So Philistines Hate Married Men?

Now Michal, Saul's daughter, loved David. When they told Saul, the thing was agreeable to him.  Saul thought, "I will give her to him that she may become a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him." Therefore Saul said to David, "For a second time you may be my son-in-law today."  Then Saul commanded his servants, "Speak to David secretly, saying, 'Behold, the king delights in you, and all his servants love you; now therefore, become the king's son-in-law.'"  So Saul's servants spoke these words to David. But David said, "Is it trivial in your sight to become the king's son-in-law, since I am a poor man and lightly esteemed?" (1 Samuel 18:20-23 NASB)

Saul is now jealous of David because the dancing ladies sang that Saul had slain his 'thousands' while David had slain his 'big numbers'.  It's kind of a silly reason to distrust anyone, but to be fair it's also because he sees that God is with David and knows that God is no longer with him.  This is where he fights against what he knows is the will of God, and doesn't relent.

So what does Saul decide to do about the guy God favors?  Well he tried to pin him to the wall with his spear but he escapes twice.  So, instead, he decides to get him to marry one of his daughters so his enemies (the Philistines) will then kill David.

Even though David leads Israel and Judah into battle, it isn't until he might marry a daughter of Saul that these Philistines really become dangerous?  They sort of like shepherds, but married guys they can't tolerate?  Or is it the daughter of Saul, so now they are angry since they wanted one of theirs to marry her?  Or maybe it's so obvious, I'm missing it.

Life married does change things.  When I married, my life was suddenly no longer all about me.  I had always said that it was about God and me, but really that wasn't true.  Once another person was affected by all I did, then I began to understand better what I was doing to my Master to make the choices I had made.  I spent the first year acclimating to how selfish I really was.  And the next 19 years after that trying to become less selfish.

But I'm not sure if that's all of it, because why does being a son-in-law to Saul make the Philistines more apt to kill David?  Maybe it's that he would be part of the 'royal family' and therefore a highly prized target?  David was already showing himself to be a great leader, wouldn't he already be a 'highly prized target' if only to make the Philistines life easier?

Okay, so you're reading this and going, 'So what? Saul's crazier than a bag of cats, move on.'  But what I'm looking around for is what two sets of people thought about Saul's motivation.  What did the 'servants of Saul' and the people around David think?  And what about the people reading this after it was written some hundreds of years later, what did they think of Saul's motivation?

That's important because my Master is conveying a message; making a point.  And that point was initially made in that day these events occurred, and then again with the initial audience of the writings.  He wanted to help them understand something.  I want to know what that was, but to do so, I need a better understanding of what they knew.  I need to know more about what they assumed and what didn't need to be explained to them, because this reasoning of Saul isn't explained.

I suspect that the answer lies in two factors.  One of which is the easy one to spot 3,000 years later: Saul's mind isn't working very well.  But I also think that in the culture of the day, being the king's son-in-law did have an affect on the outcome of battles.  I suspect it had to do with an enemy's ability to strike at an absent king through his family.

The thinking goes like this: Since Saul wasn't present at these battles with the Philistines, David presented an optional target and a way to strike at the heart and soul of the king.  The reasoning would have been that if David dies, the daughter of the king mourns and the king's life is difficult; his enemies have struck home, at his heart; it's like loosing a son.

But this is no where near the only reasonable suggestion.  Perhaps the 'snare' would have been that David would have considered himself one-step closer to being king.  I'm not sure how that would make the Philistines more dangerous.  Perhaps the daughter of Saul would have given more influence and control to Saul over David.  I'm not sure on any of these, but I suspect that the first one, being a royal family target, is probably slightly more likely.  But it could have been several of these options at once, rather than a single-sided reason.

The point here is that while Saul is certainly bent, his mind is still working somewhat.  He's jealous and crazy with it, panicking over the Spirit of God having left him.  But he's still lucid enough to plot against David.  He understands that God is with David, and therefore David is supposed to be the next king; he understands that much.  The thing he's doing that God wants me to know, the same thing He wanted the original people and the original audience to know, is that it's futile to plot against the designs of God.  There, that's it. 

So I need to stop it, when I do it.  In small ways and large, I need to let my Master be Master of me, my life, and my actions.  Submit, relent, and rest in Him.  So, what will I discover today?  I have an interview for a possible new job.  What I want to know is the plan of my Master in this.  I suspect it will be to remain where I am until I learn the lesson of where I am.  But maybe I have (though I doubt it).

Whatever His plan, my job is to accept it; today, tomorrow, and forever.

Stubborn Student, Stubborn Teacher

Now the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.  Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it to the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon.  When the Ashdodites arose early the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and set him in his place again.  But when they arose early the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. And the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off on the threshold; only the trunk of Dagon was left to him.  Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor all who enter Dagon's house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day. (1 Samuel 5:1-5 NASB)

Being stubborn is sometimes an admirable trait.  Sometimes being stubborn is indomitable,  sometimes abominable; it all depends on what isn't being given up.  Chapter's 5 and 6 in 1 Samuel depict a stubborn people, victorious in battle, but losers on the religious front - and stubborn losers at that.

From the inside looking out, the Philistines just seem silly.  They hold onto their belief in Dagon even though he winds up face down before the captured box of Israel.  They believe this box represents the God worshiped in Israel, and they see what happens to their idol when in the presence of the box, but still persist in worshiping an inferior god.  Why is that?  It seems silly, at least from the inside of the people of God looking out and those on the outside.

From the outside, when the culture and cultures around the Philistines are honestly considered, it makes a bit more sense.  The gods of nations holding to "pantheons" of gods aren't burdened with certain assumptions about their gods.  First off, they don't assume gods are "all-powerful" or omnipotent.  This is partly because there are many gods and a hierarchy among their ranks.  Then there is also the belief that certain gods are responsible for various things in the world, and they use those things against each other occasionally.  They fight amongst each other.  They lie, cheat, steal, and are like people in many ways, just really powerful ones.

So, in that context, being "wrong" only means for that moment.  Dagon beat this Israelite god in battle, otherwise they wouldn't have the box, right?  So Dagon being face down twice isn't an indicator that there is One God, or that this God is more powerful than the others necessarily, at least not for them.  It may mean that this foreign god was able to get the best of their local deity a few times; "the best out of three falls and all that."  It could mean several things that didn't necessitate belief that Dagon wasn't real or that he wasn't powerful enough to be worshiped, or that the Philistines should abandon their ways and gods and join Israel (the people couldn't even win a battle with their god among them - why join them?).

Sometimes, I'm a slow learner.  I keep banging my head against a wall, confused by my headache.  Why isn't what I'm doing working?  Perhaps I should just keep at it.  On the flip side, persistence in obedience to my Master seems so...difficult.  When I don't see the results I want, I use the pragmatic American philosophy and try something else that "works".  Why is it so easy to be stubborn with the wrong things, and hard to be stubborn with the right things?

But this account of the Philistines and the gold box of Israel continues.  Plagues are inflicted on the city holding the Ark of the Covenant.  Then they move it because, "...His hand is severe on us and on Dagon our god."  The next town suffers the same, and the third, and so on.  For seven months they continue to move and the plagues move with the box.  Finally they decide to give it back to Israel.  This God of Israel is persistent, even with students who persistently don't get it.

I believe that my Master was working with the Philistines to get their attention and lead them to Himself.  I believe He did that with the Egyptians as the Israelites tried to leave with Moses.  I believe that He does that repeatedly throughout Scripture with foreign peoples.  And He doesn't give up either.  There are lots of examples of God using Israel to reach Philistines, Edomites, Amonites, Syrians, Phoenicians, even Babylonians and Persians.  His work with foreign powers is fairly consistent.  So why this persistence?

Again, I believe that these are examples in the Hebrew Scriptures of my Master's grace toward other peoples besides Israel.  They weren't chosen, but they were shown grace.  There is a desire on the part of my Master to relate to these peoples.  In some cases the Chosen People were a hindrance, in others they were the messengers; much like church today.  The grace of my Master hasn't diminished, and while culminated in Jesus and His death, burial, and resurrection, it didn't start there; and it doesn't end there either.  One day, examples these peoples whom my Master has tried to reach for thousands of years will stand before Him together with His chosen people.

So the question is two-fold.  Am I willing to learn from my Master?  And am I willing to be a messenger rather than a hindrance?  It's amazing how closely linked those two are.  It helps to have the first one answered before working on the second part.  So, back to school for me, as I apprentice to the Maker of Stars and Tracer of quarks.  Hmmm, where's my slide rule?