Mephibosheth: A Life Changing Lesson On The Power Of Blood Covenant

MEPHIBOSHETH: A Life Changing Lesson on the Power of Blood Covenant

(One of the meanings of "Mephibosheth" is “dispeller of shame” (2 Sam. 4:4) (2 Samuel 9:1-13)

The story of Mephibosheth teaches us some very powerful lessons about Biblical Blood Covenants that should transform & empower our Christian lives to love & serve King Jesus more than ever! Mephibosheth has been understood as a type of all those whose walk is imperfect & their way of life is crooked. One day they are called to meet their King. They humbly bow down before Him, receive forgiveness, and are invited to feast at the Kings table as one of his own sons! Their devastated self-esteem is healed by the king’s grace & mercy.

THE BACKGROUND HISTORY OF MEPHIBOSHETH:

Mephibosheth’s father was Jonathan, the great friend of King David. Jonathan was a very brave man (I Sam. 13:3) but he disrespected his father Saul (I Sam. 14:29-30) & liked to do his own thing without considering the impact on others (I Sam. 14:1, 3). His grandfather was King Saul. Saul started out a very humble young man with lots of potential (I Samuel 9:2, 15-16, 21; 15:17). But he began to disobey the LORD (I Sam. 13:11-14; 15:11, 23) and became dangerously irrational (I Sam. 14:24, 28, 43; 16:3; 18:11-12, 15, 29; 19:10). The LORD rejected Saul as Israel’s King (I Sam. 15:26-28) & chose David to replace him (I Sam. 16:7, 13).

Saul’s son Jonathan loved David after observing his courage & love for God when he killed Goliath (I Sam. 17:32-51; 18:1). So Jonathan & David made a blood covenant because of the love & respect they had for each other as valiant soldiers (I Sam. 18:3-4; 20:8; the curse & blessing of the covenant – I Sam. 20:12-17; the LORD is the 3rd party to the covenant – I Sam. 20:23, 42; 23:18). This blood covenant was the cause of David saving Mephibosheth’s life & exalting him to sit at the king’s table as one of his own sons (I Sam. 20:15-17).

There are two reasons Why Mephibosheth’s life was in danger from King David?

1. Because as a member of the house of Saul he would be considered an enemy worthy of death (2 Sam.

19:28). Saul’s followers had tried to make Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, King (2 Sam. 2:8-11) and there was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David (2 Sam. 3:1). Jonathan would have been the King following Saul, as his eldest son, if God had not rejected Saul and chosen David to replace him.

2. A great famine of 3 years came upon Israel because of “Saul’s bloody house, because he slew the

Gibeonites” (2 Sam. 21:1-2). This was a great sin because the Gibeonites had made a covenant with Israel about 400 yrs. earlier! (Josh. 9:3-27). There are serious consequences for violating a blood covenant where the LORD is the 3rd party involved. Seven sons of Saul had to suffer capital punishment for the murders they had committed (2 Sam. 21:4-6, 14). [In light of Deuteronomy 24:16 it is probable that the 7 sons executed were directly implicated in the attack upon the Gibeonites]. But Mephibosheth was saved from certain death because of the blood covenant oath that David had made with Jonathan about 20 years earlier (2 Sam. 21:7)!

The entire story of Mephibosheth is a perfect picture of N.T. truth of a sinner saved by a King’s grace through a blood covenant. This is known as a Prophetic Type or similitude (Hosea 12:10). We point out 7 of the supernatural parallels between Mephibosheth & us as lost sinners that are so clear its supernatural design by the Holy Spirit can’t be missed (2Tim. 3:16-7).

1.) Mephibosheth was made a cripple by a fall (2 Sam. 4:4). We were crippled in our humanity by the fall of Adam for we were in his loins when he fell (see this principle of the unity of the human race in Hebrews 7:9-10).

Major Problem: broken humanity!

a. His nurse fled with Mephibosheth because she feared for his life. And while she

saved his life, he suffered a crippling fall. We are all crippled in some way.

We can either be thankful God kept us alive or be bitter that we were injured.

b. His self-esteem was so shattered he considered himself a “dead dog” (I Sam. 9:8)

2.) He lives in fear for his life, hiding from God’s chosen King (Heb. 2:14-15)

a. He is given refuge by “Machir” (2 Sam. 9:4-5) who is a kind and very generous man according to 2 Sam. 17:27-29. His basic needs are met so he stays in “Lo-debar” which in Hebrew means “not a word.” What is the Holy Spirit trying to tell us here? (Lk. 15:17-19). Mephibosheth had not heard a word about the covenant His Father had made with the King. If he had he would not have been living in fear for his life. He thought he would be put to death for the rebellion his ancestors led against King David. His grandfather Saul tried to kill David on several occasions (I Sam. 19:1).