Day 1181: Of tangled webs - 1 Samuel 21 vs 1 - 7

1-3 Then David came to Nob to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech came to meet David trembling and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?” And David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has charged me with a matter and said to me, ‘Let no one know anything of the matter about which I send you, and with which I have charged you.’ I have made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place. Now then, what do you have at hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever is here.” 4 And the priest answered David, “I have no common bread at hand, but there is holy bread - if the young men have kept themselves from women.”

5-6 And David answered the priest, “Truly women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition. The vessels of the young men are holy even when it is an ordinary journey. How much more today will their vessels be holy?” So the priest gave him the holy bread, for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence, which is removed from before the Lord, to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is taken away.

7 Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord. His name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul's herdsmen. 1 Samuel 21:1-7 English Standard Version

“Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.” Those words from Walter Scott's poem about the disastrous outcome in the life of a man named Lord Marmion could well be applied to David at this point of his life. Fearing Saul, he lied to Ahimelech in order to get food for his flight. The result would be terrible for Ahimelech and his family, especially as the conversation was overheard by a man named Doeg, the chief of Saul's herdsmen.

We gather that David wasn't totally alone in his flight, for he speaks of some young men who were with him. Jesus confirmed this when He answered the Pharisees who’d accused His disciples of breaking the Sabbath Day law by plucking ears of corn as they walked through the fields. That incident is recorded in Matthew, Mark and Luke. In Mark's account we read that Jesus answered them, saying: “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him. How he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” (Mark 2:25-26)

Jesus' mention of Abiathar (Ahimelech's grown up son) may've been a copyist's error. But the GotQuestions website says that it's possible both men took part in high priestly duties. We see something similar when Eli's sons seemed to share the duties of the priest. Abiathar would become more closely associated with David than Ahimelech, and he was the long-time high priest during David’s reign. But what do you think Jesus' words showed about God's law?

While the Pharisees accused the disciples of breaking God's law of the Sabbath - though they were only 'man-made' traditions added to the Law - David actually did break God's law in Leviticus 24:9 which said the “bread shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place, since it is for him a most holy portion out of the Lord's food offerings.” This explains Ahimelech's concern about the purity of the young men.

But it leads us to realize that there's more to keeping God's law than mere outward observance. In Matthew 12:1-7 Jesus said to the Pharisees that “something greater than the temple had come, and if they knew the meaning of the words 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice', they would not have condemned the guiltless, for the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” This doesn't excuse David's sin. Subsequent events would show the 'tangled web' David wove that day. But it does show that Hosea was correct when he said of God: “I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6:6)

May God enable us to follow Him truthfully at all times, and keep us from harsh and hasty judgments of fellow believers.