Overview
Mephibosheth, son of King Saul, is mentioned in connection with a famine judgment during David's later reign. When a severe three-year famine afflicted Israel, David sought the Lord's counsel and learned it was due to Saul's bloodshed against the Gibeonites. To make atonement, seven of Saul's descendants, including Mephibosheth, were handed over to the Gibeonites for execution.
Key Scriptures
"Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malchi-shua; and the names of his two daughters were these: the name of the firstborn was Merab, and the name of the younger was Michal. And the name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz; and the name of the commander of his army was Abner the son of Ner. Kish was the father of Saul, and Ner the father of Abner." (2 Samuel 21:8, ESV)
"So the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, Armoni and Mephibosheth, whom she had borne to Saul, and the five sons of Merab the daughter of Saul, whom she had borne to Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite; and he gave them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the mountain before the Lord, and the seven of them perished together." (2 Samuel 21:8-9, ESV)
Application
Remember that God's justice may extend beyond individual persons to address corporate sins, reminding us of the seriousness of covenant-breaking and the importance of seeking God's wisdom in matters of national consequence.