Day 14: 1 Samuel 21:1-9
Read 1 Samuel 21:1-9
Helpful Background Information:
In 1 Samuel 21, David is on the run from King Saul, who is attempting to kill David out of jealousy and fear that David would take his place as King. Things looked bad for David, but he still had a loyal friend, Jonathan, who looked out for him. He prayed for David’s safety, believed that God would defeat David’s enemies, and promised to support him as the future king (1 Sam. 20). Even though David is still running for his life, he has good reasons to be hopeful: he escaped again, the king’s own son believes in him and supports him, and God has already shown that He can keep David safe.
In hunger and desperation, David went to Ahimelek in Nod in search of food. However, the high priest informs David that there is no “ordinary bread”, but only the consecrated bread or the “Bread of Presence”. According to priestly ritual, this “bread of the Presence” would be placed before the Lord every Sabbath, but it is then replaced with fresh bread on the next Sabbath. Once the bread was removed from the Lord’s presence, the priests were to eat it in a holy place (See Lev. 24:5-9). Simply put, David and his men would usually not be allowed to eat this bread. It is this episode in 1 Samuel 21:1-9 that Jesus refers to in his confrontation with the Pharisees.
Reflection Questions:
Why do you think Ahimelek was willing to give David the consecrated bread?
How does Jesus use this example from David’s life to back up his claim that “The Sabbath was made for man?” How does this example expose the Pharisees’ strict and unbiblical rules about the Sabbath?
The Pharisees made extra rules to protect the sabbath, but it ended up in dead ritual with no room for mercy, compassion, rest, or delighting in God. In what other areas have you seen religious rules be set up where they are not needed?