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7 And David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.”So Abiathar brought the ephod to David.
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1. So what was the deal with the ephod again?
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The Urim (“lights”) and Thummim (“perfections”) were gemstones that were carried by the high priest of Israel on the ephod / priestly garments. They were used by the high priest to determine God’s will in some situations. Some propose that God would cause the Urim and Thummim to light up in varying patterns to reveal His decision. Others propose that the Urim and Thummim were kept in a pouch and were engraved with symbols identifying yes / no and true / false.
8 And David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I pursue after this band? Shall I overtake them?”He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue.”
.2. How is David reacting differently in this chapter than in the previous ones?
.We have not heard David ask for the ephod since 23:9, and we have not heard David speak of Yahweh since chapter 26. Here he recovers himself and seeks guidance through Abiathar the priest and the use of the sacred lots connected with the ephod. He strengthens himself (v. 6b) by using his access to Yahweh’s presence (vv. 7-8).
The Christian does not have Abiathar nor the ephod. Yet the same recourse is open to him. For he does have a priest, a greater than Abiathar. “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession” (Heb. 4:14 RSV). Because we have such a priest we are confidently to “draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16 RSV). We may not get precise answers to our questions but we will find “grace to help,” which we usually need more than answers. I don’t often need information but endurance; I don’t need to know something—I only need to stay on my feet. Use your Priest; use your access; it’s part of strengthening yourself in Yahweh your God. FBC
.9 So David set out, and the six hundred men who were with him, and they came to the brook Besor, where those who were left behind stayed. 10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men. Two hundred stayed behind, who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor.
3. Why leave 200 men behind?
David most likely encountered the brook about 13 mi. S of Ziklag. It consisted of seasonal rivers from the area of Beersheba which ran NW and emptied into the Mediterranean. Likely, this was during the latter rains (Jan.-Apr.) and the brook was filled with a rampaging runoff that would account for the soldiers who were unable to cross over. MSBN
.We must remember the physical and mental condition of these men. They have just traveled nearly 60 miles from Aphek back to Ziklag, no doubt pressing hard to get home as soon as possible.
They can rest up at Ziklag, once they arrive, or so they think. Then, finding their loved ones kidnapped, their cattle stolen, and their city destroyed by fire, they weary themselves weeping (verse 4). Now they are off in hot pursuit of the enemy. The enemy raiding party has a substantial lead, and the trail is getting cold. They can easily disappear into the wilderness. If they are to be overtaken in time to rescue their loved ones, David and his men must move quickly. I imagine David and his men are marching double time. As time passes and the heat of the sun works on David and his men, they grow weary. When they come to the brook Besor, a third of the men simply cannot go on. They have plenty of motivation – their families are in danger, and they want to be there to rescue them – but they simply do not have the strength to continue on. Two hundred men collapse there by the brook, unable to press on. Even if they do go on, they will only slow the rest down. David and the other 400 men press on, leaving much of their gear behind with the 200 so that they can move faster and expend less energy. RD
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11 They found an Egyptian in the open country and brought him to David. And they gave him bread and he ate. They gave him water to drink,12 and they gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. And when he had eaten, his spirit revived, for he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights.13 And David said to him, “To whom do you belong? And where are you from?” He said, “I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite, and my master left me behind because I fell sick three days ago. 14 We had made a raid against the Negeb of the Cherethites and against that which belongs to Judah and against the Negeb of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire.”15 And David said to him, “Will you take me down to this band?”And he said, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will take you down to this band.”
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4. Is this a “lucky break” to find this guy?
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David and his men must being to wonder what direction their pursuit should take. At this critical moment, they just “happen” to come across a man who has been left half-dead in a field. The man is so weak he cannot talk. It may seem to some that this is a “waste of time” for David and his men to stop and render aid to this man. Whether this is out of pure compassion (making David a kind of good Samaritan), their efforts are well rewarded. It takes bread and water, then a piece of fig cake and raisins to bring this man back to life, since he has gone three days and nights without either food or water.
When the man finally has sufficient strength to speak, David begins to question him. The answers to his questions must lift the spirits of David and his men, for the man tells them he is an Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite. His master left him behind three days before because he was sick and slowing everyone down. His master left him there to die, with no food or water. He then tells David he is with the Amalekite raiding party that plundered Ziklag. David asks the young man if he would be willing to guide them to the Amalekite camp. Normally, I am sure he would not consider such a thing. But since his master and the others left him behind to die, he is willing to cooperate, in exchange for David’s assurance that he will not be killed or handed back over to his master. This half-dead servant gives new life to David’s search for the Amalekite raiders and their captives. RD
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Happening onto this discarded Egyptian is the whole key for David’s recovery operation. How important he becomes, making it possible for Yahweh to fulfill his assurances to David (v. 8). No theological bells go off at verse 11 in order to announce Yahweh’s providence to you. You are expected to suspect it on your own and to hear its quiet work. It seems like such a little providence, finding this puny Egyptian. But little providences make big differences. Only Amalekites think that mustard-seed matters never matter. Little did that Amalekite master realize that the piece of human machinery he had discarded three days ago would prove his undoing! Maybe he never put it together. After all, there’s not much time to reflect when a Ziklag sword slashes your wineskin and then recoils to finish off its drinker. “And they found an Egyptian….” God’s providence is essential. FBC
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David Defeats the Amalekites
16 And when he had taken him down, behold, they 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. 17 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. 18 David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and David rescued his two wives. 19 Nothing was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that had been taken. David brought back all. 20 David also captured all the flocks and herds, and the people drove the livestock before him, and said, “This is David’s spoil.”
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5. “Nothing was missing”, what does this tell us about the character of YAHWEH?
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God is teaching David and his followers a lesson. He is the God of restoration. Yahweh took a nation who had been in bondage in Egypt and redeemed and restored them to what God originally purposed them to be. He has redeemed and restored those of the human race who accept His restoration through Jesus Christ.
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For I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal, declares the Lord, because they have called you an outcast: Jer 30:17 (ESV)
Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile. Jer 29:12-14 (ESV)
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“So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, The crawling locust, The consuming locust, And the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you. 26 You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, And praise the name of the Lord your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you; And My people shall never be put to shame. Joel 2:25-26 (NKJV)
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Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Cor 5:17 (ESV)
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21 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. 22 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.” 23 But David said, “You shall not do so, my brothers, with what the Lordhas given us. He has preserved us and given into our hand the band that came against us. 24 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.”25 And he made it a statute and a rule for Israel from that day forward to this day. 26 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.”27 It was for those in Bethel, in Ramoth of the Negeb, in Jattir, 28 in Aroer, in Siphmoth, in Eshtemoa, 29 in Racal, in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, in the cities of the Kenites, 30 in Hormah, in Bor-ashan, in Athach, 31 in Hebron, for all the places where David and his men had roamed.
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6. Why should David and the stronger warriors share with the weaker ones?
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Some of the soldiers who had participated in combat with the Amalekites did not want to share the booty with those who had guarded the baggage (cf. v. 24). David, however, took a different view of things. He saw that God had given them the victory; this spoil was not essentially what the combat soldiers had won but what the Lord had given His people, along with protection (cf. 1 Cor. 3:8; Matt. 20:12-15). Yahweh was the real deliverer of Israel (cf. 17:46-47). Again, this illustrates David’s perception of God’s relation to Israel and to himself, which was so different from Saul’s view. His generous policy of dividing the spoils of war so the non-combatants would receive a portion (vv. 24-31) was in harmony with the Mosaic Law (Num. 31:27). This policy further prepared the way for the Judahites’ acceptance of David as Saul’s successor.
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David is establishing Christ-like principles.
The entire message of the New Testament is encapsulated in the personhood of Jesus and his selfless example of putting others first.
David also distributed some of the war plunder to the elders of Judah. He evidently did so because he viewed the booty as coming from the enemies of all Judah, even the enemies of the Lord (v. 26). He may have also done this to curry favor with the elders. They later anointed David king over the house of Judah (2 Sam. 2:4; 5:1-3). David’s propensity to give made his new kingdom possible.
“Many victorious kings have used surplus plunder to enrich themselves and to build grandiose palaces; David used these first spoils to show his gratitude to the citizens of those areas and towns in Judah where he and his men had wandered when being pursued by Saul.”
This chapter presents many qualities that mark strong, effective leadership.
David refuses to let these “wicked and worthless men” spoil the victory God has given. He sees to it that the spoils of war are evenly distributed among all 600 men. But the 600 do not get all the spoils of that victory. In verses 26-31, we see that David makes very good use of some of the spoils by sharing them with some of the Israelite towns he and his men frequented. RD
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Chapter 31
The Death of Saul
1 Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. 2 And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck down Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul. 3 The battle pressed hard against Saul, and the archers found him, and he was badly wounded by the archers. 4 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. 5 And when his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died with him. 6 Thus Saul died, and his three sons, and his armor-bearer, and all his men, on the same day together.
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7. Why didn’t Saul just surrender and allow himself to be taken prisoner?
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Having engaged in several battles against the Philistines, Saul had succeeded in provoking their hatred and resentment. As the king, Saul had certainly received especially cruel treatment from the hands of his enemies, who would have likely made sport of him and tortured him before his death. Saul took his sword and fell on it. Though Saul’s suicide is considered by some to be an act of heroism, Saul should have found his strength and courage in God as David did in 23:16 and 30:6 to fight to the end or to surrender. Saul’s suicide is the ultimate expression of his faithlessness towards God at this moment in his life. MSBN
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David had been Saul’s armor-bearer before he had to flee from Saul’s presence (16:21). Saul, probably fearing that the Philistines would torture and abuse him asked his armor-bearer to kill him, but the young man refused to do so, as David had when he had opportunity. Why this armor-bearer feared to kill Saul is unclear. Perhaps he feared the disgrace that would have hounded him, or even death, for slaying the king. Or perhaps, like David, he feared God and so would not kill the Lord’s anointed. This insubordination, which had characterized Saul’s conduct before Yahweh, led Saul to take his own life. CN
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7 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. 8 The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9 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. 10 They put his armor in the temple of Ashtaroth, and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan. 11 But when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 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. 13 And they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh and fasted seven days.
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8. Why would the men of Jabesh-gilead risk their lives to rescue Saul’s body?
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Saul had saved Jabesh-gilead at the beginning of his reign (ch. 11), a fact that the men of the city remembered. They cross the Jordan and go about 10 miles (16 km) to Beth-shan. The burning of bodies was usually considered desecration, but here the purpose may have been to keep them from further dishonor. bones. Even after lengthy burning, large bones would remain. David later reburied the bones.
The men of Jabesh-gilead showed kindness and respect to Saul, a Benjamite, by rescuing his body from the wall of Beth-shan because Saul and his sons had saved Jabesh-gilead from the Ammonites (11:9–12) just after he had been chosen as king of Israel. By this act, they honored Saul for his faithfulness to them. MSBN
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· ACC …. Adam Clarke’s Commentary
· CN …… Constables Notes
· ESVN………….ESV Study Bible Notes
· Gill………..John Gill Exposition of the Bible
· JFB…………..Jamieson Fausset Brown Commentary
· JVM ….J Vernon McGee,
· MH………..Matthew Henry Commentary
· MSBN…….MacArthur NASB Study Notes
· NET………Net Bible Study Notes.
· RD………….Robert Deffinbaugh bible.org
· FBC…………. Focus on the Bible Commentary
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