by David Scott Robertson
1 Samuel 21:7 (NLT)
Now Doeg the Edomite, Saul's chief herdsman, was there that day for ceremonial purification.
* * *
In my writings, I usually refrain from saying anything derogatory about anyone, but in the case of Doeg the Edomite, I'm willing to make an exception. I don't like Doeg. I dislike him so much that instead of referring to him as "Doeg the Edomite", I'm going to call him, "Doeg the Termite," because I don't like termites either.
If you knew the full story of Doeg, then you would understand my disdain. There was another David that disliked Doeg - King David. Let me explain.
In the verse I opened with, Doeg, who was King Saul's chief shepherd, had gone to a place called Nob to go through a ceremony of purification. Apparently he had "defiled" himself according to the Law of Moses and had become ceremonially unclean. Per the Law, Doeg had to present himself (and more than likely an offering) before the Lord with the assistance of a Levitcal priest to become ceremonially clean again. But Doeg was far from clean when his "purification ceremony" was complete.
Here we have an ancient example of a man full of the devil going to church to soothe his religious conscience. The same thing happens every Sunday in thousands of churches across America. Hypocrites, liars, and murderers attend Sunday services every week, perform some religious duty, toss a piece of paper with a dead president's picture on it in the offering plate, and then go out the door to live the devil for another week. Doeg was that kind of man.
NOT ONLY WAS DOEG A HYPOCRITE, BUT HE WAS ALSO A LIAR.
1 Samuel 22:9-10 (NLT)
Then Doeg the Edomite, who was standing there with Saul's men, spoke up. "When I was at Nob," he said, "I saw David talking to Ahimelech the priest. [10] Ahimelech consulted the Lord to find out what David should do. Then he gave David food and the sword of Goliath the Philistine."
Doeg embellished the facts that he knew by relating to King Saul that Ahimelech had inquired of the Lord on David's behalf when in fact the scriptures don't mention that fact.
NOT ONLY WAS DOEG A LIAR, BUT HE ALSO HAD NO FEAR OF GOD.
King Saul, driven by insatiable envy against David, returned with a detachment of his troops along with Doeg to Nob to pay Ahimelech the priest a visit. Accusing the old priest of betraying the kingdom, Saul ordered Ahimelech to be murdered along with all the other priests who happened to be on duty. Saul's soldiers refused to obey the insane and blasphemous order. But Doeg, who had no fear of God, gladly obeyed.
1 Samuel 22:18 (NLT)
Then the king said to Doeg, "You do it." So Doeg turned on them and killed them, eighty-five priests in all, all still wearing their priestly tunics.
NOT ONLY WAS DOEG IRREVERENT TO GOD, HE WAS ALSO A MASS MURDERER
1 Samuel 22:19 (NLT)
Then he went to Nob, the city of the priests, and killed the priests' families-men and women, children and babies, and all the cattle, donkeys, and sheep.
Doeg was merciless in his lust for blood and hunger for favor in the eyes of the deranged King Saul. Doeg had killed the very priest that had served him in the ceremony of purification. Doeg had betrayed David, a fellow shepherd, to the hands of his enemy. Doeg possessed neither professional ethics nor spiritual values.
David, while still on the run from Saul, composed the following psalm about Doeg immortalized in Holy Scripture:
Psalm 52:1-7 (NLT)
For the choir director: A psalm of David, regarding the time Doeg the Edomite told Saul that Ahimelech had given refuge to David.
You call yourself a hero, do you? Why boast about this crime of yours, you who have disgraced God's people? 2 All day long you plot destruction. Your tongue cuts like a sharp razor; you're an expert at telling lies. 3 You love evil more than good and lies more than truth. 4You love to say things that harm others, you liar! 5But God will strike you down once and for all. He will pull you from your home and drag you from the land of the living. 6The righteous will see it and be amazed. They will laugh and say, 7"Look what happens to mighty warriors who do not trust in God. They trust their wealth instead and grow more and more bold in their wickedness."
According to King David's description here, Doeg was a proud warrior, a hero in his own eyes who had gained wealth, position, and property through wickedness, evil, and murder.
Okay, so we have built the case that Doeg was a bad boy, a real bad boy. And your point is…?
The point is that Doeg was a "church-going" man who in our opening verse was found at "church" involved in religious activity - becoming "ceremonially pure." We need to take note that being a faithful church attendee does not have the power to purify.
Never associate your purity, wholeness, or spiritual success with religious activities, ceremonies, or rites. Only the blood of Jesus can accomplish the necessary "heart transplant" in a person's life needed to bring about salvation, clean hands, and a pure heart.
Titus 1:15 (NLT)
Everything is pure to those whose hearts are pure. But nothing is pure to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, because their minds and consciences are defiled.
DSR
10/11/04