This is the sad story of a mother’s agape love. We see a mother’s response to tragedy. Let us meet a woman of God. Her name is Rizpah! She is a hero of faith! She lived about 3000 years ago. Her life is like a star shining bright in the dark sky. She lost both of her sons because of men’s politics. During her pain, she finds the strength to go to God to receive mercy and justice in her time of need. She is an inspiration for all, especially for the mothers (2 Samuel 21:1-14).

Who is Rizpah? She was a Canaanite woman, maybe an Amorite. She must have worshipped idols. Like Ruth in Bethlehem, she was a foreigner in the land of Isreal who became a worshipper of Jehovah. The name Rizpah means ‘hot stone or burning coal’. From her name we see that she was a woman of passion, love and courage. She was ‘the concubine’ of King Saul, the first king of Isreal. She had two sons for him, Armoni and Mephibosheth (not to be confused with the son of Jonathan who had the same name). After King Saul was killed in the battle with the Philisties, she became a widow. After the death of Saul, Abner, who was the commander of the army of Isreal, installed Ishbosheth, the surviving son of Saul, as king in Isreal. Then Abner had an affair with Rizpah. Some said that he raped her. This is a reminder of the insecure status of women in general and widows in particular in ancient times. King Ishbosheth got angry and rebuked Abner. He saw that through this connection, Abner wanted to become king himself. It was a practice in the ancient kingdoms to lay claim to the throne by having sexual relations with the former king’s wives or concubines. When rebuked for his affair with Rizpah, Abner gets angry and betrays Ishbosheth. He crosses over to David and promises to surrender the army of Isreal to him. David receives him well and sends him away in peace. But Joab, the commander of the armies in Judah, and uncle to King David, deceitfully kills Abner on his way back. David mourns Abner and places a curse upon Joab for killing a man whom he has sent away in peace (2Sam 3:1-39). Soon, King Ishbosheth is killed (2Sam 4:6).

This quarrel between Abner and Ishbosheth indirectly benefits King David. The incident led to the downfall of the house of Saul and the rise of David as king of a united Kingdom of Israel. The death of Abner makes Rizpah ‘a widow’ for the second time. Rizpah is caught in a net of political intrigues in the palace. At that time, women had no rights. They were victims of powerful men. Rizpah is called a concubine to King Saul. A concubine is a woman who lives and has sex with a man she is not married to and has a lower social rank than his wife or wives. (In Nigeria a concubine is a woman who lives with a married man who has not paid her traditional ‘bride price’).

After King David becomes the King of united Isreal, for three years, there was a drought and a great famine in the land. “David inquired of the Lord. And the Lord answered, “It is because of Saul and his bloodthirsty house, because he killed the Gibeonites” (2Sam 21:1). The Gibeonites were not Jews. They were Canaanites, Amorites. They deceived Joshua when he tried to conquer the land saying that they were living far away. Joshua made a covenant of peace with them. He promised to protect them against their enemies. Later, Joshua discovered that the Gibeonites deceived him, but he could not kill them because of the covenant already made with them (Joshua 9). God is the Witness of all covenants done in His name and punishes the breaking of covenants because He is the Primary Covenant Keeper! Selah!

God reveals to King David that King Saul, in his foolish zeal for Isreal, has killed many Gibeonites. Therefore, he broke the covenant of peace made with them. To punish the breaking of the covenant, God has sent the famine in the land by withdrawing the rain for three years. David asked the Gibeonites what satisfaction they demanded. They answered that nothing would compensate for the wrong Saul had done to them but the death of seven of Saul’s descendants. They applied God’s Law: “Life for life” (Deut 19:21). They showed no mercy. David does not pray about this request for human sacrifice. He simply agrees to their demand. He arrests the two sons of Rizpah and the five of the sons of Merab, Saul’s eldest daughter. He surrenders them to the Gibeonites who execute them and hang their bodies before the Lord at the sanctuary at Gibeah. This was a human sacrifice to atone for the bloodshed in the past. But even with all this tragedy, the famine continued. It means that God did not accept the sacrifice. Just imagine Rizpah’s pain, to know that her sons died for nothing. She could not fight the political powers. She could not fight David, who was God’s appointed king in the land. She could not fight the Gibeonites who were Amorites like her. She could not fight the Law of God who said: Life for life. All she could do is to be a mother who pleads for mercy from Jehovah, the God of Isreal, under whose wings she has taken refuge.

As the men are hanging there, two mothers grieve the loss of their sons. Merab was King Saul’s oldest daughter. Long ago, Saul promised her to David as a wife. But Saul deceived David and gave her as a wife to Ariel. Merab has now lost her five sons. She weeps but she stays in her house. But Rizpah, comes to the place her sons died. She took a sackcloth and spread it for herself on a rock. She stays there from the beginning of harvest until the late rains. For five months, from April to October, she kept vigil, not allowing the birds to eat them by day nor the wild beasts to devour them by night. Rizpah watched the exposed suspended bodies of her two sons. What she could have done as a mother when her sons were alive, to protect and care for them, she is now doing it to them in their death. This is Love!

King David was informed about Rizpah’s act of devotion. He was touched by the love of this mother who even after her sons died, she continued to take care of them. David was reminded that human life is precious and must be honored. He suddenly remembered that the bones of King Saul and his covenant friend Jonathan were buried in an unknown grave. After Isreal lost the battle, the Philisties displayed the bodies of Saul and Jonathan on their streets as trophies to Chemosh their idol. The people of Jabesh-Gilead stole the bodies from the Philisties and buried them in their land, under a tree and fasted for seven days (1 Chr10:11, 12). Inspired by Rizpah’s example of honoring the memory of the dead, King David brings the bones of Saul and Jonathan and buries them properly in Saul’s family tomb in Zelah, his hometown. King David then brings down the seven bodies of the men who were hanging for five months at Gibeah and buries them honorably in Saul’s tomb also. After doing all these things, God sends the rains and the famine is over. “After that, God was moved by prayer for the land” (2Sam 21:14; AMP). God was not moved by killing men, but He was moved by the living sacrifice of Rizpah, bu her intercession. She prayed silently for mercy and justice from God. Her love for her children inspired King David to seek peace with God without shedding more blood.

WHAT ARE THE LESSONS FOR US?

*Rizpah never spoke a word in the Bible. But her actions speak louder than words. She was a loving mother. Men in power all failed her. But she prayed to Jehovah, the God of judgment and mercy. God heard her cry and vindicated her. Rizpah fought for the vindication of her sons’ memories. She was an intercessor. She laid down her life for her children. The truth is that her sons were not guilty of murder. They died innocently. They were killed for the sins of their father, King Saul. By ordering their death, King David broke God’s Law that says: “Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for their fathers; a person shall be put to death for his own sin” (Deut 24:16). Her sons were left hanging as a curse. “If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23 his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God” (Deut 21:22,23). David decided that Rizpah’s sons were criminals. That is why they were hanged. But even if they were criminals, their bodies should not have been left exposed for five months. That alone defiled the land and brought more curses on the people. Rizpah was not afraid or ashamed of the curse placed upon her sons. She could not prevent the death of her sons. But she chooses to identify with them even after they died. The curse from her sons’ memory was removed. King David gave them a proper burial. And God answered the prayers of the people for the land. The rains came and the famine ended. Rizpah teaches us true love for family, faith in God, courage and faithfulness.

*Rizpah knew that abandoning a corpse, not being buried in the ground, was God’s curse on the rebellious, on the wicked. God said: “Your carcasses shall be food for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and no one shall frighten them away” (Deut 28:26). She decided to stand in the gap and turn the curse into a blessing. Because of her sacrificial love, even Merab’s five sons benefitted from her intercession. At the conclusion of this Bible account of Rizpah’s sad experience, God brings rain to dry land. The larger purpose of this human sacrifice was Israel’s survival as a nation. The kingdom of Israel moves on with Rizpah as one of its survivors and heroes of faith.

*We must respect human life. Man was created in the image of God. Even in death, we must honor that image. We must bury the dead with peace and love. It is not a matter of expensive ceremonies. But a burial ceremony must be conducted in God’s presence with prayer, praise, and preaching God’s Word. (In Nigeria, most Christian families observe a ceremony called ‘service of songs’ and they also conduct a funeral service during the burial proper. That is good!). Also, this is a reminder that abortion is a sin. Ask for mercy in case you have committed it!

*God cares for the broken hearted. “The LORD is near to the heartbroken And He saves those who are crushed in spirit (contrite in heart, truly sorry for their sin)” (Ps 34:18; AMP). There is a rainbow after the flood. By God’s grace we can survive even after huge losses and major failures in life. Vengeance belongs to God! “Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord” (Rom 12:19). Selah!

*Rizpah’s love is a symbol of the Cross of Christ. When Jesus was crucified, the disciples ran away because of fear. It was only John and the women who stayed with Jesus as He was dying on the Cross. Mary, the mother of Jesus, heard her Son saying to her from the cross: “Mother, behold your son” (Jn 19:26). The awful sight of Jesus on the cross was Mary’s final vision of the son of God she bore by the Holy Spirit. Rizpah also had a painful view of her sons’ defiled bodies, exposed to the elements. The Cross was a tragedy humanly speaking. But the death of Jesus on the Cross paid for the sins of sinners. Jesus became a curse that we be blessed. “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”) (Gal 3:13). “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2Cor 5:21). The death of Christ was necessary to pay for the sins of many sinners. The curse of sin was cancelled and in Christ, we are now the righteousness of God. This is the mystery of the Gospel, Christ crucified and resurrected. There is always hope in Christ! Hallelujah!

*Rizpah is a woman of God who can take her place among the great heroes of faith in the Bible. We are told that by faith, people gained victory in impossible situations. “Through faith (they) subdued kingdoms… 35 Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection” (Heb 11:33-35). Rizpah wanted to reverse the curse upon her children. Only God could do that. For five months she patiently and faithfully waited by her dead sons’ bodies, knocking at God’s door of mercy. Humanly speaking, this was an impossible task. No human being could have encouraged her to continue in this desperate search for mercy. Like the woman with the issue of blood, she held on God’s garment, and did not give up until God moved on her behalf. By faith, she ‘received her dead sons raised to life again’. She could not save them from death, but by her action, she redeemed their memory. They were killed as sinners in Israel. Because of their mother’s holy love, they gained honor in death. By her faith and love, she left a legacy of godliness connected to the memory of her children and to all who shall be inspired by the love of a mother. By her faith and love, by her powerful silence, she calls to account all rulers of the world, who have the power to kill or keep alive! She proved that “Love is as strong as death… Its flames or fire a most vehement flame… Many waters cannot quench Love, not can floods of sin drown it” (SS 8:6,7). In the social ranks of Israel, Rizpah, a foreigner, was only a concubine to a wicked king. But by faith in Jehovah God, her adopted God, trusting in His mercy, she rose to the heights of being a mother in Israel, on the same level with Deborah, Hannah, Esther and Ruth. Amazing Grace!!! Worship the Lord!