“He presented them to the king of Mo’av, and they lived with him as long as David remained in his stronghold. But the prophet Gad said to David, ‘Don’t stay in the stronghold. Leave, and go to the land of Y’hudah.’ So David left and went to the Forest of Heret.”-1 Samuel 22:4-5
There’s a big jump in time from verses 4 to 5.
We’re told that David lived with his parents in Moab for a while (we don’t know how long)…
And then out of the blue, a prophet called Gad shows up.
He gives David the message that he should leave Moab and return to Judah.
So who in the heck was this prophet?
Well, recall Samuel was operating a school of prophets in Naioth.
So Gad most likely came from there…
And Samuel probably sent him to David.
Here’s the thing.
A king usually had a prophet attached to him.
What’s that you say?
You’re saying David wasn’t a king yet?
True, at this time David was not a king…
But he was a NAGID or a king-in-waiting.
Or another way to put it, spiritually speaking David was already God’s anointed king.
Samuel probably realized that.
So he sent him a prophet to assist him.
What was the advice the prophet gave David?
Get the heck out of gentile territory!
God did not want David to depend on Gentiles for his safety and well-being..
I’m getting two takeaways from this situation.
The first and obvious one is to NOT seek your salvation from the Gentiles.
Their pagan gods, customs, and traditions have nothing to offer you.
Second, if you find yourself being constantly blocked from doing something, take it as a sign that your Father in Heaven is stopping you for a reason.
When David fled to Philistine territory he was booted out.
And now while chilling in Moab, David is being told to get outta there
In closing, let’s take a look at a reference to Gad contained in the Book of 1st Chronicles:
“Adonai spoke to Gad, David’s seer:
‘Go and tell David that Adonai says,
‘I am offering you a choice of three
punishments: choose one of them,
and I will execute it against you.’”
-1 Chronicles 21:9-10
So we see that Gad must have served David for several years.
Note also that Gad is referred to as a “seer”.
This means the Almighty had gifted him with supernatural power to see into the future.
So there’s no doubt he was a legitimate prophet of God.
In the future, David will eventually have a court of prophets who will keep him accountable and bring God’s words to Him.
Finally, we’re told that David obeyed God’s words through Gad.
He returned to Judah to a place called the Forest of Hereth (current location is unknown).
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“These twelve Yeshua sent out
with the following instructions:
‘Do not go among the Gentiles
or enter any town of the
Samaritans. Go rather to the
lost sheep of Israel.'”
-Matthew 10:5-6
“You Samaritans worship
what you do not know;
we worship what we do know,
for salvation is from the Jews.”
-John 4:22
“Therefore, remember your
former state: you Gentiles by birth —
called the Uncircumcised by those who,
merely because of an operation
on their flesh, are called the
Circumcised — at that time had no Messiah.
You were estranged from the
national life of Isra’el. You were
foreigners to the covenants
embodying God’s promise. You were in
this world without hope and without God.
But now, you who were once far off
have been brought near through
the shedding of the Messiah’s blood.”
-Ephesians 2:11-13
“He answered,
‘I was sent only to the lost
sheep of Israel.'”
-Matthew 15:24
Leave a Reply