1 Sam 29.1-11 tells us that the Philistines are going to war but the leaders have a problem with David and his men being around as the royal bodyguard, and they reject him. Achish the king defends David in the face of what his commanders are telling him. A decisive battle is coming and they don’t trust David. David now finds himself in a sticky situation.
David finds himself in the middle of a situation that he did not anticipate. He has lived among pagans for a year and four months (1 Sam 27.7) and ready to fight against his own people. Spiritually, this is what can happen to us when we turn from the Lord, we will find ourselves in a position that we never saw coming.
David was a Hebrew, but the leaders knew what David didn’t know. They knew and sensed that this wasn’t right (v 3). He isn’t one of them, but David is blinded to this. They knew who David really was, and David would have never gone over to them if he had remembered who he really was. Achish defends David, which isn’t exactly a good endorsement if you are a believer. When pagans come to your defense and speak well of you, it isn’t good.
Of course, the commanders weren’t buying any of this and were afraid of David. What if he turns against them in the middle of the fight, they thought? So Achish tells David to go back to Ziklag. David has too much of the world in him to be at peace with the Lord, but he has too much of the Lord in him to be at peace with the world. David doesn’t want to “displease” the Philistine leaders, so he goes back to Ziklag.
There was a time when David displeased these lords as a mighty warrior against them. Is this the same David who killed Goliath and defied the whole Philistine army in the name of Yehovah? Not at this time he wasn’t, so David agrees and goes back home. He even appeals to Achish in 1 Sam 29.8 asking “What have I done?” and “What have you found in your servant from the day when I came before you to this day, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?” And Achish tells him that he has done nothing, but the commanders have said that he should not go up with them to the battle. This should have grieved David. To hear an ungodly, pagan ruler say the nice things about Davidl should have pierced him to the heart. But even now, the Lord is orchestrating events to bring David to his senses and save others.
1 Sam 30.1-31 tells us how the Lord will deal with David with the idea of restoring him back. David learns that Ziklag had been raided by the Amalekites. This was the “third day” so that means that David and his men covered about twenty-five miles a day on their way back to Ziklag from Aphek. They were tired, hungry and in need of some comfort, but instead got devastating news. Ziklag was unguarded and the Amalekites took advantage of the opportunity. They burned it to the ground, and David and his men weep greatly. They had nothing left to support them. Israel can’t help him and the Philistines don’t want him around. Even his friends spoke of stoning him (v 6).
Ziklag is a picture of the world and the Amalekites are a type of Satan, who has devastated this world. They take the women and all who were in it because the men were with David. David was making his living and providing for his people by being a bandit, and now it happens to him. David and his men were grieved, but David came to his senses and turned to the Lord because he was completely broken. How did he strengthen himself in the Lord? By remembering God’s love for him and how the Lord made promises to him. He knew the Lord had delivered him before. Besides, had the Philistines not rejected him, he would not have returned to Ziklag when he did. Now he has a chance to go after them because they had just left.
So, David inquired of the Lord with the Urim and Thummim and asked if he should pursue the Amalekites, and the Lord said, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them, and you shall surely rescue all.” Spiritually, just as the Lord foretold David’s victory, the Word of the Lord foretells how Yeshua will rescue all and have victory over Satan.
So David took 600 men and came to the brook Besor (“cold water”) and is related to the word “besorah” which means “good news” and where we get the word “gospel” from. David pursued with 400 men because 200 were too exhausted to cross over. In a way, David took on the Amalekites alone, like Yeshua engaged the forces of evil alone (Mark 14.50). Though 400 men went with David, 400 Amalekites escaped (1 Sam 30.17).
In 1 Sam 30.11-30 we have an allusion to the concept, “Salvation is of the Jews” (John 4.22). They find an Egyptian in the field (the world) and gave him bread (the Word of God) and water to drink (The Ruach Ha Kodesh/Holy Spirit). They also gave him a fig cake (fig is synonymous with the Messianic Kingdom and peace in 1 Kings 4.25 and Micah 4.4), and two clusters of raisins (fruit of the vine, symbolic of joy, teaching and marriage-Psa 104.15). His spirit “revived” and this speaks of being born again, and he had not eaten for three days and three nights, an allusion to resurrection.
He tells David that he was a slave to the Amalekites (we were slaves to sin and Satan) and he was sick three days ago (sick of sin). He says they made a raid on the Negev, which is south (the direction of faith) of the Cherethites (who were Philistines and it means “executioners”) in the land of Judah (salvation is of the Jews/”Yehudim”), on the Negev of Caleb (alluding to the faith of the non-Jews-Caleb means “dog” who was a faithful non-Jew according to many scholars). He will tell David where they are but does not want to be given back to his masters. David, like Yeshua, assures him that this will not happen. Yeshua will not turn us over to our slave masters again.
So, the Egyptian shows David where they were and they were spread out all over the land, eating, drinking and dancing. Yeshua’s enemies ate the Passover that night rejoicing over their victory, too. David slaughtered them from the twilight until the evening of the next day. Yeshua’s victory over Satan (the Amalekites) was done while darkness was over the land (Matt 27.45). David recovered all that the Amalekites had stolen, and so will Yeshua. And he came back to the 200 men who were too tied to keep up and were left at the brook Besor (alluding to the good news/gospel) and crossed over again (a type of the resurrection) and brought them into his presence. Now why was David able to keep the spoil when Saul couldn’t (1 Sam 15.1-3)?
Saul was told explicitly not to keep the spoil of the Amalekites, and David was never told that by the Lord. Secondly, David restored what the Amalekites had stolen from others. Third, he was not acting as the king of Israel representing the nation of Israel. David was operating by different rules than Saul.
Some of David’s men who were “wicked” and worthless (sons of Belial) said they did not want to share the spoil with those who did not go to battle, but David gave an ordinance that will carry down through history (v 25). David followed Abraham’s example in Gen 14.24, and Moses in Num 31.27. The spoil will be divided evenly between those who went to battle and those who stayed “behind the scenes.” They would share alike, just like we will share alike and are co-heirs with God and Yeshua (Rom 8.16-17), even though we may have gotten tired, weary or afraid or too weak to go on. We will share alike with those who did exploits.
David had some fence mending to do. He knew that his time with the Philistines didn’t sit well with many in Israel, especially his friends, so he had an idea. He would share the spoil with others. So, he sent some of the spoil to the elders of Judah saying, “Behold, a gift for you from the spoil of the enemies of the Yehovah.” He also sent some to Bethel (“house of God”), to Ramoth (“heights”) of the Negev, to those in Jattir (“plenty”), to Aroer (“ruins”), to Siphmoth (“fruitful”), to Eshtemoa (“make myself heard”), to Racal (“trade”), to those in the cities of the Jerahmeelites (“may God have pity”), to the cities of the Kenites (“smiths”), to Holmah (“devotion”), to Borashan (“furnace of smoke”), to Athach (“lodging place”) and to those in Hebron (“communion”). He also sent some to all the places where David himself and all his men were accustomed to go.
We will pick up here in the conclusion of First Samuel.
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