To Encourage You

2 Samuel 21:1 “Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year. And David sought the face of the Lord. And the Lord said, ‘There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.’”

Have you ever asked yourself, “Why is this happening to me?”  I assume that is a question that came to many as Covid affected lives all across the world.  Then there are those whose homes have been destroyed by the fires out West, and the recent devastating tornadoes in the Midwest. Day after day tragedies afflict our world.  So again, have you ever asked yourself, “Why?”

In the passage above we have such an occurrence as famine affected the nation of Israel for three long years.  It was something no one could ignore, and it caused King David to ask the Lord “Why?”  And God gave him an answer.  It was for the sin of Saul years before.  You see, at one time many years before Saul’s reign, Joshua had entered into a covenant with the Gibeonites.  He had promised them that he would protect them, although Joshua, at God’s command, had been driving the wicked Canaanites (of whom the Gibeonites were a part) from the land.  It was to be a perpetual covenant. However, Saul, as was his bent, disregarded this covenant, and did as he pleased with little regard for the Lord.  It was for this sin that the Lord brought famine into the land.  It was an example of how the sin of one person can have long-lasting effects on others through no fault of their own.  Examples we might think of are children that have been abused by alcoholic parents, or North Korean Christians imprisoned by a wicked government for their faith.  But when it comes right down to it, everything that is wrong in our world is wrong for one reason: sin.  It was because of Adam’s sin that the curse came to this world, and the punishment for that sin is ultimately death.  Again, to the passage above, the only way that Saul’s sin against the Gibeonites could be atoned for was for seven members of Saul’s family to be put to death (2 Samuel 21:5-6).  It was only then that the famine was lifted from the land.  It was only then that God’s justice was satisfied for Saul’s sin.  

It is in this account that we have a shadow of God’s justice being satisfied for not just Saul’s sin, but for all the sin of the world.  There’s a word in the Scriptures that refers to this. It’s the word “propitiation.” The word means “atonement” or “that which satisfies the just requirements of a holy God.”  You see, one of God’s attributes is justice.  It means that no one ever really gets away with anything.  Any violation of God’s Law has an inevitable consequence, and ultimately “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).  It’s what’s coming to everyone, sooner or later, “for all have sinned” (Romans 3:23).  And that’s why things aren’t right in this world. It’s why the world is filled with all sorts of tragedies and pain.  It’s all pointing to the fact that there is sin in this world, and it’s affected every aspect of life.  

But, incredibly, there is a remedy, and that remedy is in the death of God’s only begotten Son. It was He and He alone who never violated God’s Law, and it is Jesus and Jesus alone Who could justly, never die. And yet, in God’s mercy and grace, He sent His Son into the world as a sacrifice as “the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2). It is in Jesus and Jesus alone that the justice of God has been fully satisfied, and it is by faith in Him that God has provided a sacrifice for our sin. Some have called it “the great exchange,” in that “For our sake he (i.e., God the Father) made him (i.e., God the Son) to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). 

And so, as we look at all that’s wrong in our world, and as we ask ourselves “Why?” know that the Lord has already answered the question, but He’s also provided the propitiation for our sin.  You see, the same God that has told us that the wages of sin is death, has also told us “but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). 

So, have you received this gift as your remedy? It’s the one and only remedy for sin.