May 31, 2020. I Samuel 21:1-9

Posted byJohn Sanzone

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THE PRINCE & THE PRIEST. I SAMUEL 21:1-9. 31 MAY 2020. PM. #67.

I Samuel 21:1-9 [New King James Version (NKJV)]

1 Now David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech was afraid when he met David, and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one is with you?” 2 So David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has ordered me on some business, and said to me, ‘Do not let anyone know anything about the business on which I send you, or what I have commanded you.’ And I have directed my young men to such and such a place. 3 Now therefore, what have you on hand? Give me five loaves of bread in my hand, or whatever can be found.” 4 And the priest answered David and said, “There is no common bread on hand; but there is holy bread, if the young men have at least kept themselves from women.”

5 Then David answered the priest, and said to him, “Truly, women have been kept from us about three days since I came out. And the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in effect common, even though it was consecrated in the vessel this day.” 6 So the priest gave him holy bread; for there was no bread there but the showbread which had been taken from before the Lord, in order to put hot bread in its place on the day when it was taken away. 7 Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord. And his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chief of the herdsmen who belonged to Saul. 8 And David said to Ahimelech, “Is there not here on hand a spear or a sword? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s business required haste.” 9 So the priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, there it is, wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will take that, take it. For there is no other except that one here.” And David said, “There is none like it; give it to me.”

  • Surprise visit
    • David flees SE of Gibeah to Nob, 3 miles distance
      • Priests are at Nob with Tabernacle (moved from Shiloh)
      • David is looking for provisions
      • Apparently Jon. had not given David supplies (too risky)
    • High Priest Ahimelech is stunned to see David
      • David is a captain in the army and is never at the Tabernacle
      • For David to suddenly show up to the Tab. is disturbing
        • What was David’s purpose for being there?
        • Why was David not with his troops and unarmed?
    • Ahimelech sensed that something was amiss
      • David needed to explain his presence and intent
      • Ahim. knows David as a man of war (unnerving)
      • Ahim. could not think of any good reason for David’s action
      • Ahim. also knew of Saul’s temper and self-will
  • The Fatal Fib
    • David lies to the High Priest (not to a wicked king)
      • David lies to God’s consecrated High Priest
      • David claims to be on a secret urgent mission for Saul
      • David lies to save his own life
        • Had the priest known that David was a fugitive from the king’s wrath, he would have to tell Saul
        • Due to David’s urgency and necessity, he lies
    • Was David justified in lying to the priest?
      • Protection issue often justify deception: the Egyptian midwives (Exodus 2), Rahab (Josiah 2), Samuel (1 Samuel 16:1-2), Jeremiah (Jeremiah 38), to Ahab (1 Kings 22), post-Rapture (II Thessalonians 2:10)
      • Unique passage: a righteous man deceiving a righteous man
    • David’s lie has devastating results
      • The priests were innocent bystanders
      • This incident will cost the lives of 83 priests
      • Could David have left the priests out of his escape?
  • Some bread, a sword, and a dog
    • We are not told where David picked up the young men (or how many)
    • David needed food and weapons
      • All the priest has is consecrated showbread on table
      • The bread is replaced daily and priests eat the older bread
    • The priest offers David the replaced holy bread if his men are clean (kept from intimacy with women)
      • David tells priest that men haven’t been with women three days
      • Since the bread was replaced and the men holy, then it is the same as common bread now (may be a stretch in logic)
    • Matthew 12:4 Jesus states that David was guiltless due to his necessity, so his disciples were guiltless for plucking and eating grain on Sabbath
      • NECESSITY OVERRIDES CUSTOMARY REGULATIONS
      • This is not a New Testament issue since the ceremonial law ceased
    • Doeg the Edomite, Saul’s chief shepherd, was in the Tabernacle (a potential enemy agent of Saul’s–odd have an Edomite in Tabernacle)
    • David asks for any weapons in Tab. (priests usually don’t have weapon)
      • Goliath’s sword was kept in Tab. in honor of God’s victory
      • David takes the sword, which has no equal
    • David is the anointed of God to replace Saul
      • Saul is responsible for all evil done in chasing David
      • When Power opposes God, God’s faithful servants are duty bound to oppose the evil power (Ephesians 5:11)