1 Now when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made a raid against the Negeb and against Ziklag. They had overcome Ziklag and burned it with fire 2 and taken captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great. They killed no one, but carried them off and went their way. 3 And when David and his men came to the city, they found it burned with fire, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. 4 Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep. 5 David’s two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. 6 And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.
7 And David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. 8 And David inquired of the LORD, “Shall I pursue after this band? Shall I overtake them?” He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue.” 9 So David set out, and the six hundred men who were with him, and they came to the brook Besor, where those who were left behind stayed. 10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men. Two hundred stayed behind, who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor.
11 They found an Egyptian in the open country and brought him to David. And they gave him bread and he ate. 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 revived, for he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights. 13 And David said to him, “To whom do you belong? And where are you from?” He said, “I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite, and my master left me behind because I fell sick three days ago. 14 We had made a raid against the Negeb of the Cherethites and against that which belongs to Judah and against the Negeb of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire.” 15 And David said to him, “Will you take me down to this band?” And he said, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will take you down to this band.”
16 And when he had taken him down, behold, they were spread abroad over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing, because of all the great spoil they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. 17 And David struck them down from twilight until the evening of the next day, and not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men, who mounted camels and fled. 18 David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and David rescued his two wives. 19 Nothing was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that had been taken. David brought back all. 20 David also captured all the flocks and herds, and the people drove the livestock before him, and said, “This is David’s spoil.”
21 Then David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow David, and who had been left at the brook Besor. And they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him. And when David came near to the people he greeted them. 22 Then all the wicked and worthless fellows among the men who had gone with David said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except that each man may lead away his wife and children, and depart.” 23 But David said, “You shall not do so, my brothers, with what the LORD has given us. He has preserved us and given into our hand the band that came against us. 24 Who would listen to you in this matter? For as his share is who goes down into the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage. They shall share alike.” 25 And he made it a statute and a rule for Israel from that day forward to this day.
26 When David came to Ziklag, he sent part of the spoil to his friends, the elders of Judah, saying, “Here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of the LORD.” 27 It was for those in Bethel, in Ramoth of the Negeb, in Jattir, 28 in Aroer, in Siphmoth, in Eshtemoa, 29 in Racal, in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, in the cities of the Kenites, 30 in Hormah, in Bor-ashan, in Athach, 31 in Hebron, for all the places where David and his men had roamed.
(ESV)
STOP! Think a little 🤔 What is God saying to you?
- What is the writer saying?
- How do I apply this to my life?
Having been ejected from serving in the Philistine army, David and his men made the three-day journey back to Ziklag. In that time the Amalekites had attacked the city, taken the women and children captive, looted the city, and burned it to the ground. These men of war were so heartbroken at what they found that they wept until they had no strength left to weep. The men’s brokenness turned to anger and that anger was focused on David and they tried to stone him. Instead of being overwhelmed by his situation, David found his strength in the Lord his God.
Then David called for Abiathar the priest to bring the ephod and he enquired of the Lord, most likely using the Urim and Thummim which were kept in the breastpiece of the ephod (Ex 28:28-30). David asked the Lord if he should pursue the kidnappers and the Lord answered that he would succeed in overtaking them and rescuing those who had been taken. So David set out with the six hundred men who were with him. When they came to the brook Besor, two hundred men were too exhausted to continue so David left them and continued with the remaining four hundred.
They came across an Egyptian who was half dead having not eaten or drunk water for three days and three nights. They attended to him, giving him food and water to drink. The attention paid to this part of the story seems out of place but serves to show that even in the midst of personal turmoil, David took the time to be kind and gracious, paying attention to the Old Testament regulations regarding the treatment of aliens, especially Egyptians (Ex 22:21; Lev 19:34; Deut 23:7). After reviving the man, they found out that he had been part of the Amalekite raid as a servant of an Amalekite. They also learned that the raid had been part of a larger campaign that included regions of Judah. David then trusted this man to lead him to the raiders after agreeing to spare him and not return him to his master.
The Egyptian led them to the Amalekite camp where they were found out of battle formation, drinking, and dancing because of their great success against the Philistines and Judah. David’s attack was so successful that almost none of the Amalekites escaped and everything that had been taken was recovered from their wives and children to their possessions. When they returned with their possessions and the spoils of war, David greeted the two hundred that had remained behind. Those who were wicked among them did not want them to share in the blessings, other than receiving back their own wives, children, and possessions, because they had not shared in the battle. But David intervened with a statute that would be followed by Israelite armies from that day forward: The share of those who stayed behind would be the same as those who served. There are a number of reasons this policy made sense. Theologically, the spoils of war were a blessing from God, not payment for secular service. If the battle is the Lords, then so is the result. This also highlights the fact that those who returned from war already had received the blessing from the Lord of protection and victory. Finally, David’s statute highlighted the fact that a battle is won as a result of collective effort including those on the frontline and those in a supporting role and each job is vital to the success of the whole.
When David returned to Ziklag, he shared part of the spoil with the elders of Judah. These spoils were shared with God’s people as a result of David’s God-enabled victory over the enemies of the Lord.
As you consider David’s interaction with the Egyptian, how likely are you in a time of personal challenge to be thinking of others?
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Jesus’ Death and Resurrection: Luke 23-24