What we have in the passage in front of us is pretty unique. Surely it's meant to stop us in our tracks, and make us think of the seriousness of sin, and of what it costs for sin to be atoned for. And even then, Gibeah is nothing compared to Calvary, when the holy wrath of God was poured out

Saul wasn't just an ordinary father. He was the king. And his actions as king involve more than himself alone. Just as if our government were to declare war with another country, we would all be at war. And Saul's sin brings consequences for his house - his dynasty. Now there's a new ruling dynasty; it's the house of David

The shocking thing in this chapter is that the atonement is made not by executing Saul, who's not around anymore, but by executing seven of his sons. Don't miss the main point that this passage is making - which is that sin has consequences, and the guilt of sin will remain until atonement is made. Just because Saul is off

In law, there's such a thing as a statute of limitations. There are some crimes, where, if legal proceedings aren't begun within a certain number of years, then it's too late to do anything about it. But there's no statute of limitations with God. One of the great myths we believe is that time heals sin. That if something happened

We have a God who doesn't just tell us that things are bad. We could work that out for ourselves. He also tells us why they're bad, and that's a mercy that we shouldn't take for granted. We see it in the passage in front of us. The chapter opens with a famine. But there's something unusual about the famine

We've seen rebellion, but ultimately peace. God is still holding the kingdom together. And that's a good thing.It's very interesting to notice that this is the third of three stories in fairly quick succession in the Bible about women inflicting head wounds. The first is in Judges 4. There you have a woman called Jael, who welcomes an enemy, Sisera,

It's possible to be on the right side - but not to be peaceable and faithful. Don't we see that with Joab? Joab exclaims in verse 20: 'Far be it from me, that I should swallow up or destroy! That is not true.' Yet what has Joab just done? He's just fresh from murdering Amasa. Reaching out and holding his

Amidst all the chaos and strife, there is one person who stands out in this chapter. Someone who, when those around her are losing their heads, is in her own words 'peaceable and faithful in Israel'. We're not told her name. Simply in verse 16 that she is a wise woman from the city of Abel. This city is under

In verse 3 David comes to his house at Jerusalem. It should have been a glorious moment. But it's not quite a return to how things were before his sin with Bathsheba. On the national level, there are clear tensions, which in the days of David's son Solomon will become even clearer when the nation fractures irreversibly. It's all part

Sheba's rebellion is different from Absalom's in many ways. Remember how Absalom had planned his rebellion for years. Sheba, on the other hand, is an opportunist. He can see the tensions. The fault lines are clear. And so he tries to exploit them for his own benefit. But at the heart of it, both these rebellions are the same. They