In this gripping episode, we explore the tumultuous events from David’s time in Ziklag to his ascension as king over Judah. Through relentless battles and unexpected alliances, David’s leadership is tested as he navigates loss and triumph. Listen as we delve into the historical context of the conflict with the Philistines, the cunning strategies of David’s men, and the devastating news of Saul’s death. This episode offers a poignant reflection on the loyalty and brotherhood that defined David’s journey.
The CEM Network is pleased to present Ronald L. Dart and Born to Win.
SPEAKER 03 :
War makes strange bedfellows sometimes. It’s possible that David, King David, might well have been an ally of the Philistines when they went to war against Israel and Saul. Hard to imagine David at war with Israel, but it was on its way to happening, except for one thing. The lords of the Philistines didn’t trust him and wouldn’t let him go with them to combat. After all, David had killed more than a few Philistines in his time, and they just didn’t much like the man. As it happened, some bad things were going on at home while David was gone. He’d been given a little town called Ziklag, where all of his people were. And when they got back to Ziklag, after having charged off with the Philistines to go to war and not being allowed to go, they got back three days later and found that the Amalekites, these dread Amalekites that should have been killed off a long time ago but weren’t, had invaded the south. They’d invaded Ziklag. They’d taken the city. They’d burned it down. They had taken all the women captive that were there, didn’t kill any of them, but they carried them away and went on their way. So David and his men came to the town, and it was burned to the ground. Their wives, their sons, their daughters were taken captive. Then David and all the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept until they didn’t have any power left to weep. It was such a terrible disaster that had fallen all of them in one fell swoop. David’s two wives had been taken, Ahinoam and Abigail. And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him. They were grieved. They thought, why weren’t we here? But David encouraged himself in the Lord his God. And he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring here the ephod. Now, we don’t know a lot about this thing called the ephod. It was a priestly thing, and it was something that was used somehow to inquire of God, at least for yes and no answers. So he brought it in, and David inquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I go after these people? Shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue, you shall surely overtake them, and without fail. Recover everyone. So David went. He and the 600 men that were with him, and they came to the brook of Besor. And at that point, they had to leave about 200 men behind because they were just absolutely worn out. He kept on going. Those 200 that stayed behind were so faint, it says, they couldn’t even get across the brook of Besor. Well, they found an Egyptian in the field, and they brought him to David, gave him something to eat, gave him some water, a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. And by the time he’d gotten something to eat, his spirit came back to him again. He hadn’t had anything to eat or drink in three days and three nights. And David said to him, Who do you belong to? Where have you come from? And he said, I’m a young man. I’m an Egyptian. I’m a servant to an Amalekite. And my master left me because three days ago I fell sick. Good grief, he might as well have been a dog or a sick animal, for all his master cared. His master just said, well, you’re on your own, and walked off and left the sick man where he was. This, of course, did not sit terribly well with this poor fellow. He said, we had made an invasion to the south of the cities of Judah, which, of course, David already knew, upon the south of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire. And David said, Do you think you can bring me down to this company of men? And the man looked at him and said, If you’ll swear to me by God that you will neither kill me nor give me back to my master, yes, I’ll take you down. I’ll take you right where they’re at. And when he had brought him down, behold, they saw them spread out all over the earth, eating and drinking and dancing because of all the great spoil they had taken away. out of the land of the Philistines and out of the land of Judah. And, you know, you have to think this over. These fools, these unmitigated fools, had no idea that a man like David would ever come after them. And when you’re eating and when you’re drinking and when you’re dancing, you, generally speaking, are not really ready to fight. David and his men were ready to fight. And they fought them from the twilight all the way to the evening of the next day, and not a single man escaped. Well, except for 400 young men who were riding camels, and they got out, and no one could overtake the camels. But David got back everything the Amalekites had carried away, and then some, and he rescued his two wives. There wasn’t a thing lacking to them. Not a thing was missing in all the stuff they’d carried off, neither small nor great, none of the people, neither sons nor daughters, nor spoil or anything. David got it all back. And also, he took the flocks and herds of the Amalekites that they’d been driving before those other cattle and said, okay, this belongs to me. They came back and found the 200 men that had been so faint they couldn’t follow. They had to stay behind. There were some men, when these guys came out and saluted David, who were kind of ticked off. The Bible calls them wicked men, worthless men, that went with David. And they said, these people didn’t go with us. We will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered except to every man, his wife, and his children. They can have them and then go home, but that’s all. Well, David, being the kind of man, said, no, that’s not what we’re going to do, my brothers. We’re not going to do that which the Lord has given us, who has preserved us. It was the Lord that delivered the company that came against us into our hand. Who’s going to listen to you in this matter? But as his part is that goes down to the battle, so shall be his part that tarries by the stuff. They shall part it alike. Now, mind you, we’re not dealing with people who are cowards. We were dealing with people who were worn out and exhausted. He became accustomed, almost like a law from that time forward. He made it a statue and an ordinance for Israel until this day, that any time they go to war, everyone, even those that stay by the stuff, share in the spoils of battle. When David came to Ziklag, he then sent some of this spoil that he had into the elders of Judah, even to his friends, and said, Behold, a present for you of the spoil of the enemies of the Lord. Now, that’s smart. David is trying to maintain friendships, and he has friends all over the place, and he sends gifts to all of these friends. And then in the passage here in 1 Samuel 30, it’s all known, all the people are listed to whom he sent stuff. And it mentions to those who were in Hebron and to all the places where David himself and his men were wont to haunt. All their hangouts, they sent rewards up to those people. Meanwhile, the Philistine wars were not going at all well for Saul and Israel. The Philistines fought against Israel. The men of Israel fled before them and fell down slain in Mount Gilboa. The Philistines followed hard after Saul and upon after his sons, and the Philistines slew Jonathan, Abinadab, and Melchishua, Saul’s sons, all three of them. And if you know the story and how close David and Jonathan had been, how their souls were knit together, how they actually really loved one another, the fall of Jonathan comes as kind of a cold shock at this place. Somehow it just seems wrong. It seems that he ought to have lived and been right by David’s side throughout David’s reign, but it was not so to be. The battle went sore against Saul. The archers hit him, and he was badly wounded. And he said to his armor-bearer, Draw your sword. Thrust me through with it. I don’t want these uncircumcised Philistines to come and do it and abuse me. His armor-bearer wouldn’t do it. He was afraid. So finally, Saul took a sword and fell upon it. And when his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell upon his sword and died with him. So Saul died. and his three sons, and his armor-bearer, and all his men the same day together. It is a truly sad day. When the men of Israel that were on the other side of the valley, and those on the other side of Jordan, saw that the men of Israel fled before the Philistines, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they left all the cities and fled. They just went out like refugees and left everything behind, and the Philistines came and lived in their cities. Came to pass on the next day, the Philistines came to strip the slain. They found Saul and his three sons fallen in Mount Gilboa. They cut off his head, stripped off his armor, and sent to the land of the Philistines round about to publish in the house of their idols and among all the people. They put his armor in the house of Ashtaroth, their goddess, and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan. No honor for a slain enemy, not from these people. Take off his head, put it on a pike, fasten his body to the wall, and let it rot. When the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard what they had done, all the valiant men, the fighting men, went all night long and took down the body of Saul, the bodies of his sons from the wall of Bashan, and came to Jabesh and burnt them there. And they took their bones and buried them under a tree at Jabesh. and fasted seven days, mourning for King Saul. Grab a pencil and a piece of paper. I want to give you some information, and I’ll be right back with the rest of the story after this short word.
SPEAKER 02 :
The book of Samuel includes so much valuable history and lays the foundation for understanding the rest of the Bible. The entire series of programs on Samuel and the book of Kings is available for a special price this week only. Write to Born to Win, Post Office Box 560, White House, Texas 75791. Or call toll free 1-888-BIBLE-44 and tell us the call letters of this radio station.
SPEAKER 03 :
The story continues in 2 Samuel. David, still in Ziklag, has been there about two days. recovering from all the stuff that had gone on, thinking about rebuilding the town. And it came to pass on the third day, a man came in out of the camp from Saul with his clothes rent and earth upon his head. He came to David and fell on the earth and did obeisance. And David said, where have you come from? Out of the camp of Israel, he said, have I escaped? And David said, well, how did the matter go? Tell me. He said, all the people have fled from the battle. Many of the people are fallen and dead, and Saul and his son Jonathan are also dead. David, shocked, said to the young man that told him, How do you know that Saul and his son are dead? The young man told him, He said, I happened by chance upon Mount Gilboa. And behold, Saul leaned upon his spear. and lo, the chariots and horsemen were following hard after him. And when he looked behind him, he saw me, and he called me, and I said, I’m here. He said, Who are you? And he answered him, I’m an Amalekite. Well, now, you know, mentioning to David that you are an Amalekite could have got you a death sentence all by itself, but that’s not what happens exactly. He said to me again, Saul, to the Amalekite, Stand upon me and slay me, for my anguish is upon me, because my life is still yet whole in me. I’m wounded, but I’m not dead. So I stood upon him and slew him, because I was sure he could not live after he was fallen. And I took the crown on his head and the bracelet on his arm, and I brought them here to my Lord. And he was lying in his teeth. he had come across the dead body of Saul and had taken his crown, had taken his bracelet, and he thought to himself, if I go and tell David that I have killed his arch enemy, I have killed a man who’s been chasing David up one hill and down another for years, I have killed a man who wanted to kill David, I’ll be rewarded for this. Because the account in 1 Samuel tells us categorically that Saul fell on his sword and died. He was a suicide. This man claims he killed him. For some strange reason, commentators have discussed this back and forth, trying to figure out exactly what happened. And explanations have been offered, but it’s not hard to find out. The man simply lied. He thought David would be happy with what he had done. I can only imagine his shock when David took hold on his clothes and tore them, and all the men standing around him did the same. And they mourned and wept and fasted all the way till even for Saul and for Jonathan his son and for the people of the Lord and for the house of Israel because they were fallen by the sword. And David said to the young man that told him this, Where have you come from? I’m the son of a stranger. I’m an Amalekite. David said to him, Why, how is it that you were not afraid to stretch forth your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed? How could you think such a thing? And David called one of the young men and said, Go near and fall upon him. And he smote him that he died. David ordered a summary execution of the man. Did the man actually kill Saul or did Saul kill himself? Probably, seems quite certain to me, Saul killed himself, and the Amalekite merely sought to curry favor with David. He was sorely mistaken. It cost him his life. David said to him, Your blood be upon your own head. Your mouth has testified against you, saying, I have slain the Lord’s anointed. And I doubt if David shed one moment’s grief. for the killing of an Amalekite. But he did lament with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son. And he bade them teach the children of Judah the lament of the bow. It’s written in the book of Jasher. The beauty of Israel is slain upon the high places. How are the mighty fallen? Don’t tell it in Gath. Don’t publish it in the streets of Ashkelon. Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice. Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph. You mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew. Neither let there be rain upon you, nor fields of offerings. For there the shield of the mighty is vilely cast away. The shield of Saul. as though he had not been anointed with oil as a king. From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan never turned back, and the sword of Saul returned not empty. Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were not divided. They were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions.” You daughters of Israel, weep over Saul who clothed you in scarlet with other delights, who put ornaments of gold upon your apparel. How are the mighty fallen in the midst of battle? O Jonathan, you were slain in your high places. I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan. Very pleasant have you been to me. Your love was wonderful, passing the love of women. How are the mighty fallen and the weapons of war perished? In this moment, when David might have rejoiced, might have celebrated, might have danced in the streets, he was no longer a hunted man now. He could go home. But he couldn’t bring himself to feel good about what had happened, because in spite of everything that had happened, he loved Saul and he loved Jonathan. And don’t make much of this thing, his love was wonderful passing the love of women. It has nothing to do with that kind of love. It is the fact that two men could be this close, bonded as brothers. And brothers can love one another. But David now could go home. But we should never imagine that the politics of this long feud would be so easily resolved. Far too many people had far too much invested in it. 2 Samuel 2 It came to pass after this that David inquired of the Lord, as he always did, saying, Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah? And the Lord said, Yes, go up. And David said, Where shall I go? And the Lord answered, To Hebron. Hebron is not far from David’s city. Bethlehem was David’s city. Hebron, just a little further south, but right in the heart of Judah. So he returned home. And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. It’s worth noting that it says king over the house of Judah because he was not yet king over all of Israel. There was still a major division at this time between the house of Judah and the remainder of Israel. But they told David, saying, The men of Jabesh-Gilead… went out and recovered Saul. They went and buried him. And David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-Gilead and said, Blessed be you of the Lord that you have shown this kindness to your Lord, even to Saul, and have buried him. And now the Lord show kindness and truth to you. And I also will requite this kindness because you have done this thing. So let your hands be strengthened. Be valiant, for your master Saul is dead.” and the house of Judah has anointed me king over them. All is wonderful. Everyone lives happily ever after. No, not hardly. There’s more to this story, and we’ll talk about that right after this important message.
SPEAKER 02 :
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SPEAKER 03 :
The consequences of Saul’s failure, his war with David, the fact that David would not kill Saul, he felt that that was no way for his kingdom to ever be established, created a very unstable political situation in Israel for a long time. And with all the chaos going on, it’s not surprising that when David was finally anointed king over Judah… that some of the people who were not Jews would themselves take exception to that, especially where power was concerned. Abner had been the chief of staff, as it were, the leading general for King Saul. He was a man of considerable power in Israel, and he was not minded to give it up. So he took one of Saul’s other sons, his name was Ish-bosheth, and he brought him over, and he made him king over Gilead, over the Asherites, over Jezreel, over Ephraim, over Benjamin, and over all of Israel. Ish-bosheth was Saul’s son, was 40 years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned for two years. And all this period of time, the house of Judah followed David. The time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months. And so all this goes on, and David seems content to leave it alone. But Abner, the son of Ner, the servants of Ish-bosheth, they went out to Gibeon. And Joab, the son of Zeruiah, and the servants of David went out and met together by the pool of Gibeon. And they sat down, one on one side, the other party on the other side. And when you understand who these two old bulls are, two of the leading generals, two great fighting men in their own right, two really tough individuals, no good could possibly come of this meeting. Abner said, Let’s let the young men now arise and joust before us. And Joab said, Let them joust. So there arose and went over by number twelve of Benjamin, that pertained to Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David. The description of this combat is a little hard to follow, but it sounds like each one of them caught his opposite man by the head, by the beard, and thrust his sword in the fellow’s side, and they fell down together at this place in Gibeon. But that was just the beginning. There was a very sore battle that day, and Abner was beaten, and the men of Israel before the servants of David. There were three sons of Zeruiah there, Joab the eldest, Abishai, and Asahel. Asahel was as light of foot as a wild deer, and Asahel pursued after Abner. When the battle broke, Abner ran for his life. Asahel took off after him. And in going, he didn’t turn to the right, he didn’t turn to the left. He was single-minded. He was going after Abner. And Abner, the bull of the woods himself, looked behind him and he said, Are you Asahel? He said, Yes. Go away. Turn aside to the right, hand to the left. Lay hold on one of the young men. Take his armor for glory. But Asahel would not turn aside from following Abner. Abner didn’t want to kill him. And he said again, Go back. Why should I smite you to the ground? How could I hold up my face to Joab, your brother? But he refused. So finally Abner, with the back end of his spear, smote him in the heart, and the spear came out clean behind him. and he fell down there and died in the same place. And it came to pass, as many as came to the place where Asahel fell down and died, they stopped and stood stock still. Joab also and Abishai pursued after Abner, and the sun went down where they had come, to the hill of Amah that lies before Giah by the way of the wilderness of Gibeon. And the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together behind Abner, and they became one troop, and they stood on top of a hill. And Abner called down to Joab and said, Shall the sword devour forever? Don’t you know it will be bitterness in the latter end? How long will it be then before you’ll bid the people return from following after and pursuing their own brothers? And Joab said, As God lives, unless you had spoken. Surely then in the morning the people would have gone up, every one from following his brother. So Joab blew a trumpet, all the people stood still and stopped pursuing Israel, and the fight was over. And Abner and his men walked all that night through the plain and passed over Jordan and went through all Bithron and came to Mahanaim. Joab returned from following Abner, and when he gathered all the people together, there lacked of David’s servants nineteen men and Asahel, Joab’s brother. The servants of David had smitten of Benjamin and Abner’s men, so that three hundred and sixty of them died. They took up Asahel and buried him in the sepulchre of his father in Bethlehem. And Joab and his men went all night, and they came to Hebron at the break of day. It was not truly a great battle. Not all that many men were killed. But it was the beginning of the end of the division in Israel that had been created by Abner and his power play. And Joab, Joab would never forget that Abner killed his brother. I hope you have a pencil and a piece of paper because we really do need to hear from you. From time to time, we have to make some hard decisions as to which of our radio stations we keep and which we have to let go. We have a modest budget. It’s provided by supporters of this program who write out checks to pay for them. We want to be sure the money is well spent. So protect your station. Give us a call or drop us a line. And I hope while you do that you’ll request one of our free buffers. Our phone number, remember, is 1-888-BIBLE-44. That’s 1-888-242-5344.
SPEAKER 02 :
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