Chapter 1 of God’s Anointed – the Life of King David
Our study of David should properly begin by investigation into the background into which he was born. Like all other people, David was a man of his times, and a look at his background can help us understand the significance of his contribution.
David ranks among the greatest men who have ever lived, a greatness that goes far, far beyond the glory he enjoyed as King of Israel during the Iron Age. David’s lineage includes the Messiah, Jesus Christ. God’s covenant with David is just as enforceable today as it was when God made a covenant with David.
There are our specific key developments that form David’s background as a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in Israel: Great-grandmother Ruth as the prototype of the Law of the Stranger, Israel falls behind technologically during the Iron Age, the Philistine Occupation of Israel, and Samuel and the End of the Judges.
Great-grandmother Ruth as the prototype of the Law of the Stranger
We see the story of Ruth in the book of Ruth. She was a Moabite who married an Israelite, either Mahlon or Chillian, who has moved to the land of Moab with his parents Elimelech or Naomi. Elimelech, Mahlon, and Chillian all died. Naomi was returning to Israel and pleaded for her daughter-in-laws to stay in Moab. Orpah stays, but Ruth refuses to leave Naomi.
Naomi at first glance seems to simply be in a funk, at one point telling people to call her Mara. She has good reasons to be depressed. There’s another complication to Naomi’s situation: she is dependent on others to provide a living, and the only one in her corner is a Moabite who is banned from admittance to the congregation of Israel by Law.
Deuteronomy 23:3-4 NKJV “An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the assembly of the LORD; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the LORD forever, (23:4) because they did not meet you with bread and water on the road when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you.
How does Ruth fulfill her prophetic destiny if she cannot join the congregation of Israel. The Mosaic Law also has the Law of the Stranger, which provided for equal treatment under the Law for those who were not the genetic children of Jacob but had converted to Israel, Ruth was on a trajectory to convert to becoming an Israelite, and therefore is no longer a Moabite by the time she is ready to take her place among the Congregation of Israel and as an ancestor in the Messianic line.
Ruth 1:11-18 NKJV But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? (1:12) Turn back, my daughters, go—for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, if I should have a husband tonight and should also bear sons, (1:13) would you wait for them till they were grown? Would you restrain yourselves from having husbands? No, my daughters; for it grieves me very much for your sakes that the hand of the LORD has gone out against me!” (1:14) Then they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. (1:15) And she said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” (1:16) But Ruth said: “Entreat me not to leave you,Or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge;Your peopleshall be my people,And your God, my God. (1:17) Where you die, I will die, And there will I be buried. The LORD do so to me, and more also, If anything but death parts you and me.” (1:18) When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her.
Ruth explicitly declares her conversion to Israel, specifying that she is now identifying as an Israelite, and a worshipper pf Yahweh, the God of Israel. Ruth rejects the Moabite nation, and the Pagan idols of Moab – even to the point of calling down curses upon her self if anything other then death separates her from Naomi. Ruth eventually married a close relative of Naomi, named Boaz, who fathers King David’s grandfather through Ruth.
Ruth 4:13-17 NKJV So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife; and when he went in to her, the LORD gave her conception, and she bore a son. (4:14) Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a close relative; and may his name be famous in Israel! (4:15) And may he be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him.” (4:16) Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her bosom, and became a nurse to him. (4:17) Also the neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “There is a son born to Naomi.” And they called his name Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.
Ruth becomes the great-grandmother to King David, a man who is genetically one eighth Moabite who becomes an unlikely King over a cosmopolitan Israel, and establishes an everlasting dynasty.
Israel falls behind technologically during the Iron Age
David was born during the iron age. The advent of iron smithing revolutionized civilization, particularly warfare. The greater durability of iron made for superior weapons on the battlefield, and balances of power altered when disparities in developing this technology surfaced.
We discover Israel had fallen behind in this technology, which allowed the Philistines to dominate them almost completely.
1 Samuel 13:19-22 NKJV Now there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, “Lest the Hebrews make swords or spears.” (13:20) But all the Israelites would go down to the Philistines to sharpen each man’s plowshare, his mattock, his ax, and his sickle; (13:21) and the charge for a sharpening was a pim for the plowshares, the mattocks, the forks, and the axes, and to set the points of the goads. (13:22) So it came about, on the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan. But they were found with Saul and Jonathan his son.
The Philistines maintained either a state monopoly or state cartel on blacksmithing, as is evidenced by a consistent pricing for blacksmith services. Technologically, Israel had her back against the wall.
The Philistine Occupation of Israel.
The Philistines occupied Israel multiple times during the period of the Judges on at least three occasions. In Judges 3:31 we see an occupation for an unknown period of time which was ended when Shamgar arose as Judge. In Judges 10-11, we see the Philistines, along with the Ammonites, occupy Israel for 18 years (verse 6). In Judges 13, we see another occupation that lasted 40 years (13:1), for which Samson was raised to stop. First Samuel portrays a Philistine occupation which may have been the one under Samson, or another incursion attempt. Israel, throughout the time of the Judges, was unstable and frequently invaded.
There are three threads in the instability of Israel under the Judges. There was weak leadership where everyone “did what was right in their own eyes,(Judges 17:6; Judges 21:25)” There was constant foreign invasion, and there was repeated disobedience to the Lord. Israel blamed the leadership model, but Scripture and the prophetic witness correctly identifies disobedience to the Lord as the main issue.
Samuel and the End of the Judges.
Samuel was an extremely effective judge, bringing stability, justice, and the word of the Lord. He was far and away the greatest of all the Judges. His sons, however, did not walk in either his ways or the power. They pursued corruption. The people saw the same problem resurface, as it did with previous generations. The People do whatever they want → chaos and oppression follow → A judge is raised up to bring deliverance and justice → looping back to the people doing whatever they want again, etc. They correctly saw a vicious cycle, but would focus on the wrong place.
There were two logical possibilities for topping chaos and oppression: Stop doing whatever they and obey God, or replace judges with a different leadership model – specifically a king. The people asked for a King, reasoning that fixing the leadership model could solve it without the people changing their hearts or their ways.
1 Samuel 8:1-5 NKJV Now it came to pass when Samuel was old that he made his sons judges over Israel. (8:2) The name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. (8:3) But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice. (8:4) Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, (8:5) and said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.”
This displeased Samuel. As judge and prophet, he knew God’s Law spoke about this vicious circle. The prophetic perspective on the vicious circle saw it this way :The People do whatever they want [and sin] → chaos and oppression follow [as God’s judgment] → A judge is raised up [by God] to bring deliverance and justice → looping back to the people doing whatever they want again, etc. The Mosaic Law foretold this cycle. In Deuteronomy 28, there is a series of blessings and curse that hinge on whether the people observe the Covenant. If they obey, God will bless them, if they disobey, God will curse them. It was not the leadership model, but covenant faithfulness that would determine whether Israel would prosper
Deuteronomy 28:1-2 NKJV “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. (28:2) And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God:
Deuteronomy 28:15-25 NKJV “But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: (28:16) “Cursed shall you be… …(28:17) “Cursed shall be… …(28:18) “Cursed shall be… …(28:25) “The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them; and you shall become troublesome to all the kingdoms of the earth.
Samuel sought the Lord about this, and the Lord responded bluntly. The Lord said that Israel had rejected him as king. From a prophetic perspective, it makes no sense as a wicked King can deliver the people into the wrath of God. The people, however, were blaming the leadership model.
1 Samuel 8:7-9 NKJV And the LORD said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them. (8:8) According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day—with which they have forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also. (8:9) Now therefore, heed their voice. However, you shall solemnly forewarn them, and show them the behavior of the king who will reign over them.”
They were essential saying that if only they had a strong and wise king – the right kind of powerful government – then all their problems would be solved. People buy that same lie today. The root issue is sin, and sin is multiplied by power Let us now consider the warning Samuel is about to give.
1 Samuel 8:10-18 NKJV So Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who asked him for a king. (8:11) And he said, “This will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you: He will take your sons and appoint them for his own chariots and to be his horsemen, and some will run before his chariots. (8:12) He will appoint captains over his thousands and captains over his fifties, will set some to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. (8:13) He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. (8:14) And he will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, and give them to his servants. (8:15) He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage, and give it to his officers and servants. (8:16) And he will take your male servants, your female servants, your finest young men, and your donkeys, and put them to his work. (8:17) He will take a tenth of your sheep. And you will be his servants. (8:18) And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the LORD will not hear you in that day.”
Saul became Israel’s first king ten years before David was born. King David was born into a world where Israel legacy was marred by sin, bit blamed form of government rather than practiced repentance. He was born into a nation that had fallen behind economically and technologically due to rebellion against God, but posited big government as the answer to every problem. David was also born into a family that had repentance and seeking God as a legacy. His great-grandmother Ruth repented of Paganism and sought god, even to the point of defecting from her nation and identifying as an Israelite. David became both immersed in the scriptures and received a godly legacy from a foreign woman. This would make him into an unlikely king who would lead a cosmopolitan Israel in the ways of God. David would become an unlikely but anointed king who sought God’s heart rather than his own will. David would found a dynasty that would culminate in the coming of Jesus as both Messiah and heir to David’s throne.