David
therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave of
Adullam: and when his brethren and all his fathers
house heard it, they went down thither to him. And every
one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt,
and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves
unto him; and he became captain over them: and there were
with him about four hundred men (1 Sam.
22:1,2; ASV).
Now these are they that came to David to
Ziklag, while he yet kept himself close because of Saul
the son of Kish; and they were among the mighty men, his
helpers in war (1 Chron. 12:1).
And these are the numbers of the heads of them
that were armed for war, who came to David to Hebron, to
turn the kingdom of Saul to him, according to the Word of
the Lord (1 Chron. 12:23).
Spiritual
Weakness Must Be Made Manifest
This was a period
during which Israel was particularly menaced by the
Philistines. These latter were always the shadow over
Israels life, and the instrument by means of which
Israels weakness and helplessness were brought out
and made manifest. The Lord usually has some particular
thing by which a state or condition is revealed. It is
not always recognizable as a state in itself; there has
to be something that brings it out. Because of this or
that, the real condition of things is manifested as it
would not be apart from that instrument that the Lord
uses for its uncovering. It becomes positive, rather than
abstract, by reason of certain things. The Lord will, for
instance, raise up a situation, an experience, a
difficulty, a concrete challenge, and then the inability
to meet it and deal with it shows that that particular
thingwhich in other circumstances, had things been
different, would have counted for nothing and would have
at once been conquered and subduedhas now become
the Lords means of showing how bad the spiritual
state is. The Lord has a way of doing that. When Israel
came into right position and condition under David the
Philistines did not count for anything, they lost all
significance. But here they are very significant; they
occupy a very dominant place; and that is only because of
the spiritual state of the Lords people. So
spiritual weakness is here made manifest by means of the
Philistines.
We have to ask, Why was it that Israel was helpless
before the Philistines? Why was it that their deplorable
condition of weakness was manifested in the presence of
the Philistines, who otherwise would not have signified
anything? When you look closely for your answer, you find
that it was because deep down there was so much in common
between Israel and the Philistines. The Philistines are
known to us by a certain epithetthe uncircumcised
Philistines. David used that phrase concerning
Goliath of Gath (1 Sam. 17:36). Now when you look at
Israel, that was really their spiritual state. They were
uncircumcised in heart. They were called the Lords
people, and traditionally they were such. They had the
ordinanceseven the ordinance of circumcisionbut
it was all outward. Paul draws that very distinct line of
discrimination between the outward circumcision, which he
calls the concision, and the inward circumcision of the
heart. He says it is the latter that makes us Israelites
in truth, not the former (Rom. 2:2529). Here you
find Israel in exactly that positionuncircumcised
in heart. The fact that they said, Make us a
king... like all the nations (1I Sam. 8:5) showed
that the thing which was common to the nations had come
into their hearts. They wanted to be like the other
nations. That is to say, the spirit of the world had come
inside, and thus they knew nothing of what Paul called
the circumcision of Christ, not the
putting away of the filth of the flesh (1 Pet.
3:21), but the putting away of the old man entirely.
There was deep down in Israel something quite in common
with the Philistines, and that being so, the fact had to
be exposed; and the world exposed their weakness.
It is like that with a church, with a Christian
community, or with Christendom, when it is really worldly
in spirit, in principle, in method. It is the world that
exposes their weakness and shows how helpless they are.
The world, like the Philistines, laughs at them, and
says, You dont count for anything, you are
not to be taken seriously. The world laughs at the
church or the Christian who in principle has that which
is in common with itself, and the world can say We
can do your job better than you can. So we find
that the world is very largely the instrument of
exhibiting or exposing the weakness of Christians, simply
because there is that common basis.
The
Way Of Spiritual Strength
(a)
A Life Of Faith In Separation Unto GOD
At that point in their
history, when things were like that, David is introduced.
Over against Saul, who is a type of the world principle
in the Church, David is brought into view, and we have
these three gatherings to David; and they are very
significant in relation to what we have just been saying.
David, then, represents separation unto God and a life of
faith. Israel had said, Make us a king... like all
the nations. We want something visible to
rest upon, something we can see and take account of with
our senses, something tangible, something altogether
contrary to the life of faith. The Lord said,
They have rejected Me, that I should not be king
over them (1 Sam. 8:7). They turned from a life of
faith. David comes in as Gods principle of faith
calling for separation from the world principle, the
world spirit, the world mentality. Then it is not long
before David, having been quite clearly indicated and
signalized by God as the one with whom God was and to
whom He had committed Himself, is, by the sovereignty of
God, put into a position which is going to be the testing
situation for the people of God. He provides a supreme
test as to whether these people really are going on with
God, or going on with Saul; going on with heaven, or with
earth; going on in the Spirit, or in the flesh. David
becomes the test now of spiritualityreal
spirituality.
In the first place, we find him in the cave in the
wildernessthat is, the place outside, spiritually
outside, in rejection; the place apart from that worldly
system which had captured the Lords people; apart
from that merely traditional order of things which was
only outward, in form and ordinances, but not a thing of
the heart. David was put right outside of that in the
wilderness, and of course he was repudiated by that whole
official system, and it was positively against himif
possible, for his destruction. So that the very first
thing that arose for the people of God was the question
of their discernment, discernment as to where God really
waswith Saul or with Davidand as to where
their deepest spiritual needs would be met. I think it is
very unfortunate that the Hebrew word has been translated
discontented in the text. It would have been
far better to keep the marginal rendering in the textbitter
of soul. It has been made use of by a lot of people
who speak disparagingly of a place as a cave of
Adullam, implying that it is the place of a lot of
discontented and disgruntled people who cannot get on
with anybody else. But to give it that kind of meaning is
to sweep aside the whole spiritual significance of this.
God has had to do this sort of thing again and again.
When the Church has departed from a purely spiritual,
heavenly position, a true life of separation unto
Himself, it has been found that the majority were not
ready for such a position. It has only been a minority
who were ready for it, and then people have said of them,
Oh, that is a cave of Adullam, a lot of
discontented people. No, they were bitter of soul,
and unable to meet their spiritual liabilities; in debt
because the provision for spiritual competency had been
lost on account of something quite false having gained
the position amongst the Lords people. That is
quite a true position spiritually.
But here was David outside of that whole world system
that had captured the Lords people, and it was a
question of whether the Lords people could discern;
and those that did discern went out to David to a place
of faith.
(b)
Union With Christ In Death
What I want to say here
in the first place is that this position in the
wilderness, and all that it involved for David and for
those who went out to him, clearly and positively
represents the believers union with Christ in
death. These others have been glorying in this wonderful
fellow Saul, glorying in this idea of theirs of a
great kingdom. It was a worldly thing, according to the
nations. Paul said, Far be it from me to glory,
save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which
the world hath been crucified unto me, and I unto the
world (Gal. 6:14). It is that union with Christ in
death to the whole world spirit and system, to the whole
world tendency that is constantly invading the Church,
like the Philistines who came in again and again with
their worldly principles, causing trouble and bringing
the Lords people into a place where He could not go
on with them nor commit Himself to them. Those who went
out to David took a position outside of that, and
represent the truly spiritual people who take their place
in that aspect of the Cross which means death to that
whole thing. Davids life was being sought, and
those who joined him became fugitives with him and
really, from one standpoint, it was a laying down of
their life to the whole world. They lost their position
and all their hopes in that kingdom. They laid down their
life, and took all the risks bound up with associating
with David.
(c)
Union With Christ In Resurrection
The second passage, at
the beginning of 1 Chronicles twelve, brings us to
Ziklag. We will not stay to rehearse how David came into
possession of the city, but here we find that in Ziklag
there was another secession to David. What we do know
about Ziklag is that while David and his men were away
one day, the Amalekites made a raid on the city and
captured everything, wives and children and all
possessions, and then burned the city with fire and went
off. When David and his men came back, they found
everything gone or destroyed. They wept, it says, until
they had no more power to weep. It was a very
serious and critical situation. It was the death side in
very truth. But then it says, David strengthened
himself in the Lord his God, and he inquired of the
Lord whether he should pursue after the Amalekites, and
the Lord said, Yes, pursue. The Lord
sovereignly facilitated his overtaking of the Amalekites,
so that he recovered everything (1 Samuel 30:131).
This is another stage in true spiritual life and fulness.
To me it corresponds to the Letter to the Romans. In the
first chapters of that letter you find everything being
lost. From the very first verses, you mark this movement
to discover something that has been lost in Adam, and
when you get to the end of chapter five, you have reached
the point where everything is lost. Chapter six brings in
the Cross, and from then onward you find everything is
being recovered. Everything that was lost is recovered
through the Cross. In chapter eight, you have a full
recovery, and you find that the whole creation, which was
subjected to vanity, is recovered. All that was lost
through Adams sin has now been recovered, and this
is the resurrection side of the Cross. The death always
goes with it. The Lord never overlooks the death sidethat
in Adam, in the world under judgment, everything is lost.
In the case of David we carry over from the wilderness to
Ziklag on the death side, but then we take a further step
here to the recovery of everything in resurrection. David
strengthened himself in his God. The Lord said, Pursue...
overtake, and (thou) shalt without fail recover all.
That is the other side. There is resurrection union with
the Lord Jesus as well as death union. It would not do
for us to take the death position with Christ and leave
it there; we must come on to the other side. Spiritual
progress means the apprehending of Christ risen for the
recovery of all that has been lost: and it has been
recovered. It was a very full recovery.
(d)
Union With Christ In The Heavenlies
Pass to the third
passage, in the second part of 1 Chronicles twelve.
These are the numbers of the heads of them that
were armed for war, who came to David to Hebron.
The third stageHebron. The name means League or
Fellowship. It says of Hebron that it was a very ancient
city. Its history lay right back in the mists of
antiquity, as though outside of this world. This is a
very advanced position spiritually. Where do we come to
through death and resurrection? What is the next
position? Surely it is in the heavenlies. The sovereignty
of the Lord Jesus as enthroned now comes into view. It is
here they make David king. The whole question of His
heavenly exaltation and government as outside of this
world comes before us when we come to Hebron. I think you
see quite clearly what this means. We pass from Romans
now into Ephesians. It is the
heavenlies in Christ Jesus. GOD raised Him
from the dead, and made Him to sit at His right hand in
the heavenly places, far above all rule, and authority,
and power, and dominion, and every name that is named
(1:20,21). David is coming to the throne now, and there
gathered to him many to turn again the kingdom to himat
Hebron. It is the Church in the heavenlies that, in type,
we see herethe fellowship that is outside of this
world, of a truly spiritual nature; union with Christ in
ascension in the heavenlies where He is absolutely,
unquestionably Lord. He is made King. He is Head
over all things to the church, which is His body, the
fulness of Him That filleth all in all (Eph.
1:22,23). Well, here it is something more than an earthly
society or institution, something more than a company of
the Lords people like a congregation on the earth.
It is that thing which is brought out from the antiquity
of before the foundation of the world. He
chose us in Him before the foundation of the world
(Eph. 1:4)the Church of the eternal counsels of
God. It is a heavenly position, a heavenly thing, a
heavenly fellowship, which has broken its contact in
spirit with this whole world system even as it is found
in the Church.
And there we find at Hebron they had a very good time.
Seven days they feasted, they ate and they drank, and
they wanted to have another seven days. With anybody who
tastes real, heavenly fellowship, there is no question of
What do you belong to, what denomination, sect,
association? They have left all that behind. They
have come into a realm where it is Christ as sole and
absolute Lord. If you taste that sort of fellowship you
want to go on. You are ready to excuse Peter for wanting
to make three tabernacles! Let us not go back to
business, let us stay here forever! That is how we
ought to feel. We have, of course, to go back to our
business, but what we are thinking of is not of a
conference for seven days in the heavenlies
and then of our leaving our heavenly position and
resuming the old earthly one. No! This is to be the
constant consciousness of the life of the Lords
people. You have to go back to business, but you can
still be in the spiritual good of the heavenly fellowship
of the Lords people, and you must stand for that.
The next stage would be Jerusalem. When the Lord gets on earth something such as we have been speaking of, you may expect the Lord's coming before long. Jerusalem will be the next thing.
First published in "A Witness and A Testimony" magazine, Mar-Apr 1950, Vol. 28-2.