SERIES J --- THE WARRIOR KING --- LESSON 01

DAVID FLEES

A TASTE OF HOLY BREAD FROM

1 Samuel 20:30-21:15

Saul was violently angry when Jonathan told him that David had left for Bethlehem. ‘You stubborn, rebellious brat!’ Saul roared. ‘Don’t you realize that I know you want that son of a nobody to be king instead of you? Don’t you know that you’re dishonouring yourself and your mother? You’ll never be king as long as Jesse’s son is alive. Now bring him here so we can kill him.’ ‘Why?’ Jonathan asked. ‘What has he done? Why do you want to kill him?’ Saul exploded with anger and threw his spear at Jonathan, intending to pin him to the wall. There was no doubt left in Jonathan’s mind now; he knew for certain that Saul wanted to kill David. Jonathan got up from the table with a burning anger and refused to eat food that day, grieved because of Saul’s disgraceful conduct toward David. When morning came, Jonathan went to the field where David was hiding. He took a little boy with him to chase his arrows. ‘Go find these arrows when I shoot them,’ Jonathan ordered. The boy started running and Jonathan shot an arrow over his head. ‘Hurry! Run!’ Jonathan shouted when the boy was almost to the arrow. ‘It’s just beyond you.’ The boy quickly gathered Jonathan’s arrows and ran back with them. He didn’t understand that this was a signal to David. ‘Now take these back to the city for me,’ Jonathan ordered, giving his bow and arrows to the boy. As soon as the boy was gone, David came from behind the pile of stones and fell on the ground before Jonathan, bowing three times. Then Jonathan and David kissed each other and wept together until David had control of himself. ‘Go in peace,’ Jonathan said. ‘Adonai will be with us and our children forever.’ David escaped in peace while Jonathan returned to the city. David’s first stop was the city of Nob, where he went to see the priest Ahimelech. But when Ahimelech came out to meet David, the priest began to tremble. ‘Why are you alone?’ Ahimelech asked. ‘Why isn’t someone with you?’ ‘The king has sent me on a secret mission,’ said David. ‘He has warned me not to tell anyone why I have come and my young men know only that they are to meet me at a certain place later. Now, do you have something to eat? If you have five loaves of bread, let me have them or anything else you may have.’ ‘The only bread I have is the holy bread, but it is consecrated to Adonai,’ said Ahimelech. ‘You may have it if your young men have kept away from women.’ ‘Don’t worry about that,’ David assured Ahimelech. ‘We never get involved with women on an expedition, especially one such as this. And the mess kits have been consecrated to Adonai; they will be even more so today.’ With no other food to give, Ahimelech let David take the holy bread which had been given to Adonai in the tabernacle. As usual, it had been placed fresh that day. Now it happened that Saul’s chief herdsman was there, an Edomite named Doeg, lingering for ceremonial purification. David also asked Ahimelech for a spear or sword. ‘I had to leave in such a hurry that I couldn’t even get my sword,’ said David. ‘Goliath’s sword is still wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod,’ said Ahimelech. ‘Since you’re the one who killed the Philistine in the valley of Elah, you should take it.’ ‘Good, I’ll take it with me,’ said David. ‘There isn’t another sword like it.’ David hurried from Nob and made his way to Gath, where King Achish of the Philistines ruled. But the king’s attendants were nervous about this. ‘Isn’t he the king of Israel?’ they asked. ‘Isn’t he the one for whom people dance and sing and say ‘Saul has killed his thousands, but David his ten thousands’? When David heard what these men said, he was afraid of King Achish. To make himself look harmless, David pretended that he was insane, making marks on the gate and letting spit run down his beard. ‘Why have you brought this insane man here?’ King Achish complained to his men. ‘We have enough madmen here already without inviting others to my house.’

COMMENTARY

SHOWBREAD

Without weapons or food, David was forced to flee from King Saul. In his discouragement, David slipped over the border into Philistine territory. When he was recognized, David pretended to be insane. The recipe for showbread was a carefully guarded secret passed from one generation to the next. Only the Garmu family of the Levite tribe knew the exact ingredients that went into the twelve loaves. The bread was baked each Friday afternoon before sundown and the beginning of the Shabbat. Only the best ingredients were used: the finest quality oil was mixed with carefully sifted flour. The dough was shaped into twelve round loaves, pierced with a fork and then baked. The freshly baked showbread was carried into the tabernacle at the beginning of the Shabbat. A special ritual accompanied the weekly substitution of the fresh loaves for the old. The Law even set down exactly how they should be arranged on the table; two stacks of six loaves, each topped with a golden bowl of frankincense. Eight priests took part in the Shabbat ceremony. The first two removed the incense bowls and the second pair removed the bread. Two more priests arranged the fresh loaves and the final pair replaced the frankincense. In order to fulfil the commandment of -- Exodus 25:30: [And you shall set the bread on the table before Me at all times]; their actions were performed in an unbroken continuous movement so that the table would not be bare even for a moment. Because the bread and incense were holy, they could not be thrown away. The old frankincense was burned on the altar of sacrifice. When the incense had been consumed, the priests ate the week-old loaves. Half of the bread was given to the high priest and the remainder divided among the assisting priests. Every scrap that was not eaten was burned on the altar of sacrifice. The fresh showbread remained on the table for the rest of the week. The twelve loaves served as a perpetual reminder that YHVH was the Bread of Life for the twelve tribes of the Israelite nation.