The King’s Return and Continued Conflict

Second Samuel 21 carries the realism further with a story of David’s settling things with the Gibeonites. The Gibeonites, we remember, have a rather checkered past with Israel. At the time of the conquest and entrance into the promised land under the leadership of Joshua, they deceived Israel in a treaty (Josh 9). The Gibeonites also experienced terror at Saul’s hands in the early monarchy. It is unclear when this event happened, but at some stage Saul slaughtered the Gibeonites because the Lord says to David that Saul had done just that (2 Sam 21:1).

Yahweh tells David this information after the king inquired of Him. And David had inquired of the Lord because “there was a famine for three successive years” (21:1). When famine strikes God’s land, there is usually a reason for it, at least according to the biblical account. Both Leviticus 26:20 and Deuteronomy 28:24 indicate that Yahweh sends famine to His land as a result of the infidelity of His people. It is a way for God to snap His people out of their apathy, lethargy, and rebellion so they would turn back to Him. Although the narrative never clearly tells us that the famine is divine discipline, the sharp Israelite reader would certainly not miss it. It reveals that all is not well in Israel under David’s reign.

At any rate, when David inquired of the Lord as to why they experienced such a terrible famine, Yahweh informed David, “It is because of the blood shed by Saul and his family when he killed the Gibeonites” (21:2). David went to the Gibeonites to determine what restitution could be made. Their response? David should give seven remaining sons from Saul’s family for execution and display: “Let seven of his male descendants be handed over to us so we may hang them in the presence of the Lord at Gibeah of Saul, the Lord’s chosen” (21:6). David did as they requested, only sparing Mephibosheth.

Finally, the text reveals that the Philistine problem kicks up again in David’s reign (21:15-22). Not only that, the Philistines who appeared at this time all descended from, get this, Goliath! David defeated the giant at the birth of his reign, and now in his dotage giants enter into the land once again. Although David did defeat these Philistines, as the text records (21:22), the fact that they appear in the narrative at this juncture draws attention to impending and continuous conflict and threat. All told, this casts a long, dark shadow on the reign of the once promising king.

In so many ways 2 Samuel 21 serves as a fitting conclusion to chapters 9–20: David’s rise, and fall, and return. But the return is complicated, bloody, and ambiguous. What are we to learn from this chapter, and what does the narrative want to communicate? Over and above all, we are to learn the abiding consequences of sin.

Firth is one of the best commentators on the narrative of Samuel and notes the importance of this lesson (1 & 2 Samuel, 506–7). Sin takes us much farther than we want to go, and its reach is far greater than we ever could have imagined. The sins of both Saul and David are like stones thrown in the middle of a pond. The initial plunge into the water makes a big splash, but the ripples move from the middle of the pond, to the shore, and then back to the middle in innumerable waves and mini-collisions. This is the nature of sin. One never can calculate its fallout.

Saul’s sin impacts not only himself but also his family. The death of Saul’s lineage (2 Sam 21) almost appears out of nowhere. However, it appears as an exclamation point on the failed, faithless reign of that feckless king. But before we go too hard on Saul, the narrative reminds us that both kings are equally offensive.

David’s sin impacts not only himself but also his family. His accession to the throne is anything but peaceful. Although the death of Saul’s lineage appeared out of nowhere, David’s troubles are plainly foreshadowed. The text has hinted and shown that David’s sin impacted the king, his family, his kingdom, and the nations around him. David’s sin brought horrific consequences one after another in an unending succession of pain.

As biblical narrative is designed to instruct its readers, we should not miss the lesson here. The fallout of sin is like that of a nuclear disaster: its impact is immeasurable. As Christians, we like to think that Jesus forgives our sin and takes the blame of guilt away. And this is, without doubt, true. Jesus delivers us from the guilt and blame of sin. The stain of sin is washed away. We stand holy and righteous before a holy God because Christ’s blood covers us.

However, on this side of eternity, consequences of sin still remain. Imagine that a student became intoxicated and drove his vehicle drunk. As he is driving, he loses control and strikes a family in an SUV in an oncoming lane. The family is killed. The student lives. Now imagine that the student confesses his crime, accepts responsibility, and takes his punishment from the state. We would say that the punishment fit the crime and that the student should understand that actions have consequences.

Now imagine that this student is a Christian. Let’s say he confesses his sin and repents of it. Is he forgiven? Yes. But do the consequences remain? Yes. He is freed from the stain of sin and the blame that comes with it. He is not condemned for his sin before God because the blood of Jesus covers him, and he is hid in the cross of Christ. And yet the fallout of sin still remains. A family is dead. A student is in jail. And parents are deprived of their son. Sin has consequences that abide long after the sin is committed.

Second Samuel 19–21 depicts in awful detail the fallout of sin. There is some hope despite the fallout. The good news in the midst of the fallout is that sin does not have to be the final word on our lives eternally. We can be freed from the blame of sin before God even if we face consequences of sin and wrestle with them day in and day out. The consequences of sin do not determine our eternal destiny, but they do affect our days now.

This is why it is important to keep the good news of Jesus before our eyes. Jesus gives us hope to endure today and confidence that we will endure for eternity. The blood of Christ tells us that our today, whatever our circumstances, does not determine our tomorrows. Jesus has given a word on our future if we are in Him: we will be with Him. This confidence that Christ gives us for tomorrow actually gives us strength for enduring today.

Finally, the close of the king’s return to the throne of Israel reminds us that David will not be the Savior the world needs. By the close of his story, the giants have returned, sin’s stench wafts through the halls of the palace, and his dynasty has been tattered by a royal coup and political intrigue.

If the kingdom of God is God’s rule over God’s people in God’s land, the kingdom of David was decidedly not a faithful presentation of that ideal. The world would wait for another Davidic king to bring in that kingdom.

Only in the advent of Jesus do we have the announcement of the kingdom. Jesus’ words are crystal clear: “Jesus went to Galilee, preaching the good news of God: ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe in the good news!’” (Mark 1:14-15). Jesus would bring God’s kingdom at the fullness of time.

In the meantime God’s people would wait. They would wait for the King to come. They would wait for God’s reign to be brought to reality in the real world.