Prayer Challenges
Current Challenge from Doug Knox.
April
Man Builders, Part 41
1 Samuel 30:16 – 31:13
David—Forged Masterpiece, Part 23
END OF A GOVERNANCE
Continuing Action
The second half of 1 Samuel 30 brings David’s encounter with the Egyptian slave to its conclusion. The intelligence that the former slave had given David and his men turns out to be valuable.
And when he had taken him down, behold, they [the Amalekite army] were spread abroad over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing, because of all the great spoil they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. And David struck them down from twilight until the evening of the next day, and not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men, who mounted camels and fled.
David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and David rescued his two wives. Nothing was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that had been taken. David brought back all. David also captured all the flocks and herds, and the people drove the livestock before him, and said,”This is David's spoil.”
--1 Samuel 31:16-20
We saw before that David’s predicament in 1 Samuel 27 and 29 has left him in a precarious situation. His loyalty to the Philistine King Achish carries the potential to compromise him completely.
Chapter 30 becomes the dodge-the-bullet chapter for David. Rather than resolve the issue, God simply unleashes a new plot point. The Amalekite raid on Ziklag places his men against him (1 Samuel 30:1-6), but at the same time, it displaces the immediate situation. Rather than having to wonder, “What will we do now?” they confront a new tactical situation.
The description of the resolution is brief. David and the four hundred men who are with him rout the unsuspecting Amalekite camp, recover their families, and return with additional spoil.
The text elevates David’s position in the mind of his subordinates. As they return, they declare, “This is David’s spoil” (1 Samuel 30:20).
A Kingly Declaration
He is not in the clear, however. When the fighting men return to their camp, a new division opens between the two hundred who had needed to rest on and the others who had carried out the raid.
Then David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow David, and who had been left at the brook Besor. And they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him. And when David came near to the people he greeted them.
Then all the wicked and worthless fellows among the men who had gone with David said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except that each man may lead away his wife and children, and depart.”
But David said, “You shall not do so, my brothers, with what the LORD has given us. He has preserved us and given into our hand the band that came against us. Who would listen to you in this matter? For as his share is who goes down into the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage. They shall share alike.”
And he made it a statute and a rule for Israel from that day forward to this day.
--1 Samuel 30:21-25
Unsurprisingly, the four hundred who fought wish to keep the status quo. If they do, the non-fighters will receive nothing outside of what belonged to them in the first place. Here, David steps in to make a declaration that anticipates his future role as king. Everyone will share equally in the spoils of war. His reasons are forward-looking and insightful:
- He recognizes that the LORD has given them the spoils, which means that the men must act as a unified body. While only a portion have fought, they have created nothing on their own.
- He recognizes that the prevailing argument from the four hundred ultimately would divide popular opinion. “Who would listen to you in this matter?”
- He makes his declaration clear. Everyone who participated in the effort will reap equal benefits.
The final observation in the paragraph, “And he made it a statute and a rule for Israel from that day forward to this day,” gives us an idea of the depth that his authority carries already. He declares law for Israel before he is even on the throne.
A Shrewd Future King
When David reaches Ziklag, he continues to build bridges directed toward Judah.
When David came to Ziklag, he sent part of the spoil to his friends, the elders of Judah, saying, “Here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of the LORD.” It was for those in Bethel, in Ramoth of the Negeb, in Jattir, in Aroer, in Siphmoth, in Eshtemoa, in Racal, in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, in the cities of the Kenites, in Hormah, in Bor-ashan, in Athach, in Hebron, for all the places where David and his men had roamed.
--1 Samuel 30:26-31
David knows that he will be king. Any false modesty at this point would hurt his reputation. His gift to the cities lets them know that he will be concerned for their welfare.
Saul’s Death
The final chapter in 1 Samuel records Saul’s death. The scene begins with the battle itself.
Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck down Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul.
The battle pressed hard against Saul, and the archers found him, and he was badly wounded by the archers. Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and mistreat me.”
But his armor-bearer would not, for he feared greatly. Therefore Saul took his own sword and fell upon it. And when his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died with him. Thus Saul died, and his three sons, and his armor-bearer, and all his men, on the same day together.
And when the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley and those beyond the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled. And the Philistines came and lived in them.
--1 Samuel 31:1-7
The events are straightforward. The Philistines pummel Israel. We are reminded of a similar disaster about sixty years before, early in the prophet Samuel’s ministry, when the LORD allowed the Philistines to take the Ark of the Covenant as spoil. For God, reverence is more important than tactical success. He is more concerned about preserving his holy name than he is about keeping his team in first place. Here, the enemy overtakes Saul and his three sons, Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchi-shua.
Stubborn Heroism
The picture is ignominious. The sons die early, while Saul is wounded by an archer. Saul falls on his sword and dies, and Israel abandons the bodies while they flee before the enemy. However, the book concludes with brief act of personal heroism.
The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. So they cut off his head and stripped off his armor and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines, to carry the good news to the house of their idols and to the people. They put his armor in the temple of Ashtaroth, and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.
But when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, all the valiant men arose and went all night and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, and they came to Jabesh and burned them there. And they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh and fasted seven days.
--1 Samuel 31:8-13
As we would expect, the enemy abuses their enemy king’s body. After all, during this time, all wars are holy wars. The larger story closes on a heroic note. When the residents of Jabesh-gilead learn about what the Philistines have done, “all the valiant men” journey overnight to take back the bodies of Saul and his sons and give then an honorable burial in Jabesh. As well they should. Jabesh-gilead appeared at the beginning of Saul’s reign in 1 Samuel 11. This is the town that Nahash the Ammonite threatened to seize and humiliate just after Samuel had anointed Saul as king. In an act of controlled rage, he mustered all of Israel to come to Jabesh’s rescue. The residents of the town remember. Following this battle against the Philistines, patriots from Jabesh risk their own lives to recover the bodies of their king and his sons. The book transforms an otherwise ignominious close with an account of respect that transcends the peril that they faced.
Doug Knox