Think About it -- Threats Evolving & Increasing

As David was trying not to get killed by Saul and 3,000 able-bodied young men Saul had hunting him down (1 Samuel 24), we read that when Saul went into a cave to relieve himself, David and his men were hiding there. David snuck up undetected and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.

As Saul was still walking away from the cave to rejoin his troops (who had let him have his privacy), David called out to him from the cave.

The 8^th through 22^nd verses capture David’s conversation with King Saul.

The chapter ends with, “Then Saul returned home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.”

Just two chapters later (1 Samuel, 26), Saul’s brush with death occurred again. That night, David found where Saul was camped and asleep. Again, Saul, with his 3,000 gun-ho power lifters, was looking for David to kill him. The leader of the jugheads, Abner, and everyone else were sleeping.

David and another young man, Abishi, from David’s own growing entourage (most likely disenchanted former Saul supporters), slipped undetected into the camp, took Saul’s spear and water jug, and snuck back out.

In the 13^th through 25^th verses, we see a repeat of the earlier conversation between David and Saul. This time, however, David exposed the idiocy of the self-aggrandized Abner, who thought he was all that and a bag of chips as a protector.

Again, the chapter ends with Saul going home, but David and his men “continuing on their way.”

Think About it …

Israel had no experience with a king. There was no executive protection for Saul. He went into caves alone and selected warriors who looked (and probably talked) good but didn’t know the first thing about protection. After close calls, nothing changed. He just went home.

David and his men observed, learned, and moved cautiously forward. David probably stopped entering unsearched caves long before he became king.

By the time Benaiah became “chief of David’s bodyguard,” Israel would never be the same. Netanyahu doesn’t go near caves (or synagogues) today that aren’t secure.

I recently attended a Zoom meeting of a D.C.-based threat expert addressing America’s largest churches. He emphasized the changing threat landscape developing swiftly on the rails of the internet, fueled by hatred of Christianity.

We have entered a new era of threat tactics. As threats innovate, so must protection methods and intensity.