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Day 115: King Saul is Spared
Chapter 24: David Spares Saul's Life
1 Samuel 24:1-8 ~ David encounters Saul in a Cave and spares his Life
David and his men are hiding in the limestone caves near En-Gedi, an important oasis with fresh water and hot springs on the west shore of the Dead Sea about eighteen miles southeast of Hebron. The place name means "spring of the young goat." The site was part of the allotment given to the tribe of Judah (Josh 15:62). Notice that David is limiting his territory to the tribal lands of Judah, his own tribe.
Saul has received word that David is hiding near En-Gedi and has brought three thousand soldiers with him to capture David and his men. While David and some of his men are resting in the back of the cave, Saul enters the cave alone. The euphemism "to cover his feet" means "to relieve oneself from the call of nature."
Question: What did David's men suggest?
Answer: They tell David that divine providence has delivered his enemy and he should kill Saul.
This is a test. God has given David the opportunity to kill his enemy and assume kingship of Israel on his own terms.
Question: Does David pass the test? What does David do and why does he feel remorse afterward?
Answer: David passes the test:
- He does not kill Saul but he does cut a piece of cloth from Saul's cloak.
- Afterward he is remorseful because he has shown disrespect to God's anointed who is Israel's king to whom David owes his loyalty.
- He will not let his men harm Saul.
Saul may be David's enemy, but he is still God's anointed and the rightful king of Israel. David is not willing to usurp God's divine plan. If he becomes king, it will be according to God's timing not his.
1 Samuel 24:9-16 ~ David's Speech to Saul
David attempts to convince Saul that he is not his enemy by providing evidence that he could have killed him and addressing him by the affectionate term "father." Then David quotes a proverb to make the point that those who speak against him are wicked and all his actions have been righteous: Wickedness comes out of wicked people... David is probably quoting or paraphrasing some ancient Semitic proverb. It is similar to Proverbs 11:5 ...the wicked fall by their own wickedness.
Question: When David speaks of Saul being on the trail of a dead dog or a flea to whom or what is he referring?
Answer: He is using self-abasement to refer to himself. Saul has far greater matters to direct his attention than to David who is unimportant and means him no harm and there is nothing Saul can gain by all his searching and contriving for this "flea."
David knows he cannot receive justice from Saul, the earthly judge and king, and therefore he appeals to Yahweh the divine King to judge and vindicate him by delivering him from Saul.
1 Samuel 24:17-23 ~ Saul's response to David
David's speech moves Saul emotionally and he remembers the affection he once had for David. Notice that for the first time since 16:19 that Saul uses David's name instead of calling him "son of Jesse."
Saul acknowledges that David will one day be king of Israel and then he asks David to swear an oath that cannot possibly be of any benefit to David. He asks David not to prevent his heirs from inheriting his throne.
Question: Why does David bind himself to an oath that can put him farther away from kingship over Israel?
Answer: David has already decided that the throne is not his to take but for God and the people to give.
Proving to Saul that he spared his life and David's sworn oath not to prevent Saul's sons from ascending the throne or to kill them results in Saul giving up the campaign to capture David. Saul returns to Gibeah while David and his men remain in the stronghold near En-Gedi. David knows that despite Saul's withdrawal that he cannot return to Bethlehem. After all, Saul has gone back on his sworn oath not to harm David in the past (19:6).
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A Daily Defense
Day 115 Where and WHen Jesus Appeared to the Disciples
CHALLENGE: “The Resurrection accounts are contradictory. Luke indicates that Jesus appeared to the disciples in Jerusalem on the same day, but Matthew and Mark indicate he appeared later in Galilee.”
DEFENSE: This is not a contradiction. Jesus appeared in both places. Paul indicates that Jesus made multiple post-Resurrection appearances (1 Cor. 15:5–8).
In Acts, Luke indicates he appeared repeatedly over a period of forty days (Acts 1:3). Consequently, the evangelists needed to make choices about what appearances to include in their Gospels. Luke chose appearances Jesus made the same day in the Jerusalem vicinity (Luke 24:13–44), while Matthew chose one in Galilee (Matt. 28:16–20).
Mark also indicates Jesus appeared in Galilee (Mark 14:28, 16:7), but his original ending (which may be paralleled in Matthew) has apparently been lost. There is no contradiction. During his ministry, Jesus visited both Galilee and the Jerusalem area, and he did the same after the Resurrection. John thus records appearances in both places (John 20:19–29, 21:1–23).
After visiting Galilee, the disciples were back in the Jerusalem area before the Ascension (Luke 24:50–53, Acts 1:9–12), when Jesus again appeared there.
The Gospels thus indicate (1) shortly after the Resurrection, Jesus appeared to the disciples, who were still in Jerusalem, (2) he later appeared to them in Galilee, and (3) toward the end of the forty days he appeared to them again in the Jerusalem vicinity.
He told them to remain in the city until the descent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, when they began their major evangelistic work (Luke 24:49, Acts 1:4, 2:1–47). This is why Luke focuses on the appearances in and around Jerusalem. He is planning to chronicle, in Acts, how the Christian faith began spreading in stages, “in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
Pulling the literary focus away from Jerusalem to Galilee would distract from the events he will chronicle, since the apostles made Jerusalem their home base for many years and it became the epicenter of Christian evangelization (Acts 1–12).
Matthew and Mark, not planning on writing sequels to their Gospels, focused on an appearance in Galilee, bringing closure on a literary level by taking us back to where Jesus’ ministry began. John, supplementing the synoptic Gospels, records additional appearances in both places.
Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist
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