OVERVIEW:
David spares Saul’s life again; David lives in the land of the Philistines and defeats many enemies; Saul consults with a witch regarding going to war; David recovers his family and the families of his soldiers who are kidnapped; Saul’s sons are killed in battle; Saul takes his own life.
HIGHLIGHTS & INSIGHTS:
After Nabal died, at the end of chapter 25 in yesterday’s reading, David took his widow, Abigail, to wife. David was a man with so many talents and abilities, and had such a good heart, however, it is fleshly violations such as this that will ultimately blossom into a snare of epic proportions in his life down the road. When God prophesied hundreds of years earlier, in Deuteronomy 17, that Israel would get to the place that they would want an earthly king like the other nations of the world, one of the key stipulations God made abundantly clear even then, was that a king in Israel “shall not…multiply wives to himself.” (Deuteronomy 17:16–17) David had already been anointed by Samuel for kingship in Israel (16:1–13), but before he can even be installed into the office as the nation’s leader, he has already violated one of God’s key stipulations.
Perhaps it was that lapse in judgment that spilled over into his decision to return to the land of Ziphites, placing him into harm’s way by getting in the direct path of his irrational and unpredictable enemy, Saul, once again. By God’s grace, He caused a “deep sleep” to fall upon Saul and his band of 3000 soldiers, and by taking Saul’s spear and water bottle while he was sleeping rather than taking his life, David is able to prove to him, again, that he did not aspire to kill him. (26:7–12)
It should be noted that the PHYSICAL condition of “deep sleep” that God poured out upon Saul and his men is actually a graphic picture of a condition that God pours out upon people SPIRITUALLY. Isaiah 29:10–11 talks about “the spirit of deep sleep” that causes a person’s spiritual eyes to close, and the Bible to become as if it were sealed to them. It is apparent, biblically and practically speaking, that God chooses to pour out this spirit upon people because they willfully choose to close their eyes to the truth of God’s word that has been revealed to them. In Matthew 13:15, Jesus talked about people whose “eyes they have closed; lest at anytime they should see with their eyes.” We must be very careful in what we communicate to God, through our lives, that we really want, because God will gladly, though sadly, oblige. Pharaoh hardened his heart, and God helped him to get what he wanted as God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. People in the last days communicate to God that they want a lie by rejecting the truth of God when it is revealed to them, and God will give them the lie they told Him they wanted, and they will believe the lie of the antichrist. (2nd Thessalonians 2:8–12) People close their eyes to God’s truth, and God will help them in the process, and He will close their eyes! (Isaiah 29:10–11; Matthew 13:15) Once again, we all might do well to ask ourselves what it is that our lives are actually telling God that we want! We all might need to ask ourselves, is there any area in our life where we are willfully rejecting truth that has been revealed to us?
Note also in today’s reading, that one of the most admirable qualities David possessed was how he regarded GOD’s authority in his life, and how that translated into how he regarded MAN’S authority in his life. Samuel had anointed David king while Saul still held the office. David, however, never manifested a sense of entitlement; he never directly or indirectly sought to undermine the king’s authority; neither did he seek to rally followers to stage any type of insurrection against Saul’s regime. Though God had promised to deliver Saul into David’s hand, David made for absolute certain that that deliverance would not come from his own hand! On several occasions, David articulated that he would “not stretch forth his hand against the Lord’s anointed.” (1st Samuel 24:6; 26:9, 11, 23) In other words, regardless of his own anointing, as long as God allowed the previously anointed king to sit on the throne, David wasn’t going to be party to any action to remove him. David operated off of biblical principles that, at that time, were yet to be recorded in God’s word: “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1), and “He hath made every thing beautiful in his time.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
In chapter 27, David puts himself into another precarious situation, this time by taking refuge in enemy territory, and ends up lying to the king. Chapter 28 is another sad chapter in the Bible, and yet another of the sad chapters in Saul’s life. When we first met him in 1st Samuel chapter 9, Saul “STOOD…higher than any of the people.” (9:2; 10:23) God had set before him a future that was incredibly bright and promising. By chapter 28, however, he has “STOOPED” lower than any of the people. (28:14) He is literally on his face in front of a demonically-empowered witch, asking her to help him know his future because God was no longer communicating with him or to him. Oh, the depths to which sin can take us! Saul asks her to call up Samuel from the dead, and surprisingly enough, Samuel does appear to Saul! It was even surprising to the witch and, by the sound of her voice (28:12), even freaked her out!
This passage, as you can imagine, has been the subject of many theological discussions and debates. Perhaps the simplest explanation for what actually happened with Samuel’s appearance to Saul is that he was there, not because of the witch’s power, but because God sent him there to deliver a message that He wanted Samuel to deliver to him.
The account of the death of Saul is also the subject of considerable debate. The debate centers around the fact that there appears to be two contradictory accounts of how it actually happened. In 31:4–6, the account reveals that after being wounded in battle, Saul fell on his own sword and took his own life before the enemy was able to taunt him and/or torture him. However, in 2nd Samuel 1:2–10, the account the Amalekite reports to David is that Saul had fallen on his own sword, and though he was greatly wounded, Saul was convinced that his injury wasn’t going to kill him, so he asked the Amalekite to “finish the job,” as it were. The Amalekite tells David that he personally believed that Saul was going to die from his self-inflicted wound, so he saw no harm in putting Saul “out of his misery”, so to speak.
So, which account is right? Is this actually a contradiction in the Bible?
Let’s be clear. If this is a contradiction in our Bible, the best thing any of us could do is close our Bible right now and never open it again! Then, we ought to take this tool, the “365 Days of Pursuit”, and use it as kindling for our next bonfire, spending as much time as is necessary trying to find something productive to do with our lives that makes us happy, because the reality is we’re all in a lurch! (1st Corinthians 15:32) If this is a contradiction, then the entire Bible is a sham, and nothing more than a worthless piece of unreliable literary trash! It is not the word of God, but is, in fact, the words of men! In other words, it is the exact opposite of what 1st Thessalonians 2:13 says it is!
Obviously, these two accounts of Saul’s death are NOT a contradiction in the Bible because there are NONE! As in these two accounts, there sometimes may be “apparent contradictions” in the Bible, but there are NO contradictions! It is in very fact, the perfect, inspired, infallible, inerrant word and words of God! (Proverbs 30:5–6; 1st Thessalonians 2:13) The “apparent contradictions” that are in the Bible can usually be unraveled by simply employing basic reasoning skills, and/or by simply comparing Scripture with Scripture. (1st Corinthians 2:13) In this particular “apparent contradiction,” the answer is very simply that the story that the Amalekite told David in 2nd Samuel 1 was simply a fabrication. He may have concocted the whole story to make him look heroic in the eyes of David, and/or to give explanation for why he had Saul’s crown and arm band in his possession. His fabrication, however, ended in his death. (2nd Samuel 1:15)
Perhaps the best way to summarize the book of 1st Samuel is for us to hypothetically take a sheet of paper and divided into two columns. At the top of the first column, we would title it: “What NOT to do.” At the top of the second column, we would title it: “What TO DO.” In the first column, we would explain the lives of two key characters: Eli and Saul. In the second column, we would explain the lives of two other key characters: Samuel and David. That is basically the practical essence of the entire book. The beautiful thing about our God, is that He graciously allows us the privilege of choosing the column from which we will conduct our lives!
If someone were to read a written account of our lives over the past several years, like we have done with these four men in 1st Samuel, would they place us in the “What TO DO” column, or the “What NOT to do” column?
CHRIST IS REVEALED:
Through the URIM, which was used to determine God’s will — 1st Samuel 28:6 (Hebrews 1:1–2 – Today, Christ speaks to us, to reveal His will, through His Spirit as we read His word. God…“Hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son…” Hebrews 1:2)