179: Peter Moore - Abiathar: The King and his Advisor

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:00

   Welcome to Good Christadelphian Talks. I'm Levi. And I'm Chris. And I'm Brian. Thank you for joining us this week. On this podcast, we select one talk a week to help us get the Bible in our daily news feed. We post a new episode at the start of each week, with a short intro beforehand to kind of set the stage for the talk you're about to listen to.

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   And now, let's talk more about this week's talk. This week's talk is on a biothar by Brother Pete Moore. It's from the Perth end-of-year studies that took place at the end of 2021. I thought it was a really great study. I really enjoyed this. I think it's easy as a, you know, Christadelphian as a Bible student, to get interested in a class like this on a topic that you don't hear that often.

3. 1:10

   And I really enjoyed how the Brother carried kind of some themes through a biothar's life, and also did a really good job giving us some very practical lessons. The big takeaway for me was what he was talking about, just how impactful and how important it is to have friends who are spiritual as well, and who keep God and His principles as the deciding factor in their life, and how we as believers need to be sure to be reaching out to those people, and to be checking our thinking, and checking our decisions, and our decision-making with our faithful friends.

4. 1:46

   So I really enjoyed this. It's a great study, and he's very well organized. It's an easy listen, so I'm excited to share this. I've gone ahead and included the reading at the beginning. Sometimes we eliminate the reading or the opening prayer or something like that, but it was helpful because he reads just a specific part of a chapter that I felt was worth including.

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   This talk was a suggestion, so thank you to the Brother who sent this in. Please keep us in mind when you hear a good talk to share on the podcast. So here is Abiathar by Brother Peter Moore. Reading with you, 1 Samuel chapter 22, starting from verse 6 to the end. When Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men that were with him, now Saul abode in Gibeah under a tree in Ramah, having his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him.

6. 2:39

   Then said Saul unto his servants that stood about him, Hear now, ye Benjamites, will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, and make you all captains of thousands and captains of hundreds? That all of you have conspired against me, and there is none that showeth me that my son hath made a league with the son of Jesse.

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   And there is none of you that is sorry for me, or showeth unto me that my son hath stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait as is at this day. Then answered Doag the Edomite, which was set over the servants of Saul, and said, I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech, the son of Ahitab.

8. 3:25

   And he cried of the Lord for him, and gave him victuals, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine. Then the king sent to Kor Ahimelech, the priest, the son of Ahitab, and all his father's house, the priests that were in Nob. And they came, all of them, to the king. And Saul said, Hear now, thou son of Ahitab.

9. 3:50

   And he answered, Here am I, my lord. And Saul said unto him, Why have you conspired against me, that thou, and the son of Jesse, and that thou hast given him bread, and a sword, and has inquired of God for him, that he should rise against me, to lie in wait as at this day?

10. 4:08

    Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said, Who is so faithful among all thy servants, as David, which is the king's son-in-law? And goeth at thy bidding, and is honourable in thine house. Did I then begin to inquire of God for him? Be it far from me. Let not the king impute anything unto his servant, nor to all the house of my father.

11. 4:35

    For thy servant knew nothing of all this, less or more. And the king said, Thou shalt surely die, Ahimelech, thou and all thy father's house. And the king said unto the footman that stood about him, Turn and slay the priests of the Lord, because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled, and did not show it to me.

12. 4:58

    But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand for on the priests of the Lord. And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou and fall upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned and he fell upon the priests and slew on that day four score and five persons that did wear a linen ephod.

13. 5:26

    And Nob, the city of the priests, motived the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and sucklings and oxen and asses and sheep with the edge of the sword. And one of the sons of Ahimelech, the son of Hittab, named Abathiah, escaped and fled after David. And Abathiah showed David that Saul had slain the Lord's priest.

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    And David said unto Abiathah, I knew it that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul, I have occasioned the death of all the persons of my father's house. Abide thou with me, fear not, for he that seeketh my life seeketh thy life. But with me, thou shalt be in safeguard.

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    Thanks, Brother Baruch. That reading leaves us with David and Abiathah in an intensely traumatic period of their life and one which would start a great friendship. And I'll pass over now to Brother Pete to give us his words. Thanks, Pete. Thanks, Marty. Whoops. Good evening, everyone. Very nice to be with you. Well, like Martin said, tonight we find David going through a very difficult time in his life.

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    If we were to quickly summarise the events that have recently happened in the life of David, we would find that he's been going through a very rapid and a very steep decline in his life, where one by one he's losing everyone and everything around him. It wasn't so long ago that the people of Israel were singing his praises.

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    It wasn't so long ago that he was the champion of the Israelites, where he was leading Saul's army in and out of battle. It wasn't so long ago that Saul had given him his daughter, his wife. And it was only just very recently that he was enjoying the warm friendship and the love of his closest friend and his spiritual guide, Jonathan.

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    And yet tonight we find David having lost all of that. He's had to say a very sad goodbye to his friend. He's had to leave his home. He's had to leave behind all of those who he loved and he's had to run for his life into the desert, not knowing where to go or what to do.

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    And he runs to Ahimelech at Nob and he's fed bread and he finds himself a sword, but he can't stay there. And so he runs a gath, a Philistine stronghold, the very place where Goliath had come from. And it's not safe for him there and he has to make himself appear mad so they don't kill him.

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    But he can't stay. And so he runs and he flees and he finds himself in the cave of Adalim at the start of the chapter that was read for us, seeking some level of safety, some level of security in this stronghold where he's joined by his family. He's also joined by a group of 400 men who were the outlaws of the day, basically, those in debt, those in distress and those who were discontented or angry, bitter, full of anger.

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    And David finds himself now in a position where he has the added responsibility of looking after these men. And to add to all of that, he's told by the prophet Gad that he can't stay there either. he has to once again run for his life and he takes with him now all of these men and his family and he went to hide in the mountain forest of Harath.

22. 9:41

    And so at this stage in David's life, he is aimlessly wandering around. He's running from place to place looking for some level of safety, looking for some level of security, all the while trying to captain 400 angry, bitter men, men who had clung to him for leadership, never able to relapse, never able to let his guard slip and ultimately in a declining state of spiritual health.

23. 10:12

    And so we'll leave David there for a moment and we'll focus our attention on the main character of tonight's study, Abiathar. We read in our reading tonight of the terrible tragedy that struck the 85 priests at Nob. We read how Saul commanded the entire priesthood at Nob to be slaughtered and that ruthless man, Doeg the Edomite, took so much pleasure in doing it.

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    He was so efficient at it that he didn't just kill the priests, he killed their wives, he killed their children, he killed their newborn babies, he killed their livestock.

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    It was a it was an intensely traumatic day in the life of Abiathar. His entire city was decimated by this man. It was a direct attack at the very heart of worship to God. Saul was destroying the very symbols of worship to God and yet through God's providence and through God's intervention, a young priest, the son of Ahimelech, Abiathar, escaped and he ran to David who provided him with protection and with safety.

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    And so we have these two men, David and Abiathar, both men who we pick up their story tonight as fugitives, both men who were hunted by Saul, both men were condemned to death. Both men are going through intense trauma. They're hiding out in the forest, God's anointed king and the new high priest.

27. 11:52

    And together they forge a friendship, a friendship that sprung up out of tragedy, a friendship that would last from this point 45 years, a friendship that would see both men be pushed closer to God, a friendship which saw both men constantly turn to God for spiritual help, a three-fold cord, David, Abiathar and God.

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    And tonight we're going to look at some snapshot events of different stages in their lives, in the lives of these men and look at some of the lessons which we can learn from their friendship, their friendships with each other and their friendships and their relationship with God. And ultimately we're going to ask ourselves some important questions, some challenges, questions to do with our own friendships, questions which make us think about whether or not we are walking with the wise.

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    whether or not we are walking with the wise and the types of friendships that we have and the types of relationships we are forging in our lives.

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    So the first real record we have of these two men working together is the continuation of this story really in 1 Samuel 23. Almost directly after the events at Nob where the 85 priests were slain, almost directly after Abiathar finds David, straight away we find David in a very difficult situation once again, a very tense situation.

31. 13:20

    And yet it's actually a story in 1 Samuel 23 that sees a noticeable change in the mindset of David, a noticeable change in the direction of his life. Because news comes of the Philistine invasion of Keilah, one of the nearby cities in Judah, not far from where David and his men were hiding.

32. 13:40

    What's David going to do? Remember he's on the run, he's been hunted by Saul, he's only just escaped with his life, he's not sure where to go, he's not sure what to do, and he's in a state in his life where really he's just looking for some level of security.

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    But as we read through the story, we find a critical turning point in his life, and it's actually sparked by the arrival of Abiathar. We see in verse 6, firstly, just in case we've forgotten or we don't know, the ephod was part of the priestly robe. It was a folded linen pocket, which sat underneath the breastplate, and inside it was the urim and the thummim.

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    We read in Exodus chapter 28, verse 30, put the urim and thummim in the breastpiece, so that Aaron will carry them when he comes into my holy presence. At such times he must always wear this ephod so that he can determine my will for the people of Israel.

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    We read on in Exodus 28, verse 29 and 30, that this ephod was to be worn over the heart of the high priest. It says three times in that verse, it is emphasised that the ephod was to be worn over his heart. So we can see that the ephod along with the urim and the thummim were instruments of faith, instruments used in worship to God that allowed the high priest to determine God's will for his people.

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    It allowed the high priest to determine God's answer. The high priest would reach into the ephod and he would draw out a rock. If it was white, then the answer was yes, and if it was black, it was no, and so forth. So the fact that Abiathar, in verse 6, has brought this ephod with him when he escaped Nob, tells us a lot about the mindset of Abiathar.

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    Abiathar was a spiritually minded man. He's recovering from major trauma. He's going through a very difficult time in his life, and yet still he has the presence of mind to take the ephod with him in his hand and bring it to David. At this point, I'd like to pause for a moment and just let verse 6 sink in.

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    Notice this phrase in verse 6, in his hand. The ephod was Abiathar's instrument of faith. It shows us that Abiathar was a spiritually minded man and he had his heart set on God. But David, if you remember back, also once upon a time carried something in his hand that was an instrument of faith for him.

39. 16:24

    If you remember back to 1 Samuel 17, David goes up against the champion of the Philistines, Goliath, and it says in verse 40 of 1 Samuel 17 that David had in his hand a sling and five small stones. And when you start looking at it, the Bible is actually full of examples of different people who had instruments of faith in their hands.

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    There's some of them on the screen there. We read that Moses had the rod of God in his hand and of course the circumstance surrounding that was that the Pharaoh and his army was chasing Israel and they were stuck between Pharaoh's army and the Red Sea and Moses had the rod of God in his hand.

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    Phineas who took the spear in his hand to steal the plague. Abraham took with him the fire and the knife as he went up the mount to sacrifice his son. Abiathar took the ephod in his hand when he ran for his life. David took his sling and of course Samson took nothing in his hand as he slayed the Philistines and the list goes on.

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    But the picture is clear that all these people of faith took different instruments in their hand which they used as a representation of their faith and trust in God. They took instruments in their hand but it wasn't really the items themselves. It was the recognition that God was working through them. God was working in their life.

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    It was an instrument of faith. It was a representation that they had faith and trust in God. But in total contrast to all of that, the exact opposite of the ephod in Abiathar's hand, to give you further indication of just how low David was at this point in his life, if you go back to chapter 21 in 1 Samuel verse 9, David has run to Ahimelech, the priest at Nob.

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    This is before the reading tonight, obviously. And he runs for his life and he comes to Ahimelech and he says in verse 9, when the priest said, the sword of Goliath, the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will, take that, for there is no other save that here.

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    And David said, there is none like it, give it to me. And so David's gone to Ahimelech and he's asked for some bread and he's asked for a sword and the only sword that was there was the sword of Goliath. And David reaches for it. David here is running for his life. He's scared.

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    He doesn't know what to do. He's lost everything and he takes in his hand the sword of Goliath. Not only that, but he actually has to push aside the ephod. He actually has to reach past the ephod to pick up that sword. See, David at this point in his life had forgotten the sling and the five stones.

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    He'd forgotten the shepherd's staff. He'd forgotten his instruments of faith. He pushed aside counsel with God and took in his hand an instrument of war, an instrument of bloodshed and he took an instrument which gave him an element of control. And in so doing gave further indication to us of just how far he had declined in his spiritual health.

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    And that's why verse six in 1 Samuel 23 is so important for us to understand because now Abiathar is with him. Things are starting to change because Abiathar has in his hand the ephod. It marks a very dramatic change in David's mindset. It drags David back to God and it sets in motion a constant theme from this point forward of David inquiring with God through Abiathar through the ephod, consulting with God at every turn.

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    The spiritual mind of Abiathar was starting to rub off onto David. And if there's ever a story of the wise walking with the wise, it's the story of David and Abiathar. So we come back now, we continue our story in 1 Samuel 23. David's now with his men. He has his high priest to his side and he hears the news of the Philistine attack.

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    And straight away he consults with Abiathar. He says, bring the ephod. And he consults with Abiathar. Should we go up to battle against the Philistines at Kela? And what we find is that in actual fact the 400 men who were with David were extremely uneasy about going to Kela. They were scared. They were running for their lives and they really didn't want to go to Kela.

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    They couldn't see the sense in it. Why go to dangerous Kela? Why risk their lives for a city of Judah when they themselves were being hunted by Saul? But of course the determination from God comes back through Abiathar. Yes, go up to Kela. And you can imagine poor old Abiathar. He's only just become the high priest because of the death of his father.

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    He's only just become the high priest. And he's only just met these men. And here he is in a situation where he's giving some very unpopular advice. David inquires again just to make sure. And again the determination comes back. Yes, go up and save the city.

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    And sometimes I think we can forget these characters we read have real feelings, real emotions. Remember Abiathar is still recovering from major trauma in his life. And straight away he has to make an extremely difficult decision. You think that he might be a bit uneasy, wanting to be very, very sure about this answer from God.

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    These men weren't going to like his answer. He knew that. And yet he faithfully at risk of his own life gave them the answer from God. And it reminds me a little bit of Micaiah in the times of Jehoshaphat. Remember when Jehoshaphat met with the king of Israel and said well don't you have a prophet of God here that we can inquire of.

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    And the king said there is one but I hate him. He doesn't say anything good about me. He always prophesies evil. But Micaiah in that context in that setting still faithfully speaks the words of God at the risk of his own life. Micaiah gave some extremely unpopular advice to Jehoshaphat at the risk of his own life.

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    And Micaiah does the same here. And it leads us to ask the question well what about us? Do we have the faith of Micaiah? Do we have the faith of Micaiah to accept God's answer even when it's difficult for us to understand or even if it's not the answer we would have wanted?

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    Do we have the faith of Micaiah to speak the word of God at the risk of our own lives? What about even at the risk of our own popularity or the risk of our own reputation? Do we have the faith of Micaiah to speak God's word? Do we have the faith of David for that matter to accept God's answer to our prayers even when we perhaps don't like the answer?

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    Do we have the faith to trust in Yahweh with all our heart and lean not on to our own understanding? Well the advice from God was to go into Kilar and save him. But these men were walking right into a trap. Saul was waiting to go down there and besiege David and his men.

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    They're walking straight into a trap. David didn't necessarily understand the answer. His men certainly didn't like it. And yet they go through with it. They obey God and they deliver the city of Kilar. And no sooner does that happen that David learns Saul is on his way to capture him, to besiege him.

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    And it's the first indication that we get of David having a change of mindset. Because he doesn't grab his sword, he doesn't rally his men, he doesn't take matters into his own hands. He once again turns to his faithful friend, Abiathar, his high priest. And in verse 10, David said, O Yahweh Elohim of Israel, thy servant hath certainly heard that Saul seeketh to come to Kilar to destroy the city for my sake.

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    Will the men of Kilar deliver me up to his hand? And so what he actually does, you see in verse 9 that just prior to that he had said to Abiathar, bring hither the ephod. What he actually does is he prays with his friend. He says to Abiathar, bring the ephod. And they sat down and they prayed together and they asked God for advice and guidance.

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    And advice and guidance is exactly what they received. In actual fact, they received far more than that. Now, verse 14 tells us that David abode in the wilderness in strongholds from that day on and remained in the wilderness in a mountain in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God delivered him not into his hand.

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    And this phrase, but God, in verse 14 appears multiple times in scripture. And it sets down a theme that you can follow, a theme for many who had difficult or seemingly impossible circumstances. And in each case, God provides options.

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    You have Abraham in Genesis chapter 20 verse 3. He's in a very, very dangerous situation. But God came to Abimelech in a dream. Jacob in Genesis 31, Jacob's been tricked by Laban and he says, and your father hath deceived me and changed my wages ten times, but God suffered him not to hurt me.

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    Exodus 13, Pharaoh's army is chasing the Israelites, but God led the people about through the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. David says in Psalm 73, my flesh and my heart faileth, but God is the strength of my heart. Acts 13 verse 30, Jesus was crucified, Jesus died, but God raised him from the dead.

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    Romans 5, but God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 1 Corinthians 10, there hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man, but God is faithful. God provides options, brothers and sisters and young people. God provides options where there is no human solution possible.

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    God intervenes when we are out of options. Just when things seem impossible, look out for God's intervention. Just when we have no answers, listen out for God's because time and time again, in the lives of the faithful men and women whose lives were recorded for us, God intervened. We read, but God provided a way out.

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    And it's exactly the same in the life of David and Abiathar. There is David hiding out in the mountains and in the caves and in the forests, but God delivered not him into Saul's hand.

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    When they are against all odds, when David and Abiathar had no escape options, just when they had no answers, God intervened. And it's the same for us as well.

70. 27:30

    This occasion, this situation in Kilar, is what kick-started the bond between these two men that was built on consultation with God. It was built on prayer. David. And so for the next 45 years, David leans heavily on Abiathar for spiritual guidance. He leans heavily on the friendship that he has with Abiathar. It's not an isolated occurrence this year in 1 Samuel 23.

71. 27:55

    And as David loses more and more of his crutches, if you like, as he loses more and more people around him, as he loses more of his close friends, his reliance on the advice and the friendship of Abiathar grows stronger. We find time and time again this phrase, and David inquired of Yahweh.

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    And it was always connected with his relationship with Abiathar. Always connected with the ephod. There's some occasions up on the screen for you. 1 Samuel 30 is the next one after this chapter here we're in now. When David's wives, they're in Ziklag, David's wives and his possessions, and the wives and possessions of all his men had been taken captive by the Amalekites.

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    What does David do? Well, he was greatly distressed. He was needing reassurance, and he inquires of God. He turns to Abiathar and he says, bring hither the ephod. David finds himself in a situation where his men, these 400 men, are going to stone him to death. They want to kill him. He's in a severe state of anxiety, and after inquiring with God on the statement of Abiathar alone, these 400 or potentially 600 men by now, went from wanting to kill David to rallying behind him once again and valiantly fighting alongside him.

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    They once again, on the statement of Abiathar, turned their allegiance back to their captain. It was Abiathar's council in 1 Samuel 30. It was Abiathar's council that turned the men from wanting to kill David to fighting for him. and Abiathar's council was, you will without fail recover all. Three times, it's emphasised for us, and that's exactly what happened.

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    They went up and they recovered everyone. They recovered all. Another tough time, another difficult situation, and another occasion where Abiathar provided spiritual encouragement and wise counsel to David.

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    2 Samuel 1. 2 Samuel 2, sorry, verse 1. 2 Samuel 1 is directly after the death of Jonathan and Saul. It's the song of the bow. It's the lament of his closest friend. And in chapter 2, Jonathan's just been killed. Straight after he's finished writing the song of the bow in chapter 1, showing his heartbreak over the death of Jonathan, he's just lost his spiritual guide.

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    He's just lost his best friend. And immediately, in chapter 2, verse 1, immediately he leans on Abiathar. David was just like us in many ways. He needed spiritual encouragement. He needed wise counsel from those around him. And we need the same. None of us, not one of us can survive alone.

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    We can't get through life's problems on our own. We can't So on the back of this very sad time in David's life, the pathway to the throne had just become open due to the death of Saul. So it's another stressful time in David's life. The pathway to the throne had become open. But where to from here?

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    Where does David go? He's got no home. He's got nowhere to go and set up his throne. He doesn't even know if he's got the support of the people. But he didn't make up his own mind. He turned to Abiathar. He inquired of God. He says to Abiathar, let's pray about it. This event in 2 Samuel 2 marked another noticeable change in the life of David and Abiathar and the direction their life took.

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    They weren't running around aimlessly in the wilderness and in the caves anymore. Now they were going up into Hebron. They were going up to the city of fellowship or the city of unity.

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    There was a pathway open to them now to move forward but it had to start with fellowship. It had to start with unity. This wasn't a random decision David made. He consulted with God through Abiathar and together they headed up into Hebron. They headed up into the city given to Abiathar's great great great grandfather.

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    They headed up into a city of refuge, a city of priests, a city of fellowship and together they once again follow God's guidance and David establishes his throne over Judah. 2 Samuel chapter 5. Well a lot's happened since chapter 2 and chapter 5. A lot's happened. Seven years has passed roughly. Ishbosheth the king of Israel that Abner had set up has been murdered now and all the remaining tribes of Israel have gathered themselves to David and they've anointed him as their king.

83. 32:54

    They've accepted his rule and so now David is king over both Judah and Israel and straight away the Philistines attack. Straight away they spread themselves out in war against him and how does David react? Well there's no surprises what David does. He inquires of God. Verse 19. He inquires of God. He consults with Abiathar.

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    But the interesting thing about 2 Samuel 5 is that even though the answer from God was yes go up against the Philistines and I'll give you a strong victory and that's exactly what happened. The Philistines a few verses later they come up again and they make war on him again and they attack him again.

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    And it would have been very easy for David to just assume that God was going to be with him the second time. It was exactly the same scenario. It was exactly the same enemy.

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    And yet he doesn't do that. He takes no chances. Once again he calls for Abiathar and again he says bring the ephod and he inquires of God again.

87. 34:06

    Because David understood that there's not a one answer fits all. to life's problems. There's not a one size fits all type solution to the circumstances we face in life. We need to consistently be talking to God reading his word. Just like Abiathar we need to wear the word of God on our hearts.

88. 34:27

    We need to do what David did and constantly ask God for guidance. Pray to him and read his word. Psalm 119 gives us a very good indication about the mindset of David now. David's mindset had changed by this point in his life to the point where he says in Psalm 119 verse 97 that his constant meditation of God's laws had made him wiser than his enemies.

89. 35:01

    No longer is he running for his life without answers. No longer is he reaching for his sword instead of the ephod. He's meditating upon God's words and that had made him wiser than his enemies. David's life had taken a dramatic turn and that was sparked by the arrival of Abiathar and his ongoing relationship with his high priest had made him wise.

90. 35:24

    He had walked side by side with Abiathar through the ups and downs of life with his friend, with a wise counsellor and as a result he'd become wise in the process. And for us to become wise we need to surround ourselves with wise counsellors, with godly people, with godly minded friends and constantly read God's word.

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    Reading the Bible once won't give us the answers to life. Reading the Bible once won't give us the answers to the questions that we face. David understood that and each time he inquired of God turned to his wise counsellor, the high priest.

92. 36:05

    Well then we come to 2 Samuel 15. We'll look at this chapter in more detail briefly in a minute. But David and Abiathar are now old men. They're now old friends. They've been together through a lot of ups and downs in the last 35 years. And they face in chapter 15 the uprising of Absalom.

93. 36:25

    And once again David and Abiathar pray together. David inquires of God. And Abiathar's there offering sacrifices, comforting the people, offering spiritual encouragement, bringing God back into a very very difficult situation. Two faithful old friends trusting in God together. We're going to look at that story in a minute in more detail to bring out some of the lessons we can gain from it.

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    But what we can see in the recorded lives of these men is constant prayer to God, constant consultation with God. David constantly leans on Abiathar and the two of them created a strong threefold cord of friendship. A threefold cord that was not easily broken. David, Abiathar and God. And it was the first time really in this nation's short history that their king faithfully and consistently inquired of God.

95. 37:21

    It was the first time their king had had a good relationship with the high priest. It was a very stark contrast to Saul. Remember back in 1 Samuel chapter 14, Jonathan and his armor bearer, they went up and they attacked the Philistines. And while they were gone, Saul was there resting under the tree in the shade.

96. 37:41

    And Ahimelech, the high priest of the time, presents to Saul wearing the ephod. And it appears if you read the narrative that he almost has his hand already inside the ephod, ready to withdraw the Urim and the Thummim to give answer after consultation with God. But Saul wasn't interested in that at all.

97. 38:00

    Wasn't interested in it whatsoever. He was not interested in consulting with God. And it says there in 1 Samuel 14, And it came to pass while Saul talked unto the priest that the noise that was in the host of the Philistines went on. And Saul said unto the priest, withdraw your hand. He actually says to Ahimelech, withdraw your hand.

98. 38:22

    I'm not interested in God's counsel. I'm not interested in what you've got to say. I'm not interested in God's answer. And 1 Chronicles 10 tells us that actually Saul died because of that. Saul died because he inquired not of Yahweh. He died because he wasn't interested in God's advice. He was not a spiritually minded man.

99. 38:46

    He had the opportunity to build a friendship with his high priest, with the Himalek. But he ignored his counsel. He said, withdraw your hand. And that ended up killing him. What a difference it makes when we build friendships with spiritually minded people. When our friends push us closer to God. When our friends pray with us.

100. 39:07

     And when we can lean on them for spiritual guidance and encouragement. The bond that was forged between these two men. Born out of tragedy and trial gives us a lot to think about when it comes to our relationships. It reminds us of the relationship that we can have with our high priest. Because for David, Abiathar became a type of the Lord Jesus Christ.

101. 39:29

     He was a high priest who was moved with compassion for others. Even though his own life was full of trials and difficulties and hardships, he felt compassion for those around him. He wore the word of God on his heart and he encouraged those around him to grow closer to God. For David, Abiathar was his Bible in tough times.

102. 39:57

     We'll turn now to chapter 15. A lot's happened. A lot's happened between 2 Samuel 5 when David became king over all of Israel and chapter 15. 20 years has gone on. David has led the people of God well. He had achieved a certain element of peace. He had expanded his territory and probably his greatest achievement, he had brought up the ark of God to Jerusalem.

103. 40:24

     It was a huge and a momentous time, not just in the life of David, but in the life of Abiathar as well. Remember, Abiathar was a defender of worship to God. The ark was an incredibly important piece of furniture for Abiathar. And the day that it arrived in Jerusalem was probably the highest point in his life, an incredibly significant day in the history of the reign of David.

104. 40:47

     But another 20 years have gone on from that when we find him here in chapter 15. And the next story in chapter 15 picks up David and Abiathar after another 20 years of friendship, 20 years of faithful service, 20 years of spiritual guidance and wise counsel, 20 years of Abiathar faithfully carrying out his high priestly duties, and 20 years of David leaning on his counsel, walking together with him, praying with him, 20 years of prayer and meditation on God's word.

105. 41:21

     And we now find Abiathar and David as old men. And of course, chapter 15 is all about the rebellion of Absalom. And Absalom goes back to the very place where David and Abiathar started out. He goes back to Hebron and there he sets himself up as king over Judah. He goes back to the place of fellowship and unity.

106. 41:42

     This time there's nothing unifying about what he's doing. He's usurping the king and he's causing a huge amount of unrest in the nation. And because we know the end of the story, I think it's easy for us to think of the rebellion of Absalom as a sort of a blip, a small blip, a start that never really got going, a movement that had no legs.

107. 42:04

     But that wasn't the case at all. Absalom had taken with him Ahithophel, David's other counsellor. We're told that the council of Ahithophel in those days was as if God was talking directly to you. Ahithophel was the most sought after advisor in the nation at that time. He was a very, very influential man and he had betrayed David.

108. 42:30

     He had gone with Absalom to assist him. And not only that, a great many people had gone to Absalom as well. Verse 13 says that the hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalom. It was a major uprising. It was a major move against David's throne. And it was a major move against true and proper worship to God.

109. 42:54

     David's now no longer popular. He's lost the public support and as a result he's had to flee for his life. He's had to leave the city. And so here we have in chapter 15, two old men, two old friends, David and Abiath are going full circle. Now they're heading back out into the wilderness.

110. 43:13

     Once again having to flee for their lives and leave their homes. Once again driven into the desert. It's all happening again here. It's all going backwards. very quickly. 35 years earlier, Abiath had to flee for his life after all his family and his city were destroyed by Doeg the Edomite. And he joined David in the wilderness.

111. 43:36

     35 years earlier, Abiath had been a huge comfort to David and his friendship marked a noticeable change in the direction of David's life. And now, once again, as old man, Abiath leaves his home and he heads back into the wilderness with David. Abiath could have easily stayed in Jerusalem. He could have easily stayed there going about his duties.

112. 44:01

     He could have easily made excuses. But once again, Abiath chooses to go with David. He chooses rather to suffer with God's people. Rather than choosing to support Absalom or even to pretend to support him, he chose to stick by David's side and go back into the wilderness with his old friend, ready to offer him spiritual guidance.

113. 44:25

     Moved with compassion. He understood that this was an incredibly difficult time for David. He understood the emotion of the situation and moved with compassion. He went with his old friend back into the unknown. And we read in verse 18 as that as David and Abiath left the city with their families and with their servants, there was another group of people that went with them that followed him back into the wilderness.

114. 44:53

     It was a very special group. It was a faithful group. It was a group of 600 men. It was the men that had gathered themselves to David 35 years ago. These were the malcontents. These were the discontented, the bitter, angry, aggressive men that David had looked after in the caves and in the wilderness.

115. 45:14

     But they weren't bitter or angry anymore. They were now faithful servants of the man after God's own heart. Faithful friends who followed David and Abiath back into the harsh wilderness. It would have been a very, very sad situation. A very sad occasion. All the people are weeping. Everyone's crying. Just when they thought perhaps their lives had settled down, when things were starting to get easier, when finally they could start to relax, their lives have been turned upside down once again.

116. 45:42

     And once again, they found themselves fugitives having to leave their homes. You may wonder why we're looking at chapter 15 in the context of the friendship between David and Abiath. But the reason is because this story is perhaps one of the greatest examples of the type of man that Abiath was and shows clearly for us why he was such an important part of David's life.

117. 46:08

     Have a look at verse 24. The people are passing over the brook Kidron. And we read that Zadok and all the Levites that were with him placed down on the ground the ark of the covenant of God. Very similar situation as to the time back in Joshua's life when the people were passing over the river and the Levites set down the ark until all the people had finished passing over, signifying and representing God's guidance, showing them that God was going with them.

118. 46:38

     And so here in verse 24 the same thing happens. They set down the ark. The people pass over. And as they pass over they're weeping and crying and scared and they're unsure what's going to happen. They're having to leave everything behind and we read that Abiath does something very interesting. The King James just says that Abiath went up.

119. 46:58

     Most other translations have that translated as Abiath offered up sacrifices. So here's Abiath, the high priest, standing there offering up sacrifice to God as one by one the people pass over the brook. Abiath once again moved with compassion in this very sad and tense and uncertain stressful time was there as the high priest not just to comfort David but all the people there to give spiritual encouragement there to bring God back into the situation.

120. 47:31

     There he is with the ark signifying that God was going with them and even though they had to leave Jerusalem and even though they had to leave everything behind God was with them. Just like he did 35 years earlier with the incident at Keilah just like he did when the Philistines attacked just like he did at Ziklag just like he has done over and over again for 35 years in David's life.

121. 47:56

     He's there to remind people that God was in control. Time and time again Abiath is there to bring God back into the scenario. What about us? Do we do that? Do we bring God back into the situation when life gets tough, when things go wrong? What about when it feels like we're going backwards?

122. 48:18

     What about when it feels like the events of our lives are spiraling out of control? Do we bring God into the situation? And importantly do we have friends that can do that for us too? Abiath is there constantly in David's life to bring God back into the situation and we can see the effect that had on David's life in this story because in verse 29 he actually sends Abiath from the Levites and Zadok back into Jerusalem with the ark.

123. 48:46

     David realized it wasn't his ark. It wasn't his personal possession. It belonged to God's people. It belonged in Jerusalem and so he sends them back into Jerusalem and we're told that Abiath stayed there. He remained there. And for the first time in 35 years, Abiath is no longer with David.

124. 49:08

     How he must have longed to stay with David. How hard that goodbye must have been. But Abiath had a responsibility to protect the ark, to provide spiritual encouragement to the nation. And there he remains along with four other men who undermined Absalom, who remained faithful to David even when he wasn't popular, even at risk of their own lives.

125. 49:30

     Five men faithfully serving their king, risking their own lives to help David. Abiath had spent his life on the run with David. He understood that being a high priest wasn't just about singing praises. It wasn't just about walking around with nice clean white robes on. Being a high priest was about giving practical help in times of need, giving spiritual counsel when times were difficult and accepting that advice even when it's hard to understand.

126. 49:59

     And here he is now, remaining David's friend when David wasn't popular, even at the risk of his own life. So what risks are we prepared to take for our friends, brothers and sisters and young people? What risks are we prepared to take for each other? Because the Lord Jesus Christ, our high priest, laid down his life for us.

127. 50:22

     Are we prepared to do that? He says, greater love has no man than this, that he lays down his life for his friends. And that's exactly what Abiath was prepared to do. He was prepared to walk back into Jerusalem, back into ground zero of the war zone, if you like, knowing that Absalom and Ahithophel could have easily just destroyed the ark and killed the priests, knowing that these men had no time for God.

128. 50:43

     They had no time for his instruments or his worship or his priests. And in this situation, once again, Abiathar becomes a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, a high priest who was moved with compassion, a high priest who understood the hard times, a high priest who led by his example and encouraged those around him to grow closer to God.

129. 51:06

     A high priest who prayed with his friends, a high priest who paid the ultimate sacrifice, the laying down of his own life. So David and Abiathar, the relationship they built, the friendship they forged and the threefold cord they created leaves us with some very big questions in our own lives to ask ourselves.

130. 51:28

     Some big questions to make us stop and think. To stop and think about the type of friendships we're building. To think about whether or not those closest to us are pushing us closer to God. About whether or not we are walking with the wise. So what challenges do we have to look at?

131. 51:50

     Abiathar was David's Bible in tough times. What about us? Do we do that for each other? Do we have friends around us that can bring God into the situation when we don't do that automatically?

132. 52:08

     What do we hold in our hand when life gets tough? Do we have an instrument of faith in our hand? Do we hold the ephod? Or do we push it aside? Do we reach past it and reach for the sword in our search to regain control?

133. 52:25

     Do we have the faith of Abiathar to accept God's answers even if they're difficult to understand? Even if they're not the answer we're looking for? Do we speak God's word even if it's unpopular? What risks are we prepared to take for our friends? Finally, do we bring God back into the situation when trial hits or disappointment sets in?

134. 52:50

     Some big questions for us to think about in our own lives. The story of Abiathar and David is a story of two men who were brought together during times of pain and trauma. It's a story of friendship forged out of the fire of intense trial. And yet one that was built on prayer and consultation with God upon meditating on his laws, on wearing his words on their hearts.

135. 53:16

     Abiathar constantly pushed David closer to God. David leaned heavily on him for spiritual encouragement. It was a story that spanned 45 years of the ups and the downs of life. So many things in their lives were uncertain. And yet the one constant was that third dimension in their relationship. It was that third dimension, God, that helped them get through the tough times.

136. 53:43

     Neither of these men were perfect. Both of them made some terrible mistakes. But both of them understood the principle of Proverbs 13 verse 20. He that walks with the wise will become wise.

137. 53:59

     And may it be that we will grow to understand this principle in our own lives. And surround ourselves with people who push us closer to God. To build spiritual relationships that will help us on our journey towards God's kingdom. Because that journey is not easy, brothers and sisters and young people. That journey is not easy.

138. 54:16

     Just like David and Abiathar, we will go through times in our lives that are tough. We will experience trauma and stress and difficult trials. And sometimes we might even feel like David did when he arrived at the cave of the Dallon. Sometimes we go through periods of declining spiritual health.

139. 54:37

     If we're feeling like that right now, at the end of this year, which for many has been difficult. May it be the example of Abiathar that's the change we need. May it be the mindset of Abiathar that marks for us the changing direction in our lives. As we go forward into this new year.

140. 54:56

     So that even though these men, David and Abiathar, even though these men are dead and buried long ago. Even though their lives have concluded. May it be their example. Their friendship. And their relationship with God that will have a positive effect on our lives. As each one of us continues our journey up to the place of eternal fellowship with our God.

141. 55:18

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142. 55:51

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143. 56:12

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144. 56:31

     Thank you for listening. God bless. And talk to you next week. God bless.