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David's resolution of Saul's sin and God's Judgment. We have recorded here a famine in Israel. It had been going on for three years. David went to the Lord and asked why the famine had been sent. The question is, why did David wait 3 years before he inquired of God about the famine? Well history tells us that famines were common in that area in those days but they normally only lasted one year. To counter this, in a good year, crops were normally twice what was required for one year, therefore a one-year famine didn't hurt much. It would appear that it wasn't until the third year that food began to get scarce and so David inquired.
Notice what the Lord told David: "Because Saul put the Gibeonites to death, I have brought this famine on Israel." Now we have no record of Saul doing this in the Bible but it must have happened. Who were the Gibeonites and why was this so wrong?
The history of these people is obscure. They originally lived in Edom and were believed to be sons of Seir the Horite. They were driven out of their land by the sons of Esau (Deut. 2:12). In Joshua's time, they dwelled in the town of Gibeon, 8 miles north of Jerusalem.
We have to go back to Joshua Chapter 9 and refresh our memory about a story recorded there. Joshua had just followed the instructions of the Lord and Jericho was destroyed. When the Gibeonites heard of this they became afraid and they devised a plan to deceive Joshua. They went to Joshua disguised as people from a far country wearing worn out clothing and covered with dirt, appearing to have traveled a great distance. They asked Joshua for asylum and he granted it and made a covenant with them to allow them to live amongst the Israelites. Eventually, when Joshua found out who they really were, he could not go back on his covenant. Now the covenant would have been binding on Saul also but he choose to disregard it and in an effort to rid other races from Israel, he had all the Gibeonites killed. This is believed to have happened when the Lord took his Spirit from Saul and gave him a "tormenting spirit".
We might ask the question, why did God wait 50 years to bring judgment? Matthew Henry says God often visits the sins of the fathers upon the children. Time does not wear out the guilt of sin.
When David found out why God had brought a famine upon Israel, he inquired of the few Gibeonites that were still living, "What can I do for you to rid the nation of this guilt?" They asked for 7 sons of Saul to hang before the Lord at Gibeon.
David was able to find two of Saul's sons, Armoni and Mephibosheth, who were his sons by Rizpah a concubine, and 5 grandsons, children of Michal, Saul's daughter who had been married to David but taken away from him by Saul and given to a man by the name of Adriel. These 7 were given to the Gibeonites and they were taken to Gibeah and hung.
Question, why Gibeah? Gibeah was Saul's home, north of Jerusalem about 3 miles, and they were taken there to show that it was for his sins that they were killed. The time was important also. They were sacrificed for the turning away of God's anger at the beginning of the barley harvest, in hopes of obtaining His favor in the harvest. And God answered prayer and ended the famine.
Notice the 7 boys were left hanging all during the harvest season and no one was allowed to take them down. Rizpah, the mother of two of the boys, stayed there at the sight during the whole season to prevent the vultures, during the day, and the wile animals, during the night, from eating the bodies. When David learned of this, he had their bodies taken down and buried in the grave plot of Kish, Saul's father. Then he had the remains of Saul and Jonathan returned from Gilead and they to were buried in this family gravesite.
The chapter closes with insight into David's age and physical condition and some interesting stories about giants. In a battle with the forces of Philistia, David became weak and exhausted. At that time, David was in his early 60's. During the battle he comes face to face with a giant with a spear whose head alone weighed 300 shekels, more than 12 pounds. He probably would have been killed if Abishai had not showed up and killed the giant. Another story tells of a giant, the brother of Goliath, who had a spear like Goliath with the handle the size of a "weavers beam". This one was killed by Elhanan. Another giant, who had 6 fingers on each hand and 6 toes on each foot, was killed by Jonathan, David's nephew.
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