Love Israel

Guest (Male): Shalom and welcome to V'ahavta Yisrael, a Hebrew phrase which means "You shall love Israel." We hope you'll stay with us for the next 30 minutes as our teacher, Dr. Baruch, shares his expository teaching from the Bible. Dr. Baruch is the senior lecturer at the Zera Avraham Institute based in Israel. Although all courses are taught in Hebrew at the institute, Dr. Baruch is pleased to share this weekly address in English. To find out more about our work in Israel, please visit us on the web at loveisrael.org. That's one word, loveisrael.org. Now, here's Baruch with today's lesson.

Dr. Baruch Korman: David is indeed a man of God. David is going to demonstrate humility, and he is going to do something that shows that he is not an enemy of King Saul, but rather a servant. With that said, take out your Bible and look with me to 1 Samuel chapter 27. David is going to do something that is quite remarkable because he is going to go to the enemy. In other words, the greatest enemy that the children of Israel had during this time of Israel's history were the Philistines. David is going to go there and dwell among them, but we're going to learn a very important truth.

David is not going to fight with the Philistines, but he is going to claim to be fighting against the children of Israel. Because David is a man of honor, we're going to see that the King of Gath, by the name of Achish, is going to believe him even though David was not speaking truth. Now, we need to understand something. We've discussed this before. We are always called to be truthful people, but there are times when we do not speak the truth if doing so would endanger other individuals. For example, if there's a police informant and they are asked, "Are you working for the police?" obviously that person is going to say no because if he said yes, it could bring about his own death and perhaps the death of others who brought him into the criminal organization.

We need to be wise. We don't want to speak in such a way that our truth is going to bring about a disastrous outcome, meaning others are going to be put to death because of what we have said. We'll see this taught to us from the scripture in a most clear manner in a moment. Look with me to 1 Samuel chapter 27, beginning with verse 1 where it says: "And David said to his heart..." That is a Hebrew idiom that lets us know that David is thinking because, as the Bible says, as a man thinketh with his heart. When David spoke to his heart, he was in the decision-making process.

He says, "Now I will come" and if you do a good study of this word, many times it will say "to my destruction" or "to perish," but it's really the simple word for "end." David understands something. If he doesn't make the right decision, he is going to come to his end. He says, "One day," meaning on a certain day, "into the hand of Saul." He recognizes that even though he has been blessed and the providence of God has preserved him and has delivered him from the hand of his enemy, he realized one day he may not be so fortunate. Therefore he says, "There is nothing for me good"—some Bibles will say "nothing for me better"—"than I should utterly flee to the land of the Philistines."

Imagine that. David is a child of Israel. He has been anointed the King of Israel and he is going to utterly flee to the land of the Philistines. The reason for that is that Saul will become overwhelmed or dejected from seeking David any longer in any of the borders of Israel. David will escape from his hand. David's doing that in order to preserve life. Move on to verse 2. "And David got up and he passed over him and 600 men which were with him." You'll remember that in the previous chapter, we see that David took 400 men and he left 200 with the supplies.

When we look at it, it speaks about that same number of 600 men that were with him to Achish, the son of Maoch, the King of Gath. David has a plan. He is going to leave the land of Israel and he is going to dwell in the land of the Philistines in a town called Gath. Verse 3: "And David dwelt with Achish in Gath, he and his men." It says, "every man and his household, David and his two wives." His wives' names were Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail, the wife of Nabal. Some will interpret and they will say the "widow" of Nabal, as he is dead, but it's simply eshet Nabal, which means the wife of Nabal, and she is from Carmel.

In verse 4: "And it was told to Saul that David had fled to Gath" and because of that, he did not continue any more to seek him. David's plan is working very well. We find that Saul is no longer pursuing David. Saul did not like the Philistines and he didn't want to give them a reason to make war with the children of Israel. David is there and therefore Saul stopped pursuing after him. Verse 5: "And David said to Achish, if please I have found favor in your eyes, let them give to me a place in one of the cities of the field," meaning in the country, "and I will dwell there. Why should your servant dwell in one of the royal cities with you?"

In verse 6: "And it was given to him by Achish on that day Ziklag, therefore Ziklag was to the kings of Judah even unto this day." It was David's statement that brought this land that belonged to the Philistines, this place called Ziklag, under the administration of the kings of Judah. This is a confirmation that what David is doing, God is blessing and agreeing with. There is a good outcome from what David is doing. In verse 7: "And it came about the number of days," and that's literally what it says, the number of days "which David dwelt in the country of the Philistines." Notice it says yamim. Yamim means days.

Many people will say that when that term appears by itself, it's referring to a year. You can investigate whether that is true. Then we have "and four months." David was there for one year and four months. We know that a year is 12 months and therefore we're talking about 16 months. Let's learn a little bit about the truth concerning Hebrew numerology. The number 10 speaks of that which is in its entirety or wholeness. We know that the number 6 speaks about grace and therefore God's grace was utterly or entirely upon this situation. Let's press on to verse 8 where it says: "And David went up and his men," and what would they do? They would raid.

They raided different groups of people: the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. Dwellers of the land from a long time ago would come to Shur and unto the land of Egypt. We're talking about something that was going to occur for a long period of time. These individuals were in the land—now this was the Promised Land—but they were dwelling in there all the way to Egypt as we see at the end of verse 8. Verse 9: "And David would strike the land and would not live a man or a woman and he would take the sheep," literally it's the term tsone for flock, "and the cattle, and the donkeys, and the camels, and the garments, and he would dwell and come to Achish," or he would return and come to Achish.

He was going out raiding these places. We're going to come to a very interesting truth. Notice what it says, that he would go and raid these places and he would not let any of the inhabitants live. There's a reason for that. He would also take the sheep, the cattle, the donkey, the camels, and the clothes. Verse 10: "And Achish said, Do not raid today." Or where have you raided today? David would say, "concerning the south of Judah" or "concerning the south of Jerahmeel" or "the south of the Kenites." He would say this, but it was not true. He was going to these places that belong to the Philistines.

Notice what it says in verse 11: "A man and a woman he did not allow to live." David did not allow it to bring word to Gath saying, "lest they would say concerning us speaking thus David did and thus was his judgment all the days which he dwelt in the countryside of the Philistines." We see here, David is not being truthful. If David said to Achish, the King of Gath, what he was doing, what do you think that Achish would do to him? It's obvious. He would want to put David to death, and not just David but these 600 men who were with him. Remember also each one of these men had a household, had a family. We see very clearly in this passage why David said what he did.

Generally being truthful is the right thing to do, but if our truthfulness puts others at a risk, then we would not want to tell the truth. This is a unique situation. I would go so far to say it's a very rare situation, but let me give you some examples of this that may be very relevant in the future. For example, you may be asked, perhaps if you are alive in the end times: "Tell me, where are other believers? Who are other believers?" I would simply say, "I don't know of any." Obviously I would, but I would not want to divulge that information because doing so would put others at risk. This is not something which is proper for us to do.

We don't want to see a life lost, but rather we want to be individuals that are a blessing to others, that we're willing to lay down our life for others. If it meant losing my life not to divulge who are other believers, I would want to die rather than to share something that would cause some other believer to be arrested, mistreated, tortured, or put to death. This is the principle we're learning from David. Sometimes giving out information is not the best course of action. When you do, you are putting other people at risk. You are providing information whereby the enemy can use it to exploit and to punish and perhaps even to kill other brothers and sisters in the Lord.

Well, look now to verse 12 where it says: "Achish believed in David saying..." Notice his assumption. Because David had said this, that he was going to the south of Judah or the south of other places in the land of Israel, what did Achish assume and believe? He assumed that David has made himself abhorrent among his people in Israel. You should never assume. You should verify and you should check on it, but Achish didn't. He knew what type of person David was, that David was a truthful man and that what David said you could rely upon. In this unique situation, David did not want to say, "Well, I'm going into the land of the Philistines and I'm going from one city to another location."

He didn't want to say he was putting to death every Philistine man, woman, and animal and taking the garments. What is he doing with those garments? He's given them to fellow Israelites. David wanted to be a blessing. We see sometimes honesty is the best policy. We should speak truth, but there are times when our truthfulness is going to put another at great risk, cause them to suffer, cause them to be arrested, or cause them perhaps to be put to death. In those times, we should not divulge information. Let them get it another way, but not from you. This is why David would go out into other places.

He would go to the south of Judah or the south of the places of the Jerahmeelites or the south of Kenites. He would go to all of these places and he would put the enemy to death. That's what a man of God is called to do, to destroy the enemy. The Philistines were constantly plaguing the children of Israel. Therefore it was righteous for David to go to war against them. David is under no obligation to reveal this. Who should have checked out and verified instead of just believing? Achish, the King of Gath. But he didn't. David fooled him. The fact that David did this and God blessed David and used this for the benefit of the people of God shows us something very important.

God was placing His stamp of approval on this. David never got found out and David never had anyone share anything different with the King of Gath. All of that is to show us that God was in it. God does not want you to be a person that causes others to suffer. We're called to do the right thing. The vast majority of the time, the right thing is to speak truth. But there are some unique circumstances where if speaking the truth is going to put another at great risk, at harm's way, we don't want to participate in that. We want to be people that defend others, that are a blessing to others, and that we're willing to lay down our life in order that another person would not suffer.

This is what a true believer is called to do. When we look at a situation, what should we do? I'm sure that David prayed diligently for guidance. David was on the run. He was presenting himself before the enemy. They would have loved to kill David. David was this great warrior. David had defeated the leader of the army of the Philistines, Goliath. Realize they would have loved to have done so. In putting himself in this vulnerable position, I'm sure that he prayed diligently. I'm sure that some of the Psalms that he wrote had to do with what he was going through and feeling at this time. But David did something and this is a wonderful example for us.

David trusted in the Lord. David took all of his concerns, all of his worries, all of his fears, and he brought them before God, the wise thing to do. David never spoke or provided any information that put others at risk. Rather David and his men went forth and always had something to do: to wage war against the enemies. That's what a child of God does. That's what a follower of Messiah does. We take up our cross, we follow Him, and we are willing to wage spiritual war with the enemy. David did that in a very literal way and we should learn from his example.

In the scripture, we see that David humbled himself. He knew that the leader of Israel, Saul the King, wanted him put to death. David humbled himself. He went to the enemy and he found grace in that enemy's sight. Therefore we see how over and over God preserved David, that God was a defender of David, that He was David's defense. This is not unique. When we are committed to the purposes of God, when we are individuals that place God's priorities above ours, God's will before what we desire, and when we are committed to those things, be assured. God is not going to leave us nor forsake us.

God is going to move in our circumstances. He is going to bless you, and He will give you insight in order that you speak the things that you should speak and not speak the things you ought not. Our God is a blessed God that moves in the lives of His people. Until next week, Shalom.

Guest (Male): Well, we hope you will benefit from today's message and share it with others. Please plan to join us each week at this time and on this channel for our broadcast of loveisrael.org. Again to find out more about us, please visit our website loveisrael.org. There you will find articles and numerous other lectures by Baruch. These teachings are in video form. You may download them or watch them in streaming video. Until next week, may the Lord bless you in our Messiah Yeshua, that is Jesus, as you walk with Him. Shalom from Israel.