1 Samuel 30

I think in the Christian walk there is no greater pain than that of betrayal. And betrayal never comes from outside an intimate circle. It comes from close quarters, close friends, family and church people.

When we consider the context of David and Jesus being his root and being his offspring there are common experiences in their mission, their preparation.

When you consider the love and friendship between Saul and David, between David and his sons, David and Michal. All in various way showed betrayal in many different dimensions that David lived. Psalm 55 shows us the depth of feeling in that David went up with this friend to the Tabernacle together in the faith.

I somehow see from Scripture that betrayal is a doorway to greater glory in that the way Jesus walked it out is both redemptive and glorious for all who would experience it as Jesus did.

David was a warrior and as they approached Ziklag, they saw the fire, their wives taken by the enemy, their children also taken. Both David and his warriors cried and wept until there was no strength left. His own men talked of stoning him.

The Bible says this phrase; And David strengthened himself in his God. That was his first step. He remembered that God was favouring him, that His Spirit was in him and upon him.

Then it says; he called for a ephod to be brought to him. Instead of going into revenge warrior mode, to recover that which was lost he entered into God into a realm of priesthood. He wanted to see and know the situation as God saw it. This is the priestly stream, which brings the response and wisdom of God. In that realm he received God’s strategy for recovery and victory.

In the same way Jesus, in betrayal became the priestly sacrificial lamb. In it God raised Him up from the Grave, not before winning the war in the heavenly realm of death and Hades.

In betrayal we need to engage with God in a level where we dress the priestly ephod . This means the warfare covenantally becomes God’s warfare and subsequently it has to be fought with God’s strategy. That way God as He did with David, showed where the enemy was, recovered all and gathered the spoils.

Jesus took captivity captive in Ephesians 4 and cast down in His Ascension the fivefold ephod. How wonderful that is.

The ephod in the image above sits right over the heart. And in betrayal the feelings for revenge we may naturally feel in those circumstances can be destructive for our heart and our redemptive walk in God. It is necessary as Ephesians 5 exhorts us, to put on the new man. Revenge has to be given up for God to avenge our enemies in our shield and our ephod covenantally.

What happened to the enemies? The enemies that came up to Ziklag were totally defeated. With Jesus, the keys of death and Hades were seized, Satan’s authority defeated forever.

The Cross is where God avenged. And it is here as we come suffering betrayal that we take on the ephod and we take up His right to avenge on our behalf.

May we see our pain in this example a door for our redemption and our freedom.

Shalom