1. God’s Provision in David’s Desperation (21:1-9)
21 Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech came to meet David, trembling, and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?” 2 And David said to Ahimelech the priest, “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, and with which I have charged you.’ I have made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place. 3 Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever is here.” 4 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.” 5 And David answered the priest, “Truly women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition. The vessels of the young men are holy even when it is an ordinary journey. How much more today will their vessels be holy?” 6 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.
7 Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord. His name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul’s herdsmen.
8 Then David said to Ahimelech, “Then have you not here a spear or a sword at hand? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s business required haste.” 9 And the priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you struck down in the Valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will take that, take it, for there is none but that here.” And David said, “There is none like that; give it to me.”
David has no where left to turn for safety from Saul. All those who had protected him are gone. Michal his wife had convinced David to flee for his life. Samuel protected David for a time but safety there had run out. Jonathan’s advice as he shot his arrows beyond David was to run away as fast as possible.
David’s places to run and to hide from Saul are becoming few and far between. Now, in desperation he runs to a place north of Jerusalem called Nob.
He goes to the place of worship and sacrifice. There, he encounters the priest, Ahimelech.
And Ahimelech came to meet David, trembling, and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?”
Ahimelech knows something is wrong and that trouble is on the way. Saul will find out David came to him because Saul has his spies everywhere and this is probably the next place to look for David.
If we jump ahead, we can see standing off in the corner the face of a shifty character who is exactly the person that should make everyone tremble…Saul’s chief shepherd.
7 Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord. His name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul’s herdsmen.
This is exactly why David must always be on the run and why he has to be careful what he says.
It does seem that David wants to protect the priest as much as possible, so he tells him a fictitious story to cover his tracks. He basically, says that he’s on a highly sensitive government assignment that is top secret and that is why he is alone. He had to leave so quickly that he did not have time to bring a sword or rations for his journey. (verse 2)
The reality is that David’s story is not too convincing, he was not sent by Saul on a secret mission, he is not alone, others are waiting for him at an undisclosed place, he did not leave on a mission but was running for his life.
David’s story was probably fashioned to protect the priest in case Saul ever showed up looking for David.
The priest does not have any food except the holy bread displayed in the sanctuary.
The priest brings up the issue of David’s men being clean in that they have not been with women while on their mission. This was part of any military campaign that while fighting the solders were not to engage with any women while serving. Sexual abstinence was a common practice during military operations.
4 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.” 5 And David answered the priest, “Truly women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition. The vessels of the young men are holy even when it is an ordinary journey. How much more today will their vessels be holy?”
As you’re reading the Bible, ask yourself questions. Here is an example and the question is, why is this here? Why does God tell us that David is going to be given the holy bread to eat? A hundred other things could have been reported but God wants us to see that David and his men are going to eat the holy bread. Why?
This is the bulk of Chapter 21 so why is it so important that it would take up this much space in the Chapter?
Let’s look at what is really taking place here and what God is doing.
The bread of the Presence (also called the showbread or shewbread in some translations) was special bread always present on a table in the tabernacle (and later in the temple). Leviticus 24:5–7 describes this bread:
“You shall take fine flour and bake twelve loaves from it; two tenths of an ephah shall be in each loaf. And you shall set them in two piles, six in a pile, on the table of pure gold before the Lord. And you shall put pure frankincense on each pile, that it may go with the bread as a memorial portion as a food offering to the Lord.”
This bread of the Presence was 1) made of fine flour, 2) baked in 12 loaves, 3) arranged in two piles of six loaves each on a table of pure gold, 4) covered with frankincense, and 5) served as a memorial food offering to the Lord. The bread could only be eaten by Aaron and his sons in a holy place and was set out every Sabbath day (Leviticus 24:8–9).
The bread of the Presence is first mentioned in Exodus 25:30.
Exodus 25:30 (ESV)
30 And you shall set the bread of the Presence on the table before me regularly.
God instructed for it to be placed on the golden table in the tabernacle. The bread is also listed in the contributions for the tabernacle in Exodus 35:13 and noted as part of the completed tabernacle in Exodus 39:36. In Numbers 4 the Kohathites, who were sons of Levi, were given responsibility for the care of the table of showbread.
The priest gave David the bread of the Presence, since it was the only bread available (1 Samuel 21:1–6). David was not a priest, so it was technically unlawful for him to eat the showbread.
2. God’s Presence for Us, a Look to the New Testament
This Bread of the Presence is important; it takes up so much space in Chapter 21 and because Jesus uses it to teach truth to us.
As we look to the NT, we see that Jesus uses this very event to teach the fact that God’s Law was given to man to help him see who God is and what God requires. God’s law stands however, when need arises it should never work to hinder man.
Matthew 12:1–8 (ESV)
12 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” 3 He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: 4 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? 5 Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? 6 I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. 7 And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”
Jesus begins His teaching with… Have you not read what David did when he was hungry
At the time Jesus told this account, David had been a hero for the Jewish nation for centuries. The Lord’s point is that if David could break God’s Law when in need then I can break the Sabbath also for a need someone has.
Jesus’ other point is that as great as David was and the Law of God is, He is greater…
6 I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. 7 And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”
The One who created the Sabbath is greater than the Sabbath.
Eating the Bread of the Prescence was technically for priests only. However, the spirit of the Law of God shows us that David was given an exemption because he and his men were hungry.
Jesus went on to teach that the Sabbath is a day of rest, but when there is a need, work may be done. Our Lord went on from there to heal the man with a withered hand on the Sabbath. The spirit of the Law of God is not…This is a day of rest so Jesus you cannot do the work of healing. Jesus shows us the true nature of God when He does healing work on the Sabbath Day.
So, we are shown by our Lord that God’s Law while it is unattainable for mankind, it comes from our heavenly Father who places it there for our good. It should not be used to not feed someone because the showbread is only for the priests or not heal someone because it’s the Sabbath.
The Bread of the Prescence in the Temple was symbolic of God’s presence being with His people. It worked like this…When you entered the place of worship and saw the fresh bread that had just been baked and set out, it was a reminder that God is with His people because there is proof that our needs are being met. There is proof that God supplies our food…there it is, warm fresh bread on the table.
Let’s go again to the NT…
The Old Testament showbread placed on the table in the tabernacle provides a wonderful picture of Jesus, the Bread of Life. Jesus is holy before God; Jesus is the holy Bread. Jesus is proof that God will be with us and meet our needs. He provides true sustenance, and He is always present.
John 6:35 (ESV)
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
The Bread of the Presence was the proof in the OT that God would meet the needs of all His people. The proof was found in the Bread being displayed in the Temple. God will give us food to eat so that we will not die.
God has met our even deeper need not of physical sustenance but our deep spiritual need. We must have our sin removed or we will die spiritually.
Jesus is our Bread of the Presence. He was displayed as He hung on the cross being God’s sacrifice for the sin of His people. He is God’s proof that He loves us and that He will never leave us or forsake us.
What’s amazing here in the text is God’s holy bread becomes David’s daily bread and shows us a picture of Christ who is God’s Bread of Life to us. God is the One who gives us this Bread.
So, the thrust of all this is that it is God who meets all our needs…the need for physical food and the need we have for spiritual food as well. When you pray and give thanks for your food, remember we receive God’s daily bread not because we deserve it but because God is gracious to us. The portion of food we thank God for is a small reminder that He is with us. The Bread of Presence is there sitting on the table proof that in our great needs and desperation, God has not cast us off.
Resources Used:
1 Samuel by Dale Ralph Davis
1 Samuel by Tsumura
Promise and Deliverance by DeGraff
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