“The people of Zif came to Sha’ul in Giv‘ah and said, ‘David is hiding himself with us in the strongholds at Horesh, on Hakhilah Hill, south of Yeshimon.'”-1 Samuel 23:19
The wild goose chase continues with Saul in hot pursuit of David.
Verse 19 tells us the people of Zif were even more hostile towards David than the city folks at Ke’ilah.
They snitched on David and his men by letting Saul know where they were hiding.
Why would they do that?
Well, it was most likely common news that Saul had slaughtered every one of God’s priests at Nob based on the slight suspicion they had aided David.
So they didn’t want any trouble.
Or maybe they didn’t want this rag-tag mob wandering around in their territory.
Regardless of their motivation, Saul was very grateful for their assistance.
He even went so far as to call on the God of Israel to bless them:
“May Adonai bless you for showing me compassion!”
He thanks the people of Zif for their “compassion”…
The Hebrew word here is CHAMAL or חָמַל…
It can mean “compassion” but can also mean “to pity” or “to spare.”
Saul is being exceedingly modest here.
Having repeatedly failed to capture the elusive David, Saul asks the Zifites to double-check David’s location.
So there are two points I want you to catch.
First, the people of Zif were members of David’s tribe.
That’s right.
They were members of the tribe of Judah.
I find it tragic that the people of Zif would betray their brothers out of convenience…
Simply because they didn’t want any trouble with Saul.
Second, we can see Saul was still deluding himself into believing God had not abandoned him.
He still didn’t realize his inability to capture David was the Lord’s doing.
To think you’re in the Lord’s Will when you’re not is a dangerous place to be spiritually.
That is exactly where the world is today concerning Israel.
They think they’re on the moral high ground with all of the “Free Palestine” and “From the river to the sea” nonsense.
They have sided with Esau against Jacob.
A lot of folks don’t realize this but most Palestinians are related to Esau.
Esau has always represented those who are NOT in covenant with God.
God says He is going to destroy Esau for their violence against Israel.
See, here’s the thing.
If you are a believer, you will be forced to take a side.
You are either going to be for Israel or against Israel…
There is no middle ground here.
So let me give you some wise advice…
Side with Israel.
Why?
Because to side against Israel is to side against G-d Himself.
Remember, Israel’s existence is assured by God.
No other nation on earth can say the same.
Yeah man, that includes your nation…if it’s not Israel.
Ya feel me?
Done.
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