SCRIPTURE: 2 Samuel 21
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
Lord, as I read 2 Samuel 21, I am stuck. I do not find this inspiring, I am not sure what You want me to learn. I don’t get that there is a famine because Saul killed the Gibeonites. I appreciate that he broke the treaty with them, but I don’t get why THIS sin warrants a famine, when there were no doubt many other sins, crimes, injustices at the time. Why THIS sin in THIS way? And that the famine does not end until the bones of Saul and Jonathan and his family are given a proper burial, this does not make sense either. Obviously I am missing something.
One thing I do get from this is the curse that pervades it, and the need for something to lift the curse. The parallel with You is how Your death and burial lift the curse, dealing with the broken treaty of sin, and bringing to an end the misery it causes. It is a very crude parallel. You are the sacrificial lamb that takes away our guilt and the guilt of the world, and thereby lifts the curse! The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! [John 1:29]
The idea of Rizpah mourning her sons for the entire harvest season blows me away. I imagine her sitting with the decomposing bodies, shewing the animals and birds away, night and day. I guess its not unheard of…
CHICAGO (Nov 10, 2008) Woman found living with three dead siblings — An elderly woman has been living with two skeletons and a badly decomposed body of her siblings in a suburb of Chicago, one of whom may have died at least 20 years ago, authorities said on Saturday.
Lord, is there a connection between Rizpah’s grief and Your tears when Lazarus died, even though you knew that he would be restored? The curse of sin is death, and the grief that it brings. Grief is real, You do not remove it. But You do defeat it. We should still grieve, but because of You, we grieve with hope, not despair [To grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope, 1 Thessalonians 4:13]. Death is huge, terrible, awful. It is a giant (like the giants David faces at the end of this chapter). But with God’s help, even death is defeated. The curse is lifted. This passage reminds me of the reality of death, but it also gives me a hint of hope, that someone will die so that the curse will be lifted. That someone is You, Lord!
PRAYER:
Lord, thank You that as I wrestled with this passage, I did find something to inspire me with hope. Thank You for lifting the curse from me, and defeating the giants of sin, death and hell!