Sheba's Rebellion/Gibeonites Avenged

There always seemed to be someone waiting for an opportunity to usurp the throne! Some "teacher's pet" style jealousies erupted over which tribes were entitled to David's affections. The disgruntled tribes produced a troublemaker by the name of Sheba who sought to divide the kingdom by taking the allegiance of the 10 tribes of Israel. To squelch this rebellion, David summoned Amasa, who had been made commander of the army over Joab shortly after Absalom had been killed. The Bible does not say whether or not David knew that Joab had killed Absalom, but it is certainly likely as there was no other obvious reason for his demotion. It was probably out of jealousy that Joab killed his cousin Amasa, or was perhaps an effort to regain his position as commander. After the beheading of Sheba, verse 20:23 states that Joab was "over Israel's entire army", so he was evidently reinstated.

Now... the Gibeonites. I had to look back to see who they were and what their significance was. these were the people who had come to Joshua in the desert under false pretenses and tricked him into making an alliance with them, The Israelites had been told not to make alliances with any of the peoples living in the Promised Land, but the Gibeonites had convinced Joshua, who did not consult the Lord, that they were from a distant land. Very shortly thereafter, the Gibeonites called upon the Israelites to defend them against an enemy at Gilgal. This was the battle where the sun stood still for 24 hours. As punishment for their deception, they were made bondsmen and wood cutters for the Isrealites. Saul, however, had not honored the treaty with the Gibeonites and had made an attempt to annihilate them. Somehow the Lord communicated to David (through Nathan the prophet, the Umim and Thummim, or by direct revelation) that a recent famine was the result of this unsettled score. To make amends, David agreed to turn over 7 sons of Saul to be executed for the crimes against the Gibeonites. This was in keeping with Mosaic law, which allowed for the "avenger of blood" (the nearest male blood relative of a person who had been killed; Num. 35:16-25) to execute the murderer. This situation did not entirely correspond with the intent of the "avenger of blood" law, but I think David must have recognized the need for propitiation. Because it was not legal to execute one man for the crimes of another, (Ez. 18:4, "the soul who sins is the one who will die"), Saul's sons must have been complicit in the crime. In fact, the opening verse of chapter 21 explains the famine by stating... "It is on account of Saul and his blood-stained house".

Tomorrow's reading: 2 Samuel 22; Psalm 18