Word of Salvation – Vol. 26 No. 32 – May 1981

 

Rizpah

 

Sermon by Rev. John A. Houseward on 2Samuel 21:1-14

Psalter Hymnal: 328; 382; 270; 424.

 

Beloved Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Some Christians don’t read the Old Testament. Some who do read the Old Testament skip this chapter as the story is too gory. Some preachers handle this chapter by wrongly blaming the Gibeonites for trickery and vengeance. Actually this story is much like front page news, only that the Bible goes deeper. This chapter includes racism, genocide, broken vows, judgment, famine, justice, capital punishment, a mother’s love, forgiveness and atonement.

The story of Rizpah is:

I. A Story of Judgment.

II. A story of a Mother’s love.

I. It is a Story of Judgment.

A. It is a story of God’s judgment. Let us first of all see it is a story of God’s judgment, and it is not a story of Gibeonite revenge. Verse I sets the record straight and clear. God sent a famine for three years on a guilty people. After three years God gets David’s attention, and David turns to the Lord in prayer. God judges us in many ways. One of the ways he judges us is through famine and want. This is clearly taught in the Bible from Genesis to the black horse of Revelation. Here we find it again. God sends judgment, a famine comes on Israel because of a dead man and his blood-stained house. Saul had put to death unjustly many Gibeonites. Israel had done nothing about this; David had done nothing about it, so God sent a famine for three successive years. We are our brother’s keeper. God does not want us to look the other way. God hates racism, genocide, broken vows, and He judges people who do nothing about it.

B. God’s judgment is sent on the whole land and on all the people.

1. If you look at this story as only Gibeonite revenge you slander the Gibeonites and you slander God. The Gibeonites had been wronged by Saul, by the Benjaminites and by all Israel. After three hundred years Saul tried to eliminate the Gibeonites from Israel. Racial prejudice, genocide is not only found in the twentieth century, it is found in the theocracy of Israel. The Gibeonites had lied to Joshua and the Israelite leaders, but Joshua kept his oath. Now after 300 years Saul breaks the oath with a vengeance.

2. Notice what the Bible says. The Gibeonites didn’t come to David seeking revenge; David summoned the Gibeonites to him. [Read verses 2 and 3.] The Gibeonites were not in rebellion, they were not rioting, marching, or seeking revenge. They did not take the law into their own hands. The Gibeonites did not ask that the Benjaminites be decimated as Benjamin had done to them. They didn’t ask that the punishment fit the crime. David asks what he can do to make amends.

3. David as judge, having received God’s verdict, asks the Gibeonites what they think should be done. Notice again the words of verse 3, “What shall I do for you? How shall I make amends so that you will bless the Lord’s inheritance.” Notice David and Israel are asking for the blessing of the Gibeonites. David is not walking into any trap. David knows full well that the Gibeonites could ask for plenty. They could ask for full freedom as compensation for the gross injustices done to them as servants. Did not a slave go free for loss of an eye? They could have asked for a crime commission to be set up to punish all the murderers and persecutors. They could have asked for all these things together and David could hardly deny their rights and justice in these matters. Instead, the Gibeonites ask for seven, not all of Saul’s sons.

C. The judgement of all Israel falls on seven sons of Saul.

1. Can we say that the sons of Saul were innocent? Can we say for sure they were innocent? Verse 1 tells us, the Lord said, “It is on account of Saul and his blood-stained house;” God found the house of Saul guilty. We might argue that the sons were guilty through their father Saul, but then we can’t say that for sure either. One thing the Bible doesn’t say is that the Gibeonites were blood-stained. Some preachers say that. Some preachers lay the blame on the Gibeonites, but this only adds insult to injury. The Gibeonites were the victims, the innocent victims. During the famine the Gibeonites suffered more than the Israelites. They had no place in Israel. They had been hunted, persecuted, decimated, murdered. They were the poor and it is the poor who suffer most in a famine.

2. Who made the decision to kill seven sons of Saul? David was the judge. David made the decision. David passed the sentence on the seven sons of Saul. The Gibeonites suggested the sentence but King David made the decision. King David appointed the Gibeonites as the executioners. Justice was on the side of the Gibeonites.

3. Now why did the Gibeonites ask for the seven sons of Saul? The Bible doesn’t tell us plainly but their intentions are not too difficult to explain. [Read verse 6.[ Saul was the Lord’s chosen one. Israel was a theocracy, a nation ruled by God. Saul as king, the Lord’s chosen, should have upheld the poor and depressed but he did just the opposite. So the Gibeonites ask for seven of the male descendants of King Saul. As Saul had been the leader in these crimes, the punishment falls on those nearest to him.

Notice also that they wish to have them killed and exposed at Gibeah of Saul. Gibeah was a Benjamite city. Let the relatives of Saul and the Benjaminites take note; they had been the main culprits in this whole sorry mess.

Let Israel also take note. It was a small price to pay for all the crimes and injustices done to them.

There is also a theological reason for the action of the Gibeonites. Let them be exposed before the Lord. Let the Lord see, let the Lord take note; let it be an atonement for all the sins and the gross abominations of Israel. David picked the seven sons who would die and delivered them to the Gibeonites. The seven fell together and were impaled or exposed. The seven became a curse on a hill for all to see.

II. This is a story of a mother’s love.

A. Rizpah no doubt witnessed the terrible scene. Seven sons of her husband Saul were killed and placed on posts. Two of the sons were her sons. Rizpah was only a concubine of a cruel king. She was one of the lesser women in the harem, but Rizpah was a mother.

Rizpah couldn’t stop the execution. She didn’t know much about politics or theology. She didn’t understand why her two sons had to die. She may not have looked upon all this as justice. But when everyone left, Rizpah was there alone. She couldn’t do much but she wanted a decent burial for her sons.

It mattered not whether her sons were guilty or not, they were her sons. The Song of Songs says, “Love is stronger than death.” Rizpah’s love was stronger than death.

Rizpah brought her sack cloth. Sackcloth is a sign of repentance and mourning. Sackcloth is a sign of humility. Near the seven dead bodies she stayed. On a rock on that hill she spread the sackcloth. Nothing was going to touch her sons and the five half brothers. So she kept her vigil.

B. Rizpah’s love was patient. [Read verse 10.] This was a ghastly sight. Seven men exposed to the air. Rizpah was not allowed to take the bodies down. She mourned and suffered the indignation of death, the decaying bodies, the smell and the misery.

The sunshine and heat of the day she endured. Rain, wind, storm or cold did not take her from her post. We can well imagine what it was like. With her sackcloth she chased the vultures by day and the wild animals at night. Get away you buzzard! Get away you wild dog! Her relatives and friends must have helped by bringing water and food. From May until September she kept her watch by day and night. From the beginning of the harvest till the rain poured down from the heavens on the bodies, she stayed by the bodies of her sons.

C. “Love never fails”. Prophecies fail. Tongues cease. Knowledge passes away but love never fails.

Word finally reached David. David was told the whole story of what Rizpah had done. David’s conscience was stirred. David’s memory was jolted. The loving care of this mother of Israel moved him to the heart. Bodies should not be exposed like this. People should have a decent burial. Even enemies and criminals should be treated with respect. David is moved to give not only the seven men a decent burial but Rizpah’s husband and the half brother Jonathan should receive a proper burial. David gives the order, “Get the bones of Saul, Jonathan, and Armoni and Mephibosheth and the 5 sons of Michal and bury them in the family’s tomb.

D. This passage begins with God in verse one and ends with God in verse 14. God was judging Israel with a famine because of the sons of Saul and his blood-stained house. But the famine is not over until the last detail has been complete. God accepted the decision of the Gibeonites as a just decision. God accepted David’s decision in agreeing with the request of the Gibeonites. However, God does not bless the land until the matter is brought to a close. Saul, Jonathan and the seven other sons had to be buried.

God is concerned with not only the big issues of life, but God is concerned with the small details. God is the living one who sees. The Lord took note of Rizpah and what she had done. God showed his justice but God was also merciful to Israel. “After that, God answered prayer in behalf of the land.”

Conclusion:

There was another scene that took place centuries later. That also happened on a hill and to a Son. This Son was not only the Son of Mary but the Son of God. The Son was hanged on a tree. He was crucified. Not for His Father’s sins was he killed. He was not killed for His own sins, but He was killed for the sins of the world. God showed His justice and His mercy.

God, in order to save sinners, punished His Son by letting Him die on the cross. On account of our sins, Jesus died on the cross and was exposed becoming a curse for us. He also received a decent burial becoming like us in all things, sin excepted. Now He is risen and we who believe look for His return.

It was a young lady by the name of Charlotte Elliot who was not a great sinner who wrote:

“Just as I am without one plea,
  But that Thy blood was shed for me,
  And that Thou bidds’t me come to Thee,
  O Lamb of God, I come, I come”.

Let us come. Let us accept God’s love and His justice, and having accepted His Son, let us bid others to come.

Amen.