Why are we in need?

“Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David sought the presence of the LORD. And the LORD said, "It is for Saul and his bloody house, because he put the Gibeonites to death” (2 Samuel 21:1).

The world is in financial need nowadays.  Hence, many people are suffering from extreme stress and they are under financial pressure.  In addition to this economic deprivation, too many people are experiencing mental and emotional need.  Therefore, many of them are mentally and emotionally unstable and show different kinds symptoms.  But the most serious of all this poverty is that the whole world is in spiritual need.  It seems to be this world is in a state of spiritual illusion as people are pursuing many different kinds of spirituality and the world is in spiritual emptiness.  Why did this ‘spiritual famine’ come to us?  Why?

When we read the Bible, we often see the words "famine" or "drought."  For example, when we look at the Old Testament Genesis 43, we can see the famine in the land of Canaan in Jacob's time (Gen. 43:1).  Also, when we look at Luke 15 in the New Testament, we see that there was a great famine in the place where the prodigal lived (Lk. 15:14).  Why do these famines come about?  Is it coincidence?  It is no coincidence at all.  There is a clear purpose why Creator God gives us famine.  The purpose can be divided into two broad categories: (1) the famine of training and (2) the famine of correction.  The famine in Genesis 43 was a famine of correction for Joseph's old brothers, but the main purpose of the famine was a famine of training for Joseph.  I think this famine is the famine which has led Jacob and Joseph and their family members to experience the work of God's salvation so that they could trust and depend on God more.  Through that famine not there was progress of their faith but also they could come out pure as gold.  On the other hand, the famine in Luke 15 is a famine that caused the prodigal son to repent and return to his father.  If you are facing famine now, what kind of famine do you think you are facing?

I think that the famine in 2 Samuel 21:1 is the famine of correction.  The reason that I think this way is because of what God said to David who prayed to Him: “…  It is for Saul and his bloody house, because he put the Gibeonites to death” (v. 1b).  Faithful covenant God gave the famine in the days of David for 3 years because King Saul broke the covenant between the Israelites with the Gibeonites and “sought to kill them in his zeal for the sons of Israel and Judah” (v. 2) and actually consumed them and exterminated them from remaining with any boarder of Israel (v. 5).  So King David called the Gibeonites (v. 2) and asked them, “What should I do for you? And how can I make atonement that you may bless the inheritance of the LORD?” (v. 3)  At that time the Gibeonites said to King David “let seven men from his(Saul’s) sons be given to us” so that they could hang them before the Lord in Gibeah of Saul (vv. 5-6).  When David heard this, he gave them seven of the sons of Saul (vv. 8-9). But he spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the oath of the Lord which was between David and Jonathan (v. 7).  Then the Gibeonites hanged the seven sons of Saul in the mountain before the Lord (v. 9).  And Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, (v. 11) allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on the seven dead bodies by day nor the beasts of the field by night (v. 10).  When it was told David what Rizpah had done (v. 11), he went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh-gilead (v. 12) and brought them up and buried them with the bones of those had been hanged “in the country of Benjamin in Zela, in the grave of Kish his father” (vv. 13-14).  And after that God was moved by prayer for the land (v. 14). 

As I was meditating on this Bible story and got the answer to the question "Why are we in need?"  The reason why we are in need spiritually, mentally and financially is because of our sin.  And that sin is breaking the covenant that we made before God.  Of course, the famine in the case of David was due to the slaughter and destruction of the people of Gibeon, when Saul and his house broke the covenant made between the Gibeonites and Joshua and the house of Israel before God (v. 2).  Therefore, I don’t know if we can say that the poverty in our lives is the result of our fathers' sins.  But I think the focus here is on the covenant made before God.  In other words, God values​​the covenant made in His Name.  Although the Gibeonites had made a covenant with Joshua and the house of Israel by deceiving them, God is the God who values ​​the covenant.  That’s why I think God heard the grudge of the Gibeonites who was slain by King Saul.  And God heard through the grudge of the Gibeonites in the days of David by giving famine.  What a faithful God to the covenant?  Our holy God is faithful in blessing those who keep His covenant but also faithful in cursing those who don’t keep His covenant.  Therefore, we must keep the covenant with others (for example, a marriage covenant made by a married couple before God) or a covenant with God (for example, our vow to God).  In particular, we must faithfully keep the covenant that God made with us in Jesus Christ.  We must obey the command given to us by the covenant God.  If we don’t, then there will always be famine and poverty in our lives.  Why then can we not faithfully keep covenant with God like King Saul?  The reason is because of wrongful zeal (v. 2).  Just as Saul (later Paul) who persecuted the church in his zeal (Phil. 3:6) before he met the resurrected Jesus on the road in Damascus, King Saul slaughtered the Gibeonites who made a covenant with the Israelites out of wrongful zeal.  The problem is not zeal itself, but wrongful zeal.  It is dangerous.  It is dangerous because we may think that we love the Lord and His church so we serve His and His church with zeal but not according to His will but our will.  So when we see those who break the order and the peace of the church and cause problems and conflicts are those who have wrongful zeal for the Lord and His church.  Why is it wrong?  The reason is that they don’t consider the covenant made before God very important and valuable like God does.  Although the Gibeonites deceived Joshua and the Israelites, Joshua and the leaders of Israel also didn’t ask God before making a covenant with them.  Although both of them did wrong, King Saul should have kept the covenant because it was made before God.  But King Saul ignored the covenant and slaughtered the Gibeonites for the sons of Israel and Judah.  When we commit sins, we always have our own excuses that seem good to us.  But God does not and cannot overlook the sins of breaking the covenant and vow that we made to God with all kinds of excuses.  The reason is that our God is holy, justice and loves us.  Besides, our God who heard the Gibeonites’ grudge will also hear the grudge of the non-believers who have made promise with us.  Therefore, we should ask God in prayer for why we are in need, like David, and we should meditate on such Words of God like this passage and desire for the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit.  Then the Holy Spirit will give us enlightenment and enable us to hear the voice of God through the Word of God.  Then we should humbly listen to the word of God and obey him like David.  But we must obey the word of God without breaking the covenant (promise) made with others like David.  What is the reason?  The reason is because our God is God of covenant.