The Betrayal of David
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Today we are continuing our study of the book of 1 Samuel. David is on the run. You may remember that Abiathar, the son of Ahimelek the priest, came to David and reported that Doeg had killed his family and all the priests at Nob—everyone except him. Now all of this killing was ordered by King Saul.
So, David tells Abiathar to stay with him, because Saul is now trying to kill both of them. So David is truly on the run.
That’s when he hears of a problem! If you have your Bibles, and I hope that you do, turn with me to 1 Samuel chapter 23.
The Philistines are Attacking!
The Philistines are Attacking!
When David was told, “Look, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are looting the threshing floors,”
The Philistines are attacking the city of Keilah. You may remember that David and his men are in the caves at Adullam. Keilah is 3 miles southeast from where David is staying. So it makes sense that David would hear about the battle that is happening in a nearby town.
Now look at verse 2.
he inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” The Lord answered him, “Go, attack the Philistines and save Keilah.”
So David asks Yahweh if he and his men should go up and fight the Philistines. And God says, “YES! Go attack the Philistines. Go save Keilah!”
But David’s men are not so sure about the plan. Look at verse 3.
But David’s men said to him, “Here in Judah we are afraid. How much more, then, if we go to Keilah against the Philistine forces!”
David’s men tell him, “Look, we are scared where we are—it will be even worse if we go up to fight for Keilah.
We’ll find out why the men are so concerned in just a few minutes.
One of the differences that we see between Saul and David is that Saul caved to the will of his men while David trusts what Yahweh says. So we see that David goes back and asks the Lord again if they should go up and fight for Keilah. Look at verse 4
Once again David inquired of the Lord, and the Lord answered him, “Go down to Keilah, for I am going to give the Philistines into your hand.”
Once again, God says, “Yes! Go down to Keilah. ‘for I am going to give the Philistines into your hand.’”
To Keilah!
To Keilah!
So David and his men went to Keilah, fought the Philistines and carried off their livestock. He inflicted heavy losses on the Philistines and saved the people of Keilah.
David and his men go down and attack the Philistines and they have a great victory!
They carried off the Philistines livestock.
They inflicted heavy losses on the Philistines.
And they saved the people of Keilah!
When we come to verse 6, we are told that Abiathar brought the ephod with him when he fled to meet David.
(Now Abiathar son of Ahimelek had brought the ephod down with him when he fled to David at Keilah.)
Here Comes Saul!
Here Comes Saul!
Now we are going to learn why David’s men were concerned about going up to Keilah. Look at verse 7.
Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah, and he said, “God has delivered him into my hands, for David has imprisoned himself by entering a town with gates and bars.”
Saul is excited about the news he receives!
Saul believes God has given David into his hands! Because Saul looks at circumstances and fails to see and live by God’s plan!
He says, David has entered into a walled city with gates and bars!—In other words, he’s trapped!
Well, Saul believes he can finally catch David. So look at verse 8.
And Saul called up all his forces for battle, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men.
Saul mobilizes all of his forces for battle and begins his march to Keilah.
His plan it to besiege the town and capture David and his men!
Saul does not care about the people of Keilah! All he wants to do is to capture and kill David!
But David finds out about Saul’s plan. Look at verse 9.
When David learned that Saul was plotting against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod.”
David calls for the priest Abiathar to bring the ephod—which represented God’s present. And David wants God presence to find out what he should do.
David wants God to answer two questions:
David said, “Lord, God of Israel, your servant has heard definitely that Saul plans to come to Keilah and destroy the town on account of me.
David tells God that he has heard Saul is coming to attack and destroy Keilah because of him.
Keep in mind that David is still remembering that Saul destroyed the Priest’s city of Nob—killing the priest, and he feels responsible! He doesn’t want to be responsible for Saul destroying another city of Israel on his account!
Now the two questions. Look at verse 11.
Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me to him? Will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? Lord, God of Israel, tell your servant.” And the Lord said, “He will.”
There’s a repeat of question 1—Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me to Saul?
Question 2—Will Saul actually come to the city of Keilah?
And God answers the second question by saying, “YES” to Saul coming down.
So David repeats the first question:
Again David asked, “Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me and my men to Saul?” And the Lord said, “They will.”
This response from the Lord is amazing! David has just saved them from the Philistines—and now he hears from God that the people will betray him into the hands of Saul!
On the Road Again!
On the Road Again!
So what is David going to do? Well look at verse 13.
So David and his men, about six hundred in number, left Keilah and kept moving from place to place. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he did not go there.
The number of David’s men has now increased from 400 to 600. Some scholars say this is hyperbole, I don’t. I believe the number of people that were discontent with Saul continued to grow and they found godly leadership under David.
They left Keilah and kept moving from place to place.
When Saul heard that David had left Keilah, he didn’t go there—so the people and the town were saved a second time!
In the Desert of Ziph
In the Desert of Ziph
David stayed in the wilderness strongholds and in the hills of the Desert of Ziph. Day after day Saul searched for him, but God did not give David into his hands.
The Desert of Ziph is a hilly desolate place East of Hebron, and west of the Dead Sea.
Saul continues to search for David—all day every day!
A Visit from Jonathan
A Visit from Jonathan
While David was at Horesh in the Desert of Ziph, he learned that Saul had come out to take his life.
David goes to the town of Horesh. We don’t know exactly where this town was.
But David hears that Saul is still out to get him!
And Saul’s son Jonathan went to David at Horesh and helped him find strength in God.
His friend (and the son of the king) Jonathan came to Horesh to help David find strength in God.
Look at Jonathan’s message.
“Don’t be afraid,” he said. “My father Saul will not lay a hand on you. You will be king over Israel, and I will be second to you. Even my father Saul knows this.”
First, he tells David not to be afraid!
His dad will NOT be able to lay a hand on him, because he is under God’s protection. God has already determined what will happen to David.
David will be king over Israel.
Jonathan will serve beside him, but under him.
And Jonathan says even his father knows David will be king!
The two of them made a covenant before the Lord. Then Jonathan went home, but David remained at Horesh.
Once again, David and Jonathan renew their covenant before Yahweh.
So Jonathan went home and David stayed in Horesh.
Betrayed Again
Betrayed Again
The Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hakilah, south of Jeshimon?
The men of Ziph went to Saul at Gibeah.
They tell Saul that David is hiding in the strongholds (caves) at Horesh, on the hill of Hakilah, south of Jeshimon.
These men have a plan!
Now, Your Majesty, come down whenever it pleases you to do so, and we will be responsible for giving him into your hands.”
Okay Saul, when you get ready come down to Ziph.
These men will be responsible for giving David into the hands of Saul!
I love Saul’s response. It is really pathetic.
Saul replied, “The Lord bless you for your concern for me.
“The Lord bless you.”
“Because you have concern for me!” You almost hear, “Finally, someone cares about me!”
Go and get more information. Find out where David usually goes and who has seen him there. They tell me he is very crafty. Find out about all the hiding places he uses and come back to me with definite information. Then I will go with you; if he is in the area, I will track him down among all the clans of Judah.”
Go back and gather information—intel!
Find out David’s patterns.
Find out who has seen him.
You can’t be too careful because David is crafty.
He wants them to find out all about David’s hiding places—where they are.
Then come back and tell me when you have “definite information!”
They Saul says he will go down with them.
And track David down among all the clans of Judah!
Foiled Again!
Foiled Again!
So they set out and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the Desert of Maon, in the Arabah south of Jeshimon.
So the men of Ziph leave ahead of Saul, to go find David.
But David has moved. He has gone to the Desert of Maon. This is 10 miles southeast of Hebron, and south of Jeshimon in the valley of Arabah.
Saul begins again to search for David—look at verse 25.
Saul and his men began the search, and when David was told about it, he went down to the rock and stayed in the Desert of Maon. When Saul heard this, he went into the Desert of Maon in pursuit of David.
So Saul is out searching for David.
David hears about it.
And he goes down to the rock in the Desert of Maon. This was apparently a giant rock that everyone knew about.
And Saul hears David is there, and goes after him!
A Close Call
A Close Call
Saul was going along one side of the mountain, and David and his men were on the other side, hurrying to get away from Saul. As Saul and his forces were closing in on David and his men to capture them,
Now Saul and his men were one side of the mountain.
David and his men were on the opposite side of the mountain—hurrying to get away.
We’re told that Saul’s forces were closing in on David and about to capture them!
Just when it seems like all is lost, God intervenes.
a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Come quickly! The Philistines are raiding the land.”
A messenger came to Saul.
The message is simple—“Come quickly! the Philistines are raiding the land!”
Then Saul broke off his pursuit of David and went to meet the Philistines. That is why they call this place Sela Hammahlekoth.
Saul stopped chasing David.
And went to fight the Philistines.
So that place was called Sela Hammahlekoth—The Rock of Escape.
Not taking any chances, David heads to another area.
And David went up from there and lived in the strongholds of En Gedi.
This is an area close to the Dead Sea and about 10 miles north of Masada (could have been close to where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered).
SO WHAT
SO WHAT
We live in a world that hates things that are hard. Giving up when things get hard seems to be the norm for many people. For many of those who follow Jesus, this worldly idea has crept into what following Jesus looks like. Many Christians have adopted the idea that following Jesus should be easy. A life with NO problems!
David found that following God’s plan for his life meant that he faced all kinds of oppositions. He faced a Giant. He faced the Philistine army. He faced a king who wanted to punish him for his loyalty. And now he has faced betrayal from people he tried to help and protect. He’s living out in the wilderness, constantly on the move, running for his life! Now that doesn’t sound like a life of ease!
The night before Jesus was crucified, he warned them about life in this world. In John 16:33, Jesus told His disciples:
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Jesus knew we were going to have troubles as we lived in this world. So He tells His disciples—and us that in Him we can have peace!
Peace is what the world longs for. We need peace in our country—between political parties, between races, between the wealthy and the poor—Yes we need peace in our country. But we also need peace in our world—between nations, between religions, between people who are different than we are. Everywhere you look we need peace—but we CANNOT have peace without Jesus—that’s why He said, “In me you may have peace. . .”
The second next thing he said was “In this world you will have trouble. . .” The word translated “trouble” is the Greek word thlipsis (flipsees) which means “affliction; distress; pressure; suffering; persecution, and hardship.” Jesus tells His disciples (and us) that in this world there will be all kinds of hardships and heartache! Now you might agree with me, that is not a very encouraging message!
But Jesus doesn’t stop there! Then He said, “But take heart! I have overcome the world.” The reason we can have peace in the midst of our trouble, our thlipsis (flipsees) is because Jesus has overcome the world!
In Philippians 3:10, Paul said that his deepest desire was to know Christ. And he goes on to explain what that looks like:
I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
Like Paul, I love knowing Christ. And we all love identifying with the power of Christ’s resurrection. But most of us don’t like participating in His sufferings, and we certainly don’t want to be like Him in His death.
Yet the one thing that is guaranteed is Life—with or without Jesus—we are guaranteed to have all kinds of problems. Yet we can take heart! And we can know peace! All because we know Jesus and He has overcome the world!