08/02/2024
2 Samuel 21:1-10
What a sad picture in verse 10, we see a mother trying to protect her dead sons from scavengers. Sons who had been hanged, not for their crimes but for the crimes and disobedience of others. When looking for answers as to why this happened it seems so obvious, it was because of the crimes that Saul committed against the gibeonites. True, but the full answer runs much deeper than that.
Joshua 9:1-15
To really understand how a mother finds herself broken and weeping on the hills of Gibeah, we have to journey back in time over 700 years. There we find Joshua leading Israel with a mandate from God to destroy all the inhabitants of the promise land including the gibeonites, but the gibeonites are shrewd and deceitful. They wear old tattered cloths, claim to be traveling from afar and trick Israel into entering into a covenant with them. Although the covenant looked totally advantageous to Israel, it was not the will of God and would be the beginning of a story that would end tragically for a woman named Rizpah.
But this didn’t have to happen! Joshua 9:14 exposes Joshua and the elders great error, they “asked not counsel at the mouth of the LORD.” Instead they entered into a covenant without seeking God’s guidance and the price would be paid years down the road. How careful then must we be entering into covenants carelessly based on what we see and feel? Covenants have long lasting ramifications, so be careful who you cut covenant with and don’t forget to ask the Lord for guidance and the final say.
We now know there are two leaders of Israel that put these events in motion, but was there a third? David enquired of the Lord, “And the LORD answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites” (2Sam 21:1). Unfortunately, David only allowed God to identify the problem and not the solution. Wouldn’t it have been a good idea to ask the Lord for a solution instead of going to the gideonites? When I thought about it for a minute, it occurred to me I have let God, either by His Spirit or through His Word, identify problems in my life only to take matters into my own hands to solve them. Maybe I should have asked God for the solution too.
So we’ve learned an innocent woman is greiving over her sons because of the mis-steps of those in leadership.
No wonder James told us there would be a higher standard of judgement for leaders. (James 3:1)
