A Priest with Shifting Loyalties
When Doeg the Edomite, under the order of King Saul, kills Ahimelek and eighty-five other priests, only Ahimelek’s son Abiathar escapes.
Abiathar flees to David, who offers him sanctuary. Abiathar takes the ephod with him. This likely refers to the ephod Moses made for the priests to wear (Exodus 28).
Symbolically, this shows the priesthood going with Abiathar and in support of David.
The ephod serves as a tool to approach God to seek his guidance. When David wants to inquire of the Lord, he tells Abiathar to bring the ephod. Abiathar seeks the Lord’s guidance as prescribed. And God tells David what to do.
Much later during Absalom’s coup, Abiathar and Zadok, another priest, leave Jerusalem with King David, taking the ark with them.
But David sends them back to the city with the ark. There they can gather information, which their sons can relay to David. They do as instructed.
Soon David’s reign is restored, thanks in part to Abiathar sending him inside information.
When another of David’s sons, Adonijah, conducts his coup, Abiathar aligns with him in support, but Zadok does not. This is one of the few times the two priests do not operate in unison.
After David’s death, with his son Solomon firmly on the throne, the new king punishes Abiathar for his disloyalty to David. Solomon removes Abiathar from the priesthood and banishes him to his fields in Anathoth.
Though Abiathar served David well for most of his life, he didn’t finish strong. He made a mistake and received punishment for it. This is the last we hear of Abiathar.
Questions:
- When people are disloyal, how do we determine if we’re to offer mercy or punishment?
- What must we do to finish strong?
[Read about Abiathar in 2 Samuel 15:24–36, 1 Kings 1:7–27, and 1 Kings 2:20–27. Discover more in 1 Samuel 23:6–12 and 1 Samuel 30:7–8.]
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More Old Testament Sinners and Saints is part of the Bible Character Sketches series.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront a status quo faith and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
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