Tag: death

War Crime

“Why did you give him food and a sword? Why have you consulted God for him?

Why have you encouraged him to kill me, as he is trying to do this very day?” 

14 “But sir,” Ahimelech replied, “is anyone among all your servants as faithful as David, your son-in-law? Why he is the captain of your bodyguard and a highly honored member of your household! 15 This was certainly not the first time I had consulted God for him! May the king not accuse me and my family in this matter, for I knew nothing at all of any plot against you.” 

16 “You will surely die, Ahimelech, along with your entire family!” the king shouted. 17 And he ordered his bodyguards, “Kill these priests of the Lord, for they are allies and conspirators with David! They knew he was running away from me, but they didn’t tell me!” But Saul’s men refused to kill the Lord’s priests. 

18 Then the king said to Doeg, “You do it.” So, Doeg the Edomite turned on them and killed them that day, eighty-five priests in all, still wearing their priestly garments. 19 Then he went to Nob, the town of the priests, and killed the priests’ families—men and women, children and babies—and all the cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats. 

20 Only Abiathar, one of the sons of Ahimelech, escaped and fled to David. 21 When he told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord, 22 David exclaimed, “I knew it! When I saw Doeg the Edomite there that day, I knew he was sure to tell Saul. Now I have caused the death of all your father’s family. 23 Stay here with me, and don’t be afraid. I will protect you with my own life, for the same person wants to kill us both.” 

1 Samuel 22:12-23, NLT 

The deeply paranoid king is desperate; he must capture David. Saul needs information and intelligence; at times like this he must rely on his network of spies. Most leaders depend on that. Especially bad ones. 

King Saul is trying hard to find David.

Saul’s consumed. He’s insane. When at last he gets a lead, he takes his army to the priestly city of Nob. Doeg the Edomite gives Saul the tip, he had seen David there, consulting with the Lord, and taking bread and a sword from Abimelech, the high priest. 

Simply based on Doeg’s singular witness, Saul will order the deaths of 85 priests and the entire town of Nob, a city populated with the Levitical priesthood and their families. When Saul orders the murder, his own men refused to carry it out. They simply refused, and so he must rely on the Edomite, Doeg. 

This passage is terrible and reveals all of Saul’s depraved brutality. 

One by one, systematically Doeg murders each priest. The bodies keep stacking up. It’s a massacre. Doeg now begins to slaughter their families. And then to all the livestock, until the entire town is one bloody graveyard. 

I admit I don’t understand exactly why? 

But there is one priest who escapes. Just one man and he flees to David and carries the horrific news of the wholesale slaughter of Nob. Saul and Doeg have completely decimated the city to punish them for aiding David. 

And David remembers seeing Doeg there. He also has a moment of truth as he understands his own guilt in this massacre. I suspect he now understands Saul’s cruelty, and David learns a lesson he will never ever forget. 

“This is one of the worst acts in the life of Saul; his malice was implacable, and his wrath was cruel, and there is no motive of justice or policy by which such a barbarous act can be justified.”  

EnduringWord.com

Climbing Out the Window

Engraving by Gustave Doré (1886)

11 Then Saul sent troops to watch David’s house. They were told to kill David when he came out the next morning. But Michal, David’s wife, warned him, “If you don’t escape tonight, you will be dead by morning.” 12 So she helped him climb out through a window, and he fled and escaped. 13 Then she took an idol[b] and put it in his bed, covered it with blankets, and put a cushion of goat’s hair at its head. 

14 When the troops came to arrest David, she told them he was sick and couldn’t get out of bed. 

15 But Saul sent the troops back to get David. He ordered, “Bring him to me in his bed so I can kill him!” 16 But when they came to carry David out, they discovered that it was only an idol in the bed with a cushion of goat’s hair at its head. 

17 “Why have you betrayed me like this and let my enemy escape?” Saul demanded of Michal. 

“I had to,” Michal replied. “He threatened to kill me if I didn’t help him.” 

1 Samuel 19:11-17 

Let’s consider the resourcefulness of Michal: 

Much of this passage deals with Michel, David’s first wife. She is clever, showing ingenuity in helping David escape. An explanation– When Saul realized that the Lord was with David and how much his daughter Michal loved him, 29 Saul became even more afraid of him, and he remained David’s enemy for the rest of his life. (18:28-29.) 

Her actions enabled David to escape. First, she warned him. Second, she gave him directions to leave their bed chamber. Third, put a facsimile of David in their bed to buy him more time to escape. They both knew that Saul’s troops were coming. 

Notice Saul’s distorted thinking; he considered her actions as a “betrayal.” He knew that David escaped due to her actions to gain David some time, 

Saul interrogated her himself; he strongly asserted that she helped David escape. She lied to protect herself–” “He threatened to kill me if I didn’t help him.” (v. 17.) Now this wasn’t true, but her own life was at stake. Whether or not the lie was necessary, it created enough latitude for her to escape any punishment. 

Her crafty wisdom would give David a chance to escape. 

One thing struck me reading the text. These troops were most likely man who had served under the direction of David against the Philistines. There is something false about them, a betrayal of what they knew as false orders to apprehend and to kill David. 

David would face these men again. Saul’s hatred and his attempted murder of David had just begun.