Leon has worked with the Hanceville church of Christ, Hanceville, AL, for the past twenty-six years. One special area of interest is taking trips to the Bible lands for research and photography for biblical teaching and publication. Leon's Message Board (https://bleon1.wordpress.com/) has an emphasis on Bible History and Geography. The setting of the biblical world gives one a context for the events of scripture. leon.mauldin@gmail.com

The closing four chapters of 2 Samuel (21-24) are labeled by many students/authors as "appendix" material.¹ (Youngblood refers to this section as "miscellaneous" and dischronologized." ²) What we have in these chapters is supplementary material, a collection of events that happened at various points in David's life.

One fascinating occurrence is narrated in 2 Samuel 23:13-17:

Then three of the thirty chief men went down at harvest time and came to David at the cave of Adullam. And the troop of Philistines encamped in the Valley of Rephaim. David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. And David said with longing, "Oh, that someone would give me a drink of the water from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!" So the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines, drew water from the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David. Nevertheless he would not drink it, but poured it out to the LORD. And he said, "Far be it from me, O LORD, that I should do this! Is this not the blood of the men who went in jeopardy of their lives?" Therefore he would not drink it. These things were done by the three mighty men (NKJV).

The timing on the Philistines, usually a coastal people, being so far east to the central ridge at Bethlehem, would seem to fit in well with 2 Samuel 5, which records two instances of David's battling the Philistines. David and thirty of his chief men were at the cave of Adullam which he was using for a "stronghold" (v. 14). Adullam is thirteen miles west of Bethlehem. Note that the Philistines had a garrison posted in Bethlehem.

It was here at the cave that David's men heard him verbalize how he would like a drink of water from the well of his home town Bethlehem. Bob Waldron writes, "David made an offhand remark how he would love a drink of water from the well of Bethlehem by the gate. He did not dream that anyone would take his wish as a command and go get water for him" (ibid., 1031).

But no sooner had the words left David's mouth than three of his mighty men left the cave to travel those thirteen miles to Bethlehem. Again, the immediate problem was that the Philistines had a garrison posted there. That did not matter. When they left on their mission it was very likely that all three would die. They knew the risks. All that mattered to them was that David wanted water from Bethlehem. They loved David so much, they were so devoted to him, that just to know his wish was enough. These men loved David so much that they were willing to risk everything, including their lives, to do what they perceived that David wanted.

Those three left the cave and "broke through the camp of the Philistines, drew water from the well ... and took it and brought it to David" (v. 16). The Hebrew word rendered "broke" is baqa', which means cleave, divide; to break or lay open., Waldron writes

They fought their way, killing every Philistine who tried to stop them, until they got to the well. Drawing the water, they fought their way out, and made their way back to David and gave him the drink of water he longed for. We admire the love of these three men for David, and their devotion to him that made his wish their command (ibid.).

When the three warriors returned to David at Adullam, he was so overcome with emotion and gratitude that he could not drink it, but instead poured it out as a solemn offering to YHVH (vv. 16-17).

Application. All these men cared about was David. It was enough to know what he wanted, and they were willing to die to make it happen. What if we loved the Lord as much as they loved David? Is Jesus worthy of any less love and loyalty?

On one occasion when the beloved Irven Lee was a guest on our Q&A radio program, a caller asked whether we could prove from the Bible that it is essential to be baptized to be saved. I took the call on the air, thanked the caller for this good question, and then moved the microphone toward brother Lee. His first words were, "I don't like the question." I almost fell out of my chair. I thought, "No, brother Lee, you don't say that; you thank the caller and then go on to answer the question." While I was recovering from my shock, brother Lee went on to say, "The Lord loves us so much, He died for us. If all I could show you in all the Bible was just one reference where Jesus said, 'I just sort of wish you would be baptized,' we ought to JUMP to be baptized!" We went on to look at several passages which clearly show that baptism is a condition of gospel obedience, but that day I learned a lesson I will never forget. A lesson on how we should love the Lord, be wholly devoted to Him and committed to doing His will. Anything less falls short of what Jesus requires (Matt. 22:37; Luke 14:26-33; Gal. 2:20; Rev. 2:10).

¹ Waldron, Robert (2001), Truth Commentaries: 1-2 Samuel, Mike Willis (Ed.), (p. 964).
² Youngblood, R. F. (1992). 1, 2 Samuel. F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor's Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel (Vol. 3, p. 1051). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.