The Sword Of Goliath

[Llewelyn Stevenson]

Notice it says that he was detained "before the Lord", which allowed him to witness the
event. Does this suggest that his witness was of the Lord?

No, David later realised his oversight.

1Sa 22:22 And David said unto Abiathar, I knew it that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul: I have occasioned the death of all the persons of thy father's house.

One could easily argue that God warned David and he could have avoided all this by simply doing away with Doeg, however, I am of the strong opinion that David received no such warning and decided not to act on his natural cunning as that could be construed as murder. Perhaps it would have been better if he had but David, being of spiritual discipline, would not take the life of one enquiring of God.

 

[Llewelyn Stevenson]

David didn't have foresight like that so he couldn't have known.

Actually David did have the foresight. He later admitted to suspecting it, but could not have known of the savagery of the outcome. For that he was bitterly disappointed and wrote Psalm 52 to express this emotion.

 

[Llewelyn Stevenson]

As I said, there remains much to tell in this story.
1 Samuel 22:
20 Now one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David.
21 And Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the Lord’s priests.
22 So David said to Abiathar, “I knew that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would
surely tell Saul. I have caused the death of all the persons of your father’s house.
23 Stay with me; do not fear. For he who seeks my life seeks your life, but with me you shall be safe.

Guilt and regret often follow us, as well as repercussions much later. Abiathar eventually followed
Adonijah against his brother Solomon.

1 Kings 1:
5 Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will be king”; and he prepared for
himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.
6 (And his father had not rebuked him at any time by saying, “Why have you done so?” He was
also very good-looking. His mother had borne him after Absalom.)
7 Then he conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, and they
followed and helped Adonijah.

Solomon showed him mercy in only banishing him.

1 Kings 2:
26 And to Abiathar the priest the king said, “Go to Anathoth, to your own fields, for you are
deserving of death; but I will not put you to death at this time, because you carried the ark of
the Lord God before my father David, and because you were afflicted every time my father was afflicted.”
27 So Solomon removed Abiathar from being priest to the Lord, that he might fulfill the word of the Lord which He spoke concerning the house of Eli at Shiloh.

The repercussions of seeking a weapon rather than enquiring of the Lord continued beyond
David's lifetime.

I really do feel you are straining at a gnat.

Jesus actually defended David's actions accounting him clean in the eyes of the Lord.

Mat 12:1 At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat.
Mat 12:2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.
Mat 12:3 But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him;
Mat 12:4 How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?
Mat 12:5 Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?

Since Jesus did not condemn David, neither do I.

 

[Mr. M]

I really do feel you are straining at a gnat.

The destruction of a village of priests is hardly straining at a gnat. The OP does not condemn David,
merely shows that there are consequences to personal decisions. Doeg reported that David was
enquiring of the Lord by Abimelech, but did he? What was the Word of the Lord for David? In the earlier
discussion, I point out that the main issue in any narrative is, was God's purpose served? Setting aside
all this speculation, what does the scriptures say?
27 So Solomon removed Abiathar from being priest to the Lord, that he might fulfill the word of the Lord which He spoke concerning the house of Eli at Shiloh. post#39
1 Samuel 3:
11 Then the Lord said to Samuel: “Behold, I will do something in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle.
12 In that day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end.
13 For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows, because his sons made themselves vile, and he did not restrain them.
14 And therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”

 

[Llewelyn Stevenson]

was God's purpose served?

It is obvious that God's purpose was served, but it had nothing to do with David's actions since the judgment was declared before his time. Abiathar was reserved to judgment at God's appointed time.

Was David guilty of not consulting God? Did Doeg lie? all these answers must be assumed because the Scripture gives no clarity at either point. At the one point we are not told whether David consulted with the priest to ask God and at the other point we are told he did. Each one must draw their own conclusions from that.

What we do know is that Saul, if only by the rejection of his soldiers, knew it was wrong and ungodly to kill the priests, yet he saw it through. This action was another step on Saul's destruction and judgment, not David's.

David is guiltless in the eyes of God. David saw a consequence to his oversight: a whole town of priests were slain simply because he did nothing about Doeg. The taking of the sword brought no consequences on David or any future generations.

 

[Mr. M]

The taking of the sword brought no consequences on David or any future generations.

In fact, it is never mentioned again. Oddly, David's next move was to seek sanctuary among the
Philistines. Achish was not pleased to see him, or the sword of Goliath.

 

[helmut]

Why was David so impressed with the sword of Goliath?

It seems it was the best sword he knew about. In that time, Israelites had bronze weapons (if any), Philistians had steel weapons.

Do you detect a hint of covetousness in his statement?
Did he not realize that as a boy he had wielded a giant’s weapon
only by the power of the Spirit of the Lord?

He needed a sword, he was not covetous but wanted to use what he could get.

David fled from Saul, the anointed king, this is a somewhat different situation from fighting for the army of Israel (and hence the Lord).

What were the consequences of his taking possession of this mighty weapon?

Hard to say. Perhaps just giving bread to David was enough to trigger these consequences?

Generally speaking, David had highs and lows. Making Saul ashamed by his righteousness (1.Sam 24) stands next to living by gathering "protection money" (1.Sam 25). I found 1.Sam 30:5 astonishing, for Davids flips from a rather God-less time directly to receiving God's protection. Kind of foreshadowing what grace means.

 

[robycop3]

I get a bit cynical about the theory David didn't rely enough on the Lord to protect him in all circumstances. it was one thing for David to rely on the Lord when the opposition was a single man Goliath who had been browbeating the Israeli army for weeks, and which was effectively a duel between two individuals.

It was another situation altogether when he was on the fun from his own king Saul, with the whole Israeli army after him. He didn't know who he could trust, hence the charade to pretend to be mad to avoid trouble with Achish, King of Gath. It was either that or fight the king's entire bodyguard single handed.

Go into a real battlefield with bombs and shells, and see how many bullets and artillery shells are magically deflected because you get down and pray, and trust in the Lord to deliver you from physical danger. He may well deliver you, but not necessarily this side of death.

It also says that it was the only sword there, so he didn't really have a choice anyway.

I don't see a hint of covetousness. I see more of a throwaway line - "What the heck? What else is there? I may well take it anyway, even if it does weigh a ton."

Maybe Dave was the model for Cloud Strife in the Final Fantasy video game series.

 

[LovebirdsFlying]

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This thread is closed on the request of the OP.

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