Fear No Fear

(All scripture from Lexham English Bible, Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software)

For the second time, the Ziphites came and told Saul where David was. They hadn’t stopped looking for him like Saul had commanded (1 Samuel 23:22-23). They REALLY wanted a reward. So Saul packed up another group of three thousand men (Saul seems to have preferred 5 to 1 odds) and sought David in the Wilderness of Ziph. He camped on the hill of Hachilah. David knew he had come and sent out spies to confirm it. Saul had promised in 1 Samuel 24 that he wouldn’t seek David’s life, he had confirmed David would be king after him and that David was God’s anointed man, and he blessed David. Here, Saul is showing his word is worth nothing.

David didn’t attack Saul. He went at night to overlook Saul’s camp with two men (a Hittite and his nephew). He asked which of them wanted to come with him, and his nephew was game (his nephew is named as one of David’s mighty men in 1 Chronicles 11:20-21). They went down into the camp and made their way to the centre where Saul was. Saul was sleeping near Abner, the commander of his army and the one tasked with the king’s protection. Abishai, David’s nephew, asked permission to spear Saul to death. Quick, quiet, and he’d only need one strike. David forade him. David saw Saul as the anointed king and therefore God would choose when and if to remove Saul. David was placing all his trust in God and how God wanted to resolve the situation. David wasn’t out for Saul’s death. Instead, David took Saul’s personal spear and his water jug, then the two of them snuck out of the camp. They were successful because God had put a deep sleep (the same word as the deep sleep God put on Adam when He removed Eve from his body – Genesis 2:21) on all the soldiers of Saul.

David and Abiathar went to a nearby hill – close enough to shout, far enough away to be safe from immediate attack. David called out to Abner and woke him up. Then David gives Abner a hard time. He mocks Abner a bit, and this is in front of both Saul and Saul’s finest men. Perhaps this incident helped Abner decide to side against David once Saul was dead. It certainly wouldn’t have helped that David humiliated him here.

Saul recognized David’s voice and called out to ‘my son’. David said yes ‘my king’ it was him. Saul was against a person. David was honouring an office. And he stuck with it. He pointed out that he could have killed Saul. That Saul had been given into the hand of another man and shown mercy. David stressed he would NOT harm the Lord’s anointed king. He was not and never had sought Saul’s harm. He had done NOTHING wrong, BUT if there was ANYTHING that he had done wrong in the Lord’s sight, he would offer repentance offerings and clear the air forever. He humbled himself and did not puff himself up at all for his actions. This is the second time he had shown mercy to Saul. He even told Saul to send someone to collect his spear – David wasn’t trusting in weapons or seeking to keep anything of Saul’s. Once again, Saul blessed David. He prophesied (or simply acknowledged) that David would do great things. The two of them parted – having seen each other for the last time.

Saul had broken his word to David even after acknowledging David would be king and asking for covenant that David wouldn’t harm Saul’s descendants (1 Samuel 24:1-7). But here, David’s fear that Saul would not stop until he was dead got the better of him. Without consulting God in any way, and operating from what he felt in his heart (which means he had been meditating and thinking on fear of Saul – Psalm 19:4; Proverbs 4:23), David fled to Gath in Philistine territory. Again (1 Samuel 21:10-15). This time David was coming with a fighting force of six hundred men plus their families. I don’t understand why he kept going to Gath. Goliath was from there (1 Samuel 17:4). Goliath had four brothers. Achish, king of Gath, had already dealt with David and thought he was a lunatic. The people of Gath didn’t like David, thought of him as the king of Israel, and would have been happy to kill him (1 Samuel 21). But to Gath he went.

This time, he lived amicably with Achish, but the pressure of the Israelites being around the Philistines seem to have been growing. David requested that they be given a small town to live in. Achich gave David and his men Ziklag. Ziklag was one of the cities that the Israelites had conquered (Joshua 15:31). It was technically Israelite territory, but under Philistine control. During their time there (either a year and four months or four months and a few days – the original language is unclear), they spent time getting riches by executing the directive of the Lord from when the Israelites first entered the Land and in more recent times, when God had given a mission to Saul that Saul botched (1 Samuel 15:1-3). They raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites (this will factor later, so remember it), leaving none alive to spread tales about them.

When David returned with Achish’s cut of the spoil – you pay tribute to kings you live under (yay taxes) – he would be asked where he had raided. David lied. Every time. He was already out of the will of God for going into Philistine territory – God had proved again and again He could protect David from enemies – and when we operate outside the will of God we give opportunity for sin and for attacks from the world and the enemy. God used this for good (Achish gained TOTAL confidence in David), but that is God’s MERCY and not His perfect will.

“Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord; he did not keep the word of the Lord and even consulted a medium for guidance, and did not inquire of the Lord. So the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.” (1 Chronicles 10:13-14)

Throughout the life of Samuel the Philistines were subdued and did not invade Israel (1 Samuel 7:13). They skirmished at the border. They raided a single town here and there, but they did not invade. But Samuel was dead. So they raised an army and invaded for real. This was the first time in Saul’s life he faced a full-on invasion. He looked at all the Philistines gathered at Shunem (later to be Elisha’s stomping grounds and a possible birthplace of Jonah – 2 Kings 4) and was terrified. He did not have his preferred 5-1 odds. He didn’t even have David anymore – David being blessed of God and victorious in battle against the Philistines again and again. Saul tried to get God’s advice for how to escape. But God did not talk to Saul. Not by dreams, or the priests, or the prophets. God had Saul as king and taken His Spirit from Saul (1 Samuel 15:22-23; 1 Samuel 16:14) – even as He mercifully helped Saul throughout His reign. Judgment was coming.

Saul had previously obeyed the Law and destroyed or driven out all the mediums, diviners, and necromancers in Israel (Leviticus 19:31, 20:6, 27; Deuteronomy 18:9-12). These things are a total rebellion against God and He does NOT put up with them AT ALL (Isaiah 8:19). Moreover, there is NO shadow in God (James 1:17). He does NOT change (Hebrews 13:8). ANYONE who practices these things is doomed (Revelation 21:8) unless they totally repent, give them up, turn away, and accept Jesus as Lord and His sacrifice to cleanse them (the same as the rest of us, Amen – Romans 10:9, 2 Corinthians 15:17). Now, unable to get an answer from God, Saul turns to the demonic. Why no answer? God ONLY hears those with trust in Him (Proverbs 15:29; John 9:31). The only prayer the wicked can pray and get heard by God is the prayer of repentance (Acts 8:22; 1 John 1:9).

Saul asks for his men to find someone to call up a familiar spirit for him. He had already killed them all or driven them off (1 Samuel 28:9). I think it is quite clear there were no true practitioners left. What was left were charlatans. Fakers. And one was known to live in En Dor. Saul disguised himself (how do you disguise the tallest man in the whole country with clothes? – 1 Samuel 9:2) and he and his men went to see her. She tried to dissuade them for her own protection from the law of Saul (1 Samuel 28:10-13). But Saul swore by the Lord God of Israel that he would not enforce the Law of the Lord God of Israel – how ridiculous of a promise can you have? It really shows how far gone Saul really was.

This woman asks for who Saul wants to see, and he says Samuel. She does her thing and then screams in terror when something happens – shows she’s a charlatan and was expecting to do the usual act (happens today too. Many people use ‘tells’ to pretend the dead are speaking. M Lamar Keene and John Edward are good examples). However, this time something came up – which was a great detail since everyone went to Sheol (which was DOWN) until Jesus took the righteous out (Ephesians 4:8). A great debate exists among believers as to whether this WAS Samuel. Some say that God allowed it this time, and this time only (it is the ONLY example of speaking to the dead and them speaking back in scripture). I don’t think this is the case. We don’t have the power to call the dead back and I don’t think God would participate in what He calls an abomination.

Consider this. Jesus said the dead and the living don’t talk to each other and the dead can’t visit (Luke 16:19-31). Samuel looked old and was still wearing his human clothes (2 Corinthians 4:16-17). We have NO REASON to ever leave God’s presence (2 Corinthians 5:8) because God HAS messengers appointed to bring us messages (Luke 1:19; Hebrews 1:14; Joshua 5:13-14; Daniel 10:10-12). Nothing this ‘samuel’ said was positive. Everything was coloured to bring despair. Even when God was judging, it did not create despair (1 Samuel 3:17-18). God was perfectly capable of judging Saul, but saving Israel. Saying everyone would be lost is a defeatist attitude – which God NEVER has. This ‘samuel’ gave NO new information. Saul told David that he realised David would be the next king (1 Samuel 24:20). Saul knew the Lord had replaced him as king and the anointed of God (1 Samuel 15:22-29). Finally, this ‘samuel’ never says THE LORD SAYS in any way. This is just ‘samuel’ talking. This isn’t a word from God. This seems to clearly be a demonic spirit prophesying doom and gloom and revelling in repeating Saul’s words and thinking back to Saul in the worst possible interpretation.

Saul’s immediate response? Total dread. He collapsed on the floor and had to be begged and cajoled to rise up and eat – after vowing not to eat (so goes the word of Saul: he always bows to pressure from others). The woman prepared a meal of her best food – not a bad price to avoid death for being a medium, fake or genuine it was all the same to the law. Saul and his men ate and then went on their way.

Summary

Key Players: God, David, Saul, A Medium

Key Themes: Anointing, Mercy, Abomination

Key Verse(s): 1 Samuel 26:2, 9-11, 21, 25; 27:1, 10-12; 28:3, 5-7, 10, 20, 23-25