1 Samuel 23:1-6

Saul's Pursuit of David to Keilah, 1 Samuel 23:1-29.

Abiathar, the Priest, With David. 1 Samuel 23:1-6

Then they told David, saying, Behold, the Philistines fight against Keilah, and they rob the threshingfloors.
2 Therefore David enquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I go and smite these Philistines? And the Lord said unto David, Go, and smite the Philistines, and save Keilah.
3 And David's men said unto him, Behold, we be afraid here in Judah: how much more then if we come to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?
4 Then David enquired of the Lord yet again. And the Lord answered him and said, Arise, go down to Keilah; for I will deliver the Philistines into thine hand.
5 So David and his men went to Keilah, and fought with the Philistines, and brought away their cattle, and smote them with a great slaughter. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.
6 And it came to pass, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David to Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand.

1.

Why did David save Keilah? 1 Samuel 23:1

Keilah is a city in the Plains of Judah now identified with Khirbet Kila. The location is some nine miles northwest of Hebron. The city was on the Philistine border, but the inhabitants were evidently Israelites of the tribe of Judah. David himself was of that tribe; and although the people of the community later betrayed David, his deliverance of them would have endeared him to the upright men of the place. Such activity on the part of David demonstrates that he was still behaving himself wisely, even while fleeing for his life from the king. He had the best interests of the people at heart.

2.

How did David enquire of the Lord? 1 Samuel 23:2

As Moses appointed Joshua to be his successor, the Lord told Moses that Joshua would stand before Eleazar who was to ask counsel for him after the judgment of Urim before the Lord (Numbers 27:21). It was at the word of the priest as given to him by the Lord that Joshua was to lead the people out to battle and to bring them back in again when it was over. Of Moses himself it was said that And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses whom the Lord knew face to face (Deuteronomy 34:10). Both Gad and Abiathar, the prophet and the priest, were with David. More than likely David used the Urim and the Thummim, God's appointed means for revealing His will. The inspired prophet could also receive the Lord's message and deliver it. In either way David moved only at the Lord's directive. He did this regardless of the fear which gripped men. Naturally they were afraid to take the offensive against the Philistines by themselves since they were on the defensive against any attack Saul might make. Such activity seemed foolhardy to them. They were in enough trouble on their own without stirring up the opposition of the Philistines.

3.

Why did Abiathar bring an ephod with him? 1 Samuel 23:6

The ephod was the distinctive garment of the high priest's clothing. Such wearing apparel would identify Abiathar as the priest with David's men. It would signify that he was an heir of the priests who were slain at Nob and would indicate orderly procedure on the part of David in appointing him as his priest. There is no indication that the ephod mentioned here was in any way a fetish such as was made of the spoils of war taken by Gideon after he defeated the Midianites. The idolatry practiced with regard to the ephod in Gideon's day is soundly condemned (Judges 8:27), and if there had been anything wrong with Abiathar's having an ephod, it would more than likely be mentioned.