There was a famine in the land for three years. David inquired of the Lord as to what the cause of this famine might be, and God replied, “There is bloodguilt on Saul and his house, because he put the Gibeonites to death” (II Samuel 21:1). We need to recall that the people of Gibeon had made a deceptive covenant with the people of Israel, claiming they had traveled from far away to make a treaty with Israel (Joshua 9:3-15); when their deception was discovered, the leaders of Israel insisted that even though the Gibeonites had tricked them, nevertheless the Israelites must keep to the covenant that they had made (Joshua 9:18-20) – “so that wrath may not come upon us, because of the oath that we swore to them” (9:20). Then, about three centuries later, Saul had decided that he needed for all of them to be put to death, and tried to wipe them out completely (II Samuel 21:2).

It was clear to David that the crime against the Gibeonites called for some sort of restitution. He asked how he might make amends, and the Gibeonite leaders responded, “It is not a matter of silver or gold between us and Saul or his house; neither is it for us to put anyone to death in Israel” (21:3-4). Yet since David really was of a mind to allow them some payback, they called for the deaths by impalement of seven of Saul’s descendants. David agreed to this price. Seven young men, Saul’s children and grandchildren, were handed over, and “they impaled them on the mountain before the Lord (21:9). And “after that, God heeded supplications for the land” (21:14).

The realpolitik of this story is distressing in several ways: in Saul’s efforts toward ethnic cleansing, in David’s handing over seven individuals to be publicly killed in restitution, and perhaps especially in God’s allowing the entire nation to suffer famine for three years until this human sacrifice had been made to pay for Saul’s guilt.

Yet as gruesome and distressing as this story is, we should not miss the divine insistence that injustice cannot just be shrugged away. It must be addressed, one way or another. The Israelites had made the Gibeonites suffer and die. Justice would not be reestablished by saying, “we’re really sorry,” or even by paying a monetary fine. For justice to be restored, someone would need to suffer and die. It could be random Israelites in the famine. It could be more specific than that: seven descendants of King Saul. In this story we see a foreshadowing hint that in the end, to restore justice for all the undeserved suffering in the world, it would be the Son of God willingly stepping forward to suffer and die, accepting the penalty for all the lost sinners of the world.

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There is still great injustice in this world, O Lord: some caused by others, and some caused by ourselves. When it is our fault, we want you simply to be merciful; yet when we are the victims, we know someone has to suffer in return. That is the role you chose for yourself, Lord. You would bear the burden, and suffer the suffering, to restore justice to the world. We bow before you in thanksgiving.