The Glory of God Is Revealed In The Cave of Adullam: David Establishes The Beginnings of His Private Army And Re-establishes The Future (1 Samuel 22:1-2).
Having barely escaped from Gath with his life David returned to Israel and made for the cave of Adullam. Adullam was an ancient royal city of the Canaanites, twelve miles east of Gath and in the Judean foothills near the valley of Elah (Joshua 15:35). Nearby were a series of large caves. And it was to one of these caves that David made his way. It must have seemed like the end of the road. He had been rejected by Saul, had perjured his soul to Ahimelech, and had played the madman in Gath. Now he was to become a trogladyte. Though he did not realise it he was being faced up with the fact of the truth about himself, and was learning that the way to Up is Down.
Imagine now the scene as the Reject of Saul, the Liar of Nob and the Goon of Gath makes his tired way towards the cave of Adullam. His exultation at escaping from Gath (Psalms 34) must now have been replaced by a sense of despair. For as he entered its gloomy portal, and was no doubt met by a motley and suspicious group of ragged and dirty refugees, he must have asked, ‘has it all come to this?' Little did he realise at that moment that in that cave he was about to experience the Grace of God. It did not come immediately, nor did it come in any moment of high exaltation but it came in dribs and drabs, as God drew to that cave the beginnings of a unique fighting force..
From that cave he appears first to have got a message through to his family, who were possibly not yet aware of the disaster that might face them. For the one who would slaughter the innocent priests of Nob would have had no qualms about the destruction of the family of the traitor David. And the result was that he was soon joined by his brothers and parents, and their household. But it was not only they who gathered to David. When news got around in whispers that David, the hero of Israel, was sheltering in the caves of Adullam, (and presumably venturing out on raiding trips, for they would need to survive somehow), many who had grievances or were in debt gathered to him, until at length he had about four hundred men at his command, a considerable force in those days (compare Esau in Genesis 32:6 and Abraham in Genesis 14:14), especially when they were well trained.
Indeed one thing that will stand out in the future narratives is the fact that David had ‘his men'. It was they who would be the foundation of his future greatness, and it was here that they had their beginnings. We have already noted the military successes of David. He was a brilliant campaigner, and a popular hero. But shaping the motley group that he would now gather into an effective and powerful fighting force was undoubtedly one of his greatest achievements. They came together as a group of malcontents, and we are left to imagine his tight control over them, the requirement for worship and the daily training that gradually honed them into a powerful instrument of war. But we can be sure that all were prominent features of life in the cave.
Analysis.
a David therefore departed from there, and escaped to the cave of Adullam (1 Samuel 22:1 a).
b And when his brethren and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him (1 Samuel 22:1 b).
c And every one who was in distress, and every one who was in debt, and every one who was discontented, gathered themselves to him (1 Samuel 22:2 a).
b And he became commander over them (1 Samuel 22:2 b).
a And there were with him about four hundred men (1 Samuel 22:2 c).
Note that in ‘a' David goes to the large cave at Adullam and in the parallel he soon has four hundred men living with him there. In ‘b' his family come to join him, and in the parallel he has command over them. Central in ‘c' are the threefold types who join up with him. It was an army of the needy and the discontented
‘David therefore departed from there, and escaped to the cave of Adullam.'
There were a number of caves at Adullam, and this was presumably the largest of them. Adullam itself was an ancient royal city of the Canaanites, twelve miles east of Gath (midway between Jerusalem and Lachish) and in the Judean foothills near the valley of Elah (Joshua 15:35). It would not have been very welcoming, but it was all he had.
‘And when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him.'
It would appear that David contacted his family at this time and warned them of what Saul might do to them, with the result that they joined him in the Cave of Adullam. For as his behaviour towards the priests of Nob would demonstrate Saul was both bloodthirsty and unreliable, and David's family were no doubt near the top of his list. There can be little doubt that David urged them to join him there.
‘ And every one who was in distress, and every one who was in debt, and every one who was discontented, gathered themselves to him, and he became commander over them. And there were with him about four hundred men.'
But not only his family came. For as news spread around Israel about how David had escaped from Saul, his name became a magnet that drew men to the cave at Adullam. All who were distressed or in debt, and all who were not content to have Saul as king, gathered to David at Adullam. And they all looked to him as their natural leader with the result that he became commander over them. The consequence was that soon he had four hundred trained and disciplined men under his command, to say nothing of their wives and children. And we can be sure that David ensured that they were well trained. He would know that their future depended on it.