What is the significance of Ziklag in the Bible?

City in the south of Judah given to David by Achish, one of the Philistine kings. It was burned down by the Amalekites, and the inhabitants carried away during the absence of David; but the captives and the spoil were recovered. It afterwards returned to the tribe of Judah. A list is given of the warriors who resorted to David at Ziklag while Saul was yet alive, and therefore while David was in rejection by the nation. 1 Chr. 12:1-22. Amasai, chief of the captains, said "Thine are we, David, and on thy side, thou son of Jesse: peace, peace be unto thee, and peace be to thine helpers; for thy God helpeth thee." Cheering words to one thus placed! They were apparently a type of those who follow the Lord Jesus now while He is still rejected by the world at large. Joshua 15:31; Joshua 19:5; 1 Sam. 27:6; 1 Sam. 30:1-26; 2 Sam. 1:1; 2 Sam. 4:10 , 1 Chr. 4:30; Neh. 11:28. Identified by some with Asluj, 31 3' N, 34 48' E; but ruins at Zuheilikah, some 17 miles N.W. of Beersheba have been preferred by others.

As we have said, it was no sudden lapse in David at this time, nor is he driven away from Achish as before, but rather he asks for a permanent place where he can abide, and Ziklag is given to him. Well indeed was it for David, as it is always well for us, that Another was working for him, who would overrule even his acts of unbelief and folly. "Ziklag," we read, "pertaineth unto the kings of Judah unto this day."

The circumstances which led to David's obtaining possession of Ziklag are not to his credit. David had shone in 1 Samuel 26, in his sparing Saul's life, "for who can stretch forth his hand against the LORD'S anointed, and be guiltless?" he said (ver. 9). And "Saul said to David, Blessed be thou, my son David; thou shalt both do great things, and also shalt still prevail" (ver. 25) — the enemy himself being made to bear witness of what Jehovah would do by David whom He had used to deliver Israel from the hand of Goliath, and who had also anointed him to be king in the room of Saul. It was, therefore, a giving way to sad unbelief when David said in his heart, "I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul" (1 Sam. 27:1) and so went to Achish, king of Gath, to request a place in some town in the country to dwell therein. Then "Achish gave him Ziklag that day; wherefore Ziklag pertaineth unto the kings of Judah unto this day." The full year and four months spent by David in the Philistines' land reveal no such lustre as attached to the time he and his followers had spent in the wilderness. Psalm 99:8 says, "Thou answeredst them, O LORD Our God: Thou wast a God that forgavest them, though Thou tookest vengeance of their inventions," and this in principle holds good today. Compare 1 Cor. 11:31-32, "But if we discerned ourselves we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world" (R.V.).

So in the case before us, "It came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire." Amalek was the determined foe of Israel (and represents the power of Satan over the flesh), meeting them when they came out of Egypt, and smiting the hindmost, all that were feeble, when they were faint and weary. And "thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven, thou shalt not forget" (Deut. 25:17-19). Better still, however, when "Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword" (Ex. 17) "the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua for I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven."

However, the Lord would not allow David to appear in the field against Israel. He sent him back, or rather He led him aside, in order that He might deal with him in secret about his course. "So David and his men rose up early to depart in the morning, to return into the land of the Philistines … And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag, on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire; and had taken the women captives that were therein. They slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way.

David is here made to feel the bitter result of his having sought to Achish for help in the day of his need. He had taken up his position amongst the uncircumcised, and must, therefore, be made a partaker of their wretchedness. Had he remained amongst the mountains of Judah, he would have escaped all this sorrow; his God would have been a wall of fire round about him. But he had fled to Ziklag to escape Saul; and then, as it were, at the very moment when Saul was falling on Mount Gilboa, David was weeping over the ruins of Ziklag. Surely it was not thus we should have expected to find David. "Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep … And David was greatly distressed, for the people spake of stoning him."

In following David, in his further sojourn in the land of the Philistines, we only find fresh cause of humiliation. He obtains the grant of Ziklag, where he sojourns for sixteen months, during which period, though free from all fear with respect to Saul, he was at a distance from God and from Israel. It is, in one sense, a very easy matter to get out of a place of trial; but then we get out of a place of blessing also. It would have been much happier for David to have remained in a position which left him exposed to Saul, while, at the same time, he enjoyed the protection of the God of Israel, than to seek safety from the arm of the king of Gath. However, when the pressure of trial is upon us, the thought of relief is sweet, and we are in danger of seeking relief in our own way.

David had been again left to himself, and what was in his heart had come out; but as the man of God's purpose, his followers were being increased, whilst Saul's end approached. Going to battle with the lords of the Philistines, some of the tribe of Manasseh swelled his ranks, and on his way back to Ziklag more of them joined him, the last chance for any in Israel to own the king, whilst still rejected by the nation. (1 Chron. 12:19-21.) Delivered from his false position by God, though ostensibly it came about by the worldly wisdom of the Philistines, he returned to Ziklag to find it burnt, and all that he and his men had possessed carried captive by the Amalekites, they knew not where. Thus God chastised him for his unfaithfulness, and brought him back to real dependence on the Lord; for without a friend, it would seem, to stand by his side, he had to hear the murmurings of his followers, who threatened to stone him for the loss of their wives, their sons, and their daughters. Poor David! He wept. They all wept. But he encouraged himself in the Lord his God. Weeping was common to them all. Encouraging himself in God is only spoken of David. Here he was alone, and doubtless his soul was restored by this dealing of God with him. But how had he fallen! Saul never joined hands with the Philistines, yet Saul at Endor was deserted by God. David, who had fallen so low, could nevertheless, at Ziklag, inquire of God by means of the ephod, and was assured of victory over that very people, for the non-fulfilment of God's word, against whom Saul had been rejected. The saint of God can never be in too low, too desperate, a condition for God to come in, and bring him out of it. This David experienced, for, following after the enemy, he "smote them from the twilight, even unto the evening of the next day, and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, which rode upon camels, and fled." (1 Sam. 30:17.) All that the Amalekites had taken, he captured, being more than they had lost. God was thus gracious unto him.

It was at Ziklag and on the third day after his victory over the Amalekites that the news of Saul's death was brought to David (2 Sam. 1). What place so suitable for him to hear it? Everything around would remind him of his own sinful weakness and failure, and of the abounding mercies of the Lord. He and his men had recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, but the flames spared nothing which they received from Achish. The moral of this, for us, may be learned in 1 Cor. 3:13-18. His self-will had plunged him into great distress, but the grace of the Lord was wonderful. He strengthened him with strength in his soul, so that he received the tidings which assured him that the way was at length open for him to the throne without a selfish thought. He wept when he heard of Saul's death.

The above train of thought introduces us to the circumstances connected with David in Ziklag of the Philistines — circumstances which fully manifest human infirmity and divine grace and mercy.

As the appointed ruler over Israel this was right. For the display of the righteous government of Jehovah in the earth and the deliverance of His people, it was the truth that he was called to maintain; but truth to be of any avail must be held in communion with God. There is no power in truth of itself, and knowledge is not faith. Of this, David at this time was a striking example. "He said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines: and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me any more in the coast of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand." There was now with him a band of brave men who, under his leadership, would prove a valuable contingent to the forces of the Philistines. On this he reckoned for favour in their eyes and not in vain. Thus temptation and opportunity combined to draw him away from his known duty. Achish welcomed him, and at his request gave him the city, Ziklag, to dwell in.

The last portion of David's history during Saul's life now commences (1 Sam. 27 – 31), and again we see him failing to trust Jehovah. Yet in what remarkable ways had God preserved him from being seized upon by his enemy, and the last escape not the least remarkable one of his life. But, looking at circumstances and men, instead of trusting God, "David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me, than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me to seek me any more in any coast of Israel; so shall I escape out of his hand." (1 Sam. 27:1.) In the exercise of patience and dependence on God we so often fail. So was it with David. His judgment about Saul was correct. He sought for him no more when told that he had fled. (1 Sam. 27:4.) At what a price, however, did David purchase rest from the king's persistent pursuit of him! Dissembling now again characterised him, and by accepting Ziklag as a gift from Achish, he professedly owned the Philistine's right to deal with land which belonged to God's people. A fugitive from his country, a pensioner at the court of Achish, and with professions of attachment to the person of the Philistine king, he was ready to swell with his band the army of the uncircumcised which moved to battle against Saul at Jezreel. Whilst at Ziklag, David invaded the Gershurites and the Amalekites, putting to death every man and woman among them, lest Achish should hear of his acts, and his displeasure and his suspicion be aroused. But, worse than all, forgetful of God, and of His former tokens of preserving care, he deceived Achish by the answer that he returned to his inquiries. Thus David failed again.