Menu

2 Samuel 21:7-14 – Atonement That Brings Blessing

There’s a contrast in this chapter between the old king, and the new one. Saul is a covenant breaking king. He violated the covenant that had been made before God with the Gibeonites. But there’s a little aside in verse 7 that reminds us that David is very different: “But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Saul’s son Jonathan, because of the oath of the LORD that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.” Saul ignores covenants and takes life. David keeps covenants and saves life. In this chapter, we have a better king than Saul, and that is David. But of course, as Christians we have a better king than even David. We’ve seen enough of David’s sin in recent weeks to realise that he was very, very far from perfect. And if there’s such a contrast between Saul and David, how much more infinitely glorious is Jesus Christ.

We can be confident than atonement works. How does this chapter start? Famine. How does our section end, in verse 14? God responds to the pleas for the land to bring an end to famine. Saul’s sons are hanged in the first days of harvest, at the beginning of barley harvest. Now there wouldn’t have been much of a harvest that year, but it was coming. In verse 10 Rizpah guards the bodies until rain falls from the heavens. And rain signals the end of famine. It’s all telling us that once atonement is made, the famine will be over, and blessing will come. Once atonement is made, it’s the beginning of the harvest. And don’t we see that with the death of Jesus? What happens 50 days later? Pentecost. The feast of harvest, or firstfruits. Atonement had been made on the cross, and now the first showers of blessing are falling, and 3,000 are saved. If you know true blessing in your life, if you’re numbered with God’s people by faith, it’s only because atonement has been made for you at the cross. But on the other hand, if you approach the cross like some approach this passage, as an embarrassment, as something to be skipped over as quickly as possible, then you won’t know the blessing that follows. But God in his kindness is inviting you again to experience the rule of a better king, and to experience the amazing truth that though atonement is brutal, it actually works, and you too can know the showers of blessing that it brings.

Question

  1. How does atonement work?

Prayer Points

  1. Pray for the preaching and hearing of God’s Word tomorrow.
  2. Use prayer points from your congregation.
  3. Pray for family matters.