2 Samuels 21:7-14
7 But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the oath of the Lord which was between them, between David and Saul’s son Jonathan.
8 So the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, Armoni and Mephibosheth whom she had borne to Saul, and the five sons of Merab the daughter of Saul, whom she had borne to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite.
9 Then he handed them over to the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the mountain before the Lord, so that the seven of them fell together; and they were put to death in the first days of harvest at the beginning of barley harvest.
10 And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until it rained on them from the sky; and she allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on them by day nor the wild animals by night.
11 When it was reported to David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done,
12 then David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan from the citizens of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the public square of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them on the day the Philistines struck and killed Saul in Gilboa.
13 He brought up from there the bones of Saul and the bones of his son Jonathan, and they gathered the bones of those who had been hanged.
14 Then they buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the country of Benjamin in Zela, in the grave of his father Kish; so they did everything that the king commanded, and after that God responded to prayer for the land.
Rain from the Sky
Seven who were executed
To heal the defiled land, the blood of those who caused its defilement had to be shed. The house of Saul was, in essence, a “bloodstained house.” Though the executions here were for Saul’s sin, there was also an aspect in which his descendants were judged for their own sins as well. (1) Selecting the seven to be executed was a task filled with deep anguish for David. He excluded Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, from the list of candidates. This was because he honored the covenant he had made with Jonathan (1 Sam. 20:14-16). (2) The ones David selected were two sons of Rizpah, Saul’s concubine, who had previously been involved with Abner after Saul’s death (3:7-8), and five sons of Merab, Saul’s daughter, who was originally intended to be David’s wife but was given instead to Adriel (1 Sam.18:17-19), making a total of seven. (3) These seven were executed on a hill at the beginning of the barley harvest (around April in today’s calendar) and were left exposed. Their public execution brought the Lord’s wrath to an end.
Rizpah’s action
The seven bodies were left exposed in the open. It was Rizpah who protected them from being devoured by birds of prey and wild beasts. (1) She kept watch on a rock “from the beginning of harvest until it rained on them from the sky,” which lasted approximately six months, from around April to October. (2) When the rainy season came in October, rain fell from the sky, signifying that the Lord’s anger had been appeased and the land had been healed. (3) Rejoicing at the rain and moved by Rizpah’s actions, David took steps to properly bury Saul and Jonathan, whose remains had been left unattended. The bones of Saul and Jonathan were brought from Jabesh-gilead and, together with the remains of the seven who had been exposed, were buried in the tomb of Kish, Saul’s father, in the land of Benjamin. (4) All these things pleased God. It is written that “God was moved by prayer for the land” (NASB). Do you have peace with God? The sacrifice of Jesus Christ is what brings us reconciliation with God. “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1).
Today's prayer
Father God of Jesus Christ, I thank You that I have been given peace with You through the Lord Jesus Christ. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.