I Samuel 27:8-9
“From time to time David and his men raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites—these people were longtime inhabitants of the land stretching toward Shur and on to Egypt. When David raided an area he left no one alive, neither man nor woman, but took everything else: sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels, clothing—the works. Then he’d return to Achish.”
“David and his men spent their time raiding the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites—people who had lived near Shur, toward the land of Egypt, since ancient times. David did not leave one person alive in the villages he attacked. He took the sheep, goats, cattle, donkeys, camels, and clothing before returning home to see King Achish. ”
This is troublesome to moderns, especially people of the West, so centered on the rights of man. How can someone who loves a loving God do such a thing? It is easily made into an argument for rejecting Biblical faith.
There are two things to consider before doing so. Context is key. David was part of the early Iron Age, in the Middle East around 1000 B.C.E. It was characterized by balkanization and the development of social classes. Iron meant better tools for farming and increasing yield which drove cultural development. It also meant better weapons and more warfare between developing national identities. Might ruled right and human life was cheap.
When Biblical passages are perplexing, look for what God was doing and use other Bible passages to aid understanding. In Genesis 6:13 God said to Noah, “I have decided to destroy all living creatures, for they have filled the earth with violence.” God will not tolerate evil. Later in Genesis God tells Abraham his descendants will be oppressed and enslaved in a foreign land and “After four generations your descendants will return here to this land, for the sins of the Amorites do not yet warrant their destruction." (Genesis 15:16) God stays his hand of judgement until a culture is fully saturated with evil and beyond redemption. Perhaps the sins of these nomads in the Negev were ripe for judgement and David was God’s agent of destruction. We don’t know what went on in the nomad’s camp and must trust that God did.
Lord, thank you for helping me write about this. Please use it to teach others of yourself, assuring them you keep evil’s score and will redeem the destruction it has wrought. Let them know it is because you love us so.