RIZPAH'S
DETERMINATION TO UNDERSTAND THE HANGING
November 4, 2012
MF Blume
2 Samuel 21:1-10 Then there was a famine in the days of
David three years, year after year; and David enquired of the LORD. And
the LORD answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he
slew the Gibeonites. And the king called the Gibeonites, and said
unto them; (now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but
of the remnant of the Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn
unto them: and Saul sought to slay them in his zeal to the children of
Israel and Judah.) Wherefore David said unto the Gibeonites, What shall
I do for you? and wherewith shall I make the atonement, that ye may
bless the inheritance of the LORD? And the Gibeonites said unto him, We
will have no silver nor gold of Saul, nor of his house; neither for us
shalt thou kill any man in Israel. And he said, What ye shall say, that
will I do for you. And they answered the king, The man that
consumed us, and that devised against us that we should be destroyed
from remaining in any of the coasts of Israel, Let seven men of
his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the LORD
in Gibeah of Saul, whom the LORD did choose. And the king said, I will
give them. But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the
son of Saul, because of the LORD'S oath that was between them, between
David and Jonathan the son of Saul. But the king took the two sons of
Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and
Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom
she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite:
And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they
hanged them in the hill before the LORD: and they fell all seven
together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first
days, in the beginning of barley harvest. And Rizpah the daughter of
Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the
beginning of harvest until water dropped upon them out of heaven, and
suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the
beasts of the field by night.
Hosea 6:1-3 Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath
torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.
After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise
us up, and we shall live in his sight. Then shall we know, if we
follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning;
and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain
unto the earth.
I first preached this a week after 9-11 occurred.
God wants us to be able to know what to do in the state of pain and
turmoil and troubles in life.
Imagine this MOTHER trying to come to grips with the devastating
tragedy of her children being slain.
· Mothers are mothers, no matter how bad or
wrong their children are.
· They brought those children into the world.
· And the agony that must have hit Rizpah when
her sons really did not do anything, anyway!
· Imagine her trying to come to grips with the
situation.
· What a horror.
· No child should have to die before their
parents do.
This message will help us all in our struggles and pains.
We need to bring the cross into the visible world where we hurt and
suffer.
Israel had a famine hit the nation for three full years.
· David realized God was not blessing the
nation.
· He prayed and God informed him that Saul had
committed evil and it brought a curse on the land that was not resolved.
· Justice was never served for the crimes Saul
committed.
· Many GIBEONITES were killed by Saul.
· If you recall a message I preached a few
weeks ago about false bread and wine, you will remember that the
GIBEONITES fooled Israel into thinking they were ambassadors from a far
country, and not actually people from the land of Canaan whom Israel
was going to destroy.
· They made Israel vow a promise to them that
they would be protected from any harm.
· They used old broken wineskins and moldy
bread to convince the Israelites they were from such a far country
outside Canaan that their fresh provisions turned bad due to the length
of their journey.
· By the time Joshua realized the truth, it
was too late.
· They already vowed to protect the Gibeonites.
Saul violated that promise years later.
God did not inform David of what to do, so David went to the Gibeonites
and asked what he could do to settle their dispute.
· David knew that justice served for this
unfair act of Saul’s would cause God to bless the land again.
· The Gibeonites did not ask for money or gold
or silver.
· And Saul’s family descendents
continued to be wicked people like Saul, because God called them a
BLOODY HOUSE.
· They carried on in the wicked spirit of Saul.
The Gibeonites demanded 7 of Saul’s sons to be hanged to serve
justice.
· Two of the seven were sons of Saul’s
concubine named Rizpah.
· And the bible stops and focuses on this
little mother who obviously suffered torment and anguish.
· No one can know the sorrow over the loss of
a loved one LIKE A MOTHER.
· A mother’s sorrow must be the most
extreme there could be.
· After David searched to God for the answer
to the curse on the land, this little mother searched to God to come to
grips with the deaths of her boys.
· She sat in sackcloth and ashes which was the
tradition back then during times of fasting.
· SOME SUGGEST SHE STAYED THERE FOR MONTHS.
This entire act of hers was indication that SHE MADE UP HER MIND SHE
WOULD UNDERSTAND WHY THIS HAPPENED.
· And she sought God to learn why.
The bible informs of something that proves very symbolic in all of this.
· The sons were hanged in a specific time.
· At the beginning of the barley harvest.
· Remember that the famine in the land was the
problem that made David reach out to God for answers.
· So when the beginning of harvest started, it
seems David offered the lives of these sinful family members as a
sacrifice to God, because he did it at the start of the time of Harvest
as a plea for God to accept this justice and bless by sending rain.
Notice this: “And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took
sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of
harvest until water dropped upon them out of heaven, and suffered
neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of
the field by night.”
She stayed there fasting UNTIL WATER DROPPED DOWN FROM HEAVEN.
· This is not saying that the rain made her
uncomfortable, so she gave up.
· She would not have fasted so long if she
would give up over a little rain.
· SHE CAME TO GRIPS WITH THE SITUATION and
accepted it, and that is why she stayed til then.
· The moment she came to grips with her
dilemma was ALSO THE MOMENT GOD WAS SATISFIED WITH JUSTICE BEING SERVED
when He started to BLESS THE LAND AGAIN.
She looked and looked at the hanged bodies until she resolved the issue
in her heart.
She battled through the pain and the agony and bewilderment.
· She held on in a time of seeking God during
it all.
· And God came through for her at the same
time BLESSINGS came on the land.
· THIS SHOWS US THAT BREAKING THROUGH OUR
PROBLEMS by revelation of the HANGING OF THE CROSS is actually bringing
blessings BACK TO US AGAIN.
When troubles come our way, we must be determined to understand in
order to get hold of ourselves and the situation we’re in.
As the land was cursed due to Saul’s actions, MANKIND IS CURSED
due to Adam’s sin.
Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the
world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all
have sinned:
Romans 5:19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made
sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
But along with the reference to this curse,. We read ONE MAN JESUS
CHRIST OBEYED GOD AND MANY WERE MADE RIGHTEOUS!
How did he do this?
The way to understand the CROSS requires us to know what Moses said
about curse.
Deuteronomy 21:22-23 And if a man have committed a sin worthy of
death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a
tree: His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou
shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed
of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth
thee for an inheritance.
Someone who is HANGED is considered to be ACCURSED.
· Jesus would STAND AS A CURSE in order to PAY
the price of death for the rest of the human race who would accept that
by faith.
· A man who is cursed has to be removed by
death through HANGING.
· Jesus did nothing to deserve being accursed.
· BUT HE DID IT BECAUSE HE WAS TAKING OUR
ACCURSED STATUS.
Galatians 3:13-14 Christ hath redeem-ed us from the curse of the law,
being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that
hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the
Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the
Spirit through faith.
He became a curse FOR US so the BLESSING COULD COME AGAIN.
· Note that the LAND WAS ACCURSED and David
wanted the BLESSING to return!
· The BLESSING CAME BACK after the boys hanged
there.
· RAIN is considered a BLESSING.
Deuteronomy 28:12 The LORD shall open unto thee his good
treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his
season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou
shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.
SEVEN OF SAUL’S SONS were hanged.
· The number SEVEN means ALL.
· That FULLNESS satisfied God’s judgment.
· THE CURSE WAS REMOVED BY THE HANGING.
· That represented THE CURSE REMOVED FROM
MANKIND BY JESUS’ CROSS.
· God was SATISFIED and SENT THE RAIN!
Isaiah 53:10-11 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put
him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he
shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the
LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of
his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
Look at how CHRIST’S RESURRECTION on the THIRD DAY is associated
in prophecy with BLESSING OF RAIN!
Hosea 6:1-3 Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he
hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us
up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us
up, and we shall live in his sight. Then shall we know, if we follow on
to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he
shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the
earth.
The third day saw US RAISED!
· We will live.
· This means there must have been a DEATH in
US!
· Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection
were all for us to experience a death, burial and resurrection!
· SO WE WERE RAISED with Jesus!
· WE LIVE.
· Like Rizpah, you have to KEEP LOOKING AT THE
CROSS UNTIL YOU GET STRUCK WITH A REVELATION!
· You let the truths of the cross sink in and
sin in until it hits you.
· You hear people tell you that you can have
victory over life’s struggles.
· But they’re just words to you.
· YOU NEED that to hit you, yourself!
· You need to pore over the truths that the
bible teaches about the cross.
· Go over what we’ve preached week after
week for months about what the cross DID FOR YOU!
· YOU were raised!
· You died with Jesus and resurrected with Him!
· LET THAT SINK IN until it strikes a chord in
your heart and you GET IT!
When it hits you, then all the struggles suddenly seem like NOTHING!
· You meditate on the truths of the cross and
concentrate on what they mean to you.
· You realize you died with Jesus, and that
means you were freed from the power of sin.
· He that is dead is freed from sin and its
dominating force over you.
· AND YOU DIED TO SIN THROUGH DYING WITH JESUS.
· That means that SIN IS NOW UNDER YOUR POWER!
· You have the power and authority to rebuke,
and bind the devil and command the power of God Almighty against Him.
· Whatever damage sin has done to your home or
your family, or in sickness, YOU HAVE POWER to stop it.
· When this truth hits you, it explodes faith
in your heart.
· And THAT EXPLOSION OF FAITH destroys all
fear and worry and doubt.
· It supercharges you to strike out at your
surroundings and conquer them.
And like I said last week, sometimes God does not want you to be freed
from a tribulation or trial.
· But this explosion of faith changes you from
depression to DOMINION.
· And you CAN GLIDE THROUGH THIS TRIAL with
JOY AND HAPPINESS.
· THE JOY OF THE LORD IS YOUR STRENGTH.
· And when you get a revelation of the power
of the cross, YOU DRAW WATERS FROM THE WELLS OF SALVATION WITH JOY!
Sometimes VICTORY is being able to take anything handed out to you
because your faith does not allow it to discourage you nor get you down!
· Blessings will come like the former and
latter rain altogether!
· And if those blessings do not include
deliverance from the problem itself, they bring deliverance from the
depression and the discouragement.
God takes your discouragement and throws it back 2000 years ago to the
cross where Jesus died.
RAINS represent the SPIRIT OF GOD.
· We’re made from the dust of the earth
and the RAINS REFRESH US!
· LIFE RETURNS.
· THIS IS RESURRECTION LIFE!
· RETURN, RETURN RETURN, Hosea said.
· RESURRECTION is a return to the DOMINION God
gave Adam.
A harvest speaks of the GARDEN BLESSINGS.
She fought the birds and beasts from devouring the flesh of her boys.
“and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by
day, nor the beasts of the field by night.”
This is the same thing Abraham did when he made a sacrifice to God.
Genesis 15:8-13 And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I
know that I shall inherit it? And he said unto him, Take me
an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a
ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon. And
he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid
each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not. And
when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them
away. And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon
Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. And he
said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a
stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they
shall afflict them four hundred years;
While Abraham waited after his sacrifice, before the answer came, fowls
came to devour the sacrifice.
· This speaks of the enemy coming to ROB THE
TRUTHS of the cross from your heart so you do not grasp them and get a
revelation.
· He has to interfere before you muse on the
word long enough until it strikes you with revelation.
What do the fowls represent?
Luke 8:5 A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed,
some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls
of the air devoured it .
Jesus explained the symbols of the story.
Luke 8:12 Those by the way side are they that
hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their
hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
The fowls speak of the devils who come to steal away the words preached.
· The seeds are the words preached.
· And wayside soil is soil beside the furrowed
rows where the seeds can successfully germinate.
· This soil is the hearts of people who are
not determined to understand, and continue to suffer and agonize in a
cursed existence.
· They hear the word and their hearts are
caught up in the distracting pathways of life.
· The devil can easily come and steal away the
words of truth and keep us in sorrow.
· It takes time.
· It takes determination.
Rizpah, in effect, drove any devils away from her thoughts that would
try to remove the picture in her mind of the boys hanging there.
· She was determined to resolve the dilemma.
· And her determination to know paid off, and
it was just then that the rain fell!
· The blessing hit!
· Her life was changed and the problems were
solved.
We need to look at the cross no matter what problem we face in life.
Make up your mind that no devil is going to rob you of the victory
revelation that needs to hit you, that you know WILL COME if you remain
determined to understand.
· And then it will come!
· God even allows for distractions and demons
to try to steal the word from your hearts.
· He tests you to see if you are determined
enough to find the will of God more than anything else in life.
· He could drive them away Himself, but He
wants to know if you seek first His Kingdom or not.