2 Samuel 21:1-14  "During the reign of David, there was a famine for 3 successive years; so David sought the face of the Lord. The Lord said, "It is on account of Saul and his blood-stained house; it is because he put the Gibeonites to death." "

Notice that God sends judgment upon the land during the reign of David, for the sin of his predecessor, Saul. It might seem unjust for the succeeding generation to experience the punishment for the sins of their fathers. Is not the slaughter of the Gibeonites attributed to the House of Saul? Saul did not act alone in his attempted annihilation of the Gibeonites. Saul was representing the nation of Israel as a whole. Saul’s army consisted of Israelites who were paid, fed, and provisioned by the people of Israel.

Joshua represented the leadership of Israel when he made the ill-advised covenant with the Gibeonites (Joshua 9:15). The oath Joshua swore was binding to all his successors including Saul and David. The innocent blood of the Gibeonites was crying from the ground for either justice or vengeance. Because the Gibeonites did not receive justice, God’s judgment came upon the land to avenge the wrongful slaughter of the innocent Gibeonites.

After learning that Israel was under judgment because of the Gibeonites, David sought justice on their behalf. Since justice was not possible, vengeance was the only alternative to God’s righteous judgment. God’s judgment could be abated by another unjust act.

The Gibeonites were wise and merciful in their council. They did not ask for the annihilation of the house of Saul. They asked for seven innocent male decendants, seven being a divine number. The Gibeonites did not have the right to put anyone to death (v. 4). They killed seven innocent men from the house of Saul "during the first days of the harvest." Instead of burying them before sunset as the Lord commanded (Deut. 21:22-23), the Gibeonites desecrated the land by exposing their corpses "before the Lord at Gibeah of Saul (v.6)." Who could not pity Rizpah keeping watch over the dead bodies of her sons both day and night? The unjust killing of these seven innocent men by the Gibeonites satisfied justice. Innocent blood was answered by innocent blood. The law of retribution (lex talianis) was satisfied. God’s judgment on the nation of Israel was abated.

Every day, 4,500 innocent children are murdered in America alone! We begin a new millennium with a body count which exceeds 40 million with no end in sight. Where God’s justice will not prevail, judgment is expected. The seeds of God’s judgment have been sown, and germinated with innocent blood; it is already budding, and bearing it’s bitter fruit. Like the genocide of the Gibeonites, abortion is a national, inter-national sin. In the end, there will be one of two ways to satisfy justice. God’s righteous judgment, or national, inter-national repentance.

The sin must stop and be taken to the cross of Jesus Christ. Only He can pay the penalty by his death, by the shedding of His own innocent blood. The alternative is the innocent blood of your children.