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2 Samuel 21:5-6. "They said to the king, 'The man who consumed us and planned to destroy us, so that we should have no place in all the territory of Israel, let seven of his sons be given to us, so that we may hang them up before the Lord at Gibeon on the mountain of the Lord.' And the king said, 'I will give them.'"

 

The ones speaking here are representatives of the Gibeonites. Having been told by God that the famine in Israel is a result of blood guilt on Saul, King David has called the Gibeonites to him in order to find a way to satisfy justice. The Gibeonites were a non-Jewish remnant of the Amorites who the people of Israel had sworn to spare. King Saul, though, in his zeal, had slain many of them, seeking to rid Israel of them. (2 Samuel 21:2) Because Saul, as king, had violated an oath of Israel, the entire nation was now suffering under a three-year long famine. David, Saul's successor, therefore asks the Gibeonites how he can make expiation to them, and they reply that it is not a matter of silver or gold, and instead make this request - that seven sons of Saul's house be given to them to be hanged publicly. David agrees to this request, and it is done.(2 Samuel 21:9).

 

Yesterday I wrote about how the people rising up and killing those who had murdered their king, even though he was a bad king, was justice. This reading today shows us more of how justice works. The sin of murdering the Gibeonites was Saul's, but even though he is no longer in the picture, the entire nation of Israel is suffering for it. Saul was king when he slaughtered the Gibeonites, and he did it in a mistaken zeal for his kingly duties, so his sin is imparted to the nation (As the King Goes, So Goes the Nation). Saul never repented nor atoned for this slaughter, so justice was never satisfied.

 

The Israelites, and even David their king, may have forgotten this injustice, but the Gibeonites have not, nor has God. So there is a famine. This is not something that most worldly leaders would experience and think "The nation must have something to atone for", but David is different. He is so close to God, he realizes there must be some reason for the famine (although it did take him three years before he did!), and he asks God. God is always ready to answer us when we go to Him with this kind of humility and recognition of our sinfulness, and He answers David very plainly. Now David has the big picture answer, but it is up to him to properly satisfy justice. Many might hear such an answer from God and reject it, thinking "Those are not our sins, we should not have to atone for them", but David knows what a king's duties are, and he knows the relationship the Jews have with God, so he accepts God's words and sets about making atonement.

 

The Gibeonites are to be commended here, too, I think. They could easily have asked for silver and gold and enriched themselves and their people, but they admit that is not the debt that is owed. It might seem cruel and pointless to us that seven sons of Saul should die in order to satisfy justice, but that is obviously what was necessary. The Gibeonites got no gain from this, other than their people seeing that the Israelites who had wronged them were willing to sacrifice their own blood in recognition of their wrongdoing. That is a very powerful message, and the only one that would cost the Israelites enough to be true atonement.

 

If Saul had realized his sin and attempted to make things right with the Gibeonites while he was still king, I think the price would not have been as high. It seems to me that justice delayed earns interest. Justice is never denied, because God is perfectly just and will eventually see it done, but it is very often delayed so that the harms to be remedied have festered, causing a host of other issues that also demand justice.

 

This is why frequent examination of conscience and confession are so important. We can make atonement for the things we have done that demand justice on a weekly, or even more frequent, basis, instead of letting them fester and earn interest. If we wait until we die and face the Just Judge, the payment due will be exponentially higher, so high, in fact, that some will reject having to make it, and will choose hell rather than admit their fault and pay the price of justice. But in His mercy, God has given us a way to avoid this, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, in which we not only are forgiven our sins, but are given tremendous grace that helps us avoid them in the future.