2 SAMUEL LESSON 22


     We will begin this lesson in II Samuel 21:1 "Then there was a
famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David
inquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, [It is] for Saul, and for
[his] bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites."

     This chapter is not in chronological order after chapter 20. In
fact, this happened many years before the happenings, we just studied
about. Famines are caused by the withholding of rain from the land by
the LORD, Himself. Notice, David went to the LORD for the answer to
the famine. This happened soon after the death of Saul, perhaps. This
is not because of David's sin, but the sin of Saul. Saul had made a
peace treaty with these people for them to be his servants. Saul broke
the treaty, and killed the people. Saul had given his word in the
sight of God, and then went back on it. God held him responsible.

     II Samuel 21:2 "And the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto
them; (now the Gibeonites [were] not of the children of Israel, but of
the remnant of the Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn unto
them: and Saul sought to slay them in his zeal to the children of
Israel and Judah.)"

     Saul's zeal in killing them, after making a peace treaty with an
oath to God, has, now, caused this great famine. It seemed, that Saul
kept God's law, when it was convenient. If he could acquire land, or
valuables, it did not bother him to break an oath and kill the people.
This is similar to when he killed the priests, to further himself.

     II Samuel 21:3 "Wherefore David said unto the Gibeonites, What
shall I do for you? and wherewith shall I make the atonement, that ye
may bless the inheritance of the LORD?"

     The breaking of the oath put them out of favorable relationship
with God. The sin must be atoned for. David asked the Gibeonites, what
should he do to receive atonement, since the sin was committed on
them? David realizes this famine will not stop, until restitution is
made.

     II Samuel 21:4 "And the Gibeonites said unto him, We will have no
silver nor gold of Saul, nor of his house; neither for us shalt thou
kill any man in Israel. And he said, What ye shall say, [that] will I
do for you."

     David agreed to do whatever was right in their sight. They did
not want the wealth of Israel, nor even the life of the Israelites in
restitution.

     II Samuel 21:5 "And they answered the king, The man that consumed
us, and that devised against us [that] we should be destroyed from
remaining in any of the coasts of Israel,"  II Samuel 21:6 "Let seven
men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto
the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, [whom] the LORD did choose. And the king
said, I will give [them]."

     Saul is dead, and he is the one who broke the oath. The people of
Gibeon do not want the name of Saul to live on in Israel, so they want
his male children killed. The reason they asked for seven, is because
they were aware of how many there were. Seven means spiritually
complete, as well. They were to be hanged in the streets publicly, to
demonstrate the fact that God had allowed this for the breaking of an
oath.

     II Samuel 21:7 "But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of
Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the LORD'S oath that [was]
between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul."

     David was not aware there was a Mephibosheth, until after the 7
1/2 year reign over just Judah. This had to happen after that time.
Jonathan, Mephibosheth's father, had made a covenant with David, so
David could not allow Mephibosheth to be killed.

     II Samuel 21:8 "But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the
daughter of Aiah, whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth;
and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up
for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite:" II Samuel 21:9 "And
he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged
them in the hill before the LORD: and they fell [all] seven together,
and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first [days], in
the beginning of barley harvest."

     This is a perfect example of the sins of the father being paid
for by his sons. Rizpah was actually a concubine of Saul. She was a
foreign woman, a Hivite. Two of her sons were killed, and hung out
until the rain came. This, perhaps is speaking of step-children of
Michal, because she was barren and had no children.  These 5 children
are, possibly, children of Merab, the daughter of Saul. The barley
harvest happened about our April.  This seems so cruel, but in the
law, bloody killings must be paid with blood.

     II Samuel 21:10  "And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth,
and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest
until water dropped upon them out of heaven, and suffered neither the
birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field
by night."

     This shows the great love of this mother for her sons. The sack
cloth was the only shelter she had from the blazing sun. It could have
been six months, until the fall rains came. When the rain came, they
would take them down, because the atonement had been made and
accepted.

     II Samuel 21:11 "And it was told David what Rizpah the daughter
of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done." II Samuel 21:12  "And David
went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from
the men of Jabesh-gilead, which had stolen them from the street of
Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them, when the Philistines
had slain Saul in Gilboa:"  II Samuel 21:13 "And he brought up from
thence the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son; and they
gathered the bones of them that were hanged."

     David gave Saul, Jonathan, and those seven, who were hanged, a
burial place. Saul's and Jonathan's bones had not been recovered,
until this time.

     II Samuel 21:14 "And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son
buried they in the country of Benjamin in Zelah, in the sepulchre of
Kish his father: and they performed all that the king commanded. And
after that God was entreated for the land."

     They were all buried in the homeland in the sepulchre of Kish,
Saul's father.

     II Samuel 21:15  "Moreover the Philistines had yet war again with
Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought
against the Philistines: and David waxed faint."

     This is the beginning of a new record of the things, that
happened here. This was a time, when David was leading the battle with
his servants. In this particular battle, David becomes faint.
Sometimes, they did not eat for a long time, and that could have
caused the faintness.

     II Samuel 21:16 "And Ishbi-benob, which [was] of the sons of the
giant, the weight of whose spear [weighed] three hundred [shekels] of
brass in weight, he being girded with a new [sword], thought to have
slain David."

     The giant, spoken of, is, possibly, Goliath that David had
killed.  This son of the giant had a spear half the size of Goliath's.
Goliath's weighed 16 pounds, and this one weighed 8 pounds.  The new
sword was to slay David with.

     II Samuel 21:17 "But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him,
and smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David sware
unto him, saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that
thou quench not the light of Israel."

     This was during the time that David was king of Israel.  Zeruiah
was David's sister. Abishai, then, was the nephew of David. He saved
David's life, when he killed the son of the giant. David was their
king, and they wanted him to remain safe as king of their land.  He
was the symbol of Israel.

     II Samuel 21:18 "And it came to pass after this, that there was
again a battle with the Philistines at Gob: then Sibbechai the
Hushathite slew Saph, which [was] of the sons of the giant."

     Another son of the giant, Goliath, decided he would kill David,
and he fought with Sibbechai, and Sibbechai killed him. Sibbechai
belonged to the prominent family of Judah, the Zarhites. He was
Captain of the army of 24,000 men of David's army.

     II Samuel 21:19 "And there was again a battle in Gob with the
Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim, a Beth-lehemite,
slew [the brother of] Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear
[was] like a weaver's beam."

     It appears, the entire family of Goliath was out to kill David.
Elhanan kills the brother of Goliath, who had to be a giant, also,
because his spear was like a weavers beam. We know very little of
Elhanan, except what we read right here. He was of the tribe of
Benjamin.

     II Samuel 21:20 "And there was yet a battle in Gath, where was a
man of [great] stature, that had on every hand six fingers, and on
every foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was born
to the giant."

     This is speaking of one of the sons of Goliath being born with 6
fingers on each hand, and 6 toes on each foot. It appeared, there was
a large family of the giants, related to Goliath.

     II Samuel 21:21 "And when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of
Shimeah the brother of David slew him."

     Shimeah was the brother of king David, and Jonathan killed this
giant with the twelve fingers and twelve toes.

     II Samuel 21:22 "These four were born to the giant in Gath, and
fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants."

     It appears that, David killed the first of this family of giants,
when he killed Goliath. David's men killed the other three giants.





















                        2 Samuel 22 Questions


1.  How long did the famine, mentioned in verse 1, last?
2.  David inquired of the __________.
3.  The famine was for the bloody house of ________.
4.  What are famines caused by?
5.  What terrible thing had Saul done?
6.  Who was Saul's sin committed against?
7.  Who were the Gibeonites?
8.  Who did David ask, what he was to do to atone for the sin of Saul?
9.  What did they ask for?
10. Why did they want this?
11. The king spared _______________.
12. What was David's reason for saving him?
13. Who was the mother of two of the sons, who were killed for the
    sin?
14. Who was the mother who lost 5 sons?
15. Who hanged the boys?
16. When is barley harvest?
17. What unusual thing did Rizpah do?
18. How long would the seven have to hang there?
19. When the rain came, it showed what?
20. What was Rizpah to Saul?
21. When David found out what Rizpah did, what did he do?
22. Where did they bury Saul and Jonathan?
23. What happened to David in the battle with the Philistines in verse
    15?
24. How much did the spear of Ishbi-benob weigh?
25. Why was he wearing a new sword?
26. Who killed the giant Ishbi-benob?
27. What did the men of David's army ask of him, after this battle?
28. What relation was Abishai to David?
29. Who slew the giant, Saph?
30. What family did Sibbechai belong to?
31. Who slew the brother of Goliath?
32. What was strange about the giant in verse 20?
33. Who had killed the first giant, Goliath?