1 Samuel 25: Vengeance is the Lord's

In the last chapter, 1 Samuel 24, we concluded that the moral of the story is that a [wo]man after God’s heart is one who loves his enemies. Usually, when conversation about loving enemies comes up, the discussion focuses more on how to love your enemies instead of why we need to love our enemies. I believe there’s a couple chapters in the Bible that explains why. 1 Samuel 25 is one of those chapters.

Chapter 25 begins by mentioning the death of Samuel. The one verse seems thrown in there, as it seems to disrupt the flow between chapter 24 and the rest of chapter 25. Scholars disagree why the verse is thrown in there. It could simply be the order of chronological events, but there’s got to be something significant to need to mention it. Some scholars zone in on the phrase “all Israel assembled and mourned.” Even David might have traveled to Ramah, and he could even have been in the presence of Saul. Other scholars trace the verse back to chapter 24. In chapter 24, even Saul has admitted David is the next king of Israel. Now with all Israel looking forward to David as the king, Samuel’s role is done and can rest in peace. Even the Hebrew word that NIV translates “house” is uncertain. After all, who gets buried in their house? Other possible translations could be “tomb,” “mausoleum” or “cave.” “Cave” might be the best, as many people lived in caves. Thus, in that sense, it makes sense to say someone got buried in their home.

The supposed final resting place of Samuel

 

After the brief mention of Samuel’s death, the story focuses on another two characters: Nabal and Abigail, husband and wife. Opposites must have attracted for these two, for they could not be further apart in differences. Abigail is intelligent; Nabal’s name means fool, and his name reflects his personality. Abigail is beautiful; Nabal has an ugly personality, as he is mean and nasty in dealing with people. This couple lives near Carmel, which is near the Desert of Maon, or the Desert of Paran. This couple is also an upper class couple. Their faith is measure in the number of sheep and goats: 1,000 goats and 3,000 sheep. All these pieces together set the scene for the story.

During the time of sheep shearing, David contacts Nabal via 10 messengers. First, David sends warm greetings and blessings to him and his household. Second, David tells Nabal that neither he nor his men harmed, stole, or even touched any of Nabal’s sheep or goats. In fact, David and his men protected them. This is a valuable service. Back in those days, it wasn’t common for traveling nomads and invading foreigners to take livestock as they pleased. Not only did David and his men not partake in that, but they also prevented anyone else, like the Philistines or the Amalekites, to partake in Nabal’s sheep or goats. Therefore, third, David asks for a favor. He requests that Nabal give them, “whatever you can find for them,” or simply put, whatever leftovers Nabal has that he does not want or need.

But that’s the problem with Nabal. Nabal is so greedy that he wants to keep everything for himself. He’s not giving handouts. Nobody gets hand outs, no matter what reason. At David’s message, Nabal gives a very negative and ridiculing reply. First, he questions, “Who is this David?” David is the most famous person of Judah, if not all of Israel. The rhetorical question shows not that Nabal doesn’t know David, but he knows David and thinks very little or nothing of him. Second, he asks, “Who is the Son of Jesse?” Calling David “the son of Jesse” is another belittling term, as we see Saul use it to refer to David in earlier chapters. Third, Nabal says, “Many servants are breaking away from their masters these days.” It could be a reference that David was once a servant of Saul, but it has deeper symbolic meaning then that. Wealthy, upper-class Nabal is calling David a servant, a lower-class nobody. To Nabal, David is a beggar, begging as his living. In Nabal’s mind, there is no way he’s going to support a beggar lifestyle. To him, it’s illogical. Why give up his hard work and his men’s hard work to strangers that, in his mind, did not help?

In David’s mind, David and his men did help. They protected the flocks and the herdsmen. So David believes he fully deserves a payment. So David tells two-thirds of his men to strap up their swords. If Nabal won’t volunteer a gift, then David is going to take a gift by force.

Don’t worry. Remember, Nabal’s got another side of him: his wife Abigail. Once Nabal’s servants hear what David is going to do, they quickly rush a message to Abigal. They reaffirm all that what David says is true, and they even agree he deserves the reward. Abigail is quick to act. Abigail just doesn’t find leftovers in the house. Instead, she is bountiful in her gifts. She starts out to meet David, but she sends servants ahead just in case it’s too late.

It’s a good thing Abigail acted so quickly. Back at David’s camp, David’s really regretting his decision. He calls it useless. Here, it’s still unclear whether David made Nabal aware of the service he was providing. Either way, David sees it as a no brainer. Good things in exchange for good things; bad things in exchange for bad things. David believes Nabal has given him a bad thing for his good thing. So David decides to repay the bad thing with another bad thing. He’s threatening to kill all the adult men. Now there’s a textual problem here. The Masoretic text, an early Hebrew text, says “May God deal with David’s enemies ever so severely…” but the Septuagint, the Greek translation of Old Testament, says “May God deal with David ever so severely…” Scholars and translations alike disagree of which phrase to use. Most literal translations stick with the Masoretic text and translate it “May God deal with David’s enemies ever so severely…” They believe the Septuagint changed it to make it theologically understable, but changed the meaning. Dynamic equivalencies stick with the Septuagint and translate it “May God deal with David ever so severely…” They believe these later Hebrew texts changed it to make it seem like the vow came true. Personally, I would stick with the original Hebrew and literal translations. But either way, David seems to commit very little focus on what’s he saying or what the consequences could be.

When Abigail sees David on his way to attack her household, she is quick to act. In the longest speech by a female in the Old Testament (153 Hebrew words), Abigail gives her defense. First, she condemns her husband’s actions as foolish. Second, she declares herself as innocent because she was unaware of her husband’s dealings. Third, she blesses David with death to his enemies, making clear that Nabal is his enemy, not Abigail. Fourth, she asks for forgiveness, and it shows it with her plentiful gift. Fifth, Abigail gives a final blessing of her unyielding support of David as the next king of Israel.

Abigail’s prophet words do a number on David. David recognizes that Abigail is a message sent from God. Once again, we see the dynamic character in David. David was ready to act as God, making decisions on his own, not waiting for God’s answer. But just as he was about to, God intervened via Abigail. He came to realize what he was doing was wrong. After David confesses his wrong, he repents. He will not kill the adult males in Abigail’s household. He will wait for the Lord to act accordingly with justice.

Sure enough, God does act accordingly. God uses Abigail to pronounce judgment on Nabal. Abigail waits for the next morning, for Nabal is drunk after a feast. The feast and the drinking just goes to show Nabal is only concerned about using his wealth for his own pleasure, not caring about anyone else. In the morning, Abigail repeats her conversation with David prophetically. Upon hearing the words, the Hebrew text literally says, his “heart/soul died within him.” Some scholars take this to mean a heart attack, while other scholars understand this to be a stroke. Either could work because both make the body weaker. 10 days later, Nabal dies, most likely for another heart attack or stroke. While it might seem like a normal human disease, the Bible makes it clear it was an action of the Lord. Once David hears the news, he praises God, because he saw God at work. Not only has God prevented David from performing evil, but God has brought about the justice himself.

Now here’s the perfect place to insert the application. With the last chapter, chapter 24, I mentioned the application is that a [wo]man after God’s heart is one loves his enemies instead of seeking revenge. Chapter 25 answers that question. Actually, in the bigger picture of the whole Bible, 1 Samuel 25 is a real life case study of Romans 12:17-21. Let’s look at it.

Romans 12:17-21-

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

I love this passage because it is rich in Old Testament Scripture. It shows that this application is one of both the Old Testament and the New Testament. Most likely the Proverb quoted was after David’s life, but David definitely would have known Deuteronomy 32:35, which also says that it is the Lord’s to avenge and repay. Now David comes to know it in real life. Why should we love our enemies and not seek revenge on them? Because it’s God’s job, not ours. We as humans tend to think we’re good and we can do good things when we try to avenge an evil action. But the Bible reminds us that no one is perfectly good, and everyone is a sinner (Romans 3:10). So what we call to be justice ends up becoming revenge. Only God is perfectly good, so only he can truly bring justice, and his justice involves forgiveness and reconciliation. Even when we do get it right, it’s not our job to carry it out. God will carry out; we trust need to trust him for it. It’s not our job to judge, but it is our job to love. So I say, let us love everyone, and let God do the sorting. David finally understood it in 1 Samuel 25. If he would have carried out the judgment, he would have carried out the judgment too far. That wouldn’t have been justice; it would have been revenge. It would have been sin to David. God perfectly executed the judgment, sparing David for sin. That’s why David praised God, and that’s why we should praise God. A man after God’s heart allows room for God to avenge.

I wish I could close here, but I bet you want an explanation of David marrying Abigail and Ahinoram after being married to Michal, especially if David is suppose to be a godly example. First, let’s look right at the text. The text says in verse 44 that Michal was handed to Paltiel in marriage. Obviously, this shows how much Saul hated David that he withdrew the promises of giving his daughter as a wife. Clearly to me, that means the King Saul divorced Michal from David (he’s the king, he can do that), making David a divorcee, allowing him to marry. Still, why de he take two wives? The New Bible Commentary says that just as Saul divorced David and Michal for political reasons, David is marrying women of big standing in Israel to make himself look politically good. Some commentaries have suggested that David is being Abigail’s kindsman-redeemer. Thus, the marriage is more of a “wife adoption.” It’s interesting that the author does not show God’s approval or disapproval. If anything, it looks like the author is saying this is part of God’s plan. The only way we can see if it is, we have to let it play out. So before we pronounce judgment, let’s see how it plays out.

1 Samuel 23: F.R.O.G.

Christians are known for acronyms about their faith. The most famous is W.W.J.D., which stands for “What Would Jesus Do?” A lesser but still famous one makes a word: F.R.O.G. I personally have heard it two ways, and the only difference is what the F stands for. Some Christians say, “Fully Rely of God,” while other Christians say, “Faithfully Rely of God.” Either way, I believe both combine to make a powerful message. The Christian needs to fully and faithfully rely on God for everything, from the basic needs of life to God’s great promises. David makes a good example of what it means to fully and faithfully rely on God, making David a F.R.O.G.

David receives word that Keilah is under attack by the Philistines. Keilah is located in the region of Judah, less than 3 miles from the cave of Adullam, which is probably why David received the news so quickly. Keilah is a fortified city on some of Judah’s richest land, so it’s a prime city for any kingdom, and the Philistines want it. Not only were they trying to conquer the city, but they were also stealing the harvest! David seriously has to beg the question, “Shall I go attack the Philistines?” His focuses right now are on keeping himself and his men alive. Does he have the time to help his fellow people (not only are the Keilahites Israelites, but also from the tribe of Judah)? Of course! Even though David’s on the run, he has to still be the king as God anointed him. When a king’s people are in danger, the king is expected to help them and save them. King David needs to help and save his people in Keilah.

There’s only one problem. The men following David have become tired traveling from place to place . Not only are weary, but also scared. Running from the mad Saul and his small band of men is already scary enough, the men might not have the courage to face a full foreign army. So David inquires of the Lord. This is nothing new. Good leaders, like the judges Ehud, Deborah and Gideon, first inquired of the Lord before going into battle, and only went in if they knew the Lord would provide victory. David follows that example. David inquires the Lord. Since Abiathar isn’t with David yet (I see verse 6 as a sequential clause and not a parenthetical clause. After David reclaims Keilah, then Abiathar comes to David.), so most likely David inquired the Lord through the prophet Gad. God assures and re-assures David that he will win, and does he! Not only do they win, they take the Philistine’s livestock, too! Even when David is on the run, God uses his king to bring salvation to his people.

But there’s no rest for David and his men. Saul hears the same news as David, but he hears David is in the city. Now when Saul hears the same news, the proper response would be to also to inquire of the Lord and save the town in the Lord’s name. But all Saul sees is an opportunity to trap his enemy in a gated community. So Saul calls up his men to prepare them to attack once David is done. Saul doesn’t care about his nation’s welfare, but about seeking his own person vengeance.

David receives the news of Saul’s plan, and now he’s worried. He was sure he was doing the right thing by helping his fellow tribe in danger. Now it looks like he’s made himself a sitting duck for Saul. David really needs to inquire of the Lord. David whips out the big guns. Not only does he call in a priest, but asks the priest to bring in the ephod, a headpiece used for priests during important duties and ceremonies. David asks the Lord whether or not Saul will come, and if the Keilah’s citizens will hand David over to Saul. David seems to know the answer, and the Lord affirms: Saul will, and the people of Keilah will. You might think, “How could Keilah hand over their fellow Judahites, especially after they saved Keilah?” Even if Keilah is grateful, they also fear Saul because they still recognize him as their king. Also keep in mind that Saul is treating poorly anyone associated with David. For their own safety, they have to turn over David. So David takes six hundred men and moves on.

David and the six hundred men go to Desert of Ziph. Saul and his men pursue David and his men into the desert, but they can never catch up to David. Why? The Bible simply says, “because God did give David into his hands.” Clearly we saw God’s favor left Saul and came to David because God helps David run away, but God does not help Saul catch David. Even Jonathan comes to David and confirms this, announcing that David will be king over Israel. At the most, Jonathan can only be second to David. It would seem, though, the one who would need more assurance is Jonathan. Jonathan once against needs a covenant to be established between David and Jonathan. Jonathan knows it’s God’s will for David to be king, and that means David will be king, and there’s no stopping it. Jonathan just wants to make sure that David will not steamroll over Jonathan when he becomes king. At the end of this last recorded meeting between David and Jonathan, the Bible simply says, “Jonathan went home.” The text makes it clear that Jonathan wants to nothing to do with Saul’s hunt for David. And from context clues like those found in 1 Samuel 20, Saul doesn’t want anyone in his army that’s not zealous about hunting down David.

Saul does have allies, though. Currently, both Saul and David, with their respective men, are in the Desert of Ziph. When the Ziphites hear Saul is in the Desert of Ziph, they fear the same fear that Keilah fears: Saul will treat them poorly if they do not hand over information about David. So the Ziphites meet up with Saul in Gibeah and provide Saul with the exact location of David’s hiding spot. With great irony, Saul proclaims, “The Lord bless you!” First of all, Saul has no power to claim the Lord’s blessing since the Lord left him. Second, it is hardly the Lord’s blessing to betray the Lord’s anointed one. In fact, it’s the opposite. Now anyone would think that the exact location is good enough, but that’s no enough for Saul. Saul wants to know what the area is like so he can plan the perfect attack. Saul also wants to know David’s daily habits so he knows what to expect.

The Ziphites provide the information that Saul asked for and it’s exactly what Saul needed. The rest of 1 Samuel 23 is a chapter is a cat-and-mouse chase of Saul and David, with Saul tailing David very up close. And it seems like Saul comes close, very close, to actually capturing David and winning this whole chase. But just as Saul is coming in for the win, a messenger delivers word to Saul that the Philistines are invading Israel! I bet Saul wanted to finish his pursuit and capture David, but Saul realized that at that present time, he didn’t have to worry about David taking the kingdom from him, but rather he had to worry about the Philistines taking the kingdom from him! Saul leaves and David lives to fight another day. Both David and the author of the book of Samuel wants you to recognize that David was spared by God’s providence, so David names the place Sela Hammahlekoth, which means “Rock of Parting” or “Rock of Escape.” It was there Saul parted from David, and David escaped Saul.

Do you see how much David has changed in the past few chapters? In 1 Samuel 21, the reader sees David making back-up plans to protect himself, just in case God doesn’t show up. Now, in 1 Samuel 23, the reader sees David inquiring of the Lord with every decision he makes. David is consulting prophets and priests. David moves exactly as the Lord tells him. God rewards it by answering him and protecting him from Saul. Through this chapter, the reader sees how David went from fully relying on himself to fully relying on God. The chapter invites the reader to make the same decision. Do not rely on yourself to move yourself along in life. Inquire of the Lord to see where the Lord wants you. If you have trouble figuring that out on your own, consult prophets, pastors and mentors. When you do that, you’ll find out that God provides all your needs, and he’ll give you the best life you can have. Then, you will be like David, and be a F.R.O.G.

1 Samuel 23:11,12