2 Samuel 21 - 24
In summary:
The last Reading from 2 Samuel is a mosaic of covenant fidelity, punishment for breaking it and the hope for future justice.
The last Reading from 2 Samuel is a mosaic of covenant fidelity, punishment for breaking it and the hope for future justice.
In more detail:
On the first reading, 2 Samuel 21 – 24 seems like a jumble of topics and leftover stories rather than the conclusion to a book. But if we can follow some of the main themes in these last four chapters, we can discern a picture of Yahweh’s grace through the covenant.
First, notice the faithfulness to the covenant that stands out in these chapters. It begins with a hard lesson given because of Saul’s unfaithfulness to the covenant made with the Gibeonites in Joshua 9. Even though the lack of discernment in Israel’s leaders on that occasion was discouraging, it was a covenant sealed before Yahweh: “We have sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel, and now we may not touch them” (Joshua 9:19). Now we learn that Saul’s acts of disobedience included a military campaign against these protected Canaanites: “Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year. And David sought the face of the LORD. And the LORD said, ‘There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he put the Gibeonites to
death’… Saul had sought to strike them down in his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah” (2 Samuel 21:1,2).
It is impressive to consider that the Israelites had to comply even with covenants made with Gentiles and Canaanites; their faithfulness to their covenants with others must in some way reflect Yahweh’s faithfulness to His covenant with His chosen people.
It is also sobering to see that Saul, the one who committed the offenses, was now dead – but his rebellion against the covenant with the Gibeonites must be vindicated, and this was required by Yahweh. Therefore we see King David in a role we have not seen before – the one who conquered nations or received them in submission, peace and friendship must now humble himself and ask their forgiveness: “What shall I do for you? And how shall I make atonement, that you may bless the heritage of the LORD?” (2 Samuel 21:3) And he must submit to their request: “Let seven of his sons be given to us, so that we may hang them before the LORD at Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the LORD” (2 Samuel
21:6). Perhaps even more surprising to the modern reader is not only hearing this request but seeing its results: Yahweh’s wrath was propitiated; it began to rain (2 Samuel 21:10). The narrative ends in great sadness and compassion toward the corpses of the slain, a heavy lesson on Yahweh’s holiness and His zeal for the covenant and for the protection of the most vulnerable and insignificant in His kingdom.
Second, notice the heroics of David’s mighty warriors both in killing the Philistine giants in 2 Samuel 21:15-21 and in their deeds 2 Samuel 23:8-39. In the middle of this
passage we find a psalm of David in 2 Samuel 22 that in essence is the same as Psalm 18. Here the psalm highlights the fact that the victories of David’s mighty men, like those of the king himself, were attained through Yahweh’s zeal for His anointed. All of the almost cinematic descriptions of power in the psalm show Yahweh’s direction of even the forces of nature (forces far beyond David’s authority and power) in combination for the benefit of His anointed one and for his rescue. Placed between the passages on victory over the Philistine giants and the achievements of the mighty men, this psalm shows Yahweh’s power and passion to establish His anointed. Therefore David can
celebrate: “The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation, the God who gave me vengeance and brought down peoples under me, who brought me out from my enemies; you exalted me above those who rose against me; you delivered me from men of violence. For this I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations, and sing praises to your name. Great salvation he brings to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever” (2 Samuel 22:47-51). We see all of this mercy and favor directed to David because Yahweh is
faithful to His covenant revealed to David in 2 Samuel 7.
David celebrates Yahweh’s faithfulness to His covenant with another brief psalm in 2 Samuel 23:1-7. By faith and by Yahweh’s revelation he sees a Descendant of his who will reign in true and perfect righteousness beyond what David has attained in his reign: “One rules justly over men, ruling in the fear of God” (2 Samuel 23:3). His government will be the beginning of a time of rest and justice: “He dawns on them like the morning light, like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning, like rain that makes the grass to sprout from the earth” (2 Samuel 23:4). David and his house do not deserve this favor (2 Samuel 23:5); this favor is nothing less than Yahweh’s grace brought to light: “For he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and secure” (2 Samuel 23:5). The same zeal that was shown in David’s rescue described in 2 Samuel 22 will be unleashed for the future Anointed One under whom God will make all His enemies submit.
In the last chapter of today’s reading (and of all of 2 Samuel), David sins by taking a census of the people. Remember that in our study of Exodus 30, it seems that a census of Israel left it guilty – perhaps because of the pride it could engender or self-confidence in life – and therefore everyone had to pay a price of atonement or salvation, recognizing that their lives counted in the census existed only by Yahweh’s grace and rescue. Whether David’s census was sinful because of pride, because of not collecting atonement money or for some other reason, we can make two observations:
1) This was completely under Yahweh’s control, this time for the punishment of His people: “And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, ‘Go, number Israel and Judah’” (2 Samuel 24:1), and
2) The sin is so obvious that not even Joab wants to count them: “May the LORD your God add to the people a hundred times as many as they are, while the eyes of the lord my king still see it, but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?” (2 Samuel 24:3)
“But the king’s word prevailed against Joab and the commanders of the army” (2 Samuel 24:4). After David recognizes his sin, Yahweh gives him three options for his
punishment, and the king chooses either of the two (the first or the third) that will allow him to fall under Yahweh’s mercies (2 Samuel 24:13-14). Seventy thousand men die, and Yahweh’s mercy stops the hand of the angel who destroyed the people so that no more would die. Afterwards, Yahweh’s wrath is propitiated by the sacrifices on the
threshing floor of Arauna the Jebusite (2 Samuel 24:25; 1 Chronicles 21:26-28). Seeing that Yahweh hears the petitions of His people from this site, David announces, “Here shall be the house of the LORD God and here the altar of burnt offering for Israel” (1
Chronicles 22:1). This is where Yahweh’s temple will be built – the tragedy of the plague has now directed David to find the place where Yahweh’s grace through His covenant will be evident for the coming generations of His people.
Therefore today’s reading, although it seems strange and jumbled on the first reading, is a mosaic of themes which stand out in all of 1 and 2 Samuel and in all of the Bible we have read so far: Yahweh’s faithfulness to His covenant, the zeal with which He establishes, protects and exalts His anointed one and the need for propitiation from Yahweh’s just wrath against sin. All of this is declared in preparation for David’s future descendant, Jesus Christ, the Anointed One above all. Meanwhile, we continue the narrative tomorrow as we begin the first book of Kings.
On the first reading, 2 Samuel 21 – 24 seems like a jumble of topics and leftover stories rather than the conclusion to a book. But if we can follow some of the main themes in these last four chapters, we can discern a picture of Yahweh’s grace through the covenant.
First, notice the faithfulness to the covenant that stands out in these chapters. It begins with a hard lesson given because of Saul’s unfaithfulness to the covenant made with the Gibeonites in Joshua 9. Even though the lack of discernment in Israel’s leaders on that occasion was discouraging, it was a covenant sealed before Yahweh: “We have sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel, and now we may not touch them” (Joshua 9:19). Now we learn that Saul’s acts of disobedience included a military campaign against these protected Canaanites: “Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year. And David sought the face of the LORD. And the LORD said, ‘There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he put the Gibeonites to
death’… Saul had sought to strike them down in his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah” (2 Samuel 21:1,2).
It is impressive to consider that the Israelites had to comply even with covenants made with Gentiles and Canaanites; their faithfulness to their covenants with others must in some way reflect Yahweh’s faithfulness to His covenant with His chosen people.
It is also sobering to see that Saul, the one who committed the offenses, was now dead – but his rebellion against the covenant with the Gibeonites must be vindicated, and this was required by Yahweh. Therefore we see King David in a role we have not seen before – the one who conquered nations or received them in submission, peace and friendship must now humble himself and ask their forgiveness: “What shall I do for you? And how shall I make atonement, that you may bless the heritage of the LORD?” (2 Samuel 21:3) And he must submit to their request: “Let seven of his sons be given to us, so that we may hang them before the LORD at Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the LORD” (2 Samuel
21:6). Perhaps even more surprising to the modern reader is not only hearing this request but seeing its results: Yahweh’s wrath was propitiated; it began to rain (2 Samuel 21:10). The narrative ends in great sadness and compassion toward the corpses of the slain, a heavy lesson on Yahweh’s holiness and His zeal for the covenant and for the protection of the most vulnerable and insignificant in His kingdom.
Second, notice the heroics of David’s mighty warriors both in killing the Philistine giants in 2 Samuel 21:15-21 and in their deeds 2 Samuel 23:8-39. In the middle of this
passage we find a psalm of David in 2 Samuel 22 that in essence is the same as Psalm 18. Here the psalm highlights the fact that the victories of David’s mighty men, like those of the king himself, were attained through Yahweh’s zeal for His anointed. All of the almost cinematic descriptions of power in the psalm show Yahweh’s direction of even the forces of nature (forces far beyond David’s authority and power) in combination for the benefit of His anointed one and for his rescue. Placed between the passages on victory over the Philistine giants and the achievements of the mighty men, this psalm shows Yahweh’s power and passion to establish His anointed. Therefore David can
celebrate: “The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation, the God who gave me vengeance and brought down peoples under me, who brought me out from my enemies; you exalted me above those who rose against me; you delivered me from men of violence. For this I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations, and sing praises to your name. Great salvation he brings to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever” (2 Samuel 22:47-51). We see all of this mercy and favor directed to David because Yahweh is
faithful to His covenant revealed to David in 2 Samuel 7.
David celebrates Yahweh’s faithfulness to His covenant with another brief psalm in 2 Samuel 23:1-7. By faith and by Yahweh’s revelation he sees a Descendant of his who will reign in true and perfect righteousness beyond what David has attained in his reign: “One rules justly over men, ruling in the fear of God” (2 Samuel 23:3). His government will be the beginning of a time of rest and justice: “He dawns on them like the morning light, like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning, like rain that makes the grass to sprout from the earth” (2 Samuel 23:4). David and his house do not deserve this favor (2 Samuel 23:5); this favor is nothing less than Yahweh’s grace brought to light: “For he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and secure” (2 Samuel 23:5). The same zeal that was shown in David’s rescue described in 2 Samuel 22 will be unleashed for the future Anointed One under whom God will make all His enemies submit.
In the last chapter of today’s reading (and of all of 2 Samuel), David sins by taking a census of the people. Remember that in our study of Exodus 30, it seems that a census of Israel left it guilty – perhaps because of the pride it could engender or self-confidence in life – and therefore everyone had to pay a price of atonement or salvation, recognizing that their lives counted in the census existed only by Yahweh’s grace and rescue. Whether David’s census was sinful because of pride, because of not collecting atonement money or for some other reason, we can make two observations:
1) This was completely under Yahweh’s control, this time for the punishment of His people: “And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, ‘Go, number Israel and Judah’” (2 Samuel 24:1), and
2) The sin is so obvious that not even Joab wants to count them: “May the LORD your God add to the people a hundred times as many as they are, while the eyes of the lord my king still see it, but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?” (2 Samuel 24:3)
“But the king’s word prevailed against Joab and the commanders of the army” (2 Samuel 24:4). After David recognizes his sin, Yahweh gives him three options for his
punishment, and the king chooses either of the two (the first or the third) that will allow him to fall under Yahweh’s mercies (2 Samuel 24:13-14). Seventy thousand men die, and Yahweh’s mercy stops the hand of the angel who destroyed the people so that no more would die. Afterwards, Yahweh’s wrath is propitiated by the sacrifices on the
threshing floor of Arauna the Jebusite (2 Samuel 24:25; 1 Chronicles 21:26-28). Seeing that Yahweh hears the petitions of His people from this site, David announces, “Here shall be the house of the LORD God and here the altar of burnt offering for Israel” (1
Chronicles 22:1). This is where Yahweh’s temple will be built – the tragedy of the plague has now directed David to find the place where Yahweh’s grace through His covenant will be evident for the coming generations of His people.
Therefore today’s reading, although it seems strange and jumbled on the first reading, is a mosaic of themes which stand out in all of 1 and 2 Samuel and in all of the Bible we have read so far: Yahweh’s faithfulness to His covenant, the zeal with which He establishes, protects and exalts His anointed one and the need for propitiation from Yahweh’s just wrath against sin. All of this is declared in preparation for David’s future descendant, Jesus Christ, the Anointed One above all. Meanwhile, we continue the narrative tomorrow as we begin the first book of Kings.
