2 Samuel 21:7-9 – God will deal with unrepented sin

First Samuel 21 revealed that during those times when Saul was hot on David’s heel, he was dwelling in Gibeah. It was probably during those times that he had unjustly massacred some of the Gibeonites. A delayed justice took place in David’s reign. God sent a three-year famine to punish the people of Israel. When David had established the reason for this long-drawn famine, he asked the Gibeonites what he could do to atone for Saul’s misdeed. After some arbitration, the Gibeonites asked for seven sons of Saul to be handed over to them to be impaled in the field. David consented.

In 2 Samuel 21:7-9, the seven sons of Saul’s family handed to the Gibeonites were identified. They were Armoni and Mephibosheth, the sons whom Rizpah had borne to Saul. Verse 7 made it clear that this Mephibosheth was not to be mistaken for Jonathan’s crippled son. Then the other five were Saul’s grandsons. They were the five sons of Saul’s daughter, Merab. The Gibeonites took the seven and impaled them in the field during the first day of the beginning of the barley harvest.

It was possible that these seven were involved in the killing of the Gibeonites. Why do we say so? It would be a violation of God’s law to make innocent people pay for the crime they had not committed. Hence, it is safe to assume that the seven handed over to the Gibeonites were involved in Saul’s crime. The two sons of Saul were old enough at that point to be involved in the ethnic cleansing. But what about the five grandsons of Saul. Were they old enough to be part of the crime? Merab was married before David was forced to escape from Saul. At the time of their grandfather’s ethnic cleansing, they would be old enough to be involved in the crime.  

One thing for sure is that in life, our sins will find us out. Nothing is hidden from the eyes of God. He takes notes of everything. The seven descendants of Saul participated in the ethnic cleansing with Saul and must have felt that whatever was done was done long ago. But their wrong had caught up with them. God allowed the famine to expose the wrong and since they were involved in the crime, they became culpable and paid dearly for it. Thankfully, today when we have truly repented of our sins, Christ's efficacious atonement redeems us from our past. We stand covered by His blood that was shed for us. However, let us be sure to keep short accounts with God and not leave any unrepented sin hanging around.