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April 1 - Morning
“Then David fled from Naioth at Ramah and went to Jonathan and asked, ‘What have I done? What is my crime? How have I wronged your father, that he is trying to kill me?’
‘Never!” Jonathan replied. ‘You are not going to die! Look, my father doesn’t do anything, great or small, without letting me know. Why would he hide this from me? It isn’t so!’
But David took an oath and said, ‘Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said to himself, “Jonathan must not know this or he will be grieved.” Yet as surely as the Lord lives and as you live, there is only a step between me and death.’…
…Saul’s anger flared up at Jonathan and he said to him, ‘You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Don’t I know that you have sided with the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of the mother who bore you? As long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be established. Now send someone to bring him to me, for he must die!’
‘Why should he be put to death? What has he done?’ Jonathan asked his father.’
But Saul hurled his spear at him to kill him. Then Jonathan knew that his father intended to kill David. Jonathan got up from the table in fierce anger.”
- First Samuel 20:1-3; 30-34 |
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| David Flees to Samuel in Ramah and Confers with Jonathan |
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David had fled to seek council from Samuel at Naioth in Ramah. Samuel’s hometown was Ramah
and he lived there at a place called Naioth. Naioth is the Hebrew word for “dwelling” or “residence.” The prophets who followed Samuel lived at Naioth, which was a type of community, frat house or dormitory for the prophets in training, in the city of Ramah. This school of the prophets will
continue up through the days of Elijah and Elisha.
After Saul went to Ramah to look for David at Naioth, David flees to meet with Jonathan (King Saul’s son and the heir to Saul’s throne) . When David explains to Jonathan that the king is still trying to kill him Jonathan refuses to believe this report is true. Jonathan agrees to test his father’s attitude toward David at an upcoming New Moon festival, which would have been a mandatory celebration requiring David’s presence at Saul’s royal table.
When the evening of the feast arrives David is absent and Saul questions Jonathan concerning David’s absence. When Jonathan makes an excuse to explain David's failure to appear at the king’s table, Saul flies into a rage that begins with Saul’s vulgar insult of his son and ends with Saul’s attempted murder of his son by hurling a spear at him from across the table.
With this domestic exchange, “Jonathan got up from the table in fierce anger,” knowing clearly what his father’s intention was. |
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“While Christians should be the first to recognize the bankruptcy of secular religious views, all too often, they are the first to embrace bits and pieces of them.”
- David A. Noebel, Understanding the Times |
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Palm branches from the date palm tree were used at the Maccabee’s celebration and rededication of the Temple
in Jerusalem in 165 BC
(2 Maccabees 10:7).
Palm branches were also used as a sign of victory in the Greek world, and this image was adopted by the Roman writers. The Jews also used palm branches at the feast of Tabernacles in Leviticus 23:40 and images of palm branches were minted onto ancient Jewish coins. Revelation 7:9 clearly shows the victors in heaven with palm branches in their hands. |
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Tsawah (Hb) – Command (Eng) – tsawah is the Hebrew word translated as “to command,” “charge,” “give orders,” and also, “commission to command,” “ordain,” “appoint” or “appoint to give charge.” Tsawah is used 493x in the Old Testament of which it is translated
“command,” “commanding,” “commands,” or “commanded” 412x. |
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With the arrival of the Greek Philistines the land of Canaan was reintroduced to the Aegean culture’s concept of the duel between the two champions of enemy forces. The duel was used as a method of resolving a battle in a war or military conflict. The battle of David and Goliath was one of these duels, but there are several other duels described from this same time period in scripture:
2 Sam.21:18-19, Sibbechai vs. Saph
2 Sm.21:19, Elhanan vs. Goliath’s brother
1 Chr.11:23, Benaiah vs. a 7 ½ foot Egyptian
2 Sm.2:12-17, Twelve men of Abner (Israel) vs. 12 men of Joab (Judah) |
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Do I support my friends when they are in trouble or wrongly accused?
Or,
do I simply side with those who are most popular and powerful?
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"Since they would not accept my advice
and spurned my rebuke,
they will eat the fruit
of their ways
and be filled with the fruit
of their schemes."
- Proverbs 1:30-31 |
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Relaxation and refreshing |
People accepting Christ and receiving the New Birth |
Middle Class |
Central African Republic |
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| Reps & Sets is a daily Bible devotional for Christians from Generation Word Bible Teaching used each morning and evening. |
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