Rationale, ethics and godly matters in guerilla warfare
The Origin of David’s Guerilla Army
In 1 Samuel 1:13-14, Samuel rebuked King Saul for being impatient and performing sacrifice himself in the absence of Samuel. He said:
“13 You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you. Had you kept it, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now your kingdom must end, for the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart. The Lord has already appointed him to be the leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.” (1 Samuel 1:13--14, NLT).
"28 …, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to someone else—one who is better than you.” {1 Samuel 1:28, NLT)
It is due to this rebuke and punishment that King Saul started to nurse and nurture jealousy and hatred towards the youthful David who was initially unknown to King Saul.
So it came to pass that “28 When Saul realized that the Lord was with David and how much his daughter Michal loved him, 29 Saul became even more afraid of him, and he remained David’s enemy for the rest of his life.” (1 Samuel 18:28—29, NLT)
During the rest of his life King Saul spent hunting down David who ended up always on the run and evading capture and slaughter. It then so happened that David ended up leading a guerilla army of discontented men.
“1 So David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. Soon his brothers and all his other relatives joined him there. 2 Then others began coming—men who were in trouble or in debt or who were just discontented—until David was the captain of about 400 men.” (1 Samuel 22:1—2, NLT)
Thus, David is probably the first leader of a guerilla army that lived and operated from the wilderness to avoid direct confrontation with King Saul’s army. In world history, guerilla warfare is said to have been the brain-child of the Chinese general, Sun Tzu, during the 6th century BC. However, Guerilla tactics of the modern era are said to have been originated in the 3rd century BC by Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus who devised the Fabian strategy which was used against Hannibal Barca's army. Michael Collins the general of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) is said to have started urban guerillar warefare. Mao Zedong then basing on these past ideas and methods, further developed guerilla warfare theory and practice and adapted it to peasant environment outside urban conditions. Despite these claims, guerilla warfare has probably been the natural form of war since time immemorial even among animals that hunt for food. David’s guerilla army could be one of the earliest such organised army. In Part 2, we will look at how the David’s guerilla army operated in the face of onslaught from King Saul’s manhunt for David.
