“After David had been living in the country of the P’lishtim for a year and four months, he and his men began going up and raiding the G’shuri, the Gizri, and the ‘Amaleki (from ancient times these people had lived in the land in the direction of Shur, all the way to Egypt).”-1 Samuel 27:7-8
Exactly one year and four months had passed since David and his men had moved into the area of Ziklag.
They had gained Achish’s trust and were well-established in the region.
This also marks the time they began their new occupation as ruthless raiders who attacked and pillaged neighboring tribes to earn their keep.
There’s no question they had learned a lot from the Philistines in terms of how to best ambush and plunder their targets
Ironically, after David became king, he would use this knowledge effectively in his battles against the Philistines, his former masters.
We’re told David’s soldiers especially targeted the Geshurites, the Gezerites, and the Amalekites.
On second thought, it was probably just the Geshurites and the Amalekites to be more historically accurate.
The term often translated as Gezerite is GIZRI.
This means those who have been “separated” or “cut off.”
The Geshurites mostly hailed from the Transjordan region, but some of them had moved to the Gaza area.
So what’s going on here is that David probably attacked those Geshurites who had moved to the upper Sinai area, near Shur.
These folks had separated themselves from their main home on the east of the Jordan River and moved closer to Philistine land.
Now David and his men were brutal.
They slaughtered the men and women.
They also looted their belongings and livestock.
Since the Geshurites were allied with the Amalekites, David may have felt his behavior was justified.
Recall, that God commanded Israel to remember what the Amalekites did to them when they came out of Egypt, and that they should wipe out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.
Later on, through Samuel, God instructed Saul to completely destroy the Amalekites and everything that belonged to them – men, women, children, infants, cattle, sheep, cattle, sheep, camels, and donkeys.
This was a command Saul failed to obey resulting in God cutting him off.
So again, David might have thought it was okay to destroy them along with the Amalekites, who were the enemies of God.
But, there’s one wee little problem here.
God didn’t order David to fight a holy war and kill all these people.
At least, such a command isn’t mentioned anywhere.
So I can imagine David was at war with his conscience as he slaughtered thousands of men and women of the Geshurites and the Amalekites.
Some folks from both the Christian and Jewish camps have tried hard to explain David’s behavior here.
Some will argue God wanted him to do what he did, even if it’s not clear why.
I don’t buy that homies.
The narrator of these verses doesn’t make a moral judgment here.
He doesn’t say whether David’s actions were good or bad, just that they happened.
This leads to today’s takeaway.
The very fact that Scripture reports David’s behavior without fear or favor is evidence we can trust the Scripture.
The inclusion of this chapter in the Bible disproves the notion that it was propaganda promoting David over Saul.
And later on, we’ll see the Lord reject David’s request to build the first temple because of all the blood on his hands.
So that’s your lesson for today folks.
You can trust the Bible simply for the fact that even the sins and most heinous behavior of its heroes are reported without any censoring whatsoever.
Whether it is history, theological truth, or your very own soul…
YOU CAN TRUST THE BIBLE!
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“All Scripture is God-breathed and
is useful for teaching, rebuking,
correcting and training in righteousness,
so that the servant of God may be
thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
-2 Timothy 3:16-17
P.S. Do I need to remind you the above NT reference is ONLY referring to the “Old” Testament?
Leave a Reply