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Dealing with Disaster - (2 of 3)

This the second part of Dealing with Disaster with our model of how to respond to crisis that is shown in 2 Samuel 21:1-14.  (vs 4-6 here)

We saw in Part 1 that when David faced a crisis, he first inquired of God, and then he inquired of the people who had been wronged.  He wanted to know how he could possibly make up for the prior wrongdoings to them and atone for the actions of his predecessor.

In a request that would be considered shocking by most standards today, the Gibeonites did not ask for "silver and gold."  Money and financial reimbursements would not take away the pain their people had experienced.  They requested that seven of Saul's male descendants be turned over to them and hanged in the presence of the Lord.  While it is pretty easy to assume that Saul's attempted genocide of the people resulted in much more than seven deaths, we can assume that there was some symbolism here.  And this is certainly not a method of reconciliation that is acceptable in today's culture, but a covenant had been broken, people had been murdered, and wrongs had to be righted.

While this seems extremely unfair that children and grandchildren of Saul would die for his sins, it was actually a cultural norm.  He is my abbreviated version of Lifeway's commentary:
Culture today would say something like. "The sons were not considered guilty, but were still murdered.  How is that fair?"
Gibeonites:  "In reality, children unfairly receive the repercussions of their parents' decisions all the time, even if the children are morally guiltless.  If the parents decide to go to war, they might lose, and their fields are burned and their cities are taken, the children will suffer starvation, enslavement, and violent death...even if your modern world, suppose a mother gets drunk and drives her car with her children in the back seat.  If she has an accident, they may die or be paralyzed.  Is that fair?  No, but that is how life works."

While this may not seem fair, it does teach us another biblical truth - "Believers should expect God to act with justice toward all people."
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