May 25, 2014 - Sunday

Start Time: 6:06 A.M.

End Time: 6:36 A.M.

Title: The Gibeonites Avenged

Scripture: 2 Samuel 21:1 – 22  

God’s Message / God’s Promise / God’s Commands:

→ During the reign of David, there was a famine for three successive years; so David sought the face of the Lord. The Lord said, “It is on account of Saul and his blood-stained house; it is because he put the Gibeonites to death.” The king summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them. (Now the Gibeonites were not a part of Israel but were survivors of the Amorites; the Israelites had sworn to spare them, but Saul in his zeal for Israel and Judah had tried to annihilate them.)  David asked the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? How shall I make atonement so that you will bless the Lord’s inheritance?”  The Gibeonites answered him, “We have no right to demand silver or gold from Saul or his family, nor do we have the right to put anyone in Israel to death.” “What do you want me to do for you?” David asked. They answered the king, “As for the man who destroyed us and plotted against us so that we have been decimated and have no place anywhere in Israel, let seven of his male descendants be given to us to be killed and their bodies exposed before the Lord at Gibeah of Saul—the Lord’s chosen one.” So the king said, “I will give them to you.” The king spared Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, because of the oath before the Lord between David and Jonathan son of Saul. But the king took Armoni and Mephibosheth, the two sons of Aiah’s daughter Rizpah, whom she had borne to Saul, together with the five sons of Saul’s daughter Merab,^[a] whom she had borne to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite.  He handed them over to the Gibeonites, who killed them and exposed their bodies on a hill before the Lord. All seven of them fell together; they were put to death during the first days of the harvest, just as the barley harvest was beginning.  Rizpah daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on a rock. From the beginning of the harvest till the rain poured down from the heavens on the bodies, she did not let the birds touch them by day or the wild animals by night. When David was told what Aiah’s daughter Rizpah, Saul’s concubine, had done, he went and took the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from the citizens of Jabesh Gilead. (They had stolen their bodies from the public square at Beth Shan, where the Philistines had hung them after they struck Saul down on Gilboa.) David brought the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from there, and the bones of those who had been killed and exposed were gathered up. They buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish, at Zela in Benjamin, and did everything the king commanded. After that, God answered prayer in behalf of the land.

NOTES:

Ø God is our avenger!  The Gibeonites were the last descendants of the Amorites and God made a covenant with them that they will be spared but Saul did not honor that covenant and tried slaughtering them.  So when King David returned to his throne, famine struck the land for 3 years.  Only when David sought the Lord’s face did he knew what he should do to stop the famine.  God allowed the famine to be brought upon His people because of a broken promise.  Here we see that 1) God values His word and covenant with everyone, 2) God avenges us when His promise was broken by anyone, 3) Only when we seek God’s face will we be able to break the curse or bad things happening in our lives.  Hallelujah!  Because God is a God of His word and He will fulfill His promises always. But when someone breaks the promise He made, He made sure that someone will pay for it and at the same time, He finds a way to restore everything that was broken in His covenant with us!  Praise the Lord!  You are truly an amazing God!  Thank You Jesus!

Ø To break from our bad luck (there’s really no such thing as bad luck but more of a bad karma), all we need to do is seek God’s face so we get direction on what to do to restore everything to its order.  Many times when things go wrong, we check on what we did and didn’t do but most of the time, we just need to go to God and ask Him what needs to be done.  That’s all it takes but we tend to do things on our own first, forgetting that everything happens because God allowed it to so if we’re looking for a reason or a solution, the best person to go to is God!

→ Once again there was a battle between the Philistines and Israel. David went down with his men to fight against the Philistines, and he became exhausted.  And Ishbi-Benob, one of the descendants of Rapha, whose bronze spearhead weighed three hundred shekels^[b] and who was armed with a new sword, said he would kill David. But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to David’s rescue; he struck the Philistine down and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, saying, “Never again will you go out with us to battle, so that the lamp of Israel will not be extinguished.” In the course of time, there was another battle with the Philistines, at Gob. At that time Sibbekai the Hushathite killed Saph, one of the descendants of Rapha.  In another battle with the Philistines at Gob, Elhanan son of Jair^[c] the Bethlehemite killed the brother of^[d] Goliath the Gittite, who had a spear with a shaft like a weaver’s rod. In still another battle, which took place at Gath, there was a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all. He also was descended from Rapha. When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of Shimeah, David’s brother, killed him.  These four were descendants of Rapha in Gath, and they fell at the hands of David and his men.

NOTES:

Ø When God is our light and guide, He makes sure everything is protected and safe.  He has our back no matter what even in times of war and when we are becoming weak and struggling, God finds a way to keep us safe.  Our God is our protector and just like how He protected David before, He will do the same to us today.  So trust Him fully just like David trusted Him.  So we may walk in full confidence because we know He is with us and He is in control.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, thank You because You are our avenger!  When people break their promises and do things against us that breaks Your promises to us, You will avenge us always so there’s no point of putting justice into our hands because true justice is only achieve in You.  Lord thank You because You value Your word for us and Your promises are always true.  Thank You because You always find a way to fulfill it and when it is broken because of other people , You do not only avenge us but also restores to us what was taken or broken.  Thank You Lord because when we seek Your face, only then can we find the answer to break from our depression or famine.  Lord help me to always remember to seek Your face at all times so that when difficult times come, I am ready and know what to do.  Lord, I want You to be my light and guide.  I want You to teach me and lead me because I know that in You I am safe.  You protect me and guard me and ensures my safety even when I am weak and struggling.  So I give everything to You and You alone Lord.  Take hold of my life and show me Your love, favor and grace every day.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen!