October 7, 2019: Day 23 – I Samuel 23

As we read about the pursuit of David by Saul it just becomes more and more sad.  Not only is he facing servants and soldiers who refuse to obey his commandments (remember they didn’t kill the priests like he ordered them), but he is also facing a son who his perfectly content with being second fiddle to David.  He even tells David that his father, King Saul, knows very well that David is going to reign.  Saul isn’t okay with that, but Jonathan is.  

As we read through these Scriptures images keep coming  to my mind of the places we went when we were in Israel.  We were in Ein-Gedi where much of this pursuit takes place.  Saul is very close to David when he gets word that the Philistines were attacking the home country.  I’m surprised that Saul wasn’t as obsessed with killing David that he was willing to let his home town burn to the ground.  I guess his obsession only went so far.

Let’s talk a little about this ephod that we find in vs.6 to which David refers in order to understand the will of the Lord.  An ephod is the most prominent of the priestly garments and plays a significant role in discerning the will of the Lord in Exodus 28, 39, Hosea 3:4, Isaiah 30:22.  We don’t feel comfortable thinking of things that bring us closer to God, but what about the Bible.  Don’t we feel that we are closer to God when we read the Bible?  Okay, that is different simply because those are words that we feel are inspired by God.  It is not an inanimate object that somehow has power unto itself.  But God uses a fleece, and uses other objects to clarify His  will.  It is a bit tricky, though.  I guess the best example is the robe that I wear on Sunday.  Now, for the priests the ephod was much, much more elaborate, as many robes can also be much more elaborate.  I’m not really into elaborate.