112 – Ethnic Cleansing
II Samuel 21:1-22
A famine hit the land of Israel. At first, David thought it was a natural event until it lasted for three years. He then realized the famine was from God. So he asked the Lord about it. God said, “It is because of what Saul did to the Gibeonites.”
The Tabernacle of God was at Gibeon. The Ark of God was in Jerusalem, but the Tabernacle was set up in Gibeon. So there were two places of worship.
The Gibeonites made an agreement with Israel in the days of Joshua. Saul decided to ignore those agreements and eliminate the Gibeonite population. He tried to totally annihilate their existence.
David went to them and said, “Our people have wronged you. How can we once again be reconciled with you?”
They said, “Money can’t pay for killing our brothers and sisters. And we don’t have the power to strike back at Israel. Still, our complaint isn’t toward Israel. It’s only toward the man who tried to exterminate us from the earth.”
David said, “So, what can we do for you?”
They said, “Give us seven of Saul’s descendants. We will hang them in his hometown, near where the people worship the Lord.”
David agreed. He selected two of Saul’s sons and five of his grandsons. He spared Mephibosheth because of his promise to Jonathan.
The Gibeonites killed the seven men and hung their bodies on a hill near where people went to worship. They were to hang there from April, which was the beginning of harvest, until October, which was the beginning of the rainy season.
Saul’s wife went to the site where her sons and grandsons were hanging. She stayed there day and night to protect the bodies from the birds during the day and the wild animals during the night.
When the allotted time was over, David went to the city where Saul and Jonathan were buried and got their bones. He then buried them in their family tomb, along with the seven men. After all of this was done, God once again heard David’s prayers concerning the land.
Years later, the Philistines once again declared war on Israel. David went with his men to fight a battle. He suddenly became exhausted during the fight. A relative of Goliath saw this as his opportunity to kill David. The Philistine was a huge man of great strength. He moved in to make the kill. One of David’s men stopped the giant and killed him.
David was taken off the battlefield, and his men took an oath. They said, “You are never to fight with us again. You’re the Lamp of Israel, and you’re not to put it out on the battlefield.” So David never went out to war again.
