1 SAMUEL LESSON 33
We will begin this lesson I 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 invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and
burned it with fire;"
We do not know just how far David had gone with Achish, but we do
know that David was gone from his home for three days. He had taken
his fighting men with him, so it left Ziklag unprotected. The
Amalekites waited for this opportunity, when David was gone, and came
in and attacked Ziklag. They burned the city with fire.
I Samuel 30:2 "And had taken the women captives, that [were]
therein: they slew not any, either great or small, but carried [them]
away, and went on their way."
It appears that, all of the women were taken captive in this, and
none were killed. I would believe this is, because of divine
protection of God upon them.
I Samuel 30:3 "So David and his men came to the city, and,
behold, [it was] burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons,
and their daughters, were taken captives."
This had to be a tremendous shock, when David realized the
Amalekites have caught them gone, and ravaged their city. There are
not dead bodies around, so David is aware the women and children have
been taken captive. The Amalekites had spared the wives and children,
because they were valuable as slave labor.
I Samuel 30:4 "Then David and the people that [were] with him
lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep."
We see a great sorrow for the loss of the wives and children,
here. Possibly, they are blaming David for leaving their families
helpless, while they went to war to help Achish.
I Samuel 30:5 "And David's two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam
the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite." I
Samuel 30:6 "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 encouraged himself in
the LORD his God."
They are so angry with David, that his own men are speaking of
stoning him to death. They have forgotten that David's two wives were
taken, also. David always places his faith in the LORD. He feels no
differently here. David is assured that this is the plan of the LORD.
I Samuel 30:7 "And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's
son, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought
thither the ephod to David." I Samuel 30:8 "And David inquired at the
LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them?
And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake [them],
and without fail recover [all]."
The relationship with David and his LORD are not even comparable
with any other in the Bible except, for Jesus. David knows that the
LORD has the answer to what he should do. As we have said before, the
LORD spoke to the people through the ephod of the priest. David had
placed his will into the hands of the LORD, by consulting Him, before
acting. The LORD tells David to take the men and pursue the enemy. He
reassures David, that all will be saved. There will be no loss to
David and his men. The only loss will be to the Amalekites.
I Samuel 30:9 "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." I Samuel 30:10 "But David pursued, he and four
hundred men: for two hundred abode behind, which were so faint that
they could not go over the brook Besor."
David had, probably, moved at a very fast pace to catch up with
the Amalekites, who had their wives and children. This move was so
fast, that some of the men fell by the wayside too fatigued to go on.
The brook Besor was a raging current at this time. It was difficult to
cross over for any of the men, but 400 went on. These 200 men, who
stayed at the brook, kept the heavy part of the provisions they
carried, so the other 400 could move faster.
I Samuel 30:11 "And they found an Egyptian in the field, and
brought him to David, and gave him bread, and he did eat; and they
made him drink water;" I Samuel 30:12 "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."
This slave was not thought of as an Amalekite. When he became
fatigued, they just left him behind to die. They left him no
provisions at all. It had been three days, since he had eaten, or
drunk, anything, and he was about to die, when David's men found him.
When they fed him, he revived.
I Samuel 30:13 "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 agone I fell sick."
The fact that the Amalekites left him behind to die, shows their
inhumanity. A slave was regarded as no more than cattle, or their
other possessions. They were not thought of any value, if they were
sick. Of course, we know that this, too, was arranged by the LORD.
He was not an Amalekite, but an Egyptian, so he had no particular
loyalty to the Amalekites. He was just interested in saving his own
life.
I Samuel 30:14 "We made an invasion [upon] the south of the
Cherethites, and upon [the coast] which [belongeth] to Judah, and upon
the south of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire."
His admission of their invasion shows, that he is of the same
group that took David's wives, and the wives of the other men.
I Samuel 30:15 "And David said to him, Canst thou bring me down
to this company? And he said, Swear unto me by God, that thou wilt
neither kill me, nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I
will bring thee down to this company."
We see that the Egyptian was trying to save his own life. He had
no loyalty at all to his slave master. It made no difference to him,
whether he was the Amalekite's slave, or the slave of David. He knew
if David turned him over to the Amalekite, he would kill him. This is
a reasonable thing to ask.
I Samuel 30:16 "And when he had brought him down, behold, [they
were] spread abroad upon all the earth, 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."
These Amalekites felt they were safe, because the men of David
had gone with the Philistines to fight against the Israelites. They
had not taken into consideration, that David would be released from
that war. They were celebrating their victory, and not expecting
anyone to retaliate. Drinking, here, is speaking of alcoholic
beverages, which dulled the senses.
I Samuel 30:17 "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, which rode upon camels, and fled."
They came in on them unawares, and killed all of the men, except
the 400 young men who got away on Camels. It appears, from the verse
above, that David and his men fought them all through the night and
until dark the second day. One thing that leaves no doubt that David
attacked them in the late evening, was that they were drinking and
dancing, which would not have been happening early in the morning.
I Samuel 30:18 "And David recovered all that the Amalekites had
carried away: and David rescued his two wives."
This is not just speaking of all the women and children that the
Amalekites had taken, but all of the spoil, as well. David's personal
gain in this was the recovering of his two wives.
I Samuel 30:19 "And there was nothing lacking to them, neither
small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any
[thing] that they had taken to them: David recovered all." I Samuel
30:20 "And David took all the flocks and the herds, [which] they drave
before those [other] cattle, and said, This [is] David's spoil."
This is speaking of all the Amalekites had taken from them. It is
apparent that David, also, spoiled the Amalekites, and took their
animals.
I Samuel 30:21 "And David came to the two hundred men, which
were so faint that they could not follow David, whom they had made
also 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."
We must look carefully at the men, who were left behind at the
brook. They did not stay there, because of cowardice. They were left
there to take care of the goods left behind, and because, they were
not physically able to go on. They had not refused to go with David.
They went as far as their physical bodies would allow them to go.
David had specifically given them permission to stay at the brook,
because of their weakened condition. They had rested at the brook, and
ran out to meet David on his return.
I Samuel 30:22 "Then answered all the wicked men and [men] of
Belial, of those that went with David, and said, Because they went not
with us, we will not give them [ought] of the spoil that we have
recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, that they may
lead [them] away, and depart."
Notice, what the Scripture calls those with this attitude. It
calls them wicked. and men of Belial {worthless}. Their selfishness is
showing. One of the things that set the Israelites apart from the
heathen, was their fairness with each other. This was showing no
fairness at all.
I Samuel 30:23 "Then said David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren,
with that which the LORD hath given us, who hath preserved us, and
delivered the company that came against us into our hand."
David is scolding them for this attitude. It was not by their
strength, that they defeated the Amalekites. It was the might of the
LORD. David, immediately, tells them that this victory is of the LORD.
I Samuel 30:24 "For who will hearken unto you in this matter? but
as his part [is] that goeth down to the battle, so [shall] his part
[be] that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike." I Samuel
30:25 "And it was [so] from that day forward, that he made it a
statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day."
David is the leader, here. He will determine what shall be done
with this. He is not ugly with the evil ones who propose this, but he
does not listen to them, either. He lets them know, immediately, that
this will not be tolerated. He even causes this to be the a statute
and and ordinance forever with the Jews.
I Samuel 30:26 "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 the LORD;"
The spoil from the Amalekites seemed to be very large. He kept
some for himself, gave some to his men, and there was still an
abundance, that he sent to the elders of Judah. These were not earned
by the elders, but were a gift from David.
I Samuel 30:27 "To [them] which [were] in Beth-el, and to [them]
which [were] in south Ramoth, and to [them] which [were] in Jattir,"
I Samuel 30:28 "And to [them] which [were] in Aroer, and to [them]
which [were] in Siphmoth, and to [them] which [were] in Eshtemoa,"
I Samuel 30:29 "And to [them] which [were] in Rachal, and to [them]
which [were] in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to [them] which
[were] in the cities of the Kenites," I Samuel 30:30 "And to [them]
which [were] in Hormah, and to [them] which [were] in Chorashan, and
to [them] which [were] in Athach," I Samuel 30:31 "And to [them] which
[were] in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his
men were wont to haunt."
All of these above, represent those who had befriended him in the
past. One thing that shows us the type of man that David was is the
fact that he shared the spoil. He was not a greedy man in his heart.
His sharing with them was a way of showing his gratitude to the LORD
for helping him. Some people cannot handle success. Some of his men
were filled with greed, when they experienced success. Others, like
David, make them even more thoughtful of others. Whatever we are in
our heart is the way we act, whether it is a small amount, or a large.
1 Samuel 33 Questions
1. When did David and his men get back to Ziklag.
2. What had happened at Ziklag, while they were gone?
3. Who had the Amalekites taken captive?
4. Why does the author believe the women were not killed?
5. What did David do, when he saw that Ziklag was burned, and the
people taken captive?
6. What did some of the men want to do to David?
7. Who did David call to him to bring the ephod?
8. Why does David have him to bring the ephod?
9. How does the LORD answer David?
10. How many men went with David?
11. Where did those, that were left behind, stay?
12. How many men stayed behind?
13. Why did they stay behind?
14. Who did David's men find in the field.
15. What condition was he in?
16. What did David ask him?
17. Under what conditions, did he tell David where the Amalekites
were?
18. How did David know for sure, he was speaking of the same ones who
raided Ziklag?
19. What were the Amalekites doing, when they found them?
20. Why were they not being more careful?
21. When did David smite them?
22. Who were killed?
23. Who did David recover?
24. What were the cattle of the Amalekites that were taken called?
25. Who did not want to share the spoil with those, who waited at the
brook?
26. What does "Belial" mean?
27. David made it a ________ and an ________ from that day forward.
28. Who did David send of the spoil to, when he came to Ziklag?
29. Who do verses 27 through 31 represent?
30. Whatever we are in our _________ is eventually the way we act.
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