Jordan
River with the king to conduct him over Jordan, he’s just excited, wants to see
him have that area back again. “Now
Barzillai was a very aged man, even fourscore years old: and he had provided the king sustenance while
he lay at Mahanaim; for he was a very great man.” (verse 32) the
Holy Spirit tells us too, he had wealth.
“And the king said unto Barzillai, Come thou over with me, and I will
feed thee with me in Jerusalem. “ (verse 33)
He says ‘Come on with me, Barzillai, you took care of me when
I was down and out,’ and he’s offering to care for him for the rest of
his life. This is on the human level,
this is the best security that Barzillai could have, this is better than Social
Security, I don’t know if that’s saying a lot, but this is waaay better than
Social Security. He said ‘You come,
you can sit at my table every day, eat at my throne, you can live in the king’s
palace, live in the king’s court.’ This
is the thing that people clamour after their entire lives. Listen, there isn’t anything wrong with
succeeding. You know, I think at
whatever we do, we do it unto the Lord with all of our heart and all of our
soul, but it should never be an idol in our lives. But this is the kind of thing that people
clamour after. Are you kidding me,
sitting next to the most famous person in the world, sitting next to the most
powerful person in the world, living in the palace and the kingdom of the most
powerful person going, this is the kind of thing that people clamour after. He said ‘Barzillai, you come with me,
sit at my table with me, and live with me at Jerusalem, live out your days in
splendor.’ “And Barzillai said unto
the king, How long have I to live, that I should go up with the king to
Jerusalem?” (verse 34) “How
long am I going to live, David, look at me, I’m wrinkled, Rogaine ain’t working
anymore, how long do I have to live, David?’
Now look, that’s true for all of us,
that’s the question everybody here tonight needs to have somewhere in their
thought process. It’s the question every
addict, every person involved in substance abuse needs to ask, ‘How long do
I have to live?’ it’s the question every professor needs to ask in a
university, ‘How long do I have to live?’ it’s the question every
millionaire needs to ask. It’s the
question every man and every woman, whatever their condition, wherever they
are, they need to ask that question, ‘How long do I have to live?’ Moses in Psalm 90 said ‘Teach
us to number our days,’ teach us to understand how precious life is,
and how fragile it is. He says to David,
‘How long do I have to live, that I should go up with the king to
Jerusalem? You know, that’s for the
young, David.’ But listen to
what he’s going to say here, ““I am this day fourscore years
old: and can I discern between
good and evil? can thy servant taste what I eat or what I drink? can I hear any
more the voice of singing men and singing women? wherefore then should thy
servant be yet a burden unto my lord the king?” (verse 35) ‘Dave, I’m 80 years old, can I discern
between good and evil, I’m slipping, I can’t even remember my wife’s name
anymore, I can’t even enjoy pigging out like I used to, I have soup when
everybody else gets a steak, I just don’t enjoy eating the way I used to.’ What an interesting perspective he
has. He said ‘David, you want me to
come up to your palace, that’s for the young, David, that’s for the young, for
the powerful, for the guy that’s still got the sword on his side. That’s for the guy that wants to be next to
the king. That’s for the guy that still
appreciates wealth, music and taste.’ Again,
Solomon 10 to 11, sitting here listening, he’ll write at the end of
Ecclesiastes ‘When you’re young, enjoy your days, enjoy your Creator, while
you can still enjoy your days, before the old age comes, and the eyes start to
dim, and the grinders cease, you can’t eat anymore,’ he’s hearing him
say it right here, ‘and you can’t hear anything but a bird singing that
wakes you up at 3am in the morning. All
day long you’re saying to people ‘Eh, eh,’ and then a bird peeps at 3 and you
can’t sleep.’ No doubt, young
Solomon listening here, Barzillai, quite a man.
He said ‘David, that stuff’s for the young, that still appreciate
that, it’s a different time in my life.’ He says, “Thy servant will go a
little way over Jordan with the king:
and why should the king recompense it me with such a reward?” (verse
36) “I didn’t do it for reward, I
don’t need any of this David,’ and look, he’s a sharp old guy, he’s
honouring the king’s position, he’s asking permission here. “Let thy servant, I pray thee, turn back
again, that I may die in mine own city, and be buried by the grave of my
father and of my mother. But behold thy
servant Chimham; let him go over with my lord the king; and do to him what
shall seem good unto thee.” (verse 37) I
look at this, and I think, this is just, I love this stuff. Here’s a guy saying ‘I don’t want to end
up in Jerusalem, in the Jerusalem Hospital, don’t make me go there, that’s for
the young, let me go back to the Highlands.’
He’s saying ‘I want to go to a greater banquet David, to a
greater Monarch, let me go so that I can sit, after all of these years I want
to sit somewhere in the sun in the day he comes to collect me. I don’t want my head filled with the sounds
of the palace and its business, that’s for the young, let me sit where the air
is blowing, let me sit where the sky is blue, let me sit where my spirit can
leave my body and go to a greater banquet, let me go where my fathers have gone
before me, David, let me go back to the mountains, David, let me go there,’ he
asks his permission. And I think, that’s
the way to go, that’s the way to go.
Sitting somewhere, in the sun with your eyes wide open, saying ‘Come
and get me LORD,
and just launch off into the blue,’ not
somewhere where you’re in some crazy situation, hooked up to everything, where
you keep pulling things out every time you leave the room, pull the plug out of
the wall. ‘Just, David, let me be
there.’ And he’s a man’s man, I love
this as I look at it, and I read through it.
God has so much for us, even in our later years, and I think it’s
important. In the Book of Psalms the LORD
says ‘Those that be planted in the house of the LORD,’
I’m glad we’re here tonight, ‘shall
flourish in the courts of our God, they shall still bring forth fruit in old
age, they shall be fat and flourishing,’ I fit right into this verse in
lots of ways here, it’s great. ‘Cast
me not off in the time of old age, forsake me not when my strength is failing,’
again in the Psalms, ‘now also, when I am old and grayheaded, O
God, forsake me not until I have showed thy strength unto this generation, and
thy power unto every one that is to come, thy righteousness also O God, it is
very high.’ (Psalm 71:18-19a) [That
Psalm is my prayer, especially concerning my real and adoptive family members,
grandkids especially.] Here’s a guy,
Barzillai, you know you get to that point, ‘that’s not an attraction
anymore, the bands and the palace and the File’ Mignon on the table, the hoopla
and all that stuff and all the pageantry, it’s great but, but I’m thinking
about more serious things, I’m 80 some years old, I can see back way further
than I can see ahead at this point, David.
I’m going to meet somebody that my whole life has been bringing me to
that point of meeting, I want to meet him in the Highlands where he raised me,
where he protected me, where he spoke to me, where he led me, I want to meet
him in the territory I’m familiar with, where he planted me, David let me see
his face there. Why should I be a burden
here in your palace?’ This is a man,
I just love this guy, Barzillai, I can’t wait to see him, he’ll be the old guy
with all the long hair, with no gray in it, Rogaine. He says “Let thy servant, I pray thee,
turn back again, that I may die in mine own city, and be buried by the
grave of my father and of my mother. But
behold thy servant Chimham; let him go over with my lord the king; and do to
him what shall seem good unto thee.” (verse 37)
Now we get the impression from 1st Kings 2:7 that Chimham
is his son. “And the king answered,
Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do to him that which shall seem good
unto thee: and whatsoever thou shalt require of me, that will I do for
thee. And all the people went over
Jordan. And when the king was come over,
the king kissed Barzillai, and blessed him; and he returned unto his own place.”
(verses 38-39) that’s what you do with a Grampa, this old guy, he’s going
to say Good Bye to him, he’s thinking ‘Barzillai the next time I see you,
we’re both going to be 30 years old [I always thought 20 years old in the 1st
Resurrection to Immortality, but that’s just my guess, we don’t really know],
we’re going to be in glory that next time I see you.’ and David grabbed
this old codger and kissed him.
Barzillai probably went ‘Aghhh, it’s bad for my Charlton Heston [Jack
Palance] image here.’ David kissed
Barzillai, “and blessed him; and he returned unto his own place. Then the king went on to Gilgal, and Chimham
went on with him: and all he people of
Judah conducted the king, and half the people of Israel.” (verse 40) It’s interesting, it tells us, makes mention
of this in Jeremiah chapter 41, you don’t have to turn, ‘And
they departed, and dwelt in the habitation of Chimham, which is by Bethlehem,
to go to enter into Egypt.’ [this
rebel group that was disobeying God and Jeremiah] they went by the residence of
Chimham in Bethlehem, it says in Jeremiah.
Dr. Stanley in his book “The Jewish Church” tells us that
Chimham settled with his family in Bethlehem, and built a Caravanzari there, to
give hospitality to strangers. It says
that Mary and Joseph, when they came to Bethlehem there was no room for them in
the “Inn,” the King James says, the Greek says “there was no room in the
Caravanzari,” and traditions says Mary and Joseph would end up in one of the
stables in the Caravanzari of Chimham, a legacy of Barzillai, still alive after
all of those years, interesting. ‘Not
me, take Chimham, let me go to back to the mountains, David.’ Jealousy
Between Judah & Israel Over King David “And,
behold, all the men of Israel came to the king, and said unto the king, Why
have our brethren the men of Judah stolen thee away, and have brought the king,
and his household, and all David’s men with him, over Jordan?” (verse 41) Here’s now the
tribes of Israel saying ‘What’s the big deal, I can’t believe the tribe of
Judah stole you for themselves, we love you too.’ ‘Absalom who?’ A couple weeks before this they loved Absalom,
now they love David. ‘Hey they’ve
stolen you away from us, we should have been part of this.’ “And all the men of Judah answered the
men of Israel, Because the king is near of kin to us: wherefore then be ye angry for this matter?
have we eaten at all of the king’s cost? or hath he given us any gift?”
(verse 42) ‘You guys aren’t
missing out on anything, we didn’t get any perks in this, we just brought the
king over, he’s from our tribe.’ “And
the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, and said, We have ten parts in the
king, and we have also more right in David than ye: why then did ye despise us, that our advice
should not be first had in bringing back our king? And the words of the men of Judah were
fiercer than the words of the men of Israel.” (verse 43) Now they’re dividing him up at this point
in time, ‘We have ten tribes, you only got Judah and Benjamin, only 2
twelves are yours and 10 twelves are ours of the king.’ When you loose, get louder, always good
in an argument. So David must be going ‘Oye
Vey, a couple weeks ago they all wanted to kill me, I had to leave, now they’re
fighting over who gets to bring me back,’ people are like that, one day
they’re yelling ‘Hosanna, Hosanna, Blessed is he the cometh in the name
of the LORD,’
and a couple days later they’re yelling ‘Crucify him! crucify him!’ 2nd
Samuel 20:1-26 “And
there happened to be there a man of Belial, whose name was Sheba, the
son of Bichri, a Benjamite: and he blew
a trumpet, and said, We have no part in David, neither have we inheritance in
the son of Jesse: every man to his
tents, O Israel. 2 So
every man of Israel went up from after David, and followed Sheba the son
of Bichri: but the men of Judah clave
unto their king, from Jordan even to Jerusalem. 3
And David came to his house at
Jerusalem; and the king took the ten women his concubines, whom he had
left to keep the house, and put them in ward, and fed them, but went not in
unto them. So they were shut up unto the
day of their death, living in widowhood. 4
Then said the king to Amasa, Assemble me
the men of Judah within three days, and be thou here present. 5
So Amasa went to assemble the men of Judah: but he tarried longer than the set time which
he had appointed him. 6 And
David said to Abishai, Now shall Sheba the son of Bichri do us more harm than did
Absalom: take thou thy lord’s servants,
and pursue after him, lest he get him fenced cities, and escape us. 7
And there went out after him Joab’s men,
and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, and all the mighty men: and they went out of Jerusalem, to pursue
after Sheba the son of Bichri. 8 When
they were at the great stone which is in Gibeon, Amasa went
before them. And Joab’s garment that he
had put on was girded unto him, and upon it a girdle with a sword
fastened upon his loins in the sheath thereof; and as he went forth it fell
out. 9 And
Joab said to Amasa, Art thou in health, my brother? And Joab took Amasa by the beard with the
right hand to kiss him. 10 But
Amasa took no heed to the sword that was in Joab’s hand: so he smote him therewith in the fifth rib,
and shed out his bowels to the ground, and struck him not again; and he
died. So Joab and Abishai his brother
pursued after Sheba the son of Bichri. 11
And one of Joab’s men stood by him, and
said, He that favoureth Joab, and he that is for David, let him go
after Joab. 12 And
Amasa wallowed in blood in the midst of the highway. And when the man saw that all the people
stood still, he removed Amasa out of the highway into the field, and cast a cloth
upon him, when he saw that every one that came by him stood still. 13
When he was removed out of the highway,
all the people went on after Joab, to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri.
14 And he went through all the tribes of
Israel unto Abel, and to Beth-maachah, and all the Berites: and they were gathered together, and went
also after him. 15 And
they came and besieged him in Abel of Beth-maacah, and they cast up a bank
against the city, and it stood in the trench:
and all the people that were with Joab battered the wall, to
throw it down. 16 Then
cried a wise woman out of the city, Hear, hear; say, I pray you, unto Joab,
Come near hither, that I may speak with thee. 17
And when he was come near unto her, the
woman said, Art thou Joab? And he
answered, I am he. Then she said
unto him, Hear the words of thine handmaid.
And he answered, I do hear. 18
Then she spake, saying, They were wont
to speak in old time, saying, They shall surely ask counsel at
Abel: and so they ended the matter.
19 I
am one of them that are peaceable and faithful in Israel: thou seekest to destroy a city and a mother
in Israel: why wilt thou swallow up the
inheritance of the LORD?
20 And
Joab answered and said, Far be it, far be it from me, that I should swallow up
or destroy. 21 The
matter is not so: but a man of
mount Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, hath lifted up his hand against
the king, even against David:
deliver him only, and I will depart from the city. And the woman said unto Joab, Behold, his
head shall be thrown to thee over the wall. 22
Then the woman went unto all the people
in her wisdom. And they cut off the head
of Sheba the son of Bichri, and cast it out to Joab. And he blew a trumpet, and they retired from
the city, every man to his tent. And
Joab returned to Jerusalem unto the king. 23
Now Joab was over all the host of
Israel: and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was
over the Cherethites and over the Pelethites: 24
and Adoram was over the tribute:
and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder: 25
and Sheva was scribe: and Zadok
and Abiathar were the priests: 26
and Ira also the Jairite was a chief
ruler about David.” Rebellion
of Sheba When
there’s good stuff going on--reconciliation, forgiveness--please understand,
you are gonna get ambushed “And
there happened to be there a man of Belial,” no-good,
dirty rotten scoundrel “whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a
Benjamite: and he blew a trumpet, and
said, We have no part in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of
Jesse: every man to his tents, O Israel.”
(verse 1) Now some scholars trace
him as a son of Bichri directly to Saul’s family, that he is a member of Saul’s
family. What the Holy Spirit wants us to
know about him, he’s a dirty rotten scoundrel.
Understand this, when there’s healing, when there’s been something
difficult, when there’s been an argument, when there’s been division, when that
is finally going to get settled, David’s coming back, Israel and Judah’s saying
‘You should let us be part of this,’ you have Mephibosheth saying to
David, ‘Hey, I could care less, David, let Ziba have the land,’
you have Barzillai, you have all this great stuff, when there’s good stuff
going on, please understand, you are gonna get ambushed. Satan hates reconciliation, Satan hates
forgiveness, he causes division, gossip, slander, it’s his specialty. It says that the tongue, James tells us, is
set on fire of hell. The way he finds
his way into human existence, whether it’s bigotry or prejudice or abortion, or
immorality, it’s through the tongue, that’s the main way he finds his way
in. And when you see a scene like this,
where it says here everybody’s coming to David, everybody is bringing his
family back to Jerusalem, the tribes are even fighting over him, saying ‘Hey,
we should get to be part of this,’ and it says ‘There was this son of
Belial hanging out there,’ you can even just expect that. If you’re in a situation where something’s
being healed, and something’s being put together, and the Lord is going to get
honoured in that, put on your “son of Belial” sunglasses and look around,
because he’s going to be there, it’s just the way it goes, there’s just always
somebody that’s still going to take their position, in healing, and not care whether
everybody else is peaceable, that they want their own. “So
every man of Israel went up from after David, and followed Sheba the son
of Bichri: but the men of Judah clave
unto their king, from Jordan even to Jerusalem.” (verse 2) He’s latched
onto this argument ‘We have ten parts in David,’ now we know when
Solomon comes, after Solomon dies the nation’s going to divide between Israel
and Judah [yes, forming into two nations, called the House of Israel, composed
of the northern 10 tribes, and the House of Judah, composed of the tribes of
Judah, half-tribe of Benjamin and the tribe of Levi], the seeds of that are
being sown here. “every man of Israel
went up from after David, and followed Sheba the son of Bichri: but the men of Judah clave unto their king,
from Jordan even to Jerusalem. And David
came to his house at Jerusalem; and the king took the ten women his
concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in ward, and fed
them, but went not in unto them. So they
were shut up unto the day of their death, living in widowhood.” (verses 2-3) David would not have relations with these
concubines because his son Absalom had taken them and defiled them, and David
felt the honourable thing to do is provide for them and care for them for the
rest of their lives, but he had no relationships with them. “Then said the king to Amasa,” who is
one of his cousins, again, “Assemble me the men of Judah within three days,
and be thou here present.” (verse 4) ‘I
want you here with them.’ Remember,
he had given Amasa, who had been Absalom’s general, as David is coming back, he
understands people are going to be afraid, everybody who was involved in this
revolution, this rebellion are guilty of treason, so he takes the very general
who he had defeated and fought against him, Amasa, and he makes him, this same
Amasa, the commander in chief of all of his forces, hoping to win some of the
confidence of the people of Israel back.
And also he’s angry at Joab for killing Absalom, he had specifically
told him not to do that. So he calls
Amasa, who is actually also the cousin of Joab, “So Amasa went to assemble the
men of Judah:” look what it says, “but he tarried longer than the
set time which he had appointed him.” (verse 5) So Amasa is not the leader that Joab is,
David realizes, we need to nip this in the bud, if we don’t stop this
(rebellion) it’s going to be worse than any other circumstance might be, so we
need to stop Sheba the son of Bichri before he divides the whole nation. Remember, when David was leaving, Ahithophel
said ‘Send the Special Forces, get him and stop him now,’ and Hushai
gave other counsel and stopped that whole process, that, the Scripture says,
was good counsel though, we’re thankful that it was turned away. David, a military man, knows we need to nip
this in the bud before it gets out of control.
So he asks Amasa to start rallying the troops, but it says Amasa’s
taking too long, verse 6 says “And David said to Abishai,” Joab’s
brother, and this guy’s really something, “Now shall Sheba the son of Bichri
do us more harm than did Absalom:
take thou thy lord’s servants, and pursue after him, lest he get him
fenced cities, and escape us. And there
went out after him” after Abishai, “Joab’s men, and the Cherethites, and
the Pelethites, and all the mighty men:” this is So-Comm, these are the
Special Forces, these guys are the Green Berets, Navy Seals, Delta Forces,
these are the Bad Guys, Special Ops, the Cherethites, the Pelethites, and all
the mighty men, “and they went out of Jerusalem, to pursue after Sheba the
son of Bichri. When they were at
the great stone which is in Gibeon,” they’re about 5 miles north of
Jerusalem, there’s a stone there that’s notable in Gibeon, “Amasa went
before them.” Evidently he got back
to Jerusalem, found out he was too late, and David had given command to Abishai
and sent the troops on their way, so he runs and catches up with them, Amasa
now, to get with them, and look at this, he’s got Joab’s uniform on, that’s
good as long as Joab is not around, he’s got Joab’s uniform on, “And Joab’s garment that he had put on was
girded unto him, and upon it a girdle with a sword fastened upon his
loins in the sheath thereof; and as he went forth it fell out.” (verses 6-8) he
dropped Joab’s sword in the dirt as he was hustling to get there. [this isn’t good, this isn’t good at all, for
Amasa] Now, so he meets Joab, wearing
Joab’s uniform, Joab evidently found his own sword laying in the dirt, “And
Joab said to Amasa, Art thou in health, my brother? And Joab took Amasa by the beard with the
right hand to kiss him.” (verse 9) ‘Hey cous, you look good in my suit,’
kissing back then was an acceptable
greeting, just as the Russians do today, but not when it’s Joab. “But Amasa took no heed to the sword
that was in Joab’s hand: so he
smote him therewith in the fifth rib, and shed out his bowels to the
ground, and struck him not again; and he died.
So Joab and Abishai his brother pursued after Sheba the son of Bichri.”
(verse 10) Now Amasa’s gone, you
don’t like to get Joab upset, he takes his job back, Joab’s got a couple
notches in his sword by now, Abner, Absalom, Amasa, some notches that probably
shouldn’t be there, he’s got his sword all notched. And Amasa’s laying on the ground now here, “And
one of Joab’s men stood by him, and said, He that favoureth Joab, and he that is
for David, let him go after Joab.” (verse 11) he’s a hard guy to fire, you can’t get
rid of him, you fire him and he kills the guy who takes his place, and comes
back, ‘Here I am, anything I can do?’ You can’t get rid of him. And evidently, the men must think ‘Well
Joab just put down a rebellion,’ the cry is, ‘Who’s for Joab, who’s for
David,’ and Joab is much more of a leader than Amasa, we’re going to find
out everybody falls in line to follow Joab.
[Also this guy in verse 11 that cries this out has to be one of Joab’s
right-hand men, part of his ten armourbearers, body guard, whose directing
traffic around the dead body of Amasa, acting as Joab’s PR man, Master
Sergeant, what have you.] “And Amasa
wallowed in blood in the midst of the highway.” Listen, “And when the
man saw that all the people stood still, he removed Amasa out of the highway
into the field, and cast a cloth upon him, when he saw that every one that came
by him stood still.” (verse 12) When
the guy [Joab’s lead man, bodyguard, Master Sergeant, what have you] sees
everybody, they’re supposed to be following Joab, everybody gets to the body,
it’s a gaper-delay, it causes a gaper-delay, I hate those [we call them gawker
blockers on the highway], I hate traffic in the checkout stand, and hate it on
the highway, I can’t stand to stand still, the Lord is coming, I got things to
do, I don’t have time to waste, and it bothers me the most when you finally get
up there, and somebody’s looking at something stupid on the side of the road,
it’s a gaper-delay. So he says the man
saw everybody standing still to look at Amasa on the side of the road, so he
removed Amasa out of the highway, into the field, and he threw a garment on top
of him when he saw that everyone that came by him stood still. “he removed Amasa out of the highway into
the field, and cast a cloth upon him, when he saw that every one that came by
him stood still. When he was removed out
of the highway, all the people went on after Joab, to pursue after Sheba the
son of Bichri. And he went through all
the tribes of Israel unto Abel, and to Beth-maachah, and all the Berites: and they were gathered together, and went
also after him.” (verses 12b-14) So
his army’s growing here, the Berites have joined him, and he’s come to Abel and
to the area of Beth-maacah, we’re about 4 miles, those of you who have been
there, 4 miles west of the city of Dan, we’re a little bit north of the Hula
Valley. “And they came and besieged
him in Abel of Beth-maacah, and they cast up a bank against the city, and it
stood in the trench: and all the people
that were with Joab battered the wall, to throw it down.” (verse 15) They found out that Sheba’s there, the son of
Bichri, in this town Abel. So Sheba’s
now using these people as a shield, he’s there.
And it says “Then cried a wise woman out of the city, Hear, hear;
say, I pray you, unto Joab, Come near hither, that I may speak with thee. And when he was come near unto her, the woman
said, Art thou Joab? And he
answered, I am he. Then she said
unto him, Hear the words of thine handmaid.
And he answered, I do hear. Then
she spake, saying, They were wont to speak in old time, saying, They shall
surely ask counsel at Abel: and
so they ended the matter.” (verses 16-18) She said, ‘Joab,
this city’s famous in Israel, there are wise people that have lived here
through the centuries, and there’s even a proverb that they would ask counsel
at Abel, this city’s known for its wise counselors.’ “I
am one of them that are peaceable and faithful in Israel: thou seekest to destroy a city and a mother
in Israel: why wilt thou swallow up the
inheritance of the LORD? And Joab answered and said, Far be it, far be
it from me, that I should swallow up or destroy.” (verses 19-20) ‘Just
ask my cousin Amasa if you don’t believe me.’
“The matter is not so: but a man of mount Ephraim, Sheba the son of
Bichri by name, hath lifted up his hand against the king, even against
David: deliver him only, and I will
depart from the city. And the woman said
unto Joab, Behold, his head shall be thrown to thee over the wall.” (verse 21) And Joab must
have thought, ‘I like this girl [laughter], what’s your phone number? You on Facebook? My Space, we need to Twitter.’ This is right up Joab’s alley, this is
such a woman, “Behold, his head shall be thrown to thee over the wall. Then the woman went unto all the people in
her wisdom. And they cut off the head of
Sheba the son of Bichri, and cast it out to Joab.” now my
imagination just has to part there a little bit, now here’s Joab and the army,
here comes this thing over the wall, did they yell ‘Head’s up!’ before
they threw it, some guy heaving it by the hair going ‘Head’s up!’ or did
they punt it over the wall? You can just
imagine, Joab’s out there telling his guys, this gal, she’s really something,
she’s kind of sweet, no problem with her, she knows what’s right. “and cast it out to Joab.” What a great scene, “And he blew a
trumpet, and they retired from the city, every man to his tent. And Joab returned to Jerusalem” with the
head of Sheba the son of Bichri, unto the king.” (verse 21c-22) and all
the kings horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Sheba back together again,
I think that’s where that song got started.
Maybe not, I’m not sure. A
Picture Of David’s Cabinet, Government In Later Years “Now
Joab was over all the host of Israel:” whether
anybody liked it or not, nobody challenged his position, Joab was
commander in chief of the armed forces in Israel, “and Benaiah the son of
Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and over the Pelethites:” these
are all the Special Ops, he was the one commanding those, “and Adoram was
over the tribute:” he’s the tax man,
“and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder:” he’s the
scribe, the treasurer, keeping the records, Secretary of State, “and Sheva was
scribe:” in the religious sense, “and Zadok and Abiathar were the
priests: and
Ira also the Jairite was a chief ruler about David.” (verses 23-24) And we’re not
sure about Ira, he seems to be David’s private counselor who stayed close to
him, he’s right about David it says, he was one of he chief men there [what
happened to Hushai?], David’s counselor.
So this is a picture of David’s government in later years. Now as we come to chapter 21, listen, we’re
going to kind of have four chapters here wrapping things up. They are not necessarily in chronological
order. Some of those things look back to
earlier years in David’s reign, and it’s just kind of giving us, painting in
the era for us, giving us an idea of some of the things that took place
here. 2nd
Samuel 21:1-14 “Then
there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David
enquired of the LORD. And the LORD
answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he
slew the Gibeonites. 2 And
the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto them; (now the Gibeonites were
not the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; and the
children of Israel had sworn unto them:
and Saul had sought to slay them in his zeal to the children of Israel
and Judah.) 3 Wherefore
David said unto the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? and wherewith shall I
make the atonement, that ye may bless the inheritance of the LORD?
4 And
the Gibeonites said unto him, We will have no silver nor gold of Saul, nor of
his house; neither for us shalt thou kill any man in Israel. And he said, What ye shall say, that will
I do for you. 5 And
they answered the king, The man that consumed us, and that devised against us that
we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the coasts of Israel, 6
let seven men of his sons be delivered
unto us, and we will hang them up unto the LORD
in Gibeah of Saul, whom the LORD
did choose. And the king said, I will
give them. 7 But
the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of
the LORD’s
oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul. 8
But the king took the two sons of Rizpah
the daughter of Aiah, whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the
five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel the
son of Barzillai the Meholathite: 9
And he delivered them into the hands of
the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the hill before the LORD: and they fell all seven together, and
were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, in the
beginning of barley harvest. 10 And
Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the
rock, from the beginning of harvest until water dropped upon them out of
heaven, and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor
beasts of the field by night. 11 And
it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had
done. 12 And
David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from
the men of Jabesh-gilead, which had stolen them from the street in Bethshan,
where the Philistines had hanged them, when the Philistines had slain Saul in
Gilboa: 13 and
he brought up from thence the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son;
and they gathered the bones of them that were hanged. 14
And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his
son buried they in the country of Benjamin in Zelah, in the sepulchre of Kish
his father: and they performed all that
the king commanded. And after that God
was intreated for the land.” Israel’s,
Joshua’s Covenant With The Gibeonites Was Broken By Saul & His Sons So
it tells us, “Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year
after year; and David enquired of the LORD. And the LORD
answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he
slew the Gibeonites.” (verse 1) Well
it wasn’t “Then,” it’s evidently much earlier.
Now a three year famine from a three year drought, I don’t know the
first year, how you respond to that, you look around, you think ‘This is El
Nino, this is Global Warming,’ whatever you think, it’s not unusual for
natural phenomenon to take place.
Evidently by the third year, David realizes something is happening here,
I need to seek the LORD,
it’s becoming a time of national curl.
It was a famine three years, year after year, “and David enquired” or
sought the face “of the LORD.” “And the LORD
answered,” and we’re not told specifically how
here, but the LORD
answered David, and the Lord does answer, and if we set ourselves to seek his
face, he says ‘Those who seek me early, they seek me with all their
heart, they will find me,’ God promises. Look, and to me that’s the center of all of
this. Who cares what your theological
position is on this and that, and this and that, if you don’t have a personal
relationship with Jesus, the most profound theology there is, is a living
personal relationship with Jesus. And
for the rest of our lives we should study, show ourselves approved, we should
develop our own systematic theology, we should know why we believe what we
believe, but that should be meted out in the presence of the One that we serve
and the One that we love. David sought
his face as a younger man, and the LORD
spoke to him, and he said “It is for Saul,” the reason that this
national judgment is come, “and for his bloody house, because he slew
the Gibeonites.” (verse 1b) Now
Gibeon was in the territory of Benjamin, Saul was from the tribe of
Benjamin. The problem was this, you guys
remember back in Joshua, in the 9th chapter, Joshua was having
tremendous victory in the land, the inhabitants of the land, Rahab said, ‘They
are melting for fear, they’re melting before you,’ and the Gibeonites
decided that the only way that they could survive would be to deceive Joshua
and the army, and it’s one of those times Joshua didn’t pray, because the
Gibeonites came, and it says they came with moldy bread, they came with old
shoes and old warn out clothes, and they said ‘We’re from a distant
land,’ because the injunction was, that they had to bring judgment on
the tribes within the land, but any other tribes they subdued outside the
Promised Land, they could ask tribute, they didn’t have to wipe them out. But the Canaanites, the tribes within the
land they were to judge. And the
Gibeonites were part of those tribes inside the Promised Land, so the
Gibeonites came to Joshua and said ‘Hey, we’ve come from a far country,
look at us, our bread’s moldy, our shoes are warn out, we’re hot, we’re tired,
we’ve traveled far, because we want to make a covenant with you, we want to
make peace with you, serve you, we’ve heard about your God.’ And unknowingly, Joshua makes a
covenant with them. There’s compromise
there. It wasn’t supposed to happen that
way. And sometimes in compromise, if we
don’t pray first, if we don’t follow God’s Word specifically, we get ourselves
into compromise, we get caught into something in a situation we don’t want to
be in. And when Joshua found out who
they really were, he said ‘Alright, we’re going to make a covenant, we’re
going to honour it, we’re not going to kill you,’ but it says he made
the Gibeonites the hewers of wood and the drawers of water for the Temple, for
the Tabernacle. And sometimes those
areas where we compromise, and we look back and think, I’ll never get that off
my record, we did this, I did that, I knew better, I sinned against Light. Well what you do is you put those things to
work for you, because we’re in God’s grace.
And you let those be the hewers of wood and the drawers of water. Let those past failures be the thing that
puts fire on the altar of your heart.
Let those past failures be the thing that brings Living Water to
you. And Joshua made a covenant with
these Gibeonites, and God honoured that covenant. And somehow Saul, we’re not told how, the
record specifically is not there, but Saul evidently slaughtered wholesale the
Gibeonites, and God is holding Israel accountable for a broken covenant. Listen, God holds you and I accountable, if
we give our word to someone, we’re supposed to live up to our word, we’re
certainly supposed to live up to his Word. God
Honours Covenants God
holds nations accountable, when they make covenants with other nations, there’s
a right way to do things, there is a measure even in unsaved nations, where God
expects a certain level of integrity in covenantal things that are done. And I’m glad that God honours covenant, the
greatest thing about that is, because he’s made one with me. He’s told me if I come to him through his Son
Jesus Christ, that I am part of a better Covenant, and that I am on my way to
heaven [i.e. the Kingdom of heaven as an immortal son or daughter of God]
because I am washed in the blood of his Son (cf. Hebrews 8:9-13). But here God is going to hold the nation
accountable, particularly Saul and his house, he must have slaughtered
wholesale, we’re not told, 20, 30, 40 thousand, and it’s going to say here,
Saul did it to please the people. He was
never a good leader, because what he did all the time, he did to please the
people. And in the church, and in God’s
service, if you’re more concerned about what people think about you, let me
tell you, not you people, other people.
You’re going to get it if you do, and you’re going to get it if you
don’t. That’s just the way it’s going to
be. So when you lay your head on your
pillow at night, you want to know that Jesus is smiling. You want to know that he’s happy with what
you’ve done. And look what it’s going to
say here, God says to David, ‘It’s over the bloody house of Saul, they
slew the Gibeonites,’ “And the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto
them; (now the Gibeonites were not the children of Israel, but of the
remnant of the Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn unto them: and Saul had sought to slay them in his zeal
to the children of Israel and Judah.)” (verse 2) not in his zeal to Jehovah, but to please
the people. A people pleaser is never a
good leader, in the Kingdom. A people
pleaser can never be a good leader in the Kingdom, because our marching orders
are to be on the vertical and not on the horizontal, or we’re not worth
anything. “Wherefore David said unto
the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? and wherewith shall I make the
atonement, that ye may bless the inheritance of the LORD?”
(verse 3) Listen,
he approaches them as their servant, ‘What shall I do for you?’ And if you read in Exodus 21, 23, 25,
Numbers 35, 31 and 34, it says when man’s blood is shed, that there’s the
shedding of blood that must take place to make atonement for it, there’s God’s
just weights and balances here. So David
says ‘What shall we do to make atonement, that you may bless the
inheritance of the LORD,
that you may again bless the children of Israel instead of being offended or
cursing them?’ “And
the Gibeonites said unto him, We will have no silver nor gold of Saul, nor of
his house; neither for us shalt thou kill any man in Israel. And he said, What ye shall say, that will
I do for you.” (verse 4) the
Hebrew seems to indicate “and there is not to us a man to execute in Israel,” ‘it
isn’t our right to just go executing Israelites, that’s not what this is about
for us.’ And David said ‘Whatever
you say, that’s what I’ll do for you.’ “And
they answered the king, The man that consumed us, and that devised against us that
we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the coasts of Israel,
let seven men of his sons be delivered
unto us, and we will hang them up unto the LORD
in Gibeah of Saul, whom the LORD
did choose. And the king said, I will
give them.” (verses 5-6) And evidently we’re going to find that the
rains return after this has taken place.
Evidently these men that had committed murder were still alive. And God had said in Genesis, ‘Whoso
sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed.’ And in Israel of old, when you
committed murder, particularly premeditated manslaughter, that was a
death-sentence. So these Gibeonites are
not asking for the extermination of Saul’s house, they say ‘Give us seven
men,’ where they understand there’s completeness in that number. And evidently the men that are going to be
handed over have blood on their hands, they were part of this process, they’re
still alive, they’re guilty, ‘that we may hang them in the wall of
Gibeah,’ you know, there was an eye for an eye, the kinsman redeemer,
all of these things this culture understood.
“And the king said, I will give them. But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of
Jonathan the son of Saul,” who was the grandson of Saul, “because of the
LORD’s
oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.”
(verses 6c-7) And we don’t have the timing here, this may be
what gave rise to chapter 9, listen, remember in chapter 9 David says ‘Is
there any of the house of Saul still left alive, of Jonathan?’ Now, he may be remembering the
covenant he made with Jonathan, because the house of Saul is guilty because
they violated a covenant that was made with the Gibeonites, and maybe David’s
remembering, ‘Wait a minute, I just can’t kill everybody, I made a covenant
with Jonathan, and I’m gonna have to honour that.’ And this maybe what gave rise to that
whole scene, and it says here “the king spared Mephibosheth the son of
Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the LORD’s
oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul. But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the
daughter of Aiah, whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth;” uncle
to Jonathan’s son “and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul,” and
I know you were confused when you read this, so I want to take the time to help
you, “whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite:”
which is not the Barzillai we’ve been
looking at, so this is a different guy, the Meholathite here, so this isn’t
Michal the daughter of Saul, it is no doubt her sister, Merab, because back in
chapter 6, verse 23, and it says ‘Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul,
had no child unto the day of her death, so Michal was barren, evidently
she raised boys for her sister Merab, we don’t know if her sister had died, but
she brought up these boys for her. “And
he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the
hill before the LORD: and they fell all seven together, and
were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, in the
beginning of barley harvest. (verses 7-9)
now Rizpah is Saul’s concubine, remember back in chapter 3 Rizpah means “hot
coal,” so evidently she was quite a gal.
“And Rizpah” “Hot Coal” here, “the daughter of Aiah took
sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest
until water dropped upon them out of heaven, and suffered neither the birds of
the air to rest on them by day, nor beasts of the field by night. (verse 10) Evidently the city there by the wall, she’s
there where the bodies are, from the beginning of the harvest, that’s May, late
April, May, “until water dropped upon them” which is October, November the
Latter rains, notice it says “out of heaven,” what it’s telling us here, is the
rains returned from heaven. God
accepted, God was merciful, he didn’t ask for all those of the house of Saul
that were guilty, he allowed the Gibeonites to make this call, they were more
merciful than the Benjamites, and they said “give us seven.” God evidently honouring, according to his own
Word again, Numbers 35, that atonement was been made at this point in time, and
it says the water came out of heaven.
But ‘she suffered neither the birds of the air, birds that are
carnivores, to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night.’ “And it was told David what Rizpah the
daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done.” (verse 11) and David
hears she has been out there for months, protecting the remains of her sons
from Saul that she had, “And David went and took the bones of Saul and the
bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh-gilead, which had stolen them
from the street in Bethshan, where the Philistines had hanged them, when the
Philistines had slain Saul in Gilboa: 13
and he brought up from thence the bones
of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son; and they gathered the bones of them
that were hanged.” (verses 12-13) remember the
men of Jabesh-gilead had taken them from the walls of Bashan, evidently where
these bodies are now. “And the bones
of Saul and Jonathan his son buried they in the country of Benjamin in Zelah,
in the sepulchre of Kish his father: and
they performed all that the king commanded.
And after that God was intreated for the land.” (verse 14) God was then satisfied and the rains
returned. Look, even in some of these
things we read, we think ‘That’s tough to kind of work through,’ remember
Abraham said ‘Shall not the God of all the earth do right?’ Evidently there was not only divine justice
here, something that God had prescribed in his Word, but there was great
mercy. And God was pleased that the
Gibeonites, they didn’t just want wholesale revenge and want everybody
slaughtered, but they said ‘We don’t want money, we don’t want silver, we
don’t want gold,’ it’s almost like they’re saying ‘We’ve become part of
the nation, for generations now, our parents are buried here, our sepulchres
are amongst the children of Israel, we’ve served at the Temple for hundreds of
years, we’ve brought wood for the fire on the Altar, we’ve brought water to
wash away the blood of sacrifices, to fill the bronze laver, we’ve been part of
this, so we don’t have any right to execute men in Israel, that’s not what
we’re asking. But let there be seven, of
the guilty men, with blood on their hands, let them come under the death
sentence, that’s what God demands.’ And
David hands them over as the avenger of blood in their family, and God it says
then was satisfied, things had happened mercifully, happened right, and
atonement was made for the land, and God once again was gracious and the rains
came. Difficult passage. In
Closing Let’s
back up to Barzillai, how long do we have to live? Tonight, how long do you have to live? It says our life is like a handbreadth, it’s
like a dream, it’s like a vapour. Let me
tell you something, I don’t know where 59 years went. And look, I don’t need to bore you, because I
hated, when I was 16, 17, 18 listening to old people saying ‘I don’t know
where my life went,’ but I got infected with that somehow, and here I am,
let me tell you something, I don’t know where life went. How long do we have to live? Because a lot of my friends are gone already,
a lot of them that are younger than me, in a day, in a moment, times we didn’t
expect, heartbreaking, sad, life on earth, it’s a pilgrimage, a passage, it’s
not important. And some people spend
their whole life wanting to get to the king’s palace, they want to get to the
king’s table, they would do everything, anything to jump in that thing. Barzillai said ‘No, not for me. Let me go back to the mountains, let me go
back to the high places, let me go where I can pass, with dignity, let me go
where I can breathe deep and cast off into the blue sky, when the Lord comes,
when we go to the other banquet, David I appreciated yours, but there’s another
one, there’s another one.’ I’m going
to have the musicians come, we’re going to sing a last song tonight. And I want to challenge you, if church
attendance, prayer, if reading the Bible has become slim, and it’s taken the
back seat, and the king’s palace has become larger and larger [i.e. your
career], however you measure success, I need you to listen to Barzillai speak
tonight off the page, because all of that is gone in a minute, it all burns, it
all goes away, takes wings and flies away…[transcript of a connective
expository sermon on 2nd Samuel 19:24-43, 2nd Samuel
20:1-26 and 2nd Samuel 21:1-14, given by Pastor Joe Focht, Calvary
Chapel of Philadelphia, 13500 Philmont Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19116] related
links: What
was Barzillai like? I think more like
Jack Palance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGxL5AFzzMY Audio
version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED677 |