God’s Creative Battle Plans – The Mulberry Trees and the Good Soldier

God’s Creative Battle Plans – The Good Soldier and the Mulberry Trees.

Yahweh is a warrior! Yahweh is His Name! (Exodus 15:3).

Moses and Miriam in their famous Song at the Red Sea, were the first ones to describe the Lord as a warrior. And throughout Scripture, God was identified as a warrior ever since. The Hebrew word for warrior in this passage is “ish milhamah,” which means man of war, warrior, champion, hero, fighter, mighty man. God’s stature as a fighter was taken up by the prophets, like David, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Zephaniah.

The Fierce Warrior with a Vivid Imagination. Lord Yahweh, as we would expect, was not just any common fighter. He was a warrior with the divine imagination that created completely unpredictable battle plans for every conflict between an enemy of God and His Chosen People. In Scripture, the Warrior-King was the master of unconventional warfare, unexpected schemes that would leave people scratching their heads in surprise or shaking their heads in amazement. God’s strategies were so diverse that they might appear to be random, but of course they were divinely orchestrated. His battle strategies to victory were well outside the human imagination, in such a way that the faith of His fighters on the ground was tested.  It became obvious to His fighting men, though, that God was going about this battle in a completely different way than they would, and they were wise when they trusted in Him.

“And David inquired of the Lord Yahweh… Then David did everything just as Yahweh had commanded him.”

Because of his sinful encounter with Bathsheba, we tend to forget God’s words that “I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who will do all my will.” (Acts 13:22; 1 Samuel 13:14). David proved himself a man who could take orders from the Lord. He was a good soldier, a great warrior, who was constantly deferring to the Lord as Commander when it came to the battlefield. If the Lord told him to go and fight, David wouldn’t hesitate to engage the enemy. If the Lord told him to refrain from fighting, David would stand back until the green light from the Lord came to him. David listened intently to the Lord for whatever creative battle plans God had in mind, and he followed them without question. Just so we don’t miss this point, there are nine different occasions in Scripture that repeat this wonderful refrain… “And David inquired of the Lord:”

• 1 Samuel 23:1-3. David asked the Lord for directions, and the Lord told him, “Go and attack those Philistines!”
• 1 Samuel 23:4-5. David inquired of the Lord, and the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand!”
• 1 Samuel 23:10-11. David sought direction from the Lord again, and the Lord advised David that Saul is coming to capture him.
• 1 Samuel 23:12-14. David again inquired of the Lord, and the Lord advised David to flee now, because the city of Keilah plans on handing him over to Saul.
• 1 Samule 30:8. David sought the Lord once again, and the Lord told him to pursue the Amalekites, “for you shall surely overtake them,” which would allow David to rescue all those innocent women and children who had been taken captive.
• 2 Samuel 2:1-2. After the death of Saul and his friend Jonathon, David sought the Lord’s wisdom as to whether he should now move to Judah. The Lord clearly told him to move to Hebron in Judah and settle there, where he will be crowned King.
• 2 Samuel 5:17-21. David asked for orders concerning the Philistines, and the Lord directed him, “Go up against the Philistines, for I will certainly give them into your hand.” David followed orders, as usual, and soundly defeated the Philistines. David then gave all the credit for the victory to the Lord, saying “Yahweh has burst through my enemies before me like a raging flood, like an overwhelming breakthrough of waters!”
• 2 Samuel 21:1. After three years of famine, “David sought the presence of Yahweh,” at which time the Lord told David that the famine was punishment against the bloody hands of King Saul before him. So David made peace with those who had been unjustly victimized by Saul.

One of the more famous incidents of God’s creative battle plans and David’s dependence on those plans was this fascinating battle strategy in 2 Samuel 5:22-25:

 “Then the Philistines went up once again and deployed themselves in the Valley of Rephaim. Therefore David inquired of the Lord, and Yahweh said, ‘You shall not go up; circle around behind them, and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees. And it shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall advance quickly. For then the Lord will go in front of you to strike the camp of the Philistines.’ And David so, as the Lord commanded him; and David drove back the Philistines…”

Mulberry? In the Hebrew Bible, we see lots of trees, but there is no evidence of an actual mulberry tree at that time, in that place. These trees were not introduced into Palestine during the time of the Old Testament, though there was a large shrub related to it that was called a Baca bush. Biblical scholars say that it is impossible to identify the tree in this episode of David’s. They say the tree must have been either a poplar tree, an aspen, or a balsam tree. We do know that Psalm 84:6 refers to the valley of Baca, the valley of the Baca bush, or mulberry tree. This tree is known as the “weeping tree” because of the blood-like tears when the pressed mulberry berries are poured. Therefore, that valley was known as the Valley of Weeping. Also, whatever tree it was in this scene with David must have had lighter branches and leaves which were able make sounds when the wind blows through them. Mulberry trees do not have the ability to generate a rustling sound with wind, but the other trees mentioned can definitely do so. The poplar tree seems to be the preferred identification these days, but nobody actually knows.

Complete God’s First Priority. It is impressive that David, proving to be a man after God’s heart after all, realizes that his primary job at that point was to subdue all the nations of the Promised Land. That was something the Jewish pioneers were unable to do, and David intends to finish the job.

Mystical Footsteps. Clearly, this battle against the Philistines was getting special attention from Yahweh, complete with unique battle plans for David and his army. When the sounds of marching feet at the tops of these trees were heard by David, says the Lord, he was to attack immediately. What were these marching sounds at the top of these trees? Were they the miraculous advancing footsteps of Yahweh, the Almighty God who has no feet? Was it the wind of the Holy Spirit blowing through the trees at the direction of the Lord, producing those rustling sounds? Were those marching sounds the warrior angels called into action by Yahweh-sabaoth, the Lord of the Angel Armies, preparing for battle and led by the Lord? Whomever or whatever produced these sounds, we can trust that it actually happened. And once again, trees were in the middle of all the action.