“David was told, ‘The P’lishtim are fighting Ke‘ilah and plundering the threshing-floors.'”-1 Samuel 23:1
So David heard the Philistines were attacking Ke’ilah and stealing grain from the threshing floors.
Ke’ilah is a well-known town that today is called KHIRBET QILA.
It’s located about 8 miles southwest of Hebron.
Even though Ke’ilah was part of Judah, it was under Philistine control at that time.
Now, notice the Philistines weren’t attacking the city itself.
They were going after the threshing floors.
This is where all the grain was processed.
The threshing floors were always outside the cities, near the fields.
Here’s the thing.
The Philistines didn’t want to take over land or build an empire.
They didn’t just go around destroying things for the heck of it (unlike some other unkosher folks we know about).
They wanted to gain control of areas to benefit from trade and make money.
So they went to Ke’ilah to steal the grain because the harvest was almost done, and the grain was being processed.
It wouldn’t make sense to attack while the grain was still growing in the fields.
The Philistines wanted the grain because they could steal it easily and sell it to their own people and to other places.
Remember, they were in the shipping business and needed things to sell.
Taking grain from their neighbors and then selling it was common back then.
Destroying the cities, villages, and fields wouldn’t help them, so they didn’t do that.
So what takeaway am I getting for today?
As I just said, attacking and stealing goods from neighboring nations was a common practice back then.
But that’s not the kind of behavior the Lord approves us.
If you want to prosper…
Do it God’s way…
Not the world’s way.
Use the resources God has already provided…
Or use your God-given brain to create new products or services the world wants.
This is the foundation that builds wealth and security with peace of mind.
Ya feel me here?
Over and out.
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