Vengeance is...

Passage: 2 Samuel 21:1-14

The Old Testament regularly assaults our sensibilities. As Bible-believing Christians we’re convinced that God’s way is a way of peace and non-violence. We believe that, in spite of our baser instincts, we should be nice to people. Avoid hurting other people. Even “love our enemies.” If these are the rules God gives us, we assume these are the rules God should abide by, too.

What we’re periodically reminded of is that God is a God of justice as well as mercy. God holds all people to account. God keeps track of evil and injustice. God is a God of principle, and God demands that Creation conform to his principle.

In 2 Samuel 21 the people of Israel are suffering. David, the man after God’s own heart, recognizes that everything happens for a reason – even famines. So he consults God to discern the reason for the famine. God tells him, “An injustice has been done, and it must be accounted for.”

The injustice that God describes – Saul’s unauthorized slaughter of Gibeonites – isn’t clearly described in any earlier narrative. Some believe this may coincide with Saul’s expelling of mediums and spiritists from Israel (link). Some speculate that it was a misguided attempt of Saul to compensate for failing to wipe out the Amalekites per God’s command. Some, myself included, believe this may be a reference to Saul’s slaughter of the inhabitants of Nob, a city of priests mere miles from the territory of the Gibeonites.

At any rate God has kept record of an unauthorized and unjust atrocity that was committed years earlier. Reconciliation for this event is important enough to God that he holds all his people accountable years after the fact. And God commands David to address the injustice. This in itself doesn’t seem out of place. What rubs us the wrong way is how God prompts David to make amends. David goes back to the Gibeonites and invites them to choose their means of vengeance. First they identify that they don’t have a right to take the revenge they’ve been offered. This is proper. They aren’t officially God’s people, and the terms God spells out for the pursuit of justice only apply to the Israelites. But David, at God’s encouragement, extends the privilege to them. In response the Gibeonites ask to put to death seven of Saul’s existing descendants. David complies, chooses seven of Saul’s grandsons, and they are executed. This gives us pause. It doesn’t seem fair that these seven innocent men get arbitrarily plucked from their lives and snuffed out for something they didn’t do.

Here’s where we have to unpack some of the principles at work. First, God has spelled out rules for “blood vengeance". Generally these apply directly to the one who has committed the murder. In Deuteronomy 19 God says, “You must purge the evil from among you…life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.” In Deuteronomy 5 God says, “I am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me…” The unauthorized taking of a life must be accounted and atoned for. Saul’s descendents are punished for Saul’s sin; God is justified in pursuing the punishment because Saul’s descendents are sinners in their own right. In this story God behaves in a way we don’t like, but in a way that is consistent with God’s justice.

Another principle at play in this story warrants our attention. Throughout the Old Testament we are given instances in which God’s people kill other people. This only ever at God’s direct command. God’s basic, standing order is, “Don’t kill.” God himself periodically allows an exception, but only in response to God’s direct order. This applies to animal sacrifice. Look at instances in which unauthorized sacrifices are made. God punishes his people for sacrificing animals outside his prescribed orders. It certainly applies to killing people. There are prescribed instances in which an evildoer must be put to death. And there are special instances in which God commands his people to kill others. Any killing outside God’s direct command is prohibited – case in point, Saul’s slaughter of the Gibeonites.

How does any of this apply today? A few thoughts:

1. God holds us accountable for our sins. We believe that God forgets, or doesn’t care about, the evils and injustices we commit. Quite the contrary. God holds us accountable for every act. God offers forgiveness, but that forgiveness is effective in the face of our repentance. Repentance is literally “turning around” – leaving behind the sin or injustice for which we’ve been indicted. God doesn’t offer a simple, blanket, “you’re off the hook.” The challenge for God’s people is to be honestly, painfully reflective about the ways we’ve transgressed God’s rules and hurt other people. We are accountable to God for how we live.
2. God holds others accountable for their sins. The business of God’s grace and mercy is a relief when it comes to our sins. It feels like an affront when it comes to others’ sins. God holds them accountable, too. We can’t choose how God’s accountability will play out in someone else’s life. But we can know without a doubt that all people will be held accountable, in this life or the next, for how they’ve lived.
3. It is God’s prerogative to measure out justice however he will. We may not like the severity – or occasional lack thereof – with which God responds. But at the end of the day all people are sinners who deserve God’s condemnation. All of us have committed crimes against God and against each other that warrant God’s judgment. We have to live with how God chooses to measure it out – in the life of ancient Israel, and in our life today.