Lesson 14: A Time of Kings
Our romp through the Bible and the story of vengeance and war within wouldn’t be complete without a look at King David the man after God’s own heart.
And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king’s son-in-law. Before the time had expired,
David arose and went, along with his men, and killed two hundred of the Philistines. And David brought their foreskins, which were given in full number to the king, that he might become the king’s son-in-law. And Saul gave him his daughter Michal for a wife.
1 Samuel 18:26-27
Not the usual verse one generally reads about the man who would be a direct ancestor to Jesus Christ. How about this one?
Now David and his men went up and made raids against the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites, for these were the inhabitants of the land from of old, as far as Shur, to the land of Egypt.
And David would strike the land and would leave neither man nor woman alive, but would take away the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels, and the garments, and come back to Achish.
When Achish asked, “Where have you made a raid today?” David would say, “Against the Negeb of Judah,” or, “Against the Negeb of the Jerahmeelites,” or, “Against the Negeb of the Kenites.”
And David would leave neither man nor woman alive to bring news to Gath, thinking, “lest they should tell about us and say, ‘So David has done.’” Such was his custom all the while he lived in the country of the Philistines.
1 Samuel 27:8-11
Even if we are looking at the darker side of the greatest King of Israel most would turn to the story of infidelity and murder in the whole Bathsheba incident. The verses we just looked at highlight an angle modern theologians and churchians don’t want to see.
David was never admonished nor punished for slaughtering entire villages unlike his affair and murdering of his subordinate. In fact, it seems God was with him through all these events granting him the ability to succeed even while annihilating entire villages just to make sure no witnesses were left alive to tell the Philistine King whose kingdom he was hiding in. Or killing two hundred men and cutting off the tips of their genitals for a dowry to marry his first wife. Modern standards would take umbrage with these events in David’s life.
The fact remains, David was called a man after God’s own heart and in God’s own words “had spilt much blood.” This isn’t to say the man was perfect. Like most Alphas, women were his weakness, and this would almost destroy his dynasty in its infancy. Though another more looked over incident involved getting too prideful bringing down the Lord’s wrath on all of Israel.
Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel.
So David said to Joab and the commanders of the army, “Go, number Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, and bring me a report, that I may know their number.”
But Joab said, “May the LORD add to his people a hundred times as many as they are! Are they not, my lord the king, all of them my lord’s servants? Why then should my lord require this? Why should it be a cause of guilt for Israel?”
But the king’s word prevailed against Joab. So Joab departed and went throughout all Israel and came back to Jerusalem.
And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to David. In all Israel there were 1,100,000 men who drew the sword, and in Judah 470,000 who drew the sword.
But he did not include Levi and Benjamin in the numbering, for the king’s command was abhorrent to Joab.
But God was displeased with this thing, and he struck Israel.
And David said to God, “I have sinned greatly in that I have done this thing. But now, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.”
And the LORD spoke to Gad, David’s seer, saying,
“Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the LORD, Three things I offer you; choose one of them, that I may do it to you.’”
So Gad came to David and said to him, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Choose what you will:
either three years of famine, or three months of devastation by your foes while the sword of your enemies overtakes you, or else three days of the sword of the LORD, pestilence on the land, with the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.’ Now decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me.”
Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let me fall into the hand of the LORD, for his mercy is very great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”
So the LORD sent a pestilence on Israel, and 70,000 men of Israel fell.
And God sent the angel to Jerusalem to destroy it, but as he was about to destroy it, the LORD saw, and he relented from the calamity. And he said to the angel who was working destruction, “It is enough; now stay your hand.” And the angel of the LORD was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
And David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of the LORD standing between earth and heaven, and in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces.
And David said to God, “Was it not I who gave command to number the people? It is I who have sinned and done great evil. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand, O LORD my God, be against me and against my father’s house. But do not let the plague be on your people.”
1 Chronicles 21:1-17
Notice that David as King meant his sins were reflected on his people, and indeed his people paid the price for his indiscretions. A fact to take to heart as a leader of men, your sins and their consequences will reflect on your people and as followers remember your leaders' sins will affect you as well. Best make sure you deal with all those corrupt judges who keep corrupting our nation if you know what I mean.
Note that when David makes a mistake the text and thus God clearly points out the event and the negative results of that sin. These other actions, the slaughtering of entire villages and such, were not considered a sin by God. A fact that shouldn’t be ignored.
David’s life shows us a unique look at a man who trusts The Almighty so emphatically that he makes Gideon look like a scared insecure rabbit in a snare. Fleece? Signs from Heaven? Psh just tell me go and I’ll go David says, and he did.
When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. But David heard of it and went down to the stronghold.
Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim.
And David inquired of the LORD, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you give them into my hand?” And the LORD said to David, “Go up, for I will certainly give the Philistines into your hand.”
And David came to Baal-perazim, and David defeated them there. And he said, “The LORD has broken through my enemies before me like a breaking flood.” Therefore the name of that place is called Baal-perazim.
And the Philistines left their idols there, and David and his men carried them away.
And the Philistines came up yet again and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim.
And when David inquired of the LORD, he said, “You shall not go up; go around to their rear, and come against them opposite the balsam trees.
And when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then rouse yourself, for then the LORD has gone out before you to strike down the army of the Philistines.”
And David did as the LORD commanded him, and struck down the Philistines from Geba to Gezer.
2 Samuel 5:17-25
His faith, bravery, and obedience are the main attributes we’re told about in Sunday School for why God favored him so much despite his flaws and sins. I would like to add another to his retinue. Something Jesus Christ himself alluded to.
“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.
Mathew 10:16
King David also was a crafty man just as much as a powerful leader and King. As we can see in 1 Samuel 21.
And David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish the king of Gath.
And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances,
‘Saul has struck down his thousands,
and David his ten thousand’?”s
And David took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath.
So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard.
Then Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me?
Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?”
1 Samuel 21:10-15
David knew how to fight his enemy at his own game. Wise as serpents is not a phrase picked lightly by our Savior. We must be as wise as the evil we face, and be ready for his attacks. David acting crazy to avoid being executed by his enemies was thinking like a tricky reptile. David killed everyone in those villages to hide the fact he was raiding the homes of Israel's enemies not Israel itself. He actively lied to his host king Achish. Later David would defeat the very same Philistines in battle over and over again. King David could play the Dragon’s game with God’s protection.
Don’t be thinking you’re clever enough to beat the serpent and his servants on your own, but don’t be a baby surrounded by predators in a candy store. Spiritual war is still war. There are tactics, stratagems, deception, intrigue, and violence, and this is the fight you’ve been born into. Born for.
I used to have a book of martyrs I’d read religiously when I was a teenager. A silly title for a brilliant work listing miracles going from the 2000s all the way back to Stephen the first martyr of Christ himself. Jesus Freaks silly as they come, and yet I recommend every young man look into the stories within. Most were martyrs, but some were missionaries adding strategy to their struggle in nations in open rebellion to the Kingdom of Heaven.
There were the men who walked backwards in the snow laden Siberian mountains to confuse the Soviet border guards as they smuggled bibles into the Soviet Union to keep the word of God alive behind the curtain. Another man in Indonesia took after David himself, and whenever he was accosted on the road by Muslims he would act insane till they let him go.
Other stories come from history such as the battle of Lepanto where the Christian rowers were freed and blessings of God were strived for, but more accurate cannons and technology were implemented as well giving the Christians an edge in the conflict that decided the fate of the Mediterranean sea. A man need not become a martyr unless called, but sometimes God calls us to more than simply facing his enemies as 2 Samuel 5 showed where the Almighty told David to implement a strategy to get behind his enemies.
Young man of God, we are called to give our heart, body, soul, and mind to the Kingdom of Heaven. All of our gifts go to our struggle. Miracles will come, other times force of arms will be blessed, still other times, stratagems, others cloak and dagger tools at play, all must be used because our enemy is merciless. He holds nothing back. No tactic, no act, nothing upsets his sensibilities, and so every form of abomination and trickery will be used against us. So like God the Father himself as we mentioned in early lessons hiding his plans from the enemy and changing strategies on the fly so must we be flexible and adapt to the attack at hand. The coming struggle will be bloody. Harsh, and vicious since the enemy was denied his prize once more and Christdedom, the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, still stands.
God is with us, and if we will not give into the fear none will stand before the Almighty’s wrath through us. So, take your savior’s advice. Don’t be a fool, and beat the serpents at their own games even as like him we flip the tables and burn the game to the ground.
Question 1: Have you ever seen a time in History where you wish the faithful had been more cunning when dealing with the Devil’s children and minions? What about in your own life?
Question 2: Why do you think so much attention is given to David’s discretion with Bathsheba and not his other listed sins and mistakes? Why the concentration on Goliath and not the rest of the King’s exploits?
Question 3: Young men, you are the future leaders and kings of your nations. Knowing that your sins will reflect on your people, what will you do to go above and beyond to curb your sins before they become destructive for all those around you?
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