The Ziphites went to Saul at Gibeah and said, "Is not David hiding on the hill of Hakilah, which faces Jeshimon?"

Transcription

1 Samuel Thru Solomon The History of First Samuel Lesson 13-1 Samuel 26:1-28:25 In Lesson 12 we studied the next two to three years of David's flight from Saul. He left the cave of Adullam on the western side of the Judean highlands and fought the Philistines who were attacking the fields of Keilah. Then he fled from Saul to eastern side of the Judean highlands in the desert badlands which lead down to the Dead Sea. Saul pursued him there until he was drawn away by a Philistine incursion into Judah. After that David took refuge at the oasis at En Gedi. When Saul returned, he pursued David there. It was there that he took a nap in a cave where David and his men were hiding and David spared him. When Saul saw that David had spared him, he abandoned the chase. About this time Samuel died, and David moved to the margins of Carmel, where he had the encounter with Nabal and his wife Abigail. Abigail prevented the angry David from slaughtering the ungrateful Nabal's house by her foresight. Nevertheless Nabal died of a stroke. At the end of the last lesson David had married Abigail, the second wife he had married during his flight. 1 Samuel 26:1-2 The Ziphites went to Saul at Gibeah and said, "Is not David hiding on the hill of Hakilah, which faces Jeshimon?" [a] So Saul went down to the Desert of Ziph, with his three thousand chosen men of Israel, to search there for David. Saul had broken off his pursuit of David after David had spared Saul's life in the cave. However, after an interim of time, the Ziphites went to Saul and told him they knew where Saul 1 / 22

2 could lay his hands on David. He was in same place he had been earlier, east of Hebron. This was the second time the Ziphites had betrayed David (1 Samuel 23:19). Here, they actually incited Saul against David. About 38 years later, the people from the same area were the first to join with Absalom in rebelling against David. Perhaps, at this time, as Calebites, they felt the chief place in Judah should belong to a descendant of Caleb. Later, they may have sided with David's son over resentment that David had moved his original capital from Hebron which was a Calebite city (Joshua 14:13) to Jerusalem. 1 Samuel 26:3a Saul made his camp beside the road on the hill of Hakilah facing Jeshimon, but David stayed abode in the desert. Saul sent his army to where David was reported to have been, but by then David had moved his camp eastward into the desert wastelands. 1 Samuel 26:3b-4 When he saw that Saul had followed him there, he sent out scouts and learned that Saul had definitely arrived. He waited until, not just Saul's army, but Saul himself had arrived. 2 / 22

3 1 Samuel 26:5 Then David set out and went to the place where Saul had camped. He saw where Saul and Abner son of Ner, the commander of the army, had lain down. Saul was lying inside the camp, with the army encamped around him. Hakilah, the place where Saul was encamped, had been David's camp for extend periods before, so he had the advantage of knowing the ground intimately. He saw a way to breach the security of the camp. 1 Samuel 26:6 David then asked Ahimelech the Hittite and Abishai son of Zeruiah, Joab's brother, "Who will go down into the camp with me to Saul?" "I'll go with you," said Abishai. What David proposed was very dangerous. Although he might have spotted a weakness in the camp security, once inside the camp any number of things could have put him in immediate peril. David asked two men to accompany him. One was Ahimelech the Hittite (a Canaanite). He did not respond. He is never mentioned in scripture again. The other was Abishai, David's nephew and Joab's brother. He became one of David's key commanders. 1 Samuel 26:7 So David and Abishai went to the army by night, and there was Saul, lying asleep inside the camp with his spear stuck in the ground near his head. Abner and the 3 / 22

4 soldiers were lying around him. Again, as before, David had Saul helpless before him. As I have mentioned before, I think one of the things that Samuel told David when he first fled from Saul (1 Samuel 19:18) was that it wasn't his right to take Saul's life. He followed that rule faithfully. 1 Samuel 26:8-9 Abishai said to David, "Today God has delivered your enemy into your hands. Now let me pin him to the ground with one thrust of my spear; I won't strike him twice." But David said to Abishai, "Don't destroy him! Who can lay a hand on the LORD's anointed and be guiltless? David was again urged to kill Saul, but he acted as he believed. 1 Samuel 26:10-11a As surely as the LORD lives," he said, "the LORD himself will strike him; either his time will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish. But the LORD forbids that I should lay a hand on the LORD's anointed. 4 / 22

5 His words were prophetic. Within two years Saul died in battle. 1 Samuel 26: 11b-12 Now get the spear and water jug that are near his head, and let's go." So David took the spear and water jug near Saul's head, and they left. No one saw or knew about it, nor did anyone wake up. They were all sleeping, because the LORD had put them into a deep sleep. The passage doesn't say that David knew the LORD would do this, only that He did it. Perhaps, after the event everyone in Saul's camp recognized that a supernaturally deep sleep had come on everyone in the camp. Perhaps this was part of the reason Saul left off chasing David. He might have recognized that with his army in that condition David and his men might have killed not only him, but the whole army. 1 Samuel 26:13-16 Then David crossed over to the other side and stood on top of the hill some distance away; there was a wide space between them. He called out to the army and to Abner son of Ner, "Aren't you going to answer me, Abner?" Abner replied, "Who are you who calls to the king?" David said, "You're a man, aren't you? And who is like you in Israel? Why didn't you guard your lord the king? Someone came to destroy your lord the king. What you have done is not good. As surely as the LORD lives, you and your men deserve to die, because you did not guard your master, the LORD's anointed. Look around you. Where are the king's spear and water jug that were near his head?" 5 / 22

6 As in the incident of the cave, David put a gorge between himself and Saul's camp and then called out. This time he called out to Abner, Saul's commander and close relative. 1 Samuel 26:17-18 Saul recognized David's voice and said, "Is that your voice, David my son?" David replied, "Yes it is, my lord the king." And he added, "Why is my lord pursuing his servant? What have I done, and what wrong am I guilty of? It was Saul who responded to David, and David responds to Saul. 1 Samuel 26:19 Now let my lord the king listen to his servant's words. If the LORD has incited you against me, then may he accept an offering. If, however, men have done it, may they be cursed before the LORD! They have now driven me from my share in the LORD's inheritance and have said, Go, serve other gods.' David implied that the Ziphites had incited Saul against David for base motives, and were intent on driving him into the lands of the unbelievers. 6 / 22

7 Genesis 26:20-21 Now do not let my blood fall to the ground far from the presence of the LORD. [b] The king of Israel has come out to look for a flea--as one hunts a partridge in the mountains." Then Saul said, "I have sinned. Come back, David my son. Because you considered my life precious today, I will not try to harm you again. Surely I have acted like a fool and have erred greatly." David proclaimed that he is harmless to Saul, and Saul offered pardon and asked David to come back. Genesis 26:22 "Here is the king's spear," David answered. "Let one of your young men come over and get it. The LORD rewards every man for his righteousness and faithfulness. The LORD delivered you into my hands today, but I would not lay a hand on the LORD's anointed. As surely as I valued your life today, so may the LORD value my life and deliver me from all trouble." David declined the offer to come back himself, but instead sent back Saul's spear. It was probably the same spear that Saul had twice tried to use to kill David (1 Samuel 18:11, 19:10). Instead of depending on Saul to reward him, he said he would depend on the LORD to reward him. 7 / 22

8 1 Samuel 26:25 Then Saul said to David, "May you be blessed, my son David; you will do great things and surely triumph." So David went on his way, and Saul returned home. So Saul gave up his pursuit and went home. These were the last words that David and Saul ever exchanged. 1 Samuel 27:1 But David thought to himself, "One of these days I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul. The best thing I can do is to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up searching for me anywhere in Israel, and I will slip out of his hand." Unfortunately, following David's words of faith, proclaiming that the LORD would protect him, David started thinking. He returned to the stratagem that had failed before. He decided he should go to the Philistines for protection. It is i nteresting considering how many times the LORD had delivered David that he came to the conclusion that he wasn't safe. For this move, he didn't even consult the Urim and Thummim as he had earlier. Instead he consulted his own fears. It is reminiscent of Elijah who fled the threats of Jezebel just after he had defeated her priests and ended a 3½ year drought. It seems that often our moments of greatest vulnerability are after our greatest triumphs. 1 Samuel 27:2-4 So David and the six hundred men with him left and went over to Achish son 8 / 22

9 of Maoch king of Gath. David and his men settled in Gath with Achish. Each man had his family with him, and David had his two wives: Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, the widow of Nabal. When Saul was told that David had fled to Gath, he no longer searched for him. So David fled to the same Achish, king of Gath that he had fled to four years earlier, and Saul no longer searched for him. 1 Samuel 27:5 Then David said to Achish, "If I have found favor in your eyes, let a place be assigned to me in one of the country towns, that I may live there. Why should your servant live in the royal city with you?" So on that day Achish gave him Ziklag, and it has belonged to the kings of Judah ever since. Both of the sites suggested by archeologists for Ziklag are about 25 miles south of Gath, on the edge of the Judean highland, facing the Negev which was the northern part of the territory infested with Amalekite raiders. Basically, David was stationed on the border of Achish's territory with both Judah and Amalek. 1 Samuel 27:7 David lived in Philistine territory a year and four months. Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, [c] the Girzites [d] and the Amalekites. (From ancient times these peoples had lived in the land extending to Shur and Egypt.) Whenever David attacked an area, he did not leave a man or woman alive, 9 / 22

10 but took sheep and cattle, donkeys and camels, and clothes. Then he returned to Achish. However, instead of defending Gath from Israel, David spent his time attacking the enemies of Judah in the Negev. 1 Samuel 27:10 When Achish asked, "Where did you go raiding today this time?" [e] David would say, "Against the Negev of Judah" or "Against the Negev of Jerahmeel" [f] or "Against the Negev of the Kenites." [g] David told Achish he was warring against Judah and its friends. He had left no one living to testify against him. 1 Samuel 27:11-12 He did not leave a man or woman alive to be brought to Gath, for he thought, "They might inform on us and say, This is what David did.'" And such was his practice as long as he lived in Philistine territory. Achish trusted David and said to himself, "He has become so odious to his people, the Israelites, that he will 10 / 22

11 be my servant forever." As a consequence, Achish was totally taken in. 1 Samuel 28:1 In those days the Philistines gathered their forces to fight against Israel. Achish said to David, "You must understand that you and your men will accompany me in the army." Eventually, after about a year or two, the Philistine cities agreed to gather for total war against Israel. This left David in a difficult position. Achish expected them to fight with the Philistines against Israel. 1 Samuel 28:2 David said, "Then you will see for yourself what your servant can do." Achish replied, "Very well, I will make you my bodyguard for life." 11 / 22

12 David's enthusiastic response impressed Achish. He offered to make David and his men his personal bodyguards. This is not at all unusual. Usually in history we find that Kings prefer their palace guards to be foreigners so they will be free of local political intrigues. Examples were the Swiss guards used by the Kings of France, the Galatian guards used by King Herod, and even David's own guards when he was King, the Kerethites and Pelethites, were Philistines. Unfortunately for David, this promotion would have meant an end to his position at Ziklag. In the next verse, the narrative shifted from David to Saul. It also advances in time to when the Philistine army would be gathered against Saul. When the narrative shifted back to David in Chapter 29, the Philistine army was still coming up to their final camp. 1 Samuel 28:3 Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in his own town of Ramah. Saul had expelled the mediums and spiritists from the land. Samuel had been dead for at least two or three years (1 Samuel 25:1). Perhaps as an act of contrition for killing the priests at Nob, Saul had passed a decree expelling the mediums and spiritists in the land. This is considerably less than what the law required: Leviticus 20:27 "A man or woman who is a medium or spiritist among you must be put to death. You are to stone them; their blood will be on their own heads." 12 / 22

13 1 Samuel 28:4 The Philistines assembled and came and set up camp at Shunem, while Saul gathered all the Israelites and set up camp at Gilboa. The Philistines set up camp in the Jezreel valley close to the modern day village of Solam, while the Israelites took the strategic high ground on Mt. Gilboa on the southeastern side of the Jezreel valley about 6 miles southeast of the Philistine position at Shunem. 1 Samuel 28:5-6 When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was afraid; terror filled his heart. He inquired of the LORD, but the LORD did not answer him by dreams or Urim [h] or prophets. In spite of his superior position Saul was terrified. He even inquired of the LORD, but of course, he didn't repent, so the LORD did not answer him. 1 Samuel 28:7 Saul then said to his attendants, "Find me a woman who is a medium, so I may go and inquire of her." "There is one in Endor," they said. [i] 13 / 22

14 Ancient Endor is generally identified with the modern Endur, a small village on the northern slope of Jebel ed-duchy which rises about 500 feet above the surrounding valley floor. It was about 8 miles north of Mt. Gilboa. It is not far from Shunem where the Philistines were camped. Coming from Gilboa to the southwest, Saul would have crossed the Valley of Jezreel, and passed round the eastern base of the mountain. The Philistines were on the west side of the mountain. So Saul was almost behind enemy lines. In other words, he had to put himself at some risk to make this visit. 1 Samuel 28:8a So Saul disguised himself, putting on other clothes, and at night he and two men went to the woman. The disguise was probably more against discovery by the Philistines than anything else. 1 Samuel 28:8b-9 "Consult a spirit for me," he said, "and bring up for me the one I name." But the woman said to him, "Surely you know what Saul has done. He has cut off the mediums and spiritists from the land. Why have you set a trap for my life to bring about my death?" 14 / 22

15 At first the woman protests her fear of Saul's punishment. Although it is not mentioned here, there was no doubt a financial consideration for the woman involved. 1 Samuel 28:10 Saul swore to her by the LORD, "As surely as the LORD lives, you will not be punished for this." This statement is dripping in irony. Saul believed on the LORD intellectually, but practically, he only believed in himself. 1 Samuel 28:11 Then the woman asked, "Whom shall I bring up for you?" "Bring up Samuel," he said. Who did Saul ask for? He asked for Samuel the LORD's prophet, who he hadn't paid attention to when he was alive. 1 Samuel 28:12 When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out at the top of her voice and said 15 / 22

16 to Saul, "Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!" Notice the jump in the narrative. Between Saul's asking to see Samuel and the appearance of Samuel there is no mention of any intervention of the woman. I certainly do not believe that this woman had the power to call up Samuel (only the LORD has the power to do that). I do believe the statement of Scripture that Samuel appeared. Whether this woman was a just a garden variety fraud, or one of those who use demonic powers to deceive, the actual appearance of Samuel panicked her completely indicating she didn't expect what happened. How she knew immediately at the appearance of Samuel that he was coming up to talk to none other than King Saul, we are not told. That is not unusual, given the Scriptures' compressed method of story telling. Keep in mind that the LORD doesn't include in His Word stories that are unimportant, so we have to conclude that the conversation here was important. 1 Samuel 28:13-14 The king said to her, "Don't be afraid. What do you see?" The woman said, "I see a spirit coming up out of the ground." "What does he look like?" he asked. "An old man wearing a robe is coming up," she said. Then Saul knew it was Samuel, and he bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground. Evidently, at first only the woman could see Samuel. 1 Samuel 28:15a Samuel said to Saul, "Why have you disturbed me by bringing me 16 / 22

17 up?" Notice that Samuel did not say that the woman brought him up, but that Saul brought him up. Also, it seems to indicate that whatever Samuel was doing before the LORD brought him up was very enjoyable, and he was irritated by it interruption. 1 Samuel 28:15b "I am in great distress," Saul said. "The Philistines are fighting against me, and God has turned away from me. He no longer answers me, either by prophets or by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what to do." Saul complained that he hadn't had any revelation from the LORD, so he wanted to consult with Samuel. 1 Samuel 28:16-18 Samuel said, "Why do you consult me, now that the LORD has turned away from you and become your enemy? The LORD has done what he predicted through me. The LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hands and given it to one of your neighbors--to David. Because you did not obey the LORD or carry out his fierce wrath against the Amalekites, the LORD has done this to you today. 17 / 22

18 Samuel then explains that he has had plenty of revelation from the LORD and had not paid any attention to it. 1 Samuel 28:19 The LORD will hand over both Israel and you to the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The LORD will also hand over the army of Israel to the Philistines." However, here Samuel gave him some new revelation concerning the events of the morrow. There seems to be some disagreement about whether the appearance of Samuel was genuine or not. [j] As for me, I think the passage is unequivocal. It says "she saw Samuel," "Samuel said" (twice), and that it was "Samuel's words." It never implies that it was a pseudo-samuel. The rest of the passage seems to indicate that Samuel literally had a conversation with Saul who saw him face to face. The woman was no longer present. Furthermore, Samuel spoke to Saul about the LORD's prediction that He would take the kingdom out of his hands, which was something that only Samuel and Saul knew. Also, unlike recorded false prophecies by false prophets, Samuel predicts judgment for sin. Also, Samuel's prophecy about the outcome of the battle comes true. 18 / 22

19 If we regard Samuel's statements as true, it puts to rest several question. Samuel says that the next day that Saul would be with him. Samuel was in Paradise with Abraham, so we know that, whatever his faults, Saul was a believer. Also, because we know that Saul committed suicide the next day (1 Samuel 31:4) and yet went to Paradise, the old falsehood that suicides cannot be saved is untrue. 1 Samuel 28:20 Immediately Saul fell full length on the ground, filled with fear because of Samuel's words. His strength was gone, for he had eaten nothing all that day and night. [k] If Saul's faith had any strength at that time, he should have been comforted that he would be with Samuel the next day. He hadn't had any peace in his soul for years. However, believers who are mired in sin and dying the sin unto death drag their misery to the grave. Fortunately, not beyond. 1 Samuel 28:21 When the woman came to Saul and saw that he was greatly shaken, she said, "Look, your maidservant has obeyed you. I took my life in my hands and did what you told me to do. Considering this woman would have known how Saul had slaughtered the innocent priests of the LORD at Nob, this guilty woman would have been terrified for her life. 19 / 22

20 1 Samuel 28:22-25 Now please listen to your servant and let me give you some food so you may eat and have the strength to go on your way." He refused and said, "I will not eat." But his men joined the woman in urging him, and he listened to them. He got up from the ground and sat on the couch. The woman had a fattened calf at the house, which she butchered at once. She took some flour, kneaded it and baked bread without yeast. Then she set it before Saul and his men, and they ate. That same night they got up and left. It is interesting to speculate how this story survived. Of course the Holy Spirit could have revealed it directly to the chronicler who wrote this history. However, it seems that, usually, the stories were preserved by some human agency and the truth of the account preserved by the agency of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps one of Saul's men who accompanied him survived the battle the next day, and retold the story later. However, I like to believe it was the woman herself, who repented of her sin and believed in the LORD, who preserved the story. 20 / 22

21 21 / 22

22 Geshur. However, to written Biblia neither land, Girgashites. context miles expeditions 2:9). in-laws. camp using Edomite, McGee [a] [b] [c] [d] [e] [f] [g] [h] [i] [j] [k] him several This Two They and Jeshimon Although It In Of from such Hebraica (1 ones breastplate name was thinks "time" other Geshur Samuel course, who Jarahmeelites are certainly Bible son Kenites name were possible should Gath, people. who would evidently a margin is mentioned capital words long killed Samuel - the teachers Stuttgart Absalom. included. thus lived means ever appears 23:6). and appear. were have of suggests trip word He scenarios the outside as of from even about since did to may "wasteland." It the priests Gizrites traditionally "proud." taken Aram were here I two often. High Endor. is My She respect, not the The if Geshurites possible the have this obviously that names suggestion, descended of actually tribe (Syria). longer Priest Girgashites the No slaughter Old µ/y time (also how there even Nob geographical J. of evidently {yom} Testament Saul reporting from David than Vernon these Judah. a for appear, is urged name allies of of either from may Saul best which a Israel. were someone Aram people day. Thus married McGee Saul time of which back have and Jerahmeel, is translation. only priests neither Israel location is one Gizrites a (the to often likely (who Chuck to Maacah, had here. doesn't Moses this and to in north Achish at name the David Saul's translated seem some candidate. course Chuck Nob, In Smith was David's the were ever Canaanitish of occur had in should as brother Israel court to replacements not Ziklag asssociated descended Masoretic Smith, thinks to been daughter a Girzites. live base original "day" part begin that - the appear, Joshua Israelite. of with (which of disagree the tribes at Bible was Caleb with. a In did. of Ziklag text Urim Abiathar Negev) treaty from the with made. Talmai, in or 12:5), driven elsewhere. Doeg (1 She the and Septuagint only wasn't) Moses' the Chronicles with are habit name gave the which Thummim out appears over David's this David. related matter. his King of birth In gives 20 the of 22 / 22