1 Samuel 22:6-23

⁶ When Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men that were with him, (now Saul abode in Gibeah under a tree in Ramah, having his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him;) ⁷ Then Saul said unto his servants that stood about him, Hear now, ye Benjamites; will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, and make you all captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds; ⁸ That all of you have conspired against me, and there is none that sheweth me that my son hath made a league with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you that is sorry for me, or sheweth unto me that my son hath stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day? ⁹ Then answered Doeg the Edomite, which was set over the servants of Saul, and said, I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub. ¹⁰ And he enquired of the Lord for him, and gave him victuals, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine. ¹¹ Then the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father’s house, the priests that were in Nob: and they came all of them to the king. ¹² And Saul said, Hear now, thou son of Ahitub. And he answered, Here I am, my lord. ¹³ And Saul said unto him, Why have ye conspired against me, thou and the son of Jesse, in that thou hast given him bread, and a sword, and hast enquired of God for him, that he should rise against me, to lie in wait, as at this day? ¹⁴ Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said, And who is so faithful among all thy servants as David, which is the king’s son in law, and goeth at thy bidding, and is honourable in thine house? ¹⁵ Did I then begin to enquire of God for him? be it far from me: let not the king impute any thing unto his servant, nor to all the house of my father: for thy servant knew nothing of all this, less or more. ¹⁶ And the king said, Thou shalt surely die, Ahimelech, thou, and all thy father’s house. ¹⁷ And the king said unto the footmen that stood about him, Turn, and slay the priests of the Lord: because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled, and did not shew it to me. But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the priests of the Lord. ¹⁸ And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou, and fall upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell upon the priests, and slew on that day fourscore and five persons that did wear a linen ephod. ¹⁹ And Nob, the city of the priests, smote he with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and sucklings, and oxen, and asses, and sheep, with the edge of the sword. ²⁰ And one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped, and fled after David. ²¹ And Abiathar shewed David that Saul had slain the Lord’s priests. ²² And David said unto Abiathar, I knew it that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul: I have occasioned the death of all the persons of thy father’s house. ²³ Abide thou with me, fear not: for he that seeketh my life seeketh thy life: but with me thou shalt be in safeguard.

A pervasive theme of Scripture that we find introduced to us all the way back in the Garden of Eden is the theme of the enmity between the seed of the serpent (Satan) and the seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15). God promised that through the seed of the woman He would provide a Deliverer who would one day crush the head of the serpent. Throughout the Old Testament, we find that Satan continually persecuted and tried to corrupt the seed of the woman. In the storyline of the Bible, we find that along the journey of God fulfilling His promise of giving a Messiah (anointed One), that Satan persecutes and opposes God’s people. This theme is taken up very clearly in the life of David. David was God’s anointed king and one of the great types, or pictures, of God’s great anointed One who would eventually come to save and rule the people of God. As with all of God’s people, David was met with animosity and hostility from those who marked themselves out through the intents and actions as the seed of the serpent. Then and today, the descendants of the serpent are not physical descendants, but those who spiritually follow and serve his purposes in the world. In this world everyone is in one of two camps, in one of two spiritual families, and serving one of two kingdoms. There is the kingdom of God and there is the kingdom of Satan. All people at one time are in the kingdom of Satan, but those who are saved and come to trust in the Lord are brought into God’s kingdom (Colossians 1:13). In 1 Samuel 21, we were introduced to an Edomite named Doeg that worked for King Saul who was present when David deceived Ahimelech and received help from him. In 1 Samuel 22, we find out why Doeg was introduced there. Doeg would report to Saul about Ahimelech’s help and serve the purpose of helping his master hunt down one that he considered a threat to his rule. Doeg and Saul stand in a long line of antichrists who oppose the purposes and people of God in this world and live their lives according to worldly selfish ambition. In this account of Doeg and Saul’s persecution of the priests of Nob, we learn three guiding principles that we must understand as we seek to serve God’s true anointed One, the Lord Jesus Christ, in this world.

First, we learn that Satan accuses God’s people. This concept is found all through Scripture. Satan originally lied to Eve by accusing God of withholding good from her and Adam. Consequently, he has been a liar and false accuser of the people of God ever since. As a liar and “murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44), Satan stands as the father of all of those who ever stand to oppose God’s people. After God brought David to the cave Adullam, humbled him, and instructed him through Gad the Seer, the story turns back to Saul sitting angrily under the tree. Since throwing his spear at Jonathan in 1 Samuel 20, we don’t read about any more of Saul’s actions until we get to 1 Samuel 22:6, where he is sitting under “a tree in Ramah, having his spear in his hand.” Saul’s spear is repeatedly mentioned and serves as a symbol to his power and authority as king, a power and authority that was truly no longer his but that he selfishly and defiantly held onto as he hunted down the true anointed king of God’s people, David. As Saul angrily berated his trusted advisors, friends, and servants, playing the role of a conspired against victim, up came Doeg the Edomite with news. Doeg informed Saul that Ahimelech the priest had helped David and this led to Saul bringing Ahimelech to him for questioning. Blinded by his hatred for David in his rebellion against God’s will, Saul jumped into false accusations against Ahimelech. Notice that he asked, “Why have ye conspired against me…?” While Ahimelech did help David, Ahimelech certainly did not do so with the intention of conspiring against Saul. We know from 1 Samuel 21 that Ahimelech thought that David had been sent on a special mission for Saul. And so, we find the pattern of those who align with God’s anointed, the Lord Jesus, in this world. We stand in the crosshairs of the enemy. We see Satan taking this role of “the accuser of” the “brethren” (Revelation 12:10) in Zechariah 3:1-6, where he stood before the Lord accusing Joshua the high priest of Israel. The word “accuser” means “slanderer” and it is synonymous with Satan’s other title, the devil. This is what God’s people can expect is opposition and persecution from Satan and those who are in his kingdom in this world. Persecution may come in the form of overt physical and verbal assault, but it may also come in much more subtle forms. Like Doeg, who was simply present and looking for ways to work for his master, Saul, against God’s anointed, some persecution comes in the subtler forms of distraction, disruption, or manipulation.

Next, we see the principle lived out that the world hates God’s people. The world refers to the world system and those who are a part of it. John the Apostle tells us in the New Testament, “And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness” (1 John 5:19). That phrase “lieth in wickedness” would literally be understood as “lieth in the wicked one’s lap.” That means that Satan leads and directs the world system and those that are a part of it into hostility against God’s people. After Ahimelech responded to Saul by reminding him of David’s faithfulness to serve Saul, Saul pronounced the death sentence against Ahimelech. Some people just can’t be reasoned with. Some people simply don’t want the truth; they only want their selfish agenda accomplished. Driven by Satan’s hatred and ambition that marks the world system today, Saul didn’t care about the facts of the case. He simply wanted Ahimelech dead for helping David. As a result of this, Saul and Doeg led a campaign that ended in the destruction of the entire city of Nob. All of the priests of Nob, all of their families, and all of their livestock were killed. It is amazing that Saul is willing to do the town of Nob what he wasn’t willing to do in 1 Samuel 15 to the Amalekites at God’s command. He was unwilling to obey the Lord because of selfish desires, but he was willing to carry out to the maximum extent his own selfish desires against God’s priests. In so doing, Saul eliminated a large number of priests from Israel. The priests of Nob stand in a long line of God’s people who have been murdered and persecuted. Jesus promised His disciples “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated Me before it hated you” (John 15:18). The Apostle Paul promised that “all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12). In this world, you and I face a real enemy and this world will largely oppose us as we seek to serve Christ. That opposition will come in the form of persecution and lying deception. We are to be faithful to Him as we face that opposition knowing that He has already overcome for us and will never leave us (John 16:33; Hebrews 13:5).

Lastly, we learn from this story that God’s Son delivers God’s people. There is someone we can go to in this hostile world. The One for whom we are persecuted promises us His presence and help as we face the hostility of this fallen world. Jesus has opened the throne room of heaven up for us to approach at any time to find the mercy and grace we need for help as our great High Priest (Hebrews 4:14-16). One of Ahimelech’s sons, Abiathar, was able to escape the assault on Nob and he found David. After informing David of what had transpired, David took a moment to reflect upon his earlier actions of deceiving Ahimelech. He remembered that Doeg was present and that this endangered him and the others. David told Abiathar to remain with him and that he would provide him protection. Here we find a picture of what Christ does. Just as the discontented and rejected of Saul’s kingdom came to David in the cave, so then God’s persecuted priest found protection with David. You and I come to Christ for salvation and deliverance from this world of sin. We find salvation from sin only in Him. From this episode with Doeg, we get Psalm 52 from David, where he reflected on God’s deliverance and mercy. It is amazing that God used the wickedness of Saul and Doeg to provide David a priest who had the ephod and could inquire of the Lord for him. By persecuting the priests, Saul had removed those that would inquire of the Lord for him and unwittingly provided one to David via Abiathar. Just as Saul had lost God’s prophet for his disobedience before when Samuel left him to go to Ramah, now David had added to his ranks Abiathar the priest. As both Gad and Abiathar found refuge with David, you and I must find refuge in Christ. We cannot trust in ourselves nor survive in our own strength, but in Christ we have all that we need.

Perhaps the most important question we must consider in light of this passage is which kingdom and purpose we truly identify with. If we really examine our lives, are we working for or against God’s kingdom and His people? Do our actions, lifestyle, commitment, and motives show that we truly are in and serve the kingdom of God’s Son (Colossians 1:13)? Or, do they show that we are serving the wrong kingdom?  Jesus rightly assessed the religious leaders of His day, who were driven by the same selfish ambition as Saul, of being of their father, the devil (John 8:44). The same lying and murderous hatred that marks Satan, marks all of his followers. The way that we know that we are serving Satan’s kingdom is if our lives (no matter how outwardly righteous) are marked by that same selfish (worldly) ambition (James 3:14-16). We may not physically persecute or overtly oppose God’s people, but if our lives are marked by lying, selfishness, murmuring, stubbornness, rebellion, etc., it is quite likely we are serving the wrong kingdom even though we may be attending church. The only answer for us is to find salvation from our sin and our sinful hearts in God’s anointed.