Saul exploded with anger towards Jonathan at the New Moon Festival when he learned where David was. He was so angry he threw a spear towards his own son.
When David went to Nob to speak with the priest, Doeg the Edomite was there. He was one of Saul's men who was there honoring an obligation. When Saul learned the priest gave David bread, Goliath's sword, and prayed for guidance for him, he ordered Doeg to kill the priests of od. Eighty five men died. Women, children, and even animals were killed in Nob, the city of priests. Only one priest, Abiather, escaped and told David what was going on and vowed to protect him. David and his followers went to Keilah because God promised him he would hand the Philistines over to him. Saul got wind of this and wanted to battle David so they kept on moving. Saul along with 3 companies of soldiers to En Gedi to find David. He met up with David and admitted he was wrong.
Nabal, whose name means fool, was a prosperous Calebite but he was very brutish and mean. His wife, Abigail, was beautiful and intelligent. Ten young men were sent by David to visit Nabal and they asked if they could feast with him. Nabal was nasty to them and refused. One of his servants went to Abigail and said, "David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master, but he screamed insults at them. These men have been very good to us, and we never suffered any harm from them. Nothing was stolen from us the whole time they were with us. In fact, day and night they were like a wall of protection to us and the sheep. You need to know this and figure out what to do, for there is going to be trouble for our master and his whole family. He’s so ill-tempered that no one can even talk to him!” With this knowledge, Abigail took 200 loaves of bread, 2 wine skins, 500 sheep ready for cooking, a bushel of roasted grain, 100 raisin cakes, and 20 fig cakes with her servants and met David. He accepted her gift and sent her home. When she returned, her husband was plastered at a banquet. When he sobered up, Abigail told him of her encounter with David. Nabal then had a heart attack and was in a coma for 10 days before God finished him off. David thanked God for keeping him out of harms way and sent for Abigail to be his wife. Ahinoam also became a wife of David's. Saul gave Michal to someone else.
Once again Saul came after David in battle. Abishai aided David in his entry to Saul's camp. When Abishai suggested David end Saul's life right then and there, he refused. David to took a spear and a water jug by Saul. I wonder what the significance of this was. None of the men in the tent woke up because God put them in a deep sleep. When Abishai and David were a safe distance away, David shouted to Abner. Recognizing David's voice, Saul once again admitted to sinning against God. They went on their separate ways and David lived in Philistine country for a year and 4 months, raiding several cities.
Saul was scared to death that the Philistines were forming troops and camping in Shunem. He prayed to God but God didn't answer him. Saul then got the bright idea to see a witch with two of his men. They went at night and dressed in disguises so no one would recognize them. Apparently Saul swept the country of mediums but assured this particular one she wouldn't get in trouble. He told her he wanted her to consult a ghost for him and call the person up by name. The person he wanted was Samuel. The medium saw Samuel and knew it was Saul asking. She stated, "I see a spirit ascending from the underground...an old man like a priest." Saul knew it was Samuel so he fell down and worshipped. Samuel asked why Saul disturbed him. His reason was that the Philistines were making war against him and God had deserted him. Samuel stated God had turned away from Saul and that was exactly what He told him he would do through Samuel thus ripping the kingdom from Saul's hands and giving it to his neighbor. Samuel also said God was handing Israel over to the Philistines.
The Philistine warlords approached Achish (David's Philistine ally) about David switching sides of the war. David took his men and set out for Ziklag. When they got there, they learned the Amelekites had raided it and burnt it down so they wept. David's wives were imprisoned along with the rest of the women. God told David to go after the raiders so he did just that. He took 600 men but some of them dropped out. Out of 400 men, 200 stayed in Brook Besor because of fatigue. An Egyptian slave led David along with his existing 200 men to the raiders and they fought. David's side won and they rescued the prisoners.
The Philistines went to war with Israel and killed Saul's sons. Saul killed himself on Mount Gilboa by falling on his weapon bearers sword. His weapon bearer saw that Saul was dead and fell on his sword. The Philistines cut off Saul's head, stripped him of his armor, and nailed his body to the wall at Beth Shan. The men of Jabesh Gilead took Saul's body and his son's bodies back their town and burned off their flesh. They buried their bones under a tamarisk tree (http://www.sfakia-crete.com/sfakia-crete/tamarisk5.jpg).
2 Samuel
A man from Saul's camp told David the Israelites had fled the battlefield, leaving a lot of their dead comrades behind. He also said, "I just happened to be on Mount Gilboa and came on Saul badly wounded and learning on his spear, with enemy chariots and horsemen bearing down hard on him." When Saul asked who he was, the man said he was an Amalekite and asked him to kill him because he was dying a slow death. Saul's royal headband and bracelet were brought to David. David and his men tore their clothes, weeping and then fasting because of these certain deaths. One of David's men was instructed to strike the Amalekite dead for not being afraid to kill God's anointed king. God told David to move to Hebron. He ruled as king over the Judah clans for 7.5 yrs.
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