David is on the run from Saul (Jonathan told him to flee for his life) and we are given insight into some of his journey.
“Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest… ‘Why are you alone, and no one with you?’ And David said… ‘The king has charged me with a matter and said to me, “Let no one know anything of the matter about which I send you…” Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever is here.’ And the priest answered David, ‘I have no common bread on hand, but there is holy bread – if the young men have kept themselves from women.’ And David answered the priest, ‘Truly women have been kept from us…’ So the priest gave him the holy bread, for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence, which is removed from before the Lord, to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is taken away.” (v1-6 abr)
There are some interesting nuances in the text here, including Levitical law, Israelite tradition, and David’s deception. First, David lies to the priest twice – saying how he’s on a mission from the king, and he’s meeting up with more of the king’s servants (later David comes to regret the lies he told).
Second, David asks for food. Ahimelech asks a basic question to assess the ceremonial cleanness of David and his fictitious contingent. This was important because the ‘bread of the Presence’ was traditionally only eaten by priests, in the presence of God (hence the name of the bread). God did not say that ‘only priests’ could eat the bread, however, He did say it was holy, so Ahimelech ensures that those eating it are ceremonially clean.
Jesus uses this passage in an object lesson when Pharisees accuse His disciples of ‘working’ (gathering food) on the Sabbath: “He said to them, ‘Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?’ ” (Mt 12:3-4)
Jesus condones and defends Ahimelech for giving David the holy bread. Even though it was against ‘traditional law’ for non-priests to eat the bread, it was not against God’s law. God did not say ‘only priests’ could eat the bread, nor did He say people could not meet their basic needs on the Sabbath (ie. gather food). People have been guilty of adding man-made rules into God’s laws, or watering-down / removing God’s laws, which understandably angers Jesus and God. These two examples Jesus gives are a sample of the countless times that God’s words have been modified / misused (see Gen 3:1-5 for the first example).
Has someone ever modified your words – adding to them, twisting / manipulating them, or omitting a portion of them – so your words mean something different than what you originally intended? God has certainly experienced this. Just as you would be unimpressed to have your words misrepresented, God is also not happy when we do it to Him (hence the numerous rebukes of the Pharisees).
My encouragement for today is to have a posture of reliance upon God’s word as our sole source of moral wisdom and guidance (by God’s word I don’t only mean scripture, I also mean His words spoken through the Holy Spirit). Yes, we will sometimes misunderstand God’s word, however, if our heart is to honor and obey Him, He will graciously and gently correct us like His disciples, not rebuke us like the Pharisees (who intentionally complicated / modified God’s words).
Father God, our Gracious and Loving Lord, great and mighty is Your name. Father thank you so much for the gift of Your profound wisdom and guidance. You enable us to obey You, and forgive us when we fail. Your grace and mercy are more than sufficient for our shortcomings. Father thank you for giving us Your Spirit to guide our paths. May we learn to heed Your voice, and not listen to the false guidance around us. All honor, glory, praise and thanksgiving be unto You, forever and ever, amen.
~ Conqueror in Training