Are there aspects of God and His ways that you find difficult to comprehend? Me too! Wrestling with God’s ways isn’t new. Sin, justice, and grace have stood out to me as I’ve looked at the life of David and King Saul in 1 and 2nd Samuel.

When I became serious in my faith, I wanted to understand God’s ways. I get the idea that Paul wanted that too. Zeroing in on one aspect, he described God’s love as too “wide and long and high and deep” to be fully understood (See Ephesians 3:14-19).

Love is just one aspect of God. Consider His mercy, kindness, sternness, compassion, sovereignty, forgiveness, and justice—to name a few. Paul concluded:

“Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!” (Romans 11:33-34 NASB)

Because we can’t fully comprehend doesn’t mean we can’t understand anything. The secret things belong to God, but He’s revealed what we need to know to live God-pleasing lives (Deuteronomy 29:29).

2 Samuel 21 is one of those passages that challenges my understanding. A three-year famine oppressed Israel. When David asked God about it, he learned Israel was suffering because of King Saul’s past sin against the Gibeonites.

Some Background on the Gibeonites

When God gave Israel the Promised Land, Israel was to take over the land and not make treaties with the inhabitants. God said these pagan worshippers would test them and lead them astray. The Gibeonites deceived Joshua by pretending to live far away. Israel took a sacred oath not to harm them. The oath made in God’s name was binding even though they’d been deceived. In return for not being destroyed or run out of the Promised Land, they would serve Israel. Since the time of Joshua, they had peacefully lived together.

King Saul broke the covenant and tried to wipe them out. Years after Saul’s death, famine struck Israel as punishment for Saul’s sin.

Wrestling with God’s Ways

The Bible says sin pollutes the land. When Adam and Eve sinned, the land became cursed. When Cain murdered his brother, the land quit producing for him.

“Do not pollute the land where you are. Bloodshed pollutes the land, and atonement cannot be made for the land on which blood has been shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it” (Numbers 35:33 NIV).

Perhaps, in accordance with the Mosaic Law, the Gibeonites asked for the lives of seven of Saul’s descendants. These men are hanged. After their bones were buried, God ended the famine.

How 2 Samuel 21 Relates to Us

• Sin produces serious consequences. A famine seems unrelated to King Saul’s murderous rampage. We can’t control what sin produces. God warns us not to touch it because He sees its devastating effects.
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• No one gets away with sin. Sin’s consequences may not show up immediately like a blister from a burn. But they show up eventually. We honor God and protect ourselves and others when we avoid all sin.
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• Sin brings death (James 1:15). Seven men died to remove the curse Saul’s sin brought on Israel. One man, Jesus, died to remove the curse of sin from us.

In a culture that mocks sin, these Old Testament stories remind us of God’s holiness and sin’s dangers. They also make me grateful for Jesus, who died to take away our sins.

Wrestling with God’s ways is human. Thankfully, we don’t have to understand Him or His ways to benefit from them. If you don’t know Him, confess your sins and invite Him into your life today. If you do know Him, remember what our sin cost Jesus, live to honor His sacrifice, and trust His unfathomable ways.

“But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:15 NLT).

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Blessings,

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