Monday, June 3, 2013

Reflections on 1 Samuel 27


    1 Samuel 27 (Contemporary English Version)
  1. but he thought to himself, "One of these days, Saul is going to kill me. The only way to escape from him is to go to Philistia. Then I'll be outside of Israel, and Saul will give up trying to catch me."
  2. David and his six hundred men went across the border to stay in Gath with King Achish the son of Maoch. His men brought their families with them. David brought his wife Ahinoam whose hometown was Jezreel, and he also brought his wife Abigail who had been married to Nabal from Carmel.
  3. (SEE 27:2)
  4. When Saul found out that David had run off to Gath, he stopped trying to catch him.
  5. One day, David was talking with Achish and said, "If you are happy with me, then let me live in one of the towns in the countryside. I'm not important enough to live here with you in the royal city."
  6. Achish gave David the town of Ziklag that same day, and Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah ever since.
  7. David was in Philistia for a year and four months.
  8. The Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites lived in the area from Telam to Shur and on as far as Egypt, and David often attacked their towns.
  9. Whenever David and his men attacked a town, they took the sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels, and the clothing, and killed everyone who lived there. After he returned from a raid, David always went to see Achish,
  10. who would ask, "Where did you attack today?" David would answer, "Oh, we attacked some desert town that belonged to the Judah tribe." Sometimes David would say, "Oh, we attacked a town in the desert where the Jerahmeel clan lives" or "We attacked a town in the desert where the Kenites live."
  11. That's why David killed everyone in the towns he attacked. He thought, "If I let any of them live, they might come to Gath and tell what I've really been doing." David made these raids all the time he was in Philistia.
  12. But Achish trusted David and thought, "David's people must be furious with him. From now on he will have to take orders from me."

    David grew weary of being chased by Saul. He had no assurance that it would end even though Saul had acknowledged David was destined for the throne. Saul had made this acknowledgement before and then returned to chasing David. Finally, David concluded he should escape to "the land of the Philistines," for "One of these days I'll be swept away by Saul." (27:1) Was this decision to leave his own country to escape from Saul a lapse in David's faith that God would protect him? Many say "yes," pointing out that God had miraculously delivered him from Saul numerous times and would have continued to do so if David had the faith to remain in Judah.

    Scripture is silent as to whether David's decision was right or wrong. Either way, his time among the Philistines ingratiated him with these people and gave him opportunity to develop his leadership and combat skills. Furthermore, David used this period to destroy some of the people God had instructed Israel to destroy but they had failed to do so. Though it might be argued that David could have done this from Judah, in Judah he could not move about freely without being detected and reported to Saul, plus it would not have been safe for him to leave his women, children, and livestock unprotected while he and his men raided these other territories. In Philistine, on the other hand, David made an agreement with Achish, king of Gath, and was given the city of Ziklag in which to live and to rule. He could move freely without fear of Saul's detection and pursuit.

    David was deceptive with king Achish, however, leading him to believe that David's raids against the Geshurites, Girzites, and Amalekites were actually against his own people. This led Achish to believe that David could never return to Judah and would forever be his vassal.

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