1 Samuel 22:20 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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1 Samuel 22:20

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Eighty-five men from the priestly family were slaughtered, but Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech escaped. He had either become, or was already serving as, high priest (Mark 2:26). It is unlikely that he could have escaped if he had been among those summoned to the palace by Saul and within his grasp, and it is suggested that he had been left behind by Ahimelech to take care of the sanctuary. But now he cannot stay in Nob because his life is being sought by Saul, and so he comes to David, and reports what Saul has done. It is a cause of great sadness, but not of surprise to David, for he had feared something like this would happen. He had seen Doeg and knew him to be a cunning and wicked man, and suspected that he would inform against the priests. He was still an Edomite at heart, though he had adapted outwardly in order to advance his career. David had fled from Nob, but the priests were obliged to stay there, allowing Saul to take revenge on them, since he could not reach David himself. Abiathar’s report is summarised, but it no doubt included the account of how Doeg had first informed on the priests, and then murdered them. David had lied to the priests, but it is likely that they would still have helped him, even if they had known the true reason for his flight. It was a matter of great regret to David that his coming to them had resulted in their deaths, even though it had been unintentional. ‘I have occasioned the death of all the persons of thy father's house.’ Well, he hadn't really. Yes, David could say, I went and told a string of lies, and it got the priest of the Lord, the senior priest, into fatal trouble and disaster. But nothing could be done about it, and the blame lay squarely with the murderous Saul.Abiathar is invited to remain with David and to join him in his exile, where he would remain under the protection of David, for they shared the same enemy who sought both of their lives, and therefore they could share the same defence. At those times when David’s faith was operating properly, he knew that he was the Lord’s anointed and that Saul would not succeed in taking his life. This assurance now became the consolation of Abiathar as well. One man’s strong faith gives consolation to those whose affairs are bound up with him (Acts 27:24). You can see David getting stronger and stronger as the time goes by. Now he has realised fully, once again, his responsibilities, his task is to comfort and protect others.Abiathar would continue to be high-priest all the days of David until Solomon came to the throne. In the next chapter we see that he had brought the ephod with him, and was able to obtain the Lord’s guidance (1 Samuel 23:6, 9-12). He served alongside Zadok for part of this time, but sadly at the end of David’s reign, he deserted the king, and joined with those who wished to place Adonijah on the throne (1 Kings 1:5-8), rather than Solomon. This was done contrary to the declared will of David (1 Kings 1:17), and when he came to power Solomon judged Abiathar for this error, though he recognised Abiathar’s loyalty to his father David during his time of exile (1 Kings 2:26).

Application

The Lord has brought you to himself, made you a child of God, proved himself to you, heard and answered countless prayers, comforted you and all kinds of situations. Now you are to comfort others also, and encourage others, and hold them up. And you see this beautifully here with David. He is under sentence of death, but he realises it's his task to hold up others also.

Those priests should not have been functioning. You may think of things today. God says, Don't do this; don't do that, and sometimes even ministers: they do it anyway. God gives instructions for the conduct of his church. Don't mess with the world. Don't compromise; don't use their entertainment and pollute your worship, and people do it anyway. And God may still use them for time, and like Ahimelech they are left in office. They are left functioning – even David trusts them – but God has said there will be a reckoning, and they can't be greatly blessed, and one day all that house will come tumbling down. I don't say if they are true believers that they will lose their salvation, or that they will be horribly dealt with, but there will be a price to pay. On the day of reckoning they will be like the person referred to in 1 Corinthians in the day of judgement who finds his work has all been burned up, though he himself is saved. Same with – if I may give an example – women preachers. Some of them may actually – who knows? it is not a field I am conversant with – be preaching the truth, and there may be a benefit to some people. But like Ahimelech he shouldn't have been functioning. He had been disqualified; he was a descendant of Eli. But he took no notice and carried right on. And [so with] people today. You say, ‘Look, the Bible says you shouldn't do this’, but they carry straight on. They may be believers; God may even use them to a degree, but ultimately that work has to be lost, and you see that here, with the loss of Ahimelech and his household.

Even as Christians, there is a little of this in all of us much of the time. We know how we ought to be living. We know how we ought to be calling on the Lord, and the extent to which we should be putting him first, and serving him. But from time to time, if not frequently, we fail and we leave out or skip or truncate our spiritual duties. We are not walking as we should be, and we don't seem to fear any consequences. Ahimelech seemed to have no fear of being in office when he shouldn't have been there. It is the same with the pastors, same with the churches generally: happy to collaborate with worldliness. Churches are full of worldliness today, and we happily trundle on as though they are not going to be any consequences.

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1 Samuel 22:20 Commentary and Bible Study