The Way
Four Hundred in the Cave of Adullam
A cave where the indebted and the bitter gathered
Story
Barely escaped from Gath, David crept into the cave of Adullam at the foot of the hills of Judah. There was nothing there but darkness, except for the light seeping through the cracks in the rock. Then familiar faces appeared at the mouth of the cave. His brothers and his father's household had heard the news and come down.
And others came too: people on the run, people crushed by debt, people bitter in spirit. One by one they gathered, until there were about four hundred. David became their leader. His first army was not the warriors of a royal court but people the world had pushed aside.
David took his aged parents to Mizpah in Moab and asked the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother stay here until I know what God will do for me.” After that the prophet Gad told David, “Don't stay in the stronghold. Go into the land of Judah.” David left for the forest of Hereth. In those days of hiding in the cave, David cried out, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”
Walk this scene on the map →Words of God and David
Please let my father and mother come and stay with you until I know what God will do for me.
Do not stay in this stronghold. Leave and go into the land of Judah.
The sayings are fresh renderings of the original meaning in today's language. Text: 1 Sam 22:1–5
Background
Adullam was an ancient town in the Shephelah, the lowlands of Judah, whose king Joshua defeated (Josh 12:15). Some suggest David left his parents in Moab because his great-grandmother Ruth was a Moabite woman (Ruth 4:17).
Pause and Reflect
How do I treat people who have been hurt and pushed aside?