Day 87: 1 Samuel 28-31

(The previous post began with Samuel's death and covered David's and Saul's continued warring against each other.)

1 Samuel 28
¹ And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered their hosts together for warfare, to fight with Israel. And Achish said unto David, Know thou assuredly, that thou shalt go out with me in the host, thou and thy men.

(Achish told David he would have to fight against the Israelites. This would be a true test as to whether or not David was Achish's servant.)

² And David said to Achish, Therefore thou shalt know what thy servant will do. And Achish said to David, Therefore will I make thee keeper of my head for ever.

(Achish must have trusted David to refer to him as the keeper of his head. Was this another example of David deceiving someone?)

³ Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land.

(Samuel died and was buried in Ramah. Ramah was a town in Benjamin on the border of Ephraim. This was the city where Samuel lived.)

⁴ And the Philistines gathered themselves together, and came and encamped in Shunem: and Saul gathered all Israel together, and they encamped in Gilboa.
⁵ And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly.
⁶ And when Saul inquired of Jehovah, Jehovah answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets.

(Urim, which meant "lights," were stones kept in a pouch on the high priest's breastplate, used in determining God's decisions in certain issues and questions.)

⁷ Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and inquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at En-dor.

(Saul enquired of God but God did not answer, so Saul sought a woman with a familiar spirit. The woman with a familiar spirit was at En-dor, a place in the territory of Issachar yet possessed by Manasseh. It must not have taken long for those with familiar spirits and wizards to come back in the land after Samuel’s death.)

⁸ And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and went, he and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, Divine unto me, I pray thee, by the familiar spirit, and bring me up whomsoever I shall name unto thee.
⁹ And the woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land: wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die?
¹⁰ And Saul sware to her by Jehovah, saying, As Jehovah liveth, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing.

(It seemed this woman was in hiding. Saul, who was wearing a disguise, assured her that no punishment would fall on her. Seems ironic that Saul would convince a woman with a familiar spirit that he meant her no harm by swearing to her by Jehovah.)

¹¹ Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel.
¹² And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice; and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul.

(After the woman asked who Saul wanted to be brought up, he answered "Samuel." The woman saw "Samuel" and screamed! Was she surprised or frightened? Then she asked Saul why he was deceiving her. This must have been the point where she recognized Saul.)

¹³ And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what seest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I see a god coming up out of the earth.

(The woman saw "Samuel" as a "god.")

¹⁴ And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a robe. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground, and did obeisance.

(A familiar spirit was a spirit that would know the information of a person that had lived because that spirit observed the person, the spirit was familiar with the person. Saul bowed down to a figure that he perceived was Samuel. Was this actually Samuel or was it a familiar spirit disguised as Samuel?)

¹⁵ And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do.
¹⁶ And Samuel said, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing Jehovah is departed from thee, and is become thine adversary?
¹⁷ And Jehovah hath done unto thee, as he spake by me: and Jehovah hath rent the kingdom out of thy hand, and given it to thy neighbor, even to David.
¹⁸ Because thou obeyedst not the voice of Jehovah, and didst not execute his fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath Jehovah done this thing unto thee this day.
¹⁹ Moreover Jehovah will deliver Israel also with thee into the hand of the Philistines; and to-morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me: Jehovah will deliver the host of Israel also into the hand of the Philistines.

(The narrator referred to this person as "Samuel." This could be a case for this actually being Samuel. "Samuel" asked Saul why he "disquieted" him. Then "Samuel" restated the fact that God took the kingdom from Saul because Saul did not wipe out the Amalekites. "Samuel" told Saul that Saul and Saul's sons would die the next day.)

²⁰ Then Saul fell straightway his full length upon the earth, and was sore afraid, because of the words of Samuel: and there was no strength in him; for he had eaten no bread all the day, nor all the night.

(Saul was completely drained of strength.)

²¹ And the woman came unto Saul, and saw that he was sore troubled, and said unto him, Behold, thy handmaid hath hearkened unto thy voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have hearkened unto thy words which thou spakest unto me.
²² Now therefore, I pray thee, hearken thou also unto the voice of thy handmaid, and let me set a morsel of bread before thee; and eat, that thou mayest have strength, when thou goest on thy way.

(The woman offered him food, so he would be strong and that he would leave.)

²³ But he refused, and said, I will not eat. But his servants, together with the woman, constrained him; and he hearkened unto their voice. So he arose from the earth, and sat upon the bed.

(Saul's men constrained him, meaning "compelled" him.)

²⁴ And the woman had a fatted calf in the house; and she hasted, and killed it; and she took flour, and kneaded it, and did bake unleavened bread thereof:
²⁵ and she brought it before Saul, and before his servants; and they did eat. Then they rose up, and went away that night.




1 Samuel 29
¹ Now the Philistines gathered together all their hosts to Aphek: and the Israelites encamped by the fountain which is in Jezreel.
² And the lords of the Philistines passed on by hundreds, and by thousands; and David and his men passed on in the rearward with Achish.

(David was going to fight with the Philistines against Israel.)

³ Then said the princes of the Philistines, What do these Hebrews here? And Achish said unto the princes of the Philistines, Is not this David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, who hath been with me these days, or rather these years, and I have found no fault in him since he fell away unto me unto this day?

(King Achish vouched for David.)

⁴ But the princes of the Philistines were wroth with him; and the princes of the Philistines said unto him, Make the man return, that he may go back to his place where thou hast appointed him, and let him not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become an adversary to us: for wherewith should this fellow reconcile himself unto his lord? should it not be with the heads of these men?
⁵ Is not this David, of whom they sang one to another in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands?

(The princes of the Philistines did not allow David and his men to fight. They were afraid David would betray them and join the Israelites. They knew the songs that were sung about David's victories, specifically victories over the Philistines.)

⁶ Then Achish called David, and said unto him, As Jehovah liveth, thou hast been upright, and thy going out and thy coming in with me in the host is good in my sight; for I have not found evil in thee since the day of thy coming unto me unto this day: nevertheless the lords favor thee not.
⁷ Wherefore now return, and go in peace, that thou displease not the lords of the Philistines.

(Achish affirmed David but still sent him away because of the other Philistines. Achish did not want harm to come to David.)

⁸ And David said unto Achish, But what have I done? and what hast thou found in thy servant so long as I have been before thee unto this day, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?
⁹ And Achish answered and said to David, I know that thou art good in my sight, as an angel of God: notwithstanding the princes of the Philistines have said, He shall not go up with us to the battle.

(Achish could not give David an example of what he did wrong. Achish was taking direction from his princes. Was David trying to convince Achish to keep him there or was this all part of a deceptive approach from David?)

¹⁰ Wherefore now rise up early in the morning with the servants of thy lord that are come with thee; and as soon as ye are up early in the morning, and have light, depart.
¹¹ So David rose up early, he and his men, to depart in the morning, to return into the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

(David left and the Philistine army prepared for battle.)




1 Samuel 30
¹ And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had made a raid upon the South, and upon Ziklag, and had smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire,
² and had taken captive the women and all that were therein, both small and great: they slew not any, but carried them off, and went their way.

(The Amalekites made a raid on the south (of Judah) and upon David's city of Ziklag. David and his men returned to the people of their city having been taken captive. The Amalekites came from Esau and were supposed to have been wiped out by Saul.)

³ And when David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captive.
⁴ Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep.
⁵ And David's two wives were taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.
⁶ And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David strengthened himself in Jehovah his God.

(David was sad and stressed because of the destruction of Ziklag and the captivity of his two wives. It seemed the people were blaming David for this affliction to the point of wanting to stone him. However, David strengthened himself in the Lord his God. Notice, Michal was not listed as a wife.)

⁷ And David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David.
⁸ And David inquired of Jehovah, saying, If I pursue after this troop, shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue; for thou shalt surely overtake them, and shalt without fail recover all.

(Here we see David inquire of the Lord. Once again, David put on the priestly garment of Abiathar (as he did in 1 Samuel 23:9). Here, David asked God if he should pursue and God said yes.)

⁹ So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those that were left behind stayed.
¹⁰ But David pursued, he and four hundred men; for two hundred stayed behind, who were so faint that they could not go over the brook Besor.
¹¹ And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread, and he did eat; and they gave him water to drink.
¹² And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters of raisins: and when he had eaten, his spirit came again to him; for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water, three days and three nights.

(David and his men found an Egyptian man in the field.)

¹³ And David said unto him, To whom belongest thou? and whence art thou? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days ago I fell sick.
¹⁴ We made a raid upon the South of the Cherethites, and upon that which belongeth to Judah, and upon the South of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire.
¹⁵ And David said to him, Wilt thou bring me down to this troop? And he said, Swear unto me by God, that thou wilt neither kill me, nor deliver me up into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee down to this troop.

(The Egyptian, whose master was an Amalekite, was left for dead. David fed the Egyptian and asked him to bring him to the Amalekites.)

¹⁶ And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad over all the ground, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah.
¹⁷ And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, who rode upon camels and fled.
¹⁸ And David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken; and David rescued his two wives.
¹⁹ And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor anything that they had taken to them: David brought back all.

(David rescued his wives and all the spoil. The Amalekites were celebrating with what they had taken from Ziklag. They were not expecting a fight. Four hundred of these Amalekites escaped.)

²⁰ And David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drove before those other cattle, and said, This is David's spoil.
²¹ And David came to the two hundred men, who were so faint that they could not follow David, whom also they had made to abide at the brook Besor; and they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people that were with him: and when David came near to the people, he saluted them.

(David "saluted" the men that he left behind.)

²² Then answered all the wicked men and base fellows, of those that went with David, and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them aught of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, that he may lead them away, and depart.
²³ Then said David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which Jehovah hath given unto us, who hath preserved us, and delivered the troop that came against us into our hand.
²⁴ And who will hearken unto you in this matter? for as his share is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his share be that tarrieth by the baggage: they shall share alike.
²⁵ And it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day.

(The wicked men and base fellows did not want the 200 men who stayed behind to get any spoil. Would the 400 Amalekites had been able to escape if these 200 men had fought? David made a statute that day: some men were called to stay with supplies, some men were called to battle, they all got a portion of the spoil.)

²⁶ And when David came to Ziklag, he sent of the spoil unto the elders of Judah, even to his friends, saying, Behold, a present for you of the spoil of the enemies of Jehovah:
²⁷ To them that were in Beth-el, and to them that were in Ramoth of the South, and to them that were in Jattir,
²⁸ and to them that were in Aroer, and to them that were in Siphmoth, and to them that were in Eshtemoa,
²⁹ and to them that were in Racal, and to them that were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to them that were in the cities of the Kenites,
³⁰ and to them that were in Hormah, and to them that were in Bor-ashan, and to them that were in Athach,
³¹ and to them that were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were wont to haunt.

(David sent spoil to other regions of Judah probably in an attempt to repair some fractured relationships from his time with the Philistines.)




1 Samuel 31

(While David and his men were dealing with a destroyed city of Ziklag, Saul and the Israelite army were at war with the Philistines.)

¹ Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa.
² And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, the sons of Saul.

(The Israelites tried running from the Philistines but were not successful. Jonathan was killed.)

³ And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers overtook him; and he was greatly distressed by reason of the archers.
⁴ Then said Saul to his armorbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith, lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armorbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took his sword, and fell upon it.

(Saul was shot with multiple arrows. He told his armorbearer to kill him but he would not. Saul killed himself. Remember this account of Saul's death. The anonymous narrator of God's Word was always accurate. The narrator was presenting the facts.)

⁵ And when his armorbearer saw that Saul was dead, he likewise fell upon his sword, and died with him.
⁶ So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armorbearer, and all his men, that same day together.

(Saul's armorbearer not only did not kill Saul, Saul killed himself. Everything that "Samuel" told Saul (1 Samuel 28:19) came to pass.)

⁷ And when the men of Israel that were on the other side of the valley, and they that were beyond the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities, and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them.
⁸ And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen in mount Gilboa.
⁹ And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armor, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to carry the tidings unto the house of their idols, and to the people.

(The Philistines desecrated Saul's and his sons' dead bodies.)

¹⁰ And they put his armor in the house of the Ashtaroth; and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.

(Saul’s dead body was set up like a trophy in the Philistines’ Ashtaroth temple.)

¹¹ And when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard concerning him that which the Philistines had done to Saul,
¹² all the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan; and they came to Jabesh, and burnt them there.
¹³ And they took their bones, and buried them under the tamarisk-tree in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

(The men of Jabesh-gilead recovered the bodies and buried the bones.)

(1 Samuel was the fourth of the twelve books that made up the portion of the Old Testament known as the historical section. It was believed this book was compiled by Isaiah (around 700 BC) from notes made by Samuel, David, Nathan, and Gad. Also, 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel were originally considered to be one book. These books were not separated into two books until around 289-294 BC during the Septuagint translation. 1 Samuel documented the transition from God leading Israel through Judges to kings leading Israel. This book picked up the narrative where the Book of Judges left off and concluded with the death of Israel's first king: Saul. We now see the Book of Ruth gave background to events that occurred during this book, specifically David's lineage.)

Day 88