Sep 27, 2020. I Samuel 30:1-15

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DISASTER AT ZIKLAG. I Samuel 30:1-15. 9/27/20. #81.

1 Samuel 30:1-15 [New King James Version]

¹ Now it happened, when David and his men came to Ziklag, on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the South and Ziklag, attacked Ziklag and burned it with fire, ² and had taken captive the women and those who were there, from small to great; they did not kill anyone, but carried them away and went their way. ³ So David and his men came to the city, and there it was, burned with fire; and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive. ⁴ Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep. ⁵ And David’s two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite, had been taken captive. ⁶ Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was [a]grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God. ⁷ Then David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, “Please bring the ephod here to me.” And Abiathar brought the ephod to David. ⁸ So David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?” And He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.” ⁹ So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and came to the Brook Besor, where those stayed who were left behind. ¹⁰ But David pursued, he and four hundred men; for two hundred stayed behind, who were so weary that they could not cross the Brook Besor. ¹¹ Then they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David; and they gave him bread and he ate, and they let him drink water. ¹² And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. So when he had eaten, his strength came back to him; for he had eaten no bread nor drunk water for three days and three nights. ¹³ Then David said to him, “To whom do you belong, and where are you from?” And he said, “I am a young man from Egypt, servant of an Amalekite; and my master left me behind, because three days ago I fell sick. ¹⁴ We made an invasion of the southern area of the Cherethites, in the territory which belongs to Judah, and of the southern area of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire.” ¹⁵ And David said to him, “Can you take me down to this troop?” So he said, “Swear to me by God that you will neither kill me nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will take you down to this troop.”

• David goes home
  • David had gone to war with Achish against Israel
    • The other Philistine kings rejected David as an ally
    • David objected to being rejected
  • Achish sent David and his 600 men were sent home
    • We don’t know what David would’ve done in battle
    • It takes 3 days for the men to arrive from northern Israel to Ziklag in the south
  • There are several answers we do not have:  (1) did David ask God if he should go with Achish?  (2) Did his men agree with David’s decision to go with Achish?
• Smoldering Ziklag
  • As David and his men neared Ziklag, they saw the smoldering ashes of their village
  • All the family members had been captured, along with the livestock and possessions
    • Ironically, the Amalekites were the raiders (Saul was supposed to completely wipe out Amalek)
    • God forces David to destroy the Amalekites
  • David is not sure who had done this
  • Several immediate results came about from this disaster:
    • Tremendous anguish and pain of the men
    • The men blamed David for the loss of their home and family
      • May indicate that the men disagreed with David’s decision to go to war with Achish
      • None of the troops were left behind to guard Ziklag and the families
      • Leaders tend to get blamed for disasters
    • David has Abiathar bring the ephod to inquire of the Lord as to what he should do
      • David seeks direction, which, if he constantly did, would have stopped him from sin (we need to constantly seek the Lord – 1 Th. 5)
      • God tells David 3 things: (1) David is to pursue the raiders  (2) David will overtake the attackers  (3) David will recover everything
    • Every tragedy is also an opportunity
• From disaster to action
  • David is able to assuage his men with this revelation
  • David and the 600 men moved south across the Brook Besor
    • The trek was immediately after a 3 day journey
    • 200 of the men were exhausted, so they stayed behind to watch over the possessions
  • David found an Egyptian man near death
    • He had been left behind to die due to an illness
    • David suspects that the Egyptian knew where attackers were (Amalek had been raiding south)
    • The Eg. would take David to the raiders if he promised not to turn him over to his former master or kill him
  • Grief over loss is a call for faith and action
    • Seeking and trusting God
    • Refusing to wallow in our pain and quitting
    • Seeking what good wants to bring out of our pain
  • Tragedy tests faith and gives an opportunity for growth